Fr John Chryssavgis is well known as a deeply knowledgeable and sensi tive interpreter of Orthodox ascetic and mystical writings Here he turns his insight and pastoral experience to the subject of passionate love eros as it reects in marriage as in celibacy the allconsuming love of God for human persons Profoundly ecclesial in its perspective thoroughly grounded in authentic Orthodox Tradition concerning the mystery of divine and human love this splendid volume will nurture any Christian married or celibate who seeks to understand the intimate relation between chastity and passion eros and ecstasy Fr John BreckSt Sergius Theological Institute ParisFr John Chryssavgis has an unusual quality for a theologian He has both a deep appreciation of the human condition and an understanding of the social context of the present time in which the theologian is destined to re ect At the same time he has the knowledge of the patristic scholar and the capacity to listen to those texts with the