Philokalia Ministries

Philokalia Ministries is the fruit of 30 years spent at the feet of the Fathers of the Church. Led by Father David Abernethy, a member of the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri since 1987, Philokalia (Philo: Love of the Kalia: Beautiful) Ministries exists to re-form hearts and minds according to the mold of the Desert Fathers through the ascetic life, the example of the early Saints, the way of stillness, prayer, and purity of heart, the practice of the Jesus Prayer, and spiritual reading. Those who are involved in Philokalia Ministries - the podcasts, videos, social media posts, spiritual direction and online groups - are exposed to writings that make up the ancient, shared spiritual heritage of East and West: The Ladder of Divine Ascent, Saint Augustine, the Philokalia, the Conferences of Saint John Cassian (a favorite of Saint Philip Neri, the founder of the Oratory), the Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian, and the Evergetinos. In addition to these, more recent authors and writings, which draw deeply from the well of the desert, are read and discussed: Lorenzo Scupoli, Saint Theophan the Recluse, anonymous writings from Mount Athos, the Cloud of Unknowing, Saint John of the Cross, Thomas a Kempis, and many more. Philokalia Ministries is offered to all, free of charge. However, there are real and immediate needs associated with it. You can support Philokalia Ministries with one-time, or recurring monthly donations, which are most appreciated. Your support truly makes this ministry possible. May Almighty God, who created you and fashioned you in His own Divine Image, restore you through His grace and make of you a true icon of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Philokalia Ministries is a religion podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 888 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Unknown Host hosts Philokalia Ministries, a religion show with 888 episodes published.

