The Field: Cultivating Salvation

The spiritual harvest requires a heart that is harrowed by repentance, softened by compunction, and irrigated by tears.

The field is a place of cultivation and of battle. In this volume the nineteenth century Christian saint and teacher Ignatius (Brianchaninov) instructs his reader in the cultivation of the field of their hearts, with the aim of producing a harvest of virtues both pleasing to God and of benefit to all humankind. Drawing on his own military background St Ignatius recognizes that this cultivation requires discipline and awareness of the enemies that thwart our efforts to live a holy life. His words combine spiritual wisdom with reflections on nature that hint at the joy awaiting those who embrace the saint’s call.

The Field draws deeply on the teachings of the ascetic fathers of the Church, from the desert dwellers of Scetis in Egypt to his Russian contemporaries the Optina Elders. He demonstrates how their voice is one in guiding us on the Christian path. It will be impossible for either lay people or monastics to read these words without being challenged and inspired to follow Christ more fully in cultivating the field of their own life.