lectures by metropolitan kallistos of diokleia books-video-audio
- Volume I: Patristics
- Volume II: Theology
- Volume III: Ecumenism
- Volume IV: Liturgy
- Volume V: Spirituality
- Volume VI: History
See detailed content below.
origins
by Jack Figel
I first met Metropolitan Kallistos 30 years ago when he came to Stamford, CT for a meeting of the Kievan Study Group (a bilateral ecumenical group of Ukrainian Catholics and Orthodox which His Grace helped organize). We have worked together frequently since then.
In early 2006, as the 10th Anniversary of the Orientale Lumen Conferences approached, I was inspired to video record greetings from high-ranking Church officials, both Catholic and Orthodox, with the intent of playing them at the opening session of the conference in June. I bought relatively inexpensive cameras, not expecting to use them other than for recording those 10th anniversary greetings. That was in 2006, the same year that Pope Benedict visited Patriarch Bartholomew for the Feast of St. Andrew on November 30th. I also arranged an invitation for myself to be present at the Phanar (offices of the Ecumenical Patriarchate) for the papal visit and used the cameras for that event.
Over the next few years, Metropolitan Kallistos and I discussed video recording lectures from courses he had taught at Oxford University that he would never have time to write as formal essays or public presentations. I offered to travel to Oxford and record them in his study/sitting room at his convenience. We agreed that the dates for our first recording session would be February 27 to March 1, 2009, a Friday through Sunday. I flew to London with cameras in hand, rented a car, drove to Oxford and stayed at the Galaxie Hotel, just a few blocks from his residence on Northmoor Road. We would typically record two lectures of 40-45 minutes before lunch, take a break until about 3 pm, then record two more lectures before going out to one of our favorite restaurants for dinner, The Boathouse, right on the River Cherwell.
For the next ten years, I made more recordings at his residence, as well as recording the annual Orientale Lumen Conferences and other special events. We repeated some form of our routine in Oxford many times: Sometimes I would stop on my way to or from some other event in Europe, or I would just fly there from Washington for a few days and fly home. Those trips were mostly during the Great Fast and would be like having a personal retreat with him as the spiritual director.
Most of the videos are topics from courses he taught, but one series is his 21 pastoral homilies for Lent, Pascha and Pentecost. Another series is his own “spiritual journey” into Orthodoxy and his career, while others are public lectures he gave at parishes on visits to Washington along with his talks from Orientale Lumen Conferences in Washington, England and Constantinople.
These lectures, well over 100 of them, have now been transcribed and slightly edited with corrected grammar and spelling of proper names. For the most part we have kept the origional words spoken by His Grace, particularly when referencing his audience or other lectures in a series. They are in six volumes organized into the following topics:
I: Patristics (preface by Father John Erickson, Orthodox Church in America)
II: Theology (preface by Archdeacon John Chryssavgis, Greek Orthodox)
III: Ecumenism (preface by Msgr. Paul McPartlan, Roman Catholic)
IV: Liturgy (preface by Archpriest Mark Morozowich, Ukrainian Greek Catholic)
V: Spirituality (preface by Archbishop Rowan Williams, Church of England)
VI: History (preface by Bishop John Michael Botean, Romanian Greek Catholic)
They represent the pastoral wisdom and academic expertise of one of the leading Orthodox theologians and ecumenists of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed recording them!
SEE THE CONTENTS OF EACH VOLUME BELOW, AND THE FOREWORDS BY CARDINAL KURT KOCH AND METROPOLITAN JOB OF PISIDIA.
patristics
Topics
Part 1: Mystical Theology of the Fathers (AE01 - 2009)
1-1. The Meaning of Mystical Theology
1-2. The Teachings of Evagrius of Pontus
1-3. St. Macarius of Egypt
1-4. St. Gregory of Nyssa
1-5. St. Isaac the Syrian
1-6. St. Symeon the New Theologian, Part 1
1-7. St. Symeon the New Theologian, Part 2
1-8. St. Gregory of Sinai
1-9. St. Gregory Palamas
1-10. Sts. Kallistos and Ignatios
Part 2: The Philokalia (AE44 - 2014)
2-1. What, Who, Why?