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  Episode #71

  The Ascetical Homilies of St. Isaac the Syrian - Homily XIX, Part II

  Aug 17, 20261h 5mS8

  There is a danger in reading passages such as this one from St. Isaac and hearing primarily a warning: Do not become negligent. Do not allow yourself to grow lax. Guard your solitude. Avoid unnecessary conversation. Do not permit the mind to become scattered. Certainly Isaac is warning us. His language is deliberately severe because he knows how fragile the beginnings of prayer can be. A heart newly awakened to God is like the tender blossom of a fruit tree. It possesses within itself the promise of fruit, but it can still be injured by a sudden frost. The mind that has begun to discover stillness can quickly become dispersed again. The heart that has tasted the sweetness of prayer can become strangely cold. But if we hear only the warning, we may miss something much more beautiful in Isaac’s words. The great concern of Homily 19 is not simply that we avoid negligence. It is that we recognize what has been given to us and take hold of it. Isaac is speaking to men and women who have tasted something. They have tasted God. “If fiery thoughts arise in you,” he writes, “through the consuming flame of divine things,” and you “enjoy a taste of God,” then guard what has been given to you. That changes everything. The ascetical life is not primarily the anxious preservation of spiritual discipline. It is the response of the heart to a gift. We guard prayer because we have discovered Someone in prayer. We seek stillness because within stillness we have begun to hear the voice of the Beloved. We withdraw from unnecessary occupations not because created things are evil, but because something infinitely more precious has begun to draw the heart. This is why Isaac can speak so dramatically about the loss of fervor. “Only the man who drinks deeply of this wine, and afterward is deprived of it, only he knows to what misery he has been abandoned.” One cannot miss the language of desire here. The tragedy is not simply that the monk has broken his rule. The tragedy is that he has allowed himself to become separated from something he has tasted and loved. He knows the wine. He remembers its sweetness. And now he thirsts. This is the deeper meaning of vigilance. Negligence Is Forgetfulness Negligence in the spiritual life is rarely simply laziness. At its deepest level it is forgetfulness. The heart forgets what it desires. Isaac tells us that through excessive conversation, unnecessary occupations, sensory dispersion, and involvement in countless affairs, “the object of her desire is blotted out from her mind.” That sentence may be the key to the entire passage. The object of her desire is blotted out. The danger of distraction is not merely that it wastes time. It obscures desire. We begin to forget why we are alive. We may continue doing many good things. We may remain religious. We may fulfill responsibilities. We may even continue praying. Yet somewhere beneath all this activity, the memory of God can grow faint. And once that memory fades, lesser desires begin to fill the empty space. The Fathers understood this with extraordinary psychological depth. The heart cannot remain without desire. If it ceases to be gathered toward God, it will inevitably become scattered among countless lesser things. This is why Isaac says: “Do not multiply your occupations, and you will not find turmoil in your mind, or in your prayer.” He is not preaching inactivity. He is teaching simplicity of heart. The question becomes: What possesses my attention because it possesses my desire? Take Hold of Grace There is another danger, however, subtler than negligence. We may imagine that because everything depends upon grace, we need only wait passively for God to act. Isaac knows nothing of such passivity. When grace visits the heart, take hold of it. When prayer becomes warm, remain there. When tears come, do not hurry away from them. When desire for God awakens, feed it. When silence begins to gather the mind, protect that silence. When the Name of Jesus descends even slightly from the lips toward the heart, treasure it. Not because grace can be possessed or controlled, but because love asks for a response. There is a holy cooperation between divine grace and human freedom. God awakens the heart, and the heart turns toward Him. God gives the thirst, and we begin to drink. God lights the flame, and we cease throwing cold water upon it through negligence. This is why the Fathers can sound simultaneously so uncompromising about asceticism and so utterly dependent upon grace. There is no contradiction. Asceticism is what love looks like when freedom responds to grace. The Stronger Attraction And here we reach something even deeper. Isaac does not ultimately believe that the Christian life is sustained by fear of distraction. It is sustained by attraction. The lesser things of life pull upon us. Conversation pulls upon us. Curiosity pulls upon us. Responsibilities pull upon us. Memories, anxieties, pleasures, opinions, news, recognition, work—all of these exert a gravitational force upon the heart. But there is another gravity. Divine love. And it is stronger. The spiritual life matures when we discover that holiness is not primarily a heroic attempt to tear ourselves away from the world. It is allowing ourselves to be drawn increasingly by the beauty of God. The Psalmist does not cry: My soul has disciplined itself for Thee. He cries: “My soul thirsted for Thee.” Thirst is attraction. Desire is attraction. Love is attraction. The heart has glimpsed the Face for which it was created, and suddenly everything else begins to reveal its proper measure. This is why the saints sometimes appear almost incomprehensible to us. Their detachment can look severe from the outside. But from within, something very different is happening. They are being drawn. Christ has become more beautiful than everything they have relinquished. The Memory of the Wine Perhaps this is why God sometimes permits us to experience the loss Isaac describes. We have known moments when prayer was alive. Moments when the Name of Jesus seemed to contain everything. Moments when silence was not empty but filled with Presence. Moments when tears came without effort. Moments when we knew—not merely intellectually, but existentially—that God was near. And then the heart became cold. We became distracted. We multiplied our occupations. We returned to noise. The temptation is to despair over this. Isaac gives us another way. Remember the wine. The memory of grace itself can become a summons. Not nostalgia for a spiritual experience, but remembrance of the One who gave Himself within it. The coldness reveals the thirst. The absence reveals the desire. And the heart begins again: Where are You? Why have I wandered so far from what my soul desires? When shall I come and appear before Your face? Even our sorrow over having lost the sweetness of prayer can become prayer. “If