Philokalia Ministries
Episodes
Tuesday Dec 07, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis XIII, Part VI and Hypothesis XIV, Part I
Tuesday Dec 07, 2021
Tuesday Dec 07, 2021
We began this evening by discussing solitude and silence as a means to coming to the truth. One does not have to leave the world or live in the desert to experience this. The true desert exists within the heart and so the experience of the solitude more often than not means stilling the heart and avoiding the noise of the world to such an extent that we can listen to God. Outside of doing this we have a truncated experience of life itself and we become the deaf to the voice of love and truth. If God has created us for himself then above all we should want to hear him and to hear his words of love and mercy. The Fathers’ counsel in this regard is very simple; withdrawing to a remote place begins for most of us simply by closing our mouths; by not adding to the noise of the world but rather allowing ourselves to be drawn into the quiet harbor that prayer offers to us.
In Hypothesis 14 the Fathers seek to show us the link between humility and the fear of God. Each complements the other and feeds the other in such a way that they illuminate the heart. Our experience of the otherness and the holiness of God shows us the path to truth. Our acknowledgement of the fact that we will one day come face-to-face with God leads us to face reality now in the present.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:08:44 Rachel Pineda: Hi Father and everyone!
00:09:15 Gabby: Hello Father and everyone. From Australia
00:09:33 Edward Kleinguetl: G-day
00:10:18 Ashley Kaschl: Hey, Rachel! 😁 and welcome, Gabby! 👋
00:13:04 Rachel Pineda: Well, this is really timely. 😬
00:17:48 Rachel Pineda: Oh that is such good news!!
00:19:11 Edward Kleinguetl: Abba Isidore
00:45:49 Anthony: To "second" Rachel, the nothingness of the Calvinist/Lutheran is different than the nothingness of the Catholic/Orthodox
00:52:40 Anthony: And the Master is eminently lovable/adorable, so fear distorts perception of the Master, and fear is a liar about the Master
00:54:02 Rachel Pineda: I just have to add that the Father I mentioned is a wonderful self sacrificing priest who regularly preaches on the love and mercy of God. I was only speaking of staying in the negative thoughts alone.
01:07:35 Erick Chastain: Luther was not led to what he did by medieval asceticism in the augustinians. Look at how Thomas a Kempis and the other Devotio Moderna people remained in the Augustinian order and flourished. Indeed, Luther had many problems and fetishes, the chief among them being a truly diabolical pride.
01:16:29 Rachel Pineda: Thank you Father! Thank you everyone!
Tuesday Nov 30, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis XIII, Part V
Tuesday Nov 30, 2021
Tuesday Nov 30, 2021
Tonight we continued with Hypothesis 13 - considering once again living a remote life; removing oneself from the things of this world and anything that could arouse the passions. So often we find ourselves walking along the edge of a pit, giving no attention to the nature of our thoughts and where they are leading us. It is only by developing that awareness and drawing closer to God through stillness and simplicity of thought that we become further removed from danger.
Once again we are given stories of those who choose different paths in their lives. What comes through clearly in these stories is that all that is done without clarity about what is within one’s own heart and one’s need for God, all that is done outside of the grace of God is fruitless. We are impotent to change the world much less to change ourselves outside of this relationship. We are all called to enter into the desert. We are all called to allow the stormy waters to be stilled by Christ in order that we might see not only the truth about our sin but also see the depths of God’s love and mercy. All is Grace and in this alone do we find true comfort and peace.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:20:27 carolnypaver: Page??
00:20:39 carolnypaver: Thank you!
00:22:13 Daniel Allen: What page are we on.
00:22:21 carolnypaver: 112
00:22:29 Daniel Allen: Thank you
00:32:09 Anthony: In the Rule of St. Basil, Basil seems to say "we monks have chosen the easier path to single mindedness, but except to marriage, all of us are called to the same standard of going out of the world" And he specifically names going out from apostates.
00:39:39 Lyle: What a blessing to hear that.
00:39:49 Anthony: Is sitting before an icon truly like or equivalent to sitting before the Blessed Sacrament?