2-2. Spiritual Guidance
2-3. The Journey of Prayer
2-4. The Divine and the Human
2-5. Provisions for the Journey
2-6. A Living Tradition
Part 3: The Jesus Prayer (AE60 - 2017)
3-1. God is Great
3-2. Within the Heart
3-3. Pray without Ceasing
3-4. Glorify God with Your Body
3-5. Windows into Our Dark World
theology
Topics
Part 1: Mystery of the Church (AE25 - 2010)
1-1. Why the Church
1-2. The Church According to the Greek Fathers, Part 1
1-3. The Church According to the Greek Fathers, Part 2
1-4. The Church in 19th-Century Russian Thought
1-5. The Church in 20th-Century Orthodox Thought
1-6. The Church in Present Day Dialogues
Part 2: Doctrine of the Holy Trinity (AE27 - 2011)
2-1. What Difference Does It Make?
2-2. The Trinity through Sound and Sight
2-3. The Trinity through the Mystery of the Human Person
2-4. The Mystery of Mutual Love, Part 1
2-5. The Mystery of Mutual Love, Part 2
2-6. The Consequences of Mutual Love in Human Society
2-7. The Consequences of Mutual Love in Prayer
Part 3: Jesus Christ – The Same Yesterday, Today,
and Forever (AE37 - 2012)
3-1. For Our Salvation: Why Did God Become Man?
3-2. Christ the Second Adam, Irenaeus, and Recapitulation
3-3. “Human Understanding is Baffled:” Origen on the Person of Christ
3-4. The First Council of Nicaea
3-5. Mary as Theotokos
3-6. The Teachings of St. Cyril of Alexandria
Part 4: Mary and Her Feast Days (AE39 - 2014)
4-1. The Nativity of the Mother of God
4-2. The Presentation of the Mother of God in the Temple
4-3. The Annunciation to Mary by the Angel Gabriel
4-4. The Encounter of Jesus and Mary with Simeon
4-5. The Dormition of the Mother of God
4-6. The Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary
ecumenism
Topics
Part 1: Ecumenical Reflections (AE15)
1-1. Prophet, Liturgist, Hesycast (OL I - 1997)
1-2. Open to a New Situation: A Fresh Approach to Old Problems?
(OL II - 1998)
1-3. Eucharistic Sacrifice: Who Offers What to Whom? (OL IV - 2000)
1-4. What’s Our Bottom Line? (OL VIII - 2004)
1-5. Liturgy as Dialogue (OL EuroEast1 - 2004)
1-6. The Orthodox Church and thePrimacy of the Pope
(OL EuroEast2 - 2007)
1-7. The Holy Icon: Door into the Kingdom of Heaven (OL XI - 2007)
Part 2: Through the Years with Kallistos (AE54)
2-1. Monasticism as a Sacrament of Love (OL XIII - 2009)
2-2. The Council of Florence: A Success that Failed?