You Will” There is something here that echoes the great saying of Abba Joseph: “If you will, you can become all flame.” Not because we manufacture the fire. The fire is God. The desire is awakened by God. The grace is given by God. The attraction originates in God. But the human will must consent to being consumed. This is the dignity and trembling mystery of our freedom. Grace comes and says: Remain. And we must choose whether to remain. Love draws and says: Come. And we must choose whether to follow. The flame rises and says: Give yourself. And we must decide whether we will continue protecting the thousand little things that keep us divided, or allow ourselves finally to belong to the One who desires the whole heart. Isaac’s severity therefore conceals extraordinary tenderness. He is not telling us merely: Be careful what you lose. He is telling us: Look at what you have found. You have tasted something more precious than everything that distracts you. You have discovered the hidden wine. You have felt the beginnings of the fire. You have heard within yourself the ancient cry: “My soul thirsted for Thee, the mighty, the living God.” Do not be afraid merely of negligence. Be afraid of forgetting what your heart has discovered. And then turn again. Take hold of the grace that has taken hold of you. For beneath all our seeking is a greater seeking. Beneath our thirst is a deeper thirst. Beneath our desire for God is the immeasurably greater desire of God for us. In the end, it is not our weak attraction toward Him that will carry us home. It is the stronger pull of His love. Our task is to cease resisting it. To remain. To consent. And, if we will, to become all flame. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:03:04 Bob Čihák, AZ: P 219, paragraph 2 00:10:34 Janine: Oh great Miles is back! 00:12:04 James Hickman: I came across this today. It’s from April 10, so the group might already be familiar. Professor Matthew Minerd a Ruthenian Catholic scholar offers positive reasons for following the approach of The Evergetinos and the Apophthegmata among others as great models of theology for the dialectics and holy anecdotes. https://www.athomist.com/articles/monastic-stories-casuistry 00:12:16 Alan Henderson: Which work is Myles discussing 00:12:40 James Hickman: “Monastic Stories as a Method of Ascetical Casuistry” 00:13:25 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "Oh great Miles is ba..." with ❤️ 00:13:37 Janine: Oh that looks great! Thx James 00:13:38 Myles Davidson: Replying to "Which work is Myles ..." The Brothers Karamazov 00:14:46 Bob Čihák, AZ: P 219, paragraph 2 00:29:41 James Hickman: Driving is stillness lol 00:29:45 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: Matthew Kelly's new book is THE CONTENT DIET 00:30:04 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: Lots of practical helps... 00:30:18 Anna: No TV in my house for over a decade 00:30:35 Jesssica Imanaka: Reacted to "No TV in my house fo..." with 00:42:17 Janine: Even religious videos which are compelling need to go! 00:42:48 Myles Davidson: YouTube is my guilty pleasure I must admit 00:44:00 Jesssica Imanaka: Should it be at 3am? 00:44:17 Jesssica Imanaka: I mean the retreat! 00:45:01 Bob Čihák, AZ: Replying to "YouTube is my guilty pleasure I must admit" I agree. I do enjoy the many, modern, blessed short moratlity tales. 00:45:24 Bob Čihák, AZ: Replying to "YouTube is my guilty pleasure I must admit" oops blessedly 00:46:13 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "I agree. I do enjoy ..." with 00:49:09 Una: Can you give a kinder interpretation of "laymen"? 00:49:37 Una: Perhaps those uninterested in religion? 00:49:52 Myles Davidson: Replying to "YouTube is my guilty..." @Bob Čihák, AZ yes me too 00:51:33 Una: Great analogy, Maureen. 00:52:21 Myles Davidson: Would you say there is a ‘muscle memory’ aspect to hesychasm, in that if one loses it one can gain it again quickly? 00:52:36 Una: Reacted to "No TV in my house ..." with 00:52:42 Eleana Urrego: Reacted to "No TV in my house for over a decade" with 00:59:30 Jesssica Imanaka: I struggle with these exact issue at work all the time. The other day, I was bringing these very concerns to my spiritual director. In the university one has to do a lot of talking and many people are not faithful, to the say the least. How to keep returning to God during the flood of all this? 01:01:04 Jesssica Imanaka: I mean: exact issues... 01:03:07 James Hickman: Clausewitz was centuries late on the fog of war as Isaac describes here the inner spiritual struggle, the battle from within. The monk with self-control doesn’t win. He recognizes his need to call for heavy artillery, divine assistance from above. 01:03:37 James Hickman: The self-controlling monk does not win on his own* 01:05:00 Eleana Urrego: What about scapular or Benedict cross? when I go to work in mental health with families in their home I return literally drained 01:05:11 Jesssica Imanaka: Reacted to "What about scapular ..." with 01:08:34 Anna: I would never go without blessed items. Keep them on you always. 01:09:06 James Hickman: Reacted to "I would never go without blessed items. Keep them on you always. " with 01:10:55 Anna: Lol we're all hypocrites. No worries 01:11:24 Wayne: When involved in social work and going into situations that you describe, I found I would pray for protection and pray after and cleanse myself emotionally. 01:11:50 Jesssica Imanaka: Replying to "Lol we're all hypocr..." Thank you. 01:13:18 Jesssica Imanaka: I want to start getting into prostrations. 01:13:36 Joan Chakonas: I think it’s a good thing to display sacramentals and especially seeing religious in their habits and collars. Their physical presence is a reminder of God no matter where they are. They make God sense perceptible. 01:13:45 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "I want to start gett..." with 01:13:52 Eleana Urrego: Reacted to "I think it’s a good thing to display sacramentals and especially seeing religious in their habits and collars. Their physical presence is a reminder of God no matter where they are. They make God sense perceptible." with ❤️ 01:13:54 Jesssica Imanaka: Reacted to "I think it’s a good ..." with ❤️ 01:17:33 Jose E's iPad: Reacted to "I think it’s a good thing to display sacramentals and especially seeing religious in their habits and collars. Their physical presence is a reminder of God no matter where they are. They make God sense perceptible." with ❤️ 01:17:35 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you☺️ 01:17:37 Jesssica Imanaka: God preserve your health! 01:17:37 David Swiderski: Thank you Father may God bless you, your mother and everyone in this group. 01:17:40 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You Father 01:17:48 Jesssica Imanaka: Reacted to "Thank you Father may..." with ❤️ 01:17:53 Janine: Thank you Father 01:17:53 Gwen’s iPhone: Thank you 01:17:53 James Hickman: The image of extreme humility page 539 01:18:22 Janine: I wrote and it hasn’t appeared yet

