One of the youngest Fathers of our Church is the Russian Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov (1807-1867), bishop of the Caucasus and the Black Sea, whose works have been translated and published by the Holy Monastery of Paraklitou for several years now.

So far, ten volumes have been published containing texts of various content, which summarize the ecclesiastical teaching on Christian life, where ascetic rigor and philanthropic leniency, patristic precision and spiritual freedom, theological depth and evangelistic simplicity, monastic introspection and social sensitivity, pragmatic thought and poetic lyricism coexist harmoniously.

Having mastered the patristic literature perhaps more than any other clergyman of his time, possessing rich spiritual experiences of ascetic life, knowing all branches of worldly science, discerning the real causes and simultaneously predicting the inevitable consequences of the social problems of his era - an era not very far from our own, yet one of general confusion like ours - and, alongside all this, being endowed with a rare literary gift, Saint Ignatius stands as one of the main connecting links between modern man and patristic wisdom.

A divinely enlightened teacher of orthodox piety who guides every Christian in the sober adaptation of the teachings of the ancient holy Fathers to today's spiritual and social conditions.

This volume contains the second part of the work "A Contribution to Modern Monasticism," internationally known by its English translation under the title "The Arena." It is the first complete Greek translation.