00:53:02 Justin Massengill : If everyone wouldn't mind, there is a young girl in my neighborhood who was just diagnosed with leukemia. In your charity please pray for her and her family. Her name is Ila.
00:54:08 Lyle: Will add her to my prayer list. Thanks for sharing.
01:05:21 Justin Massengill : Do the Eastern Fathers and later Byzantine writers ever touch on the phenomena of scrupulosity?
01:11:30 Rachel Pineda: I think Bishop Sheen talks about how one can become very holy, even and perhaps especially, in occupations like a janitor.
01:21:10 Rachel Pineda: Wow!! St. John Climacus, pray for us!
01:23:13 Daniel Allen: “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.”
Tuesday Nov 23, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis XIII, Part IV
Tuesday Nov 23, 2021
Tuesday Nov 23, 2021
Tonight we continued our discussion of hypothesis 13. The fundamental focus is a turning away from the things of this world; not because they are evil in and of themselves but rather because of our capacity to make them ends in themselves. We can be seduced, as it were, by our own desires or by the evil one into seeking our identity in the things of this world. This can be obvious or ever so subtle, but it has the same effect; we get caught up in what is false and delusional.
To combat this we must avoid certain comforts and avoid the softness to which we tend. The habits that we fall into are only overcome by asceticism - by striving to exercise our faith in such away that it orders our desires and keeps us away from diversions. Asceticism is not simply about self-restraint. It is about removing every impediment to loving God and giving ourselves in love. Thus, Christ himself becomes the standard for us - from his struggle in the desert with the devil to his embrace of the Cross on Mount Calvary.
We must cling to our identity in Christ. We must set aside the false self and live for God who alone satisfies the deepest desires of the human heart.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:01:34 D Fraley: Hello everyone.
00:01:49 FrDavid Abernethy, CO: Navy Dave!
00:17:15 Lilly (Canada): What page are we on?
00:17:38 Fr. Miron Kerul-Kmec Jr.: 110
00:27:46 Anthony: How hard it is for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven?
00:29:39 Justin Massengill : Iv'e heard St Francis described as a western fool-for-Christ.
00:36:26 Anthony: Then it seems to me that a mortal sin happens when the will is fully drawn after errant senses.
00:45:24 Anthony: False truth, false goodness, false beauty
00:46:41 Anthony: Erick, E. Michael Jones has a decent overview of how modern science was partly driven by the drive to pursue magic
01:04:43 Eric Williams: Some monasteries sell coffee beans. ;)
01:05:05 Erick Chastain: Mount athos offers coffee to guests
01:05:28 Eric Williams: There is no field! 😛
01:06:05 Justin Massengill : I heard they don't bathe on Mt Athos
01:13:27 Rachel: Yay! St Gregory!
01:14:21 D Fraley: Thank you Father!
01:14:31 Rachel: Thanks everyone. Good questions and comments!
Tuesday Nov 16, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis XIII, Part III
Tuesday Nov 16, 2021
Tuesday Nov 16, 2021
Tonight‘s discussion drew the group into what was more and more beautiful. Hypothesis 13 is focused upon remoteness; but not simply a physical remoteness - the removing of ourselves from our external realities and circumstances. Rather, it is removing ourselves from our attachment to the things of this world. The Scriptures tell us that he who loves the world is at enmity with God. As we strive to draw close to God we are led to let go of our attachment not only to the things of this world but to the internal identity that has often been shaped by them. More and more we are to put on the mind of Christ and this means not only dying to sin but to self. Throughout the course of our life we often fashion a false identity. We succumb to the illusion, even in the most subtle of ways, that our lives can be understood outside of the context of our relationship with God as our Creator and Redeemer. The more that we embrace that illusion the more isolated we become from God and one another. We lose a true sense of who we are and our inherent value. However, God does not abandon us in the state of spiritual sadness but rather enters into it and by His grace draws us to Himself in the most beautiful way. He reveals Himself in our deepest weakness and vulnerability and it is there that we see the depths of His love. Suddenly all that is dark and ugly, all that seems most empty within our hearts, becomes filled with His light and the hope that He alone offers.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:04:53 Rachel Pineda: Hello to the group...cant hear anything as I put it on mute because my Mom showed up for a bit. God bless to all.