(OL EuroEast3 - 2010)
2-3. Rome and the Communion of Churches (OL XV - 2011)
2-4. The Sacrament of Love in a Broken World (OL XVIII - 2014)
2-5. Papal Primacy: Still an Insuperable Obstacle? (OL XIX - 2015)
2-6. Find Christ Everywhere: The World as Icon and Sacrament
(OL XX - 2016)
2-7. Orthodox Council of Crete (OL XXI - 2017)
2-8. The Chieti Agreed Statement (OL XXI - 2017)
2-9. Sister Churches: Fact or Fiction? (OL XXII - 2018)
Part 3: Other Ecumenical Lectures
3-1. Pope and Patriarch in Jerusalem: Future Opportunities
Villanova University, 2014
3-2. Reflection on Christian Unity Part 9 of
“Churches of the Christian East,” 2015
liturgy
Topics
Part 1: Inner Meaning of the Eucharist (AE13 - 2009)
1-1. The Meaning of Liturgy
1-2. One Liturgy: Heaven and Earth
1-3. The Holy Spirit in Liturgy
1-4. Eucharistic Sacrifice
1-5. Preparation for Liturgy
1-6. The Holy Gifts
Part 2: Our Lenten Journey (AE17 - 2010)
2-1. Our Personal Journey
2-2. Salvation in Christ
2-3. Transfiguration in Christ, Part 1
2-4. Transfiguration in Christ, Part 2
2-5. Transfiguration in Christ, Part 3
2-6. The Holy Trinity
Part 3: Journey to Pascha – Zacchaeus to Pentecost (AE69 - 2019)
3-1. Introduction
3-2. Zacchaeus, the Canaanite Woman
3-3. The Publican and the Pharisee
3-4. The Prodigal Son
3-5. Sunday of the Last Judgment
3-6. Sunday of Forgiveness
3-7. Sunday of Orthodoxy
3-8. Sunday of St. Gregory Palamas
3-9. Sunday of the Holy Cross
3-10. Sunday of St. John Climacus
3-11. Sunday of St. Mary of Egypt
3-12. Palm Sunday
3-13. Pascha: Easter Sunday
3-14. Thomas Sunday
3-15. Sunday of the Myrrh-bearers
3-16. Sunday of the Paralyzed Man
3-17. Sunday of the Samaritan Woman
3-18. Sunday the Man Born Blind
3-19. Ascension
3-20. Fathers the First Ecumenical Council
3-21. Pentecost
Part 4: Sacraments
4-1. The Seven Mysteries
4-2. Sacred Time
spirituality
Topics
Part 1: St. Seraphim of Sarov (AE40 - 2014)
1-1. In the Monastery
1-2. In Seclusion
1-3. The End of His Life
1-4. Teachings of Seraphim
1-5. Five Qualities of His Spirituality
1-6. After His Death
Part 2: Parish Spirituality (AE58 - 2011-2012)
2-1. Renew Your Faith in the Risen Christ
2-2. Heaven on Earth: The Inner Meaning of the Divine Liturgy
2-3. Confession and Inner Prayer
2-4. The Transfiguration of Christ
2-5. Christ in the Parish
2-6. The Holy Spirit in Our Daily Life
2-7. The Holy Spirit in the Eucharist
2-8. The Jesus Prayer in Daily Life
Part 3: My Spiritual Journey (AE52 - 2017)
3-1. Discovering Orthodoxy
3-2. Experiencing Orthodoxy
3-3. Author and Teacher
3-4. Ecumenical Reflections
3-5. Further Works
3-6. The Future
history
Topics
Part 1: Churches of the Christian East (AE47 - 2015)
1-1. Apostolic Times
1-2. The Seven Councils
1-3. Schisms
1-4. Reunion
1-5. The Ottoman Period
1-6. Mystical Theology
1-7. The Church
1-8. The Sacraments
1-9 Christian Unity Today
Part 2: 10th Anniversary Greetings (2006)
2-1. By Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew
2-2. By Metropolitan Kallistos
foreword by Cardinal Koch
Catholic Co-Chair of the Catholic-Orthodox Dialogue
I am delighted to offer this foreword to the series of volumes entitled Lectures from Oxford containing transcriptions of lectures by Metropolitan Kallistos Ware of Diokleia, one of the most remarkable Orthodox theologians of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. A witness to the Orthodox tradition in the West, Metropolitan Kallistos has contributed to making this tradition better known and loved, both through his scientific work and his talents as a teacher and lecturer.
Raised in the Anglican tradition, Kallistos Ware became Orthodox while studying classics, and throughout his life he never ceased to build bridges between East and West, between the Church of the Fathers and modernity, between spiritual life and scientific life. In 1966, he became both an Orthodox monk and a lecturer in Eastern Orthodox studies at Oxford University, a position he held for thirty-five years. In this dual capacity, Metropolitan Kallistos opened up Orthodoxy not only to his students but also to a very wide Christian public, not least thanks to his remarkable gift for explaining the Orthodox tradition in clear, attractive and stimulating language.
