The second edition of Maronite meditations is now available on Youtube and Spotify (see the link below). As with the first podcast, I offer some preliminary thoughts, and then after about […]
Read moreAuthor: Fr Yuhanna Azize
Dionysius’ “Mystical Theology”: The Syriac, (Part Two)
We continue my English translation of Dionysius’ Mystical Theology. Now I am praying thus, in these words, but do you, Timothy my brother, in your study of throngs of mystical/symbolic visions, […]
Read moreMaronite Meditations
My first podcast is up on Spotify, Youtube, and Apple Podcasts. I have posted many of the ideas on this page, but the new thing is that I shall, each […]
Read moreWhat Does it Mean to Say “Our Father”?
In previous posts we have seen that the goal of worship and prayer in general, but especially of contemplative worship and prayer, might be described as coming into the presence […]
Read moreThe Presence of God as Taught in the Gospels
ŠubHō la.bō wal.brō wal.rou.Hō d.qoud.šō; men hō.šō wa3.da.mō l.3ō.lam 3ōl.meen Ameen Glory be to the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit from now, and unto the age of […]
Read moreApproaching the Concept of the Heart in the Syriac Old Testament
The Maronite concepts of the search for the presence of God, of salvation, and of contemplation, are grounded in the ancient Semitic concept of man, his creation by God, and […]
Read moreDionysius’ “Mystical Theology”: The Syriac, (Part One)
Dionysius the Areopagite is an overlooked figure in the contemporary Maronite tradition, yet we have an Anaphora of Dionysius the Areopagite in our patriarchal collection of Syriac anaphoras. It is […]
Read moreMarty Makary, “Blind Spots”
Marty Makary, Blind Spots: When Medicine Gets it Wrong and what it Means for our Health, Bloomsbury, NY, 2024 (265 pp.) The thesis of this book is that the practice of […]
Read moreSt Neilos the Ascetic
As we saw in the post on St Gregory’s “Letter in Defence,” [https://www.fryuhanna.com/2024/12/21/st-gregory-palamas-defence/] one of the saints to whom Gregory appealed as an authority in support of his own position, […]
Read moreSt Gregory Palamas’ “Defence”
Perhaps the one absolutely critical document for Hesychasm is “In Defence of those who Devoutly Practise a Life of Stillness,” found in vol. 4 of The Philokalia (Faber, 1995). It […]
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