The Ascetical Homilies of Isaac the Syrian

The Ascetical Homilies of Isaac the Syrian, also known as the First Part, is a collection of homilies on the topic of Christian asceticism and prayer written by Saint Isaac the Syrian.

Structure

According to Abdisho bar Berika, Isaac's works were divided into seven volumes. This division, however, has since been lost. The English translation by the Holy Transfiguration Monastery has seventy-seven homilies and two appendices, while other translations differ slightly in their number of homilies. Additionally, some translations bear more or less passages, as is the case with the West versus East Syriac versions. The order of the homilies does not appear to follow any clear structure, but is preserved from the oldest extant manuscripts. Each homily discusses various aspects of the Christian life, such as virtue, vice, struggle, and faith.

Ordering of homilies

Individual homilies are ordered differently in various versions of the text. The first column lists the 77 numbered homilies in the second edition of the English translation by the Holy Transfiguration Monastery.

English	Western Syriac	Eastern Syriac	Ancient Greek	Greek	Russian
1	1	1	1	1	1
2	2	2	2	30	2
3	3	3	3–4	82–83, 44–45	3–6
4	4	4	5	23	56
5	5	5	6	5	57
6	6	6	7	56	74
7	7	7	15	22	67
8	8	8	8	21	61
9	9	9	9	41	7
10	10	10	10	70	62
11	11	11	11	10	63
12	12	12	14	11	66
13	13	13	12	14	64
14	14	14	13	15	65
15			16	43	8
16			17	2	68
17			18	7	9
18	15	15	19	9	59
19	16	16	20	13	69
20	17	17	21	29	70
21	18	18	22	75–79	10–14
22	19	20–21
23	20	22	23	31–32	15–16
24	21	23
25	22	24
26	23	25	26	67	17
27	24	26
28	25	27	27	84	18
29	26	28	28	74	19
30	27	29
31			29	80	20
32	28	30	24	42, 55	71
33	29	31
34	30	32	30	68	72
35	31	33	31	24	73
36	32	34	32	16	74
37	33	35	33	85	21
38	end of 33	end of 35	34	47	22
39	34	36	25	51–54	60
40	35–36	37–38	35	26	75–76
41	36	38	36	27	77
42	37	39	37	46	78–79
43	38	40	38	17	80–81
44	39	41	39	Epistle 1	23
45	40	42	40	Epistle 2	24
46	41	43	41	72	82–83
47	42	44	42	18	84
48	43–44	45–46	43	73	85
49	45	47	44	39–40	86–87
50	46	48	46	57	88
51	47	50	47–48	58, 60	89–90
52	48	51	49	62–65	25–28
53	49	52	53	66	29
54	50	53	54–55	33, 3	30–31
55	51	55	56	61	32
56	52	57	58	25	91
57	53	58	59	37	34
58	54	64	57	59	33
59	55	59	60	4	35
60	56	60	61	36	36
61	57	61	62	48	37
62	58	62	63	38	38
63	59	63	64	35	39
64	60	65	65	34	40–41
65	61	66	66	Epistle 3	42
66	62–63	67–68	67	69	43
67	64	69	68	12	44
68	65	70	69	8	45
69	66	72	70	49	46
70	67	73	71	50	47
71	68	74	72	81	48
72	69	77	73	19	49
73	70	78	74	6	50
74	71	79	75	71	51
75	72	80	76	28	52
76	74	81	78, 79	86, Epistle 4	54, 55
77	73	82	77	20	53
A.1		19
A.2		49
A.3		54
A.4		56
A.5		71
A.6		75
A.7		76

Content

The Ascetical Homilies were written primarily for an audience of monastics in the Church of the East, although the book has proved beneficial to both laity and tonsured. As Kallistos Ware says, " are addressed not just to the desert but to the city, not just to monastics but to all the baptized. With sharp vividness he speaks about themes relevant to every Christian: about repentance and humility, about prayer in its many forms, both outer and inner, about solitude and community, about silence, wonder, and ecstasy." In the book, Isaac teaches the process of purification through ascetic labors, especially that of stillness and wakefulness, using frequent references to both scripture and earlier Church Fathers. He writes from practical experience as an anchorite in the desert, rather than in merely conceptual terms.
Isaac has been honored as a spiritual guide throughout history, as is evidenced by the numerous translations of his works. According to Sebastian Brock, Isaac is "indubitably one of the most profound writers on spirituality produced by the Syriac Churches." Donald Allchin goes even further, calling Isaac "one of the greatest spiritual writers of the Christian East." Furthermore, Joseph the Hesychast once said, "If all the writings of the desert fathers which teach us concerning watchfulness and prayer were lost and the writings of Abba Isaac the Syrian alone survived, they would suffice to teach one from beginning to end concerning the life of stillness and prayer."
Throughout his writings, Isaac the Syrian emphasizes the necessity of stillness for purification. Nonetheless, he also recognized the different roles within the body of the Church and their different abilities to adhere to strict stillness and ascetic practice. In Homily 4, he says, "Yet if there be someone who cannot practice stillnesssince it is the grace of God that brings a man within the doorlet him not forsake the other way, lest by doing so he have no share in either of the paths of life." And again, in Homily 72, "But lo, the majority of men to not attain such innocency... For in all the measures of every way upon which each man journeys to Him, God opens before him the gate of the Kingdom of the Heavens."
According to Isaac, God's love cannot be overcome by sin or by the powers of evil. Like his contemporary, Maximus the Confessor, Isaac understands the divine love to function as both the joy of the holy and the torment of the evil. In his view, the Incarnation occurred because of both this love and because of the need created by mankind's sins.