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  Episode #250

  The Evergetinos: Book Three - Chapter IX, Part II

  Aug 11, 20261h 2mS6

  There is a great mercy hidden within these unsettling sayings from the Evergetinos. The Desert Fathers do not speak to us about spiritual warfare in order to make us preoccupied with the devil. They speak about it so that we might become sober, humble, and utterly dependent upon Christ. This is one of the great blessings the Desert Fathers continue to offer the Church. They expose what ordinarily remains hidden. Modern man tends to imagine temptation almost exclusively in terms of dramatic moral choices. We think of sin as something obvious placed before the will: Will I do this or will I not? But the Fathers understood the human heart far more subtly. Long before the temptation becomes an obvious choice, something has often already begun moving within us: a thought entertained, an irritation indulged, a desire awakened, an image cherished, a conversation replayed, praise secretly enjoyed, an injury remembered, a judgment formed, prayer postponed. The enemy rarely begins by asking us to renounce God. He asks only that we become slightly inattentive. And so Abba Simon gives us one of the most important sentences in tonight’s reading: “Keep watch inside your cell, and keep watch outside it.” The brother cannot understand why he leaves his cell, becomes caught up in the distraction of others, laughs when they laugh, talks when they talk, and then discovers upon returning that the peace he formerly possessed has disappeared. He wants to move between recollection and distraction without consequence. Abba Simon tells him gently but firmly: That is impossible. The heart carries within itself what it consents to. This is why nepsis—watchfulness—is so central to the spirituality of the desert. The Fathers discovered that the cell is not merely a physical room. Ultimately, the cell is the heart. We must learn to inhabit it wherever we are. Solitude without vigilance will not save us, nor will activity necessarily destroy us. What matters is whether the heart remains awake before God. The modern elders say the same. St. Porphyrios continually warned against becoming fascinated with darkness. We do not overcome darkness by staring at it. We turn toward Christ. St. Paisios likewise spoke with great realism about the suggestions of the enemy, yet his emphasis was always upon humility and trust in God. St. Silouan and St. Sophrony understood perhaps most deeply that spiritual warfare is finally a battle over where the heart will abide: in itself or in Christ. This is precisely why these passages must never be read merely intellectually. We can study the taxonomy of temptation and still remain utterly blind to ourselves. Indeed, that may itself become another temptation. The moment I read these sayings and begin identifying the passions of other people, I have already missed their purpose. The proper response is much simpler: There but for the grace of God go I. “Satan Is Not Dead” Perhaps the most sobering saying tonight is the Elder’s response to the man who declares, “I am dead to the world.” “You may say that you are dead, but Satan is not dead.” What extraordinary spiritual realism. The Fathers distrust premature declarations about ourselves. I have conquered this passion. I am beyond that temptation. This no longer affects me. I have reached dispassion. I understand myself now. No. The desert teaches us never to presume upon yesterday’s victory. This is not because the Fathers are pessimistic about grace. Quite the opposite. They are so convinced of the power of grace that they refuse to confuse grace with human self-confidence. A man who knows his weakness can be extraordinarily strong because he clings to Christ. A man convinced of his strength is already standing dangerously alone. This is why the account of the dying monk is so striking. Satan says, “You have eluded me,” and even then the Elder replies: “I do not yet know whether I have eluded you.” There is no spiritual swagger here. No confidence in accomplishments. No inventory of virtues. Only vigilance until the final breath. The Trembling of Agathon Then comes Abba Agathon. He has spent his life seeking God. Yet as death approaches and the brothers ask whether he is confident that his deeds have been pleasing to God, he answers: “God’s judgment is one thing, man’s another.” This is not neurotic scrupulosity. It is humility purified of illusion. Agathon knows something we continually forget: we cannot finally stand outside ourselves and judge our own souls. Even our virtues may contain admixtures we cannot perceive. Generosity may conceal a hunger to be needed. Zeal may conceal anger. Orthodoxy may conceal pride. Asceticism may conceal self-reliance. Service may conceal the desire for recognition. Even repentance itself can become subtly self-absorbed. Therefore Agathon places himself entirely before God. And notice how the story ends. He dies in joy. This is crucial. The humility of the Desert Fathers does not lead to despair. It leads to freedom. Agathon has nothing left to defend. Nothing to prove. Nothing to claim for himself. He places everything into the hands of God and ascends “as one who greets his friends and loved ones.” True humility ends in joy because it has surrendered the impossible burden of saving itself. The Vessels of the Enemy The extraordinary vision of Abba Makarios brings all of this together. The devil appears covered with vessels containing different means of temptation. One attacks prayer with drowsiness. Another Scripture with physical discomfort. Another obedience. Another chastity. Another speech. Another appetite. Another humility through