00:09:19 Rachel Pineda: Some of my kids want to say hello to the group...we have been listening to the podcasts in the car
00:09:50 D Fraley: I was told there would be snacks.
00:10:13 Rachel Pineda: lol
00:10:58 D Fraley: I have stale pretzels but not enough for everyone.
00:11:11 Rachel Pineda: Prayers!
00:18:19 Anthony: Dante: I found myself in the midday of my life, alone in the dark woods....
00:19:22 Ashley Kaschl: Would this demon of sadness be the noonday devil (Acedia)?
00:20:42 Anthony: Ashley, acedia the closest I can think of to this "feeling," but it sounds a bit different?
00:23:58 Mark J. Kelly: Yes. Acedie is the Noon Day Demon
00:28:17 Anthony: huh. And on the natural level, don't drink when you are sad.
00:33:23 Mark J. Kelly: Excellent book on Acedia or Spiritual Depression: The Noonday Devil: Acedia, the Unnamed Evil of Our Times. https://www.amazon.com/Noonday-Devil-Acedia-Unnamed-Times/dp/158617939X/
00:43:40 Anthony: If we had Dom Lorenzo Scupoli's attitude, that God is a fire (of love?) and we submit our own fires of atraction and of sin to that fire "of" God, to be taken over by God, we can pass through and from this life more easily.
00:55:23 Ashley Kaschl: Reminds me of a quote by Michael D O’Brien "...This silence before God and man is the presence of being. Such silence speaks! Then when one's spoken words flow, they come from the true heart of one's unique identity. An identity that only the Father in Heaven knows, for it is hidden even from our own eyes." (Island of the World)
00:59:44 Lilly (Toronto, CA): Great books written by JPII about that topic “Man and Woman He Created Them” and “Love and Responsibility” :)
01:01:05 Carol Nypaver: Both are excellent books, Lilly!
01:10:50 Justin Massengill : Gotta go early, see you all on Wednesday, God bless!
01:15:06 Lilly (Toronto, CA): Great question @Rachel and excellent response @Fr David !!
01:21:04 Wayne Mackenzie: gota go
01:24:48 Carol Nypaver: Blessings to you, Father.
01:25:43 Rachel: The group and readings are a blessing. Thank you. Prayers!
01:25:46 D Fraley: Thank you, Father David!
Tuesday Nov 09, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis XIII, Part II
Tuesday Nov 09, 2021
Tuesday Nov 09, 2021
Amazing group tonight folks. Thank you all for your comments and questions. Wonderful as always!
Synopsis:
We continued our reading of Hypothesis 13 which puts before us the idea of moving to a remote place, of embracing exile - as it were - for the sake of living for Christ alone. The lives of the desert Fathers call us to let go of our attachment to the things of this world and all that gives us a false sense of security and stability. We are to cling to God alone. We are strangers and exiles in this world and we will be hated by it as Christ himself was hated.
None of this calls to imitate the Fathers by going to the deserts of Egypt but rather to enter into the desert of the human heart. We are to draw back and retreat to Christ in order that we might more clearly see the depths of his love and his promise of life; as well as see the things that are an impediment to it. In our retreat into silence and prayer, and subordinating all things to our relationship with God, we prepare ourselves to fight against the enemies, the demons, until we are made free and reach the rest of the kingdom.
Such a life is not rooted in hard work. We seek our identity not even in the performance of religious activities or driving ourselves relentlessly in the ascetical life. Rather, our worth and identity come to us from what God gives us. All is grace and it is only when we let go of the illusion that this world can provide for and fill the void within our hearts that we will come to know that love in its fullness.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:18:00 Anthony: Clinging to God alone, nothing is secure....well, 2020 ans 2021 have offered us opportunity to ease into that kind of virtue.
00:23:28 Anthony: From historian Charles Coulombe I learned that our valuing of excessive work is a Puritan deformity.