Influences

In writing The Ascetical Homilies, Isaac the Syrian was influenced by the spiritual and theological work of Evagrius, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Dionysius the Areopagite, and John the Solitary, though chiefly by Evagrius. The Evagrian emphasis on the importance of scripture can be seen in The Ascetical Homilies, where Isaac often quotes and interprets verses. In the 7th-century Church of the East in general, schools of exegesis were created not only for monastics and clergy, but for laity as well. It was at these schools that they could learn to read, write, and memorize scripture.

Reception

A renewed interest in The Ascetical Homilies of Isaac the Syrian has emerged in the twentieth century. Nevertheless, Isaac's writings have been held in high esteem within Eastern Christian literature for centuries. Yuhanna ibn Bukhtishu said that Isaac spoke "the language of the heavenly ones." Explaining the purpose of his writings, Isaac says, "I now compose this homily for the kindling and enlightenment of our souls, and of those who come across it, with the hope that, perchance, some might rouse themselves by reason of their desire for what I speak of, and endeavor to practice it.".
A beloved spiritual classic in Russia, frequent mention is made of The Ascetical Homilies in The Way of a Pilgrim. The Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky owned an 1858 translation of Isaac's writings, and consequently mentions them twice in The Brothers Karamazov. This demonstrates the cultural importance of the book in 19th-century Russia. Yet not only were the homilies famous in Eastern Europe, but also in Western Europe. It is documented that Queen Mary of Aragon owned two copies of the Catalan translation. Notably, Christopher Columbus' son Hernando Columbus possessed a copy of the same translation, and it was likely taken by the translator, Bernardo Buil, on Columbus' second voyage. If this is true, it could arguably make Isaac's The Ascetical Homilies one of the first books brought to the New World.
The Ascetical Homilies are directly quoted in the Evergetinos, in the Life of Saint Cyril of Philea, and in the Philokalia by Peter of Damascus. The book was also read and quoted by many of the hesychastic writers of the 14th century, such as Gregory Palamas. Contemporary spiritual teachers such as Orthodox Saints Ieronymos of Aegina, Nilus of Sora, Joseph the Hesychast, Paisios the Athonite, Evmenios Saridakis, and Seraphim of Sarov attest to the great spiritual wisdom of Isaac the Syrian in ''The Ascetical Homilies.''

Criticism

Isaac's writings initially received some backlash, as the Church historian Isho'dnah recorded. According to him, Daniel Bar Tubanitha, the Bishop of Beth Garmai, found fault with three propositions in Isaac's writings.
More recently, the reception of The Ascetical Homilies has been affected by the establishment of the fact that Isaac was a member of the Church of the East. However, as Eric Jobe wrote, "...even if we acknowledge, as scholars unanimously do, that St. Isaac was the Eastern bishop of Nineveh, this does not necessitate that he had a thoroughly Nestorian Christology." The label of Nestorianism on the Church of the East has stifled the proliferation of The Ascetical Homilies. According to Kallistos Ware, "Cut off by language and politics from the Churches of the Roman Empire and branded Nestorian, the Church of the East produced in isolation a rich theological literature which is only now becoming known to outsiders. Yet over the centuries and in all parts of Christendom, Isaac's works have been read and recommended as unquestionably orthodox." Some scholars, such as Alexei Sidorov, argue that there was a pro-Chalcedonian movement within the Churches of the East at that time, and that Isaac could very well have been a proponent of this Chalcedonian Christology.

