Palladius was a monk from Galatia, who spent many years in the Egyptian deserts compiling the history of Christian monasticism. He went to Egypt in A.D. 388, spending three years around Alexandria visiting the countless hermitages. He went inland to the Nitrian Desert where he stayed for another three years. As the settlement at Nitria continued to grow, some of the more serious ascetics found they needed more solitude and moved nine miles away into a desolate area of the desert later called Cellia. Palladius spent nine years with the Orthodox hermits there and recorded many stories about them. This volume is of inestimable value since it is an eye-witness account of the desert monastic life and spirituality of the 4th century.

Vol IV - St Cyril of Alexandria's Commentary on the Gospel of St John - Part I

St Cyril is one of the most important of Oriental Orthodox theologians, yet until recently he had been rather neglected by Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic scholars. Nevertheless, in the 19th century a translation in two parts was made of his Commentary on the Gospel of St John.

This first volume was translated by E.P. Pusey, and although the language is rather formal and requires a little attention, the subject matter is of such great value and importance that it is worth the effort of study.

Vol V - St Cyril of Alexandria's Commentary on the Gospel of St John - Part II

This is the second part of the important translation of the Commentary on St John's Gospel by St Cyril of Alexandria.

This volume was translated by H.P. Liddon. The style is rather easier than that of the first part of the Commentary.

Vol VI - The Ascetic Discourses and Three Letters of St Philoxenus of Mabbugh

Philoxenus of Mabbugh was one of the best of Syriac prose writers, and a vehement champion of the Anti-Chalcedonian movement in the end of the 5th and beginning of the 6th centuries.

It was probably during the earlier years of his episcopate that Philoxenus composed his thirteen discourses on the Christian life. His works were widely distributed in earlier centuries as an indication of his importance and popularity.

Vol VII - The Syriac Chronicle of Zachariah of Mitylene

The Syriac Chronicle of Zachariah of Mitylene is a very important source of information about the anti- Chalcedonian communion to the middle of the 6th century. It contains letters by many of the patriarchs and leading figures of the resistance to Chalcedon, as well as documentary evidence of the basis of the long standing and principled objection to the Chalcedonian position. This translation of the Syriac Chronicle of Zachariah of Mitylene was produced by F.J. Hamilton and E.W. Brooks in 1899.

Vol VIII - The History of the Coptic Patriarchs to 849 AD

The History of the Patriarchs of Alexandria is the Liber Pontificalis of the Coptic church. This history of the first centuries of the Coptic church is based above all on Eusebius and some primitive Acts, But from the seventh century on, and above all from the era of the Arab conquest, the history of the patriarchs becomes much more complete and more interesting. Here we have a series of real biographies written by contemporary authors, such as John the Deacon, in the time of the patriarch Michael I, and George, archdeacon and syncellus of the patriarch Simon.

Vol IX - Selected Writings of St Cyril of Alexandria

St Cyril of Alexandria is one of the greatest Fathers of the 5th century, well known for his contributions to the Christological debates concerning Nestorius. This collection of some of his important Christological and controversial works contains some of his most well known texts, such as 'That Christ is One', his writings against Nestorius, and his Scholia on the Incarnation. This volume also contains fragments fron his writings against Theodore, Diodore and the Synousiasts. This translation of these writings by St Cyril of Alexandria was first published in 1881 and was translated by P.E. and E.B. Pusey.

Vol X - The Kebra Nagast or Book of Kings

The Kebra Nagast, or the Book of the Glory of Kings, is an account written in Ge'ez of the origins of the Solomonic line of the Emperors of Ethiopia. The text, in its existing form, is at least seven hundred years old, and is considered by Ethiopian Christians to be an inspired and reliable account. Not only does it contain an account of how the Queen of Sheba met Solomon, and about how the Ark of the Covenant came to Ethiopia with Menelik I, but contains an account of the conversion of the Ethiopians to the worship of the "Lord God of Israel".

Vol XI - The Bazaar of Heracleides

The Bazaar of Heracleides is the apology written by Nestorius, the bishop of Constantinople after his deposition and exile as a result of the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD. The work appears to have been produced in 451 or 452, and is valuable because it allows the student of the Christological controversies of the 5th century, and especially those interested in the Oriental Orthodox response to those controversies, to come to an understanding of the considered theological position of one of the main opponents of St Cyril and his Christology.

This translation was produced in 1925 by G.R. Driver and Leonard Hodgson.


Vol XII - St Cyril of Alexandria's Commentary on the Gospel of St Luke - Part I

St Cyril of Alexandria is one of the greatest Fathers of the 5th century, well known for his contributions to the Christological debates concerning Nestorius, but his scriptural commentaries are less well known, and are harder to obtain in English translation. This commentary is especially important because it allows us to gain an insight into St Cyril’s theology through the medium of his writing about the Gospel of St Luke. This translation of the Commentary on the Gospel of St Luke by St Cyril of Alexandria was first published in 1859 and was translated by R. Payne Smith.

Vol XIII - An Introduction to Ethiopic Christian Literature

This brief work by J.M. Harden is not intended to be more than an introduction to Ethiopic Christian literature. Its purpose is to give as simple an account as possible of the Literature with which it deals. It seemed necessary to say something, first of all, of the language and the general history of the Church and country, which, to say the least, are not at all well known. Then follows a brief sketch of the literature as a whole. The concluding chapters deal each with one department of the literature, commencing with the Bible.

Vol XIV - In Production

In the 19th century the Syrian Orthodox Church provided bishops for discontented Anglo-Catholics in Britain, Portuguese Catholics in Ceylon and Old Catholics in America. In 1933 it responded to a crisis among the Byzasntine Orthodox in Hungary by consecrating a bishop for these congregations too. Although now a Metropolitan of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Abba Seraphim believes that there are certain parallels which may be construed to aid a more generous evaluation of these bishops and his detailed documentation, the fruit of 40 years research, provides the basis for such a re-assessment.