pride. Another virtue through vainglory. Another remembrance of eternity through forgetfulness. The image may seem strange to us, but its psychological and spiritual insight is profound. The enemy studies where we are vulnerable. He does not tempt everyone identically. And more importantly, he frequently attacks us precisely where we are seeking God. When we pray, suddenly we become tired. When we seek silence, a hundred apparently urgent thoughts arise. When we begin fasting, food occupies our imagination. When we perform some good work, we begin wondering whether anyone noticed. When God gives us spiritual insight, we subtly begin thinking ourselves spiritually insightful. When we experience grace, we may begin secretly believing that the grace belongs to us. Even virtue can become the material of temptation. This is why Makarios sees vessels around the devil’s neck filled with pride and human glory. The enemy does not care whether he captures us through obvious vice or apparent virtue. He cares only that the gaze of the heart moves away from Christ and returns to itself. And perhaps the most frightening vessel is the one containing forgetfulness. The enemy makes “the memory of these things disappear.” Forgetfulness is not simply poor memory. In the language of the Fathers, it is an existential forgetfulness of God. We forget who we are. We forget whose we are. We forget death. We forget judgment. We forget mercy. We forget the Kingdom. We forget the presence of Christ. And once remembrance disappears, almost anything can enter. This is why the Jesus Prayer is so powerful. “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.” It is remembrance restored. The Name gathers the scattered heart. The Name interrupts the conversation with the logismoi. The Name returns us to Presence. Sitting With the Fathers This is why we need to journey with the Desert Fathers rather than merely read them. Their sayings are not curiosities from an exotic period of Christian history. They are maps of the human heart. We should read them slowly enough that they begin reading us. Where am I inattentive? Where have I become confident in myself? What thought do I repeatedly entertain? Where do I seek human approval? What happens to my heart after certain conversations? What destroys my recollection? What makes prayer difficult? Where has forgetfulness entered? And above all: Where am I relying upon myself rather than Christ? These questions should not produce anxiety. They should produce humility. The Desert Fathers were not obsessed with demons. They were captivated by God. Precisely because they desired God so intensely, they learned to recognize everything that sought to draw the heart away from Him. And they knew they did not fight alone. We live within the communion of the Church. The angels surround us. The saints intercede for us. The Mother of God shelters us. The prayers of the Church carry us. Our guardian angel accompanies us. And the Name of Jesus is placed upon our lips. The evil one may indeed be relentless. But he is not sovereign. Christ is. Makarios can interrogate the devil precisely because Christ has already conquered him. The powers of darkness are exposed because the Light has come into the world. And so vigilance is not fearfully watching for Satan behind every movement of life. Vigilance is keeping the heart turned toward Christ. The safest person spiritually is therefore not the one who thinks, I would never fall into that. It is the one who whispers: Lord, without You I could fall into anything. Keep me. Guard my heart. Give me remembrance of You. Send Your holy angels to protect me. Through the prayers of Your saints, preserve me from deception. And then we understand why we must keep returning to the desert. The Fathers know the terrain. They have watched thoughts arise and disappear. They have suffered temptation. They have fallen and risen. They have learned the terrible danger of self-confidence and the astonishing strength hidden in humility. They take us by the hand and teach us to watch. Inside the cell. Outside the cell. Until our final breath. Not because we are terrified of the darkness, but because we have discovered something infinitely more beautiful that we do not wish to lose sight of: the face of Christ. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:08:04 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: Volume 3 page 54 number 3 00:56:55 James Hickman: In the past year or so, certain Catholic exorcists have come under attack for describing a bit of their healing ministry. For instance, some attack the priests for revealing that the devil has told them x, y, or z. The attackers, who only seem to attack the priests behind their backs, say that the priests are either lying or that they’ve been misled by the devil, for the demons can’t be trusted. I trust these priests, and here Abba Macarius is just one more witness to the power of the Church to compel the demons, if it be God’s holy will, to share what otherwise we wouldn’t know. I suppose I’m sharing this hoping more of us will pray for these exorcists and for priests in general. Abba Macarius, pray for us! 01:04:00 Forrest: The appearance of the Devil in this story reminds me of an earlier hypothesis where a great saint laughed at a group of demons struggling to lift a single feather. How hard it was for them! Here the Prince of Demons wears many vessels with feathers attached. 01:04:25 Adam Paige: The 35 Doctors of the Church: Revised Edition by Rev. Christopher Rengers, O.F.M. Cap 01:18:27 Rebecca Thérèse: Uriah the Hittite 01:20:25 Julie: Thank you 01:21:03 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You , 01:21:10 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you☺️