His book The Orthodox Church, first published in 1963, and since then reprinted several times and translated into many languages has been one of the most authoritative introductions to Orthodoxy for generations of readers and remains today, sixty years after its publication, a reference book. The wider Christian world is also indebted to Metropolitan Kallistos for his contribution to the translation and publication in English of classic Orthodox ascetical and liturgical texts, such as the Philokalia.
Metropolitan Kallistos was also one of the most committed players in the ecumenical dialogue between Orthodox and Western Christians, particularly with the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church, but also with the Evangelicals. In particular, I would like to pay tribute to the important role the Metropolitan played, as a representative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, in the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, where his erudition, wisdom and clarity were invaluable, particularly when the dialogue resumed in 2006.
The six-volume Lectures from Oxford series, which includes edited transcriptions of over a hundred video recordings, is an exceptional document. Metropolitan Kallistos, in the evening of his life, sums up his thoughts in a lively style on the subjects that were most important to him: patristics, theology, ecumenism, liturgy, spirituality and history. Recorded by Jack Figel, founder and director of the Orientale Lumen Foundation and Conferences, these lectures can be considered as a spiritual and intellectual testament of the late Metropolitan.
Like any good teacher, Metropolitan Kallistos had many disciples who today are active in the academic, ecclesial and ecumenical world. It is my hope that this series of Lectures from Oxford will continue to bear fruit and inspire new disciples to work for the unity of all the baptized, “so that the world may believe” (Jn 17:21).
foreword by metropolitan job
Orthodox Co-Chair of the Catholic-Orthodox Dialogue
I am pleased with the publication of this collection of transcribed lectures of the late Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia, also known by his civil name of Timothy Ware. He was undoubtedly one of the great figures of the Orthodox Church of the 20th century. His very first book, The Orthodox Church, became a bestseller and remains to this day, in my opinion, the best introduction to Orthodoxy. Patrologist, translator of liturgical texts and of the Philokalia, ecumenist, university professor, he was also a great pastor who contributed not only to the education but also to the spiritual direction of a large number of people, Orthodox and non-Orthodox, not only in the West, but also in the rest of the world.
My first personal meeting with him was in 1994, during a congress of theological faculties organized at the theological school of the Ecumenical Patriarchate on the island of Halki, not far from Constantinople, which unfortunately was closed by the Turkish authorities in 1971. That is when I heard him speak for the first time. His lectures were always clear and full of British humor, and we often felt like we were hearing a living Father of the Church speak.
Since then, over the years, a friendship has been forged. I had the opportunity to invite him to speak several times at the St.-Serge Institute of Orthodox Theology in Paris, when I was the dean, and to award him an honorary doctorate from the faculty. I also had the honor of seeing him sit on the jury during the defense of my habilitation thesis at the University of Lorraine. As a true master, he knew how to encourage his disciples in their research and their publications, and this is why a whole generation of young Orthodox theologians are indebted to him.
Metropolitan Kallistos contributed greatly to the bi-lateral theological dialogue between the Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church, of which he was a member for many years, and where he assisted the late Metropolitan of Pergamon John Zizioulas. He contributed also to the bilateral theological dialogue between the Orthodox Church and the Anglican Communion, of which he was co-president from 2007 to 2016. During that time was published the agreed document In the Image and Likeness of God, a product of six years of study and dialogue, which focuses on the mystery of the human person, created in “the Image and Likeness of God.” For the late Metropolitan, anthropology proved to be the central theme of theology in the 21st century.
In the present six-volume collection, the reader will be able to enjoy the clarity and depth of the unpublished lectures of the late Metropolitan on different themes of patristics, theology, ecumenism, liturgy, spirituality, and history. They will undoubtedly help us enter the “mystery of godliness”: “God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed in the world, received up into glory” (1 Tim. 3:16).
May the editors, Jack Figel and Douglas King, be thanked for making accessible these precious pearls which will serve for the spiritual edification of many generations of the faithful to come.