Ancient Monastic Rules

The Rules of St. Pachomius, St. Basil, St. John Cassian, and St. Benedict, Collected by St. Theophan the Recluse

By: St. Theophan the Recluse

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

The Foundations of Christian Monasticism

Ancient Monastic Rules gathers in one substantial volume the great early guides to the common life: St. Pachomius the Great, St. Basil the Great, St. John Cassian, and St. Benedict of Nursia.

Collected by St. Theophan the Recluse from the 1892 Russian edition, this work brings together the spiritual architecture of Christian monasticism: obedience, prayer, labor, fasting, humility, repentance, brotherly love, correction, and the disciplined pursuit of holiness.

This is not merely a historical curiosity. It is a treasury of ascetic wisdom showing how the ancient Church understood the formation of the monk, the ordering of the monastery, and the common life as a school for the Gospel.

Readers interested in Orthodox spirituality, Russian Orthodox literature, desert fathers, monastic rules, Christian asceticism, Benedictine tradition, and the writings of the saints will find here a rare and deeply serious collection of foundational texts.

Included in this volume:

• The Rule of St. Pachomius the Great
• The Rule of St. Basil the Great
• The Rule of St. John Cassian
• The Rule of St. Benedict of Nursia
• Introductory and contextual material connected with St. Theophan’s collection

Prepared as a durable Rare Orthodox Books edition for monks, clergy, scholars, seminarians, Orthodox readers, and serious students of Christian spiritual life.