00:33:56 Joseph Muir: Of course there is value in being diligent and having a good work ethic, of being responsible and goal oriented, and of planning for the future. With that said, this tendency of finding one’s identity in their work is, I think, where one veers off course
01:08:49 Justin Massengill : No, Justin is my Christian name which I tend to use since my conversion.
01:14:37 Ambrose Little: It’s hard to put much value in “hard work” without ending up serving it and having it become a significant measure against which we judge ourselves. We cannot serve both God and mammon. Where our treasure is, there is our heart. It seems so very easy to get sucked in, ever so incrementally so that we don’t even realize it’s happening, until one day what started as a tame regard for our how hard we work has become our identity and our master. If on the other hand, we prize above all else pleasing and loving God and making that our only goal, we can guard against that danger.
At some point in our lives, this may mean working hard. At another, perhaps when we are sick, it may mean simply offering our suffering to God and offering the simplest of prayers. In health, in sickness, in work, in play—all in God and to God and for God, with gratitude and trust.
01:16:51 Lyle: Like St. Peter, I must "Step Out".
01:18:28 Anthony: Working in the garage late at night can be crazy - irrational with a job to wake up to - but also be a "mystical" moment.
01:22:51 Lyle: They are such great counselors!
Tuesday Nov 02, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis XIII, Part I
Tuesday Nov 02, 2021
Tuesday Nov 02, 2021
Thank you once again to all who attended The Evergetinos group tonight. The wisdom of the Fathers is breathtaking to say the least!
Tonight we began Hypothesis 13. The focus is on renouncing the world to go to a remote place, what constitutes a remote place, and the specific benefits that we are seeking.
We are all too familiar in this world with isolation. We may be surrounded by many people and our lives filled with so many different things and activities and yet we can feel completely alone and empty.
The Desert Fathers, however, seek the solitude of the desert not to escape the world but rather to seek out Love itself. Their setting aside of country, of material goods, creates within them a need - a need that only God can fulfill. They experience what true desire is - a sense of incompleteness that only God can address.
Solitude and silence are disciplines that we must foster. They are not something simply to be endured and they are not rooted in a contempt for the world. In the silence and in our poverty we begin to experience the development of true humility; a humility that allows us to see the truth about ourselves and the goodness, the mercy, and love of God.
Thus, gradually we come to see through them that the experience of exile, poverty and solitude hold within themselves a priceless treasure that we must be willing to do everything to possess.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:08:36 D Fraley: I had hair when I first come to the Oratory too.
00:08:48 Ed Kleinguetl: Must be a trend
00:33:45 Eric Williams: Certainly no (or limited and hushed) chit-chat in my childhood Lutheran church nave.
00:34:43 renwitter: What is the name of the place Mark?
00:36:00 mark: I will send a link…
00:36:13 Ed Kleinguetl: Thank you!
00:36:54 maureencunningham: Holy Presence Monastery inToms Brook and The Holy Abbey in Berryville VA. silent retreats
00:37:03 maureencunningham: Both VA
00:37:15 Eric Williams: I have noticed a paradox as someone with ADHD. Long periods of silence and stillness are very difficult for me, but the cure seems to be more silence. It’s very challenging. Modern technology seems to be making most people struggle with quiet inactivity in a similar way.
00:37:51 mark: Our Lady in Beatitude. The Monastic Family of Bethlehem. https://www.monasteryofbethlehemnewyork.com/
00:40:25 Eric Williams: As a convert, I really don’t miss marathon sermons. ;)
00:42:03 Ambrose Little: Agree, Eric.
00:45:37 Wayne Mackenzie: what page?
00:45:50 Tyler Woloshyn: 106
00:46:37 Eric Williams: I’ve noticed that at low Latin masses, the processions are from and to the sacristy. I’ve also seen high masses in which the opening procession starts at the sacristy, continues to the back, and finishes going up the middle aisle. Perhaps that would be a good corrective model for the whole Western Church.
00:49:40 Ambrose Little: Cultivating interior silence in the midst of external noise and busy-ness is a good ascetic practice. Maybe we focus there, even if others around us aren’t doing the same.