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  Episode #70

  The Ascetical Homilies of St. Isaac the Syrian - Homily XVIII, Part II & XIX, Part I

  Aug 7, 20261h 12mS8

  There is a temptation in every generation to believe that the spiritual life consists primarily in learning new methods, acquiring hidden knowledge, or discovering techniques that promise quick access to God. St. Isaac the Syrian gently dismantles this illusion. When he speaks of the deeper forms of prayer, he deliberately refuses to satisfy our curiosity. It is a remarkable act of humility. He knows that the mysteries of prayer cannot be communicated as information because they are received only as a gift. They belong not to those who seek extraordinary experiences but to those who have quietly consented to be transformed through long obedience. This restraint reveals something profoundly important. The deepest prayer is never mastered. It is given. One does not arrive there through spiritual cleverness but by allowing grace to accomplish its hidden work over time. “Sit in your cell,” the ancient saying declares, “and your cell will teach you everything.” The cell becomes the place where the restless search for novelty dies, where the heart gradually ceases to seek explanations and begins instead to seek only Christ Himself. For Isaac, stillness is therefore not an escape from the world but the creation of an interior space where the face of Christ can finally be seen without distortion. This is why he speaks so forcefully about abstention from many concerns. The problem is not simply that busyness consumes our time. Far more dangerously, it fragments our attention. It scatters the heart among a thousand anxieties until it loses the capacity to remain before the Lord with loving simplicity. How striking that Isaac does not first speak about outward activity but about the inability to remain “directly before the face of God.” The Christian life begins here. Before there is ministry, teaching, writing, service, or even ascetic labor, there is the gaze of love. The Father turns His face toward us in His Son, and little by little we learn to return that gaze. Prayer is not first our speaking to God but our remaining before Him long enough for His presence to heal what has been wounded within us. This changes the whole character of spiritual struggle. We often imagine that holiness is achieved by greater effort, tighter control, or stricter discipline. Certainly there is ascetic labor, and Isaac never minimizes it. Yet its purpose is not self-perfection. It is to remove whatever prevents us from remaining peacefully before Christ. The battle is not ultimately against activity itself but against everything that steals our attention from the One who alone can heal the heart. Only in such stillness do we begin to notice the subtle movements of the soul. Isaac says that the monk learns to distinguish “what enters into and what comes out” of him. Here we discover the extraordinary psychological and spiritual depth of the desert tradition. Before modern psychology attempted to map the interior world, the Desert Fathers had already entered its hidden landscape. They understood that thoughts, desires, fears, fantasies, and memories continually seek entrance into the heart. Unless one lives before the face of Christ, these movements remain confused and unexamined. But in the light of His countenance they become discernible. His gaze exposes nothing in order to condemn; it reveals everything in order to heal. This is why the entire ascetical life must remain Christ-centered. Stillness divorced from Christ easily becomes isolation. Silence without Christ becomes emptiness. Solitude without Christ can become merely another form of self-absorption. But when every moment of silence is filled with the awareness of His presence, stillness becomes communion. The heart is no longer occupied with itself but quietly captivated by the beauty of the Lord. Here, I believe, we begin to understand what I have called throughout these writings desire and wonder. As the heart becomes less driven by endless concerns, it does not become emotionally barren. Quite the opposite. It awakens. Desire is purified because it is no longer dispersed among countless lesser loves but gathered into a single longing for Christ. Wonder returns because His presence is never exhausted. Every moment before Him becomes fresh. Every prayer becomes an invitation into a mystery that can never be possessed, only received. Perhaps this is the hidden fruit of Isaac’s refusal to explain the higher forms of prayer. He wishes to protect us from seeking experiences rather than seeking Christ. For if we truly stand before His face day after day, if we patiently guard the heart, if we willingly relinquish the tyranny of unnecessary concerns, then prayer itself will teach us. Not because we have become experts, but because Love Himself has become our teacher. In the end, the goal is beautifully simple. To become men and women whose hearts are no longer scattered but wholly gathered before the Face that has always been turned toward us. And in that Face we discover that every true desire finds its fulfillment, every fear loses its power, and wonder becomes the atmosphere in which the soul learns to live. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:04:23 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: Page 218 mid paragraph 4 00:07:02 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: https://www.philokaliaministries.org/post/the-name-above-every-name 00:07:22 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: Page 218 mid paragraph 4 00:10:21 Linda Frasier: may I share the link with a friend? 00:10:31 Janine: Father…whatever happened to the gentleman from New Zealand who used to join? 00:10:35 Linda Frasier: thx 00:11:03 Janine: His dad wasn’t well 00:11:12 Janine: Yes I was wondering 00:11:53 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: https://www.philokaliaministries.org/post/the-name-above-every-name 00:12:39 Linda Frasier: already ordered Monastic Heart—arriving Monday!! 00:14:14 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: https://www.philokaliaministries.org/post/the-name-above-every-name 00:15:37 Janine: The baby has joined! 00:27:32 Bob Čihák, AZ: P 218, paragraph 5, bottom of page 00:37:26 Kate: Footnote 1 on page 219 is quite convicting! 00:40:13 Adam Paige: Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be, And when we find ourselves in the place just right, 'Twill be in the valley of love and delight. When true simplicity is gained, To bow and to bend we shan’t be ashamed, To turn, turn will be our delight, Till by turning, turning we come 'round right. 00:58:25 Bob Čihák, AZ: Re: story of Martha and Mary taking the “better path”: Christ doesn’t specify what that better path might be. Many, including St. Augustine, say that it’s the path of contemplation. I think it could be that “the better path” is the path for that person fulfilling the will of God, in that place, at that time. We all have different immediate paths to take, at different times. Obviously, Martha earned Christ’s gentle rebuke which to me suggests that she should consider that her role at that time and place might be providing hospitality. 01:06:19 Nancy Pagan: Why if we can learn by ourselves some desert fathers insist in having a staret?I I really believe we can but I should not trust myself that way? 01:06:27 Nancy Pagan: Sorry 01:07:22 Lee Graham: “Without distractions the devil has no means of entering the soul” the footnote #1 01:13:29 Art: I gain a lot of peace of heart and mind from the Benedictine motto “to work is to pray”. I’ve also seen “Prayer is my work”. Work is my prayer”. It helps me accept whatever it is I need to do 01:13:42 David Swiderski: In loving one another's God is us is made flesh. Simple not complicates but I have this written on my bedroom door because I forget and it has guided me for years. I rise and remember to be simple and the goal clear in the day. I think less words help the most as my grandfather left with me as a high school education tut taught me more than Aquinas or any spiritual father. As my mother said love few and profoundly. As I age I find all the answers where at my hands but I got lost at some times in my life. 01:13:53 James Hickman: Father, is there any distinction between unadulterated entertainment vs perhaps a cultural experience by watching a series or movie not too different from sitting down to read a novel or go to a play performed live? It might be an opportunity for leisure. I think of PBS Masterpiece where I can watch a high quality production of Les Miserables or The Count of Monte Cristo and ponder mysteries of forgiveness or the vices in my life. Certainly I’m not saying this is of greater value than spending two hours in stillness. I’m maybe admitting my weakness here, but I do wonder: is there a place for this in my life? Are there any good distractions? In moderation? 01:17:58 David Swiderski: Amen seeking beauty and what is good shapes our lives and our goals. 01:18:47 James Hickman: I breathe a sigh of relief 01:20:53 Nancy Pagan: Does St Isaac, or another give a plan to live this interior life? I guess it is different for each, but is there a minimum? My experience was a radical unknown calling. Can that be ok and possible maybe even necessary ? 01:26:22 David Swiderski: You feel the presence when someone loves you unconditionally. There is something in their eyes a feeling in your heart that never goes away. At least in my life only two priest or religious have had that impact. Life wave of the ocean what is true returns over and over. 01:26:46 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: https://www.philokaliaministries.org/post/the-name-above-every-name 01:26:53 Jesssica Imanaka: I ordered it today! 01:28:19 Aaron: Thank you Father 01:28:21 David Swiderski: Thank you Father may God bless you your mother, Ren and her husband and everyone in this group you are very much appreciated and loved. 01:28:22 Nancy Pagan: 01:28:23 Jesssica Imanaka: God bless you, Father Charbel, and your mother. Thank you and here's praying for you every day! 01:29:03 Maureen Cunningham: Blessing 01:29:38 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you☺️ 01:29:47 Lorraine Green: Thank you!

