-
Hans Urs von Balthasar · 1955 · Book
Hans Urs von Balthasar wrote this compact theological meditation on prayer during the 1950s as part of his broader project to renew Catholic theology through a return to the great spiritual masters…
-
Thomas Merton · 1969 · Book
Thomas Merton's final book on prayer emerged from his mature understanding of contemplative spirituality, written in the last years before his death in 1968. The work synthesizes decades of monastic experience at…
-
Anthony Bloom · 1986 · Book
Anthony Bloom's "The Essence of Prayer" emerged from decades of pastoral experience as Metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Church in Western Europe, where he encountered countless believers struggling to develop authentic prayer…
-
Martin Luther · 1520 · Treatise
In 1520, the same year he published his three great Reformation treatises, Martin Luther also issued a small pastoral work in German for ordinary people who could not read Scripture for themselves.…
Read hereFreeOriginal languageEasy or light
-
Dumitru Staniloae · 1982 · Book
Prayer and Holiness emerged from Dumitru Stăniloae's decades of theological reflection as one of twentieth-century Eastern Orthodoxy's most systematic theologians. Written during his mature period following years of persecution under Romanian communism,…
-
Frank Laubach · 1990 · Book
Frank Laubach's "Man of Prayer" emerges from the missionary educator's decades of experimentation with what he called "the practice of the presence of God" while serving in the Philippines and later traveling…
-
E. M. Bounds · 1907 · Book
E. M. Bounds wrote this compact treatise on ministerial prayer during his final years as a Methodist preacher and writer, drawing from decades of pastoral experience in the American South and Midwest.…
-
Jean Daniélou · 1965 · Book
Jean Daniélou's brief but penetrating work emerged from the theological ferment of the 1960s, when questions about the church's relationship to the modern world pressed with particular urgency. Writing in the midst…
-
C. S. Lewis · 1964 · Book
Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer emerged from C. S. Lewis's final years as his last major work of Christian apologetics and spiritual reflection. Published posthumously in 1964, the book takes the…
-
Power of the Name The Power of the Name: The Jesus Prayer in Orthodox Spirituality
Kallistos Ware · 1974 · Book
This slender volume emerged from Kallistos Ware's desire to introduce Western Christians to one of Eastern Orthodoxy's most treasured spiritual practices. Writing in the early 1970s as Orthodox theology was gaining renewed…
-
Evagrius Ponticus · 380–399 · Treatise
The Praktikos stands as Evagrius Ponticus's foundational manual for the ascetic life, written during his years as a desert monk in Egypt's Nitrian wilderness in the late fourth century. Composed for fellow…
-
Oswald Chambers · 1958 · Book
If You Will Ask emerges from Oswald Chambers' conviction that most Christians live far below their spiritual potential because they have not learned to pray with biblical understanding and expectation. Drawing from…
-
Thomas Keating · 1994 · Book
Thomas Keating's "Intimacy with God" emerged from his decades of teaching centering prayer and contemplative practice at St. Benedict's Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado. Written as both an introduction to and deepening of…
-
Cyprian of Carthage · 252 · Treatise
Cyprian of Carthage wrote this treatise on the Lord's Prayer around 252, during a period when the North African church faced both external persecution and internal divisions over questions of Christian practice…
Free
-
Aelred of Rievaulx · 1142 · Treatise
Aelred of Rievaulx composed this treatise on pastoral prayer around 1142 during his tenure as abbot of the Cistercian monastery at Rievaulx in Yorkshire. Written for his fellow abbots and monastic superiors,…
Original language
-
Anthony Bloom · 1973 · Book
Courage to Pray emerged from Anthony Bloom's decades of pastoral experience as Metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Church in Western Europe, where he encountered countless believers struggling with the apparent silence of…
-
Anthony Bloom · 1971 · Book
God and Man emerged from Metropolitan Anthony Bloom's decades of pastoral ministry in London, where he served Russian Orthodox émigrés and growing numbers of British converts seeking authentic Christian spirituality. Writing in…
-
Tertullian · 198 · Treatise
For anyone wanting the earliest commentary on the Lord's Prayer and early prayer practice — short and devotional; not for a technical reader.
FreeOriginal languageModerate
-
Jean-Pierre de Caussade · 1741 · Treatise
Jean-Pierre de Caussade composed these spiritual instructions as dialogues to address the concrete questions that arose in his work as a Jesuit spiritual director in eighteenth-century France. Written for the nuns of…
-
Anthony Bloom · 1970 · Book
Beginning to Pray emerged from Metropolitan Anthony Bloom's pastoral work with seekers and new Christians in London, where his radio broadcasts and spiritual direction had revealed the profound confusion many felt about…
-
Gregory of Nyssa · 380–385 · Sermon
For readers who want the Lord's Prayer preached petition by petition, with a famous passage on the Spirit's procession in the third homily; no free English exists, so this is for Greek readers or buyers of Graef's translation.
Original languageModerate
-
Gisbertus Voetius · 1650 · Treatise
De Precibus stands as Gisbertus Voetius's systematic theological treatise on prayer, published in 1650 during the height of his influence at Utrecht University. Written in the aftermath of the Synod of Dort…
-
Blaise Pascal · 1659 · Treatise
Pascal composed this prayer during a period of intense physical suffering in 1659, when chronic illness had become his constant companion. The brilliant mathematician and philosopher, already known for his scientific achievements…
Original language
-
Arthur Hildersham · 1633 · Treatise
Arthur Hildersham's treatise emerged from his decades of pastoral ministry at Ashby-de-la-Zouch, where he witnessed both the spiritual vitality and moral struggles of English Puritanism in the early seventeenth century. Writing during…