01:18:07 Ambrose Little: Sorry. I gotta run. I will say having six boys helps one find quietude in noise. :D Have a blessed week, y'all.
01:18:14 Wayne Mackenzie: got to go
01:18:39 Tyler Woloshyn: Have a good night. God bless! :)
01:23:25 D Fraley: Thank you Father David. Good night, everyone!
Tuesday Oct 26, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis XII, Part IV
Tuesday Oct 26, 2021
Tuesday Oct 26, 2021
Tonight we concluded Hypothesis 12, again considering the importance of parents raising their children not only to love virtue but also to be willing to sacrifice all for it and for Christ. We considered three stories where mothers had to set aside their natural sensibilities and desire to protect their children from harm. In each case, the mothers act out of their faith to encourage their sons to remain steadfast. We see in and through the stories that they are not only bound by blood but, in a deeper way, by faith. The mothers seek to protect the eternal life of their sons and are willing to sacrifice themselves and their own needs for that end. In doing so they become inheritors of the glory that belongs to the martyrs. Their sons will intercede on their behalf because of the virtue and support that they showed.
These are not easy stories to consider and one is compelled to set aside one’s judgment and to listen to them with faith. We are to see these martyrs and those who support them as living icons of the gospel. In this they will be the most compelling witnesses - those who counted all in this world as refuse compared to the surpassing worth of knowing and gaining Christ.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:30:55 Eric Williams: “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried.” - GK Chesterton
00:39:05 Anthony: I am friends with several Copts in Hampton VA. Beautiful people, understand suffering. Same with my Iraqi Syriac Catholic friends.
00:42:30 Anthony: Sometimes I wonder what is the dividing line between rigorous ascetic practice ans insanity. Is love the difference?
00:54:33 Ambrose Little: Discernment of the will of God. Union of the will with God, so that the actions flow out of that union. So yes, love in that sense, in that God is love and union with His will is union with Love. There is some danger, it seems, in that persons may seek out the actions for themselves, as a kind of emulation of holiness, when what makes such acts holy is the heart in tune with God’s.
00:55:22 Anthony: Thank you, Ambrose
01:12:45 Carol Nypaver: What is that song called?
01:12:54 Fr. Miron Kerul-Kmec Jr.: billy joel lullabye
01:13:06 Carol Nypaver: Thank you!
01:13:12 renwitter: Its the one that begins “Goodnight my Angel"
01:15:23 Fr. Miron Kerul-Kmec Jr.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjSix58CXQQ
01:16:54 renwitter: The book is actually remarkably well adapted in the film. Very accurate.
01:26:32 Ann Grimak: Thank you so much Father
01:27:14 Rachel: Thank you
Tuesday Oct 19, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis XII, Part III
Tuesday Oct 19, 2021
Tuesday Oct 19, 2021
Thank you everyone who participated tonight and for all of your great comments! God bless
Synopsis:
Continuing along with Hypothesis 12, we are given another extraordinary story of the relationship between a mother and her son. Saint Alypios makes the decision to live a life solely dedicated to God and to silence. His plan is to go to live among the monks of the East and to leave home and family in the pursuit of the will of God.
His mother, setting aside all natural sensibilities even though she’s a widow, supports this desire and seeks to deepen it through her own prayer. Her desire is that her son’s desire would be fulfilled and that he would come to know the fullness of the love of God. When the Alypios’ bishop persuades him to return to his homeland in response to a Divine voice, his mother does not cease in her support of Alypios’ holy desire but rather helps him to pursue it with a singular focus. As he grows in virtue and prayer, she helps him to construct a shelter on top of a pillar on which to live in greater solitude. Very much like Mary the Mother of our Lord, she participates and her son’s pursuit of God‘s will. She’s not a passive observer but rather intimately united in faith with her son; a unity that far surpasses what any earthly love could produce.
This example of living for God in the moment, even to the point of letting go of all sense of security, is foreign to us and, frankly, frightening. How is it that we are to live in the moment in our lives and in our vocations in such a way that we do not become calculating? How can we walk the path of faith with purity and perfection - holding nothing back from God out of fear or anxiety or self-love? It is these greater and more personal questions that these stories put forward for us to contemplate!