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  Episode #249

  The Evergetinos: Book Three - Chapter VIII, Part II & IX, Part I

  Aug 4, 20261h 2mS6

  The Fathers never speak of the spiritual life as though it were merely the acquisition of virtues or the mastery of disciplines. At its heart, it is the slow awakening of a human being who learns once again to see. The battlefield is not first the world around us but the hidden kingdom within us. It is there, in the silence of the heart, that every thought seeks entrance, every desire asks for consent, and every movement of the soul quietly bends either toward God or away from Him. It is therefore no accident that this section of the Evergetinos begins with the conscience. The Fathers do not present conscience as a private opinion, nor as a passing feeling of guilt or innocence. They speak of it as “nature’s book,” a living text written by the Creator Himself within the human heart. Before there were libraries, before there were theological treatises, before there were even spiritual fathers to guide us, God had already inscribed His law upon the depths of our being. The conscience remains that quiet witness which never ceases to speak, even when every other voice has fallen silent. St. Maximos therefore urges us not to despise it. Every time we ignore that gentle movement toward truth, every time we silence its warnings because they are inconvenient or uncomfortable, we do not simply reject an inner feeling. We reject a gift through which God Himself seeks to lead us. Yet the Fathers also understand that conscience is not formed automatically. Like every faculty of the soul, it can become clouded through neglect, distorted through the passions, or nearly inaudible beneath the constant noise of our own thoughts. Thus prayer and conscience belong together. A purified conscience gives birth to pure prayer, while genuine prayer steadily purifies the conscience. Each heals and strengthens the other until the heart gradually becomes transparent before God. This is why the Fathers place such extraordinary emphasis upon vigilance. The ascetic life is not one of anxious self-analysis but of loving attentiveness. One learns to ask, “From where has this thought arisen? Toward whom does it lead me? Does it draw me toward Christ, toward humility, toward peace, toward love, or does it leave me agitated, suspicious, self-absorbed, fearful, or filled with hidden resentment?” Such questions are not psychological exercises. They are acts of spiritual discernment. How beautiful that the Evergetinos allows us here to hear the voice of St. Synkletike. Her presence reminds us that the wisdom of the desert is not confined to the fathers alone. The mothers stand beside them as equal witnesses to the Gospel lived with radical seriousness. Their lives reveal dimensions of spiritual perception that enrich the whole Church. To hear Synkletike is to hear a mother whose authority has been forged in prayer, suffering, and long experience of the hidden warfare of the heart. Her image of the ship is unforgettable. Storms from without may batter the vessel, yet the greater danger often lies beneath the surface, where unnoticed water slowly fills the hold while everyone sleeps. So too the Christian is often preoccupied with visible temptations, external conflicts, and the sins of the world, while paying little attention to the quiet accumulation of interior movements that slowly weigh down the soul. A single grievance carefully preserved, a subtle spirit of self-importance, an unnoticed judgment against another, a conversation endlessly replayed within the imagination—these may appear insignificant, yet left unattended they become the hidden water that eventually sinks the ship. The modern elders speak with precisely the same realism. St. Sophrony taught that every thought should first be brought before Christ before it is welcomed into the heart. Elder Aimilianos describes the spiritual life as learning to stand watch over the entrance of the heart with peaceful sobriety. Elder Thaddeus reminds us that “our thoughts determine our lives,” not because thoughts possess magical power, but because every thought eventually shapes the disposition of the heart from which all our actions flow. The enemy rarely begins by demanding great sins. He is content to suggest one small thought that is entertained rather than examined, one interior conversation that slowly becomes an identity, one fear that quietly replaces trust in God. The Desert Fathers therefore become extraordinary physicians of attention. They teach us that the first victory is often not found in dramatic acts of asceticism but in recognizing a thought before it becomes a passion. The battle is won while the spark is still small, before it has become a consuming fire. Yet all of this vigilance must be understood correctly. It is never a turning inward born of fear. The goal is not endless introspection. The Fathers are not asking us to become preoccupied with ourselves but to become increasingly available to Christ. We guard the heart because it has become His dwelling place. We examine our thoughts because we desire that His voice, rather than every competing voice, might become the one we recognize most readily. Perhaps this is why Abba Bessarion’s final words were that the monk should become “all eyes.” He was not describing suspicion but wakefulness. He envisioned a heart so illumined by grace that nothing enters unnoticed and nothing is judged apart from the light of Christ. In our own age, this teaching may be more urgent than ever. Never has the human heart been so relentlessly surrounded by competing voices, endless images, constant information, and unceasing commentary. Discernment has become one of the greatest ascetical tasks of our generation. We must learn once again to distinguish between the voice of conscience and the voice of shame, between the prompting of the Holy Spirit and the agitation of fear, between divine conviction and the endless accusations of the evil one. Only a heart that has grown quiet through prayer can make such distinctions. And perhaps that is where the Evergetinos gently leaves us. Not with fear of the battle, but with hope. God has not abandoned us to navigate these waters alone. He has placed within us the witness of conscience. He has given us the wisdom of the Fathers and Mothers. He has surrounded us with the prayers of the saints. Above all, He has given us His own Spirit, who patiently teaches us to recognize His voice amid every other voice. The vigilant heart is not merely watchful. It is a heart that has learned whom it is listening for. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:01:11 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: Page 52 saying 5 00:07:28 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: https://www.philokaliaministries.org/post/coming-soon-the-name-above-every-name 00:08:08 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: Page 52 saying 5 00:12:59 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: https://www.philokaliaministries.org/post/coming-soon-the-name-above-every-name 00:15:22 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: Page 52 saying 5 00:16:17 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: https://www.philokaliaministries.org/post/coming-soon-the-name-above-every-name 00:28:30 Una: Can you give an example? 00:28:44 Una: Of acting with conscience in a difficult situation. 00:32:01 Janine: 00:37:59 James Hickman: Rachel Fulton Brown, professor at U Chicago, wrote on the medieval person being fully immersed through the Lady’s Office (as an example) — not merely reading, but by hitting both intellect and passions and other aspects of the person. She wrote on how it worked for the medieval person and decided to listen to her own research and begin praying the liturgy the same way, deeply immersing herself. She loves the change it’s had on her life — not it, but the change God has had on her life through immersion in the liturgy. She teaches classes that include deep dives into Tolkien’s poetry. Her description of this change reminds me of the effect of praying The Jesus Prayer — a real encounter, but it involves the intellect and passions. Not just academic and not just a “fun” experience of spiritual matters. https://history.uchicago.edu/directory/rachel-fulton-brown 01:03:21 James Hickman: To whom much is given much will be demanded 01:10:20 Maureen Cunningham: Alma's 01:14:40 Maureen Cunningham: Is it on your web page ,so we can bless you 01:15:20 Chukwurah Edmund: Good day everyone 01:15:26 Joan Chakonas: Father would you ever consider creating a group with your writings- you reading your book? 01:17:21 Joan Chakonas: Avoid social media like the plague 01:17:54 Joan Chakonas: Reacted to "Father would you ever consider creating a group with your writings- you reading your book?" with 01:18:15 Una: My budgie likes your voice. She sings along 01:18:25 Joan Chakonas: Reacted to "My budgie likes your voice. She sings along" with 01:18:37 Sheila Applegate: Reacted to My budgie likes your... with "❤️" 01:19:29 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you☺️

