New: "The Desert Fathers: Saint Anthony and the Beginnings of Monasticism"

Here is a press release about a new Ignatius Press book, The Desert Fathers: Saint Anthony and the Beginnings of Monasticism, by Peter H. Görg (also available in electronic book format):

Monasticism and the Desert Fathers continue to fascinate readers centuries later
 
SAN FRANCISCO, September 22, 2011 – In the late third century, more and more people withdrew to the radical seclusion of the desert so as to live entirely for God under the direction of a spiritual father. Among these "Desert Fathers" one figure is especially preeminent: Saint Anthony the Hermit. Centuries later, the stories of these Desert Fathers and their profound influence on the monastic way of life continue to fascinate the modern reader.
 
This book takes the reader back to the hour when monasticism was born and describes the life of those revolutionary Christians who sought God in the Egyptian desert. The focus of the book is the life and work of Saint Anthony, whose experiences of the spiritual life have a timeless beauty and validity, even for those not called to live as a monk.
 
The second half of the book presents other Desert Fathers, such as Paul of Thebes, Pachomius, and Simeon Stylites, as well as the great founders of the monastic communities in Western Europe who were inspired by them: John Cassian, Columban, and Benedict, for example.
 
Author Peter Görg explains, "The monk's self-denial begins radically in precisely those departments of life which have perennially seemed to be the most important: ownership, self-determination and sexuality. At the same time those who admonish so uncomfortably become the salt that lends Christianity its original flavor. . . . Just as the saints are God's specific answer to the needs of a given time, so too are the religious orders that have been founded over the course of the centuries."
 
Mike Aquilina, author of The Fathers of the Church, says, "These are the men who taught the world to pray – really pray. They fled to the dessert to avoid the crowds, yet drew disciples from everywhere. They still do. They're drawing you and me, right now, to join them in the greatest adventure. Our desert begins in these beautiful pages by Peter Görg."
 
"These 'desert fathers' fostered a new charism in the Church. Görg's work is a fitting mix of history, hagiography, and spiritual theology. His writing is clear, accurate, exhortative and exciting. In these pages Saint Anthony and those who followed his legacy, like Pachomius, Simeon Stylites, Saint Benedict, and others, come alive and inspire the reader to do the same," says Father David Vincent Meconi, S.J., Assistant Professor of Patristic Theology at Saint Louis University and editor of Homiletic and Pastoral Review.
 
About the Author

Peter H. Görg studied philosophy and theology in the German universities of Vallendar, Fulda and Augsburg, where he received his doctorate in dogmatic theology in 2007. Dr. Görg is an assistant professor of systematic theology at the University of Koblenz. He has written numerous articles and reviews for theological journals.
 
Ignatius Press Marketing Director Anthony Ryan is available for interviews about this book. To request a review copy or an interview with Anthony Ryan, please contact: Rose Trabbic, Publicist, Ignatius Press, (239) 867-4180 or rose@ignatius.com