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Text of chat during the group:
00:33:13 Ed Kleinguetl: Same as Mother Teresa of Calcutta
00:33:52 Rachel: Yes, I noticed that in my interactions with others. Something helped me very much, I heard a priest say, what people think of you is none of your business...
00:35:08 Rachel: then I realized, I don't even know what God thinks of me, I cannot store up virtues and line them up like trinkets. That yes, in the moment He is here. To love Him here and now.
00:36:16 Joseph Muir: The Missionaries of Charity (Mother Teresa’s nuns) in the Bronx have me on speed dial, and I sometimes get the most random phone calls from a small handful of the nuns in that particular convent, sometimes just to talk, but normally leading to their asking for a favor. They have such faith in their “associates”, the extended family of their community, to always be able to step up and help them out.
00:37:55 Rachel: Abandonment in this moment. It doesn't feel comfortable like some imply.
00:39:11 Eric Williams: My wife often mutters “You have a heck of a sense of humor, God!” ;)
00:39:16 Tyler Woloshyn: There is great joy in abandoning cares to the Lord no matter the overwhelming day when you find joy in setting aside that time to pray and do it joyfully.
00:41:09 Fr. Miron Kerul-Kmec Jr.: "We will conquer only through the cross." Elder Arsenie
00:49:04 renwitter: I think @carol roper should perfect her shelter-building skills for when Luke climbs up a pillar to live 😊
00:51:58 Rachel: wow
00:53:31 Rachel: that is so beautiful! It reminds me of when a soul or if a soul would tear down all of the comforts/consolations that prevent one from fully clinging to God alone
00:57:33 Ambrose Little: Who knew that facepalm gesture was so venerable and ancient.
00:57:47 Joseph Muir: 🤣
00:58:05 renwitter: I was literally just writing the same thing!!!
00:58:11 renwitter: 🤣🤣
01:16:52 Rachel: thank you!
01:17:02 maureencunningham: Thank You Lords Blessing
01:17:16 Ashley Kaschl: Thanks, Father!! And welcome Joanne! 😁
Tuesday Oct 12, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis XII, Part II
Tuesday Oct 12, 2021
Tuesday Oct 12, 2021
Thank you to all who participated in the group tonight!
To say that this was the most beautiful reading that we have considered in the Evergetinos would be an understatement. We continued our reflection on Hypothesis 12 on the importance of parents instilling in their children the love of virtue and the willingness to risk all for it.
Tonight we read one single story: from the life of Saint Clement of Ancyra, martyr. The story centers on Clement’s mother who is a widow and so became for her son - father, teacher, and mother. Above all things she sought to teach her son the inestimable value of giving his life over to Christ. She taught him from the earliest age that, despite the fact that his earthly father had died before he knew him, Clement had gained God as his true Father. “Christ reared you in the strength of the Spirit”, she taught him. Above all, she did not want her son to lose sight of the fact that the love of Christ alone has true value and endures. He is our salvation - the One who has come to raise us up and to make us children of God.
With the most beautiful exhortation she encourages Clement to ready himself for the trials to come. The depth of her faith gave her prophetic vision; she saw not only her own impending death but also the trial and martyrdom her son was to endure. Therefore, she would prepare him in every way throughout his tender years to seek “the one thing necessary”.
In the story we also catch a glimpse of what parenthood looks like when transformed by faith and understood in light of the communion of saints. This mother understood that despite leaving her son in this world they are bound together. His heroic faith and coming martyrdom is something that she would share in intimately; the rewards and joy that will belong to Clement will be hers as well and together they will boldly worship before the throne of Christ.
Clement, so nourished by his mother, endured the greatest tortures for Christ and then made the ultimate gift of his life to his Savior.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:31:42 John Clark: Everyone is Catholic in the Strip on Friday’s during lent..
00:51:47 Rachel (30): This is perfect
01:07:35 Rachel (30): Identity in Christ, teaching them that their true identity and union will be in Christ.
