Intentionally anonymous and lacking concrete details of historical and cultural setting-and for many years suspected of messalianism-this collection of thirty memre discourses] has been long recognized as an important, yet understudied, work of the fourth century Syriac Church.

"The Liber Graduum "records the ups and downs of a real christian community and is not a theoretical projection. The author meanders through many themes, but always calls the readers back to the steps of Uprightness and Perfection.

So it is also with a person once he has lowered himself from al things that are on earth, has broken his mind night and day, who counts everyone else better than himself, has emptied himself from al he possessed and kisses the feet of his enemies. Our Lord will look upon this person's lowliness and send him the Spirit, the Paraclete, and he shall know the whole truth."(translation of the script on the cover)"

The thirteen "Discourses" of Philoxenos of Mabbug (445-523) were delivered to new monks at a monastery under his episcopal care. Written in elegant Syriac, the "Discourses" deal with the fundamentals of the monastic and ascetic life-faith, simplicity, fear of God, renunciation, and the struggle against the demons of gluttony and fornication. This is Philoxenos's longest work and his most popular. It avoids the strident character of his letters and commentaries that were composed to advance the anti-Chalcedonian movement.

This is the first English translation of an important Syriac text since the 1894 translation, now difficult to find. The introduction to this translation of the "Discourses" takes into account the scholarly work done and the books and articles published about Philoxenos in the past half century. There are no other titles in English that deal with the Discourses in this depth.