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  Episode #30

  The Name Above Every Name, Conference Four

  Aug 4, 20261h 46mS100

  The Name Above Every Name Conference Four Becoming Prayer When the Name Becomes Our Life “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” — Galatians 2:20 Over these past conferences we have spoken of receiving the holy Name, guarding the heart, and learning to stand before God with a broken spirit. All of these are necessary. Yet none of them is the destination. The Jesus Prayer is not an achievement. It is not even the highest form of prayer. It is a road. It leads somewhere. Or rather, it leads to Someone. Its purpose is not that we should become occupied with prayer. Its purpose is that we should become occupied with Christ. Everything else is secondary. ⸻⸻⸻ When the Fathers speak of unceasing prayer, they do not imagine a person anxiously repeating words every moment of the day. Such an understanding would quickly become exhausting. Rather, they speak of a heart that has learned never to depart from Christ. The words remain precious. They accompany us throughout our life. Yet gradually the relationship they express becomes more important than the words themselves. The prayer begins on our lips. It descends into the mind. It finds rest in the heart. Finally, it becomes the atmosphere in which we live. Not because we are continually conscious of it. But because Christ has quietly become the center of everything. ⸻⸻⸻ This is why Archimandrite Zacharias insists that the measure of prayer is not extraordinary experiences. The measure is love. Has the heart become more patient? More forgiving? More merciful? More truthful? More humble? If not, then no matter how many prayers have been recited, the purpose has been missed. The true miracle of the Jesus Prayer is not mystical phenomena. It is the slow transformation of a human being into the likeness of Christ. ⸻⸻⸻ 2 There is a temptation that comes even in the spiritual life. We begin to love prayer more than we love God. We become attached to certain feelings. Certain consolations. Certain moments of peace. When they disappear, we imagine we have lost everything. The Fathers quietly remind us that God sometimes removes sensible consolation so that we may seek Him alone. The Bride must learn to love the Bridegroom more than His gifts. Only then does love become pure. ⸻⸻⸻ One of the most beautiful teachings of St. Silouan, so often repeated by Elder Sophrony and Archimandrite Zacharias, is that the heart gradually becomes capable of embracing the whole Adam. At first we pray for ourselves. Then for those closest to us. Then for those we love. Eventually, grace begins to enlarge the heart. We discover ourselves praying for strangers. For enemies. For those who have forgotten God. For those who have wounded us. For those who have never known love. 3 The circle widens until there are no longer any outsiders. This is not something we accomplish. It is something Christ accomplishes within us. His own love begins to beat within the human heart. ⸻⸻⸻ The Jesus Prayer therefore has a profoundly priestly character. Every baptized Christian is called to stand before God on behalf of the world. We bring before Him those who cannot pray. Those who no longer believe. Those crushed by despair. Those trapped in addiction. Those overwhelmed by grief. Those who have forgotten even their own dignity. We carry them quietly within our hearts. Not because we are strong enough. But because Christ carries them within His. Prayer becomes participation in His own intercession before the Father. ⸻⸻⸻ There is another fruit that often goes unnoticed. The heart becomes grateful. Not merely thankful when life is pleasant. 4 Grateful always. The one who continually invokes the Name slowly discovers that every breath is gift. Every sunrise. Every meal. Every encounter. Every sorrow. Even suffering becomes a place where Christ may be found. Thanksgiving begins to permeate ordinary life. The Eucharist extends into every hour of the day. ⸻⸻⸻ The Fathers speak often of stillness. Many misunderstand this word. Stillness is not merely external silence. Nor is it freedom from activity. Stillness is the quiet confidence that Christ is present. A person may live in a monastery or in a crowded city. He may spend his days alone or surrounded by people. Stillness is possible wherever the heart has learned to remain with Christ. The Jesus Prayer becomes the guardian of this hidden peace. ⸻⸻⸻ As years pass, the prayer itself often becomes simpler. Sometimes the full prayer is spoken. 5 Sometimes only the holy Name. Sometimes no words at all. Only the silent awareness of His presence. The Fathers do not prescribe these movements. Grace teaches each soul according to its need. The important thing is never to abandon humility. The closer we draw to Christ, the more clearly we perceive that everything is gift. Nothing has been earned. Everything has been received. ⸻⸻⸻ Perhaps this explains why the greatest saints seem so ordinary. They do not appear remarkable. They seldom speak about themselves. They rarely attract attention. Having forgotten themselves, they have become transparent to Christ. People leave their presence remembering Him rather than them. This is the hidden victory of the Jesus Prayer. Not that we become known as holy. But that Christ alone becomes visible. ⸻⸻⸻ When we first began this retreat, we asked a simple question. 6 Why this Name? Now perhaps we may answer it. Because within this Name dwells the whole mystery of our salvation. The humility of Bethlehem. The obedience of Nazareth. The compassion shown to sinners. The tears shed over Jerusalem. The Cross. The silence of Holy Saturday. The glory of the Resurrection. The fire of Pentecost. Everything is contained within the Person whose Name we invoke. Each time we whisper, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me,” we stand before the whole mystery of the Gospel. Nothing essential is absent. ⸻⸻⸻ Soon this retreat will end. We shall return to our homes. To our families. To our work. To our responsibilities. 7 The hidden battle will continue. Distractions will return. Weakness will remain. But now the holy Name goes with us. It accompanies every step. It enters every conversation. It sanctifies every sorrow. It illumines every joy. Little by little, almost unnoticed, Christ Himself begins to gather the scattered fragments of our lives into a single offering to the Father. This is the true work of the Jesus Prayer. Not escape from the world. But the transfiguration of the heart within the world. ⸻⸻⸻ Let us therefore ask for no extraordinary gifts. Let us ask only for faithfulness. May the Name of Jesus remain upon our lips in times of joy and in times of grief. May it guard us in temptation. Strengthen us in weakness. Console us in loneliness. Humble us in success. Sustain us in suffering. 8 And at the hour of our death, when every earthly support has fallen away, may the holy Name still be found within our hearts—not as a formula we have mastered, but as the living presence of the Friend who has walked beside us all our lives. For in the end, the greatest fruit of the Jesus Prayer is not that we have learned to repeat the Name of Christ. It is that, through His infinite mercy, the Name of Christ has slowly written itself upon our hearts. And when that has happened, prayer has become life, and life itself has become an unending hymn of love to the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit. Amen. 9

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