01:07:48 Rachel (30): Actually, that would be great marriage prep
01:09:24 Rachel (30): Thank you Fr. Abernathy and all
01:09:33 Rachel (30): lol
01:09:35 D Fraley: This was good. Thank you Father.
Tuesday Oct 05, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis XI, Part II and Hypothesis XII, Part I
Tuesday Oct 05, 2021
Tuesday Oct 05, 2021
Thank you everyone who participated in the Evergetinos study group:
Such beautiful readings tonight! I know this is an oft repeated observation that I make, but there was something in the readings this evening that struck deep to the heart. The conclusion of Hypothesis 11 spoke to us about the deep union enjoyed by individuals who shared a common love of the kingdom and pursuit of love and faith in this world. The deeper our purity of heart, we were told, the more clearly will we see the brightness of God’s glory and participate in it. All of this should spur us on to seek God above all things.
In beginning hypothesis 12, we discussed the formation of children in the life of faith. There is a deep need, from the earliest of years of life, to form a child in their desire to please God and in their love for virtue. Parents should rejoice in those trials of their children that are endured for the sake of Christ. This in turn calls parents to pursue the saintly life themselves. How can they encourage their children to long for the kingdom unless they have a similar yearning within their own hearts? We were given the most beautiful story of the tender love of a mother for a son who was martyred. Her joy over her son’s participation in the glory of her Lord and her solidarity in the sufferings of her son was nothing short of extraordinary. She was no passive participant in the formation of her child; nor was she apassive participant in his suffering and thus deserving a share in the promised of glory. Such stories reshape our understanding of existence and what it is that we value and cherish the most.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:33:44 Eric Williams: Nerdy Thomist? Is there any other kind? ;)
00:34:04 Ashley Kaschl: 😂😂
01:07:19 Daniel Allen: Wow
01:22:12 Carol Nypaver: Thank you, Father!
Tuesday Sep 28, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis X, Part II and Hypothesis XI, Part I
Tuesday Sep 28, 2021
Tuesday Sep 28, 2021
Tonight we continued with Hypothesis 10 and began Hypothesis 11. Both speak with us about the deepest realities of human existence. The weight and the significance of our choices, the things we love, the realities that we give our hearts to, are all placed before us for our consideration. Quite naturally this creates tension and uneasiness within the mind. The reflections are sobering to say the least. They speak to us about a malicious evil who furiously seeks to undermine our faith in the mercy of God; that puts before us every sin that we have ever committed from the moment of our birth to the end of our lives. At the moment when we are about to come before the Righteous Judge, they attack us with the greatest fury, seeking what actions of ours belong to them. While unsettling, such truths compel us to examine our lives with honesty. To whom or to what have we given our hearts? Hypothesis 11 addresses how, after death, souls are assigned to the same place as those souls which lived in a similar way on earth. There is a radical solidarity, a bond that exists between those who share a common love. Those who love God and who have given themselves over to Him fully will experience a radical unity with others of a similar mind and heart; seeing with an unobstructed gaze all that others have in their hearts. Similarly those who share a common love of a particular sin will be bound together and know similar consequences.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:12:29 Eric Williams: Would “The Way of a Pilgrim” be suitable for Schola Christi?
00:24:13 renwitter: If I was as holy as St. Gemma, maybe I could say with her: “If I saw the gates of hell open and I stood on the brink of the abyss, I would not despair; I would not lose hope of mercy, because I would trust in you, my God.”
00:33:04 Tyler Woloshyn: Great book for Lent as well.
00:49:26 renwitter: **Such a beautiful line from Scripture** One of my favorites
00:51:27 Ashley Kaschl: Something about this is reminding me of a quote from CS Lewis’s “The Weight of Glory”:
“If we consider the unblushing promises of reward … promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
00:53:03 renwitter: These Hypothesis’ are scaring me to death. I’m never going to sleep tonight :-( Sigh
00:54:29 Rachel (30): Yes! Start now, and every moment from now on! Our limited capabilities will never be enough, but our intentions and giving the whole of our selves, everything emptied out for Love. The thief on the Cross, the disposition of his heart, by the grace of God, must've been such a deep and true repentance that if he could live a thousand years, he would live in repentance. He had encountered Life, Love itself. But our Lord, in His mercy, took the thief to Himself right then, in that moment in time. Whatever time we have left, give everything.
