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John Cassian: Conferences is unavailable, but you can change that!

Drawing on his early experience as a monk in Bethlehem and Egypt, John Cassian (c. 365–c. 435) journeyed to the West to found monasteries in Marseilles and the region of Provence. Conferences is his masterpiece, a study of the Egyptian ideal of the monk.

“A good answer insofar as it concerns your goal,” he said. “But now what should be our aim, what direction should we take which, if closely followed, will bring us to our objective? This, above all, is something of which you ought to be aware.” We admitted, in all honesty, that we did not know. “As I have remarked already, every art and discipline is preceded by some objective,” he said. “The spirit points in a certain direction. There is an unwavering purpose in the mind. If this is not held on
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