The Enlargement of the Heart

This is the Second American Edition of The Enlargement of the Heart, now published with invaluable indexes (of Scriptural References and of Names and Subjects). Already regarded as a classic, The Enlargement of the Heart consists of a series of remarkable presentations on the nature and purpose of human existence in Saint Silouan the Athonite (1866-1938) and Elder Sophrony of Essex (1896-1993), and an Appendix comprised of two lectures on Monasticism. Delivered in Wichita, Kansas, at the 2001 Clergy Brotherhood Retreat of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church, each lecture is published here in full together with its Asides and corresponding Questions & Answers.

The Very Reverend Dr. Zacharias Zacharou is a disciple of Elder Sophrony and a member of the Monastery of Saint John the Baptist, Essex, England. Of Greek Cypriot heritage, Fr Zacharias is the official translator of Elder Sophrony’s writings from Russian into Greek, and holds degrees in Theology from the Institute of St. Sergius in Paris, France, and the University of Thessalonica, Greece, also receiving the degree of Doctor of Theology from the latter institution for his work on the theology of Elder Sophrony, which was published in English as Christ, Our Way and Our Life: A Presentation of the Theology of Archimandrite Sophrony (2003). Also published in English are The Hidden Man of the Heart (1 Peter 3:4): The Cultivation of the Heart in Orthodox Christian Anthropology (2008), and Remember Thy First Love (Revelation 2:4-5): The Three Stages of the Spiritual Life in the Theology of Elder Sophrony (2010). Archimandrite is fluent in Greek, English, French and Russian, and is intimately familiar with the traditions of the Greek and Russian liturgical practice. In May of 2011 he was awarded the honorary doctorate from Saint Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, in recognition of his remarkable contribution to the spiritual life of the Church in America.