So little is certain about Nil Sorsky’s life that any attempt to introduce him must be speculative. Born in Russia about 1433, he traveled to Mount Athos, where he likely immersed himself in hesychastic monasticism. On his return to Russia he founded a scete in a forest on the banks of the Sora river. His writings aimed at providing instruction for the monks around him, along with what the translator of this edition calls “hesychastic ‘distance learning.’”

The “Predanie” or Tradition starts with a creed and then states that everything that follows is culled from the Fathers, rather than being original to Sorsky himself. What follows is a set of rules for the monks of the scete. They are to live by their own labor, accepting alms only if sick. When buying requisites, they are not to haggle over the price. There should be no luxuries or excesses beyond that which is strictly necessary.

The longest text is the “Ustav” or treatise on Mental Activity, a sort of how-to manual for hesychasts. As with all of Sorsky’s writings, the Ustav refers to the authority of tradition, beginning with Jesus (“out of the heart,” etc., Matthew 15:19), and then quoting from Sorsky’s neptic predecessors. He gives instructions for the life of the hesychast, a life that can only be lived removed from worldliness, and that consists of a daily round of psalms, reading, prayer, and labor. Like Evagrius and Cassian, he lists eight vices along with methods of dealing with them. Tears, grieving, and contrition for one’s sins are recommended on the path to achieving stillness, characterized by freedom from the cares of the world.

The book ends with some shorter letters of encouragement and advice.

The translator says in his preface that he aimed to produce a “faithful” (i.e., literal) translation, but I found it very readable. It comes with real footnotes, too, and not those unwieldy endnotes you find in many books today. Sorsky approaches the spiritual life with the same uncompromising rigor we find in Evagrius, Cassian, and the Philokalia.

David M. Goldfrank, trans. Nil Sorsky: The Authentic Writings. Kalamazoo, Mich.: Cistercian Publications, 2008. Paperback. 393 pages. ISBN 978-0879073213. $39.95.

From my blog at http://true-small-caps.blogspot.com