PSEUDO-DIONYSIUS

THE COMPLETE WORKS

translation by

COLM LUIBHEID

foreword, notes, and translation collaboration by

PAUL ROREM

preface by

RENE ROQUES

introductions by

JAROSLAV PELIKAN, JEAN LECLERCQ, AND KARLFRIED FROEHLICH

PAULIST PRESS

NEW YORK • MAHWAH

Cover Art:

The artist, Pomona Hallenbeck is a native of the southwest. Pomona now lives in New York City and teaches at schools and workshops in New York, Texas, New Mexico and Canada. She also does textile designs and multimedia education materials.

Copyright © 1987

by Colm Luibheid

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Pseudo-Dionysius, the Aeropagite.

Pseudo-Dionysius: the complete works.

(The Classics of Western spirituality)

Bibliography: p.

Includes index.

1. God—Knowableness—Collected works. 2. Spiritual life—Collected works. 3. Mysticism—Collected works. 4. Sacraments—Collected works.

I. Luibhéid, Colm. II. Rorem, Paul. III. Title.

IV. Series.

BR65.D6E5 1987 230′.14 87-2502

ISBN 0-8091-2838-1

Published by Paulist Press

997 Macarthur Boulevard

Mahwah, New Jersey 07430

THE CLASSICS OF WESTERN SPIRITUALITY

A Library of the Great Spiritual Masters

President and Publisher

Kevin A. Lynch, C.S.P.

EDITORIAL BOARD

Editor-in-Chief

John Farina

Editorial Consultant

Ewert H. Cousins—Professor, Fordham University, Bronx, N.Y.

John E. Booty—Professor of Church History, Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, Mass.

Joseph Dan—Professor of Kaballah in the Department of Jewish Thought, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel.

Albert Deblaere—Professor of the History of Spirituality, Gregorian University, Rome, Italy.

Louis Dupré—T.L. Riggs Professor in Philosophy of Religion, Yale University, New Haven, Conn.

Rozanne Elder—Executive Vice President, Cistercian Publications, Kalamazoo, Mich.

Anne Fremantle—Teacher, Editor and Writer, New York, N.Y.

Karlfried Froehlich—Professor of the History of the Early and Medieval Church, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, N.J.

Arthur Green—Associate Professor in the Department of Religious Studies, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa.

Stanley S. Harakas—Professor of Orthodox Christian Ethics, Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Seminary, Brookline, Mass.

Jean Leclercq—Professor, Institute of Spirituality and Institute of Religious Psychology, Gregorian University, Rome, Italy.

Miguel León-Portilla—Professor of Mesoamerican Cultures and Languages, National University of Mexico, University City, Mexico.

George A. Maloney, S.J.—Director, John XXIII Ecumenical Center, Fordham University, Bronx, N.Y.

Bernard McGinn—Professor of Historical Theology and History of Christianity, University of Chicago Divinity School, Chicago, Ill.

John Meyendorff—Professor of Church History, Fordham University, Bronx, ...