Guidance Toward Spiritual Life: Answers to the Questions of Disciples

Author: Saint Barsanuphius, the Prophet, Saint John

With the practical aim of guiding the brothers at his monastery in the wilderness of northern California, Fr. Seraphim Rose set out to select and translate these counsels of Saints Barsanuphius the Great and John the Prophet, Desert Fathers of 6th-century Palestine. He found that many of the questions posed to Saints Barsanuphius and John were not unlike those asked by Christian strugglers of today. The answers of the saints expose the nature of the vices, and show how to overcome them and acquire virtue. GUIDANCE TOWARD SPIRITUAL LIFE also includes the Life of Saints Barsanuphius and John by Saint Nicodemus of Mount Athos, as well as selected passages from the Spiritual Homilies of St. Macarius the Great of Egypt.