The ascetic writings of St. Isaac the Syrian (VII century), Bishop of Nineveh, filled with subtle spiritual knowledge and mystical experience, have always been a favorite reading not only of monks, but also of the laity of the Orthodox Church. The "Words of Asceticism" were translated from Syriac into Greek in the late ninth and early tenth centuries and became widespread in the Eastern Christian world. The first Slavic translation appeared in the XIV century. The vision of the spiritual depths, which the saint was vouchsafed, the wholehearted aspiration to God, penetration into the Divine mysteries put the writings of St. Isaac the Syrian on a par with the works of the greatest theologians of the Universal Church.