Translations

Within a hundred years of Isaac's death, his The Ascetical Homilies were already famous, and were referred to and quoted from in Syriac literature. They were translated from a West Syriac manuscript into Greek at Mar Saba monastery by Abbas Patrick and Abramius, then from Greek into Arabic, Georgian and Latin, and finally into Amharic and Slavonic. The first Slavonic translator may have been a disciple of Gregory of Sinai. The oldest known manuscript of the Latin translation is in the Laurentian Library in Florence and dates from the 13th century. In the last two centuries, The Ascetical Homilies were also translated into German, English, Japanese, Malayalam, and Persian. Some notable full translations are:

Georgian translation by Euthymius the Athonite
Latin edition printed in Barcelona
Castilian translation by Bernardo Buil
Greek printed edition by Nikephoros Theotokis
Slavonic translation by Paisius Velichkovsky
Russian translation by Sergei Sobolevsky
Syriac text transcribed by Paul Bedjan
English translation by A. J. Wensinck
Modern Greek translation by Kallinikos of the Monastery of Pantokrator
Modern French translation by Jacques Touraille Desclée de Brouwer
Italian translation by Gallo & Bettiolo
English translation by Hansbury
Modern French translation by Placide Deseille Monastère Saint-Antione-Le-Grand & Monastère de Solan
English translation by Holy Transfiguration Monastery
Italian translation by Artioli
Italian translation by Chialà

Manuscripts

The following manuscripts were used by the Holy Transfiguration Monastery editors to establish the Greek and West Syriac texts used for their English translation.

Manuscript	Language	Date	No. of folios	No. of homilies	Notes
Paris 693	Greek	9th century	78	16	end of Homily 1–middle of Homily 16
Paris 390	Greek	10th century	182	30	Homilies 3–51
Mar Sabbas 157	Greek	10th century	229		30 folios contain a selection of 10 homilies.
Lavra 335	Greek	late 10th century	68	26	Homilies 4–47
Koutloumousiou 12	Greek	11th century	242		The first 90 folios contain 27 homilies.
	Greek	11th or 12th century	258	37	From Homily 38 to the Epistle to Abba Symeon.
Mar Sabbas 407	Greek	12th or 13th century	423		157 folios contain all but 8 of the homilies.
Vatican 605	Greek	1326	280		Contains all but 3 of the homilies. This MS most resembles the 1770 Greek printed text by Nikephoros Theotokis.
Hagios Stavros 79	Greek	14th century	200	29	Homilies 3–37
	Greek	14th century	190	37	From Homily 38 to the Epistle to Abba Symeon
	Greek	1371	300		The first 283 folios contain all the homilies.
	Greek	1374	501		Contains all the homilies. Its text is identical to Sinai 408.
	West Syriac	9th or 10th century	216		The first 129 folios contain Homilies 21–70.
Vatican Syriac 124	West Syriac	14th century	350		The first 273 folios contain all the homilies.

Selected quotations

The following quotations are from The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian by the Holy Transfiguration Monastery.

Love sinners, but hate their works; and do not despise them for their faults, lest you be tempted by the same trespasses.
Just as the dolphin stirs and swims about when the visible sea is still and calm, so also, when the sea of the heart is tranquil and still from wrath and anger, mysteries and divine revelations are stirred in her at all times to delight her.
Stillness mortifies the outward senses and resurrects the inward movements, whereas agitation does the opposite, that is, it resurrects the outward senses and deadens the inward movements.
What is the sign that a man has attained to purity of heart, and when does a man know that his heart has entered into purity? When he sees all men as good and none appears to him to be unclean and defiled, then in truth, his heart is pure.
Until we find love, our labor is in the land of tares, and in the midst of tares we both sow and reap, even if our seed is the seed of righteousness.
A serpent guards its head when its body is being crushed, and a wise monk guards his faith at all times, for this is the origin of his life.

Modern English publications

The following is a list of books which either contain the works of Isaac the Syrian, in whole or part, or which discuss his writings.
;Translations

Brock, Sebastian. 1999. "From Qatar to Tokyo, by way of Mar Saba: The Translations of Isaac of Beth Qatraye " in ARAM Periodical. Vol 1112.
Brock, Sebastian. 2022. Headings on Spiritual Knowledge: The Second Part, Chapters 13..
Brock, Sebastian. 1995. Isaac of Nineveh : The Second Part, Chapters 441..
Brock, Sebastian. 2011. The Prayers of St. Isaac the Syrian..
Brock, Sebastian. 2006. The Wisdom of Saint Isaac the Syrian: A Bilingual Edition..
Bedjan, Paul. 2007. The Ascetical Homilies of Mar Isaac of Nineveh. In Syriac..
Hansbury, Mary T. 1989. St. Isaac of Nineveh on Ascetical Life: English and Syriac Edition..
Hansbury, Mary T. 2016. Isaac the Syrian's Spiritual Works..The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian. Holy Transfiguration Monastery. 1984..The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian, Revised Second Edition. Holy Transfiguration Monastery. 2011..
Wensinck, A. J.. 1923. Mystical Treatises by Isaac of Nineveh: Translated From Bedjan's Syriac Text With An Introduction And Registers..

;Studies

Alfeyev, Hilarion. 2016. The Spiritual World of Isaac the Syrian..
Allchin, A. M. 1989. The Heart of Compassion: Daily Readings with St. Isaac of Syria..
Brock, Sebastian. 2009. Discerning the Evagrian in the Writings of Isaac of Nineveh: A Preliminary Investigation.
Hagman, Patrick. 2010. The Asceticism of Isaac of Nineveh..