00:57:35 renwitter: The second one!
01:14:19 Rachel (30): Thank you
01:14:34 Carol Nypaver: Blessings to all!
Tuesday Sep 21, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis IX, Part III and Hypothesis X, Part I
Tuesday Sep 21, 2021
Tuesday Sep 21, 2021
Tonight we concluded a brief section from Hypothesis Nine and began reading Hypothesis Ten. The subject matter of these readings is rather fierce; presenting us over and over again with the experience of death. What is the experience of the soul at the moment of death bearing within it its vices and virtues alone.?
We are presented with images and visions of the Saints who describe a malignant evil set upon the demise of those seeking to follow the narrow path that leads to the kingdom. Even at the moment of death the evil one is there to accuse and weigh in the balance individual’s vices and virtues. If anything these images stress for us the reality of evil and hostile powers set upon our demise and that the spiritual life and struggle has cosmological scope.
Such truths remind us of the necessity of constant vigilance in the spiritual warfare. We must desire to the kingdom above all things and seek it with purity of heart and intention. It is this alone that sets us upon the path to the kingdom with a holy boldness even when faced with these hostile powers in their most fearful form.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:16:50 Ed Kleinguetl: Orthodox theory of the toll houses
00:22:57 Carol Nypaver: Page?
00:23:12 Ashley Kaschl: 84
00:46:37 Rachel (30): Yes, exactly! What a sobering reflection.
01:06:46 Eric Williams: When being chased by a wild beast, one needn’t run fastest - just faster than one’s companions. ;)
01:07:22 Rachel (30): lol
01:14:21 Tyler Woloshyn: Have a blessed evening folks. I am off to my Ukrainian class. Please pray for Canada during our federal election tonight. God bless! :)
01:15:06 Erick Chastain: will do!
01:15:49 renwitter: “Do we all flap” 😂😂😂😂😂😂
01:16:06 renwitter: Made. My. Night
01:21:48 Rachel (30): thank you
01:21:51 D Fraley: Thanks Father David
Tuesday Sep 14, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis IX, Part II
Tuesday Sep 14, 2021
Tuesday Sep 14, 2021
We continued this evening with our reading of Hypothesis IX. As always the stories that we are given from the Fathers are both comforting and fiercely challenging.
We heard first about how saintly souls are able to see divine things. Because of their purity of heart and by the grace of God they are able to have a vision of things beyond the limits of the human mind and our capacity for perceiving the hidden realities around us.
We also heard about the reality of Hell itself through the experience of these holy Fathers. Hell is presented very much as the opposite of the complete intimacy and communion the faithful soul shares with the eternal Trinity. If that life is lacking in nothing and knows the fullness of love, Hell is the experience of complete isolation from God and one another. Those who were blessed to receive the fullness of revelation in Christ, those who know His teaching and yet turned away from it, come to experience the deeper loss. For the judgment that comes upon them is not only due to their sinful actions and deeds, it also due to the fact that they have lead others to blaspheme the name of God and to insult God. “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:13:20 D Fraley: Would you go back?
00:14:35 Rachel (30): FR. John McGuckin has a good talk on St. Cyril
00:14:47 Rachel (30): Do you have pictures of the Sinai icons?
00:16:30 Ashley Kaschl: I’m with you, Ren. It’s WAY easier to warm up than cool off.
00:38:18 Rachel (30): Yes! Exactly what I was hoping to be addressed today. The renewal of the Church through the Fathers..
00:39:51 Rachel (30): I have encountered suspicion at times, in the West, of the Fathers, the writings of the Philokalia, Cassian, Climacus, Maximos,,I think it our blessing, priviledge and patrimony..to be able to have access to these teachings and writings.
00:42:30 Ambrose Little: “I agree with all that you have said.”
00:42:50 Carol Nypaver: 😆
00:56:45 Carol Nypaver: Why are they being punished for not knowing God? Why wouldn’t they be in Purgatory?
01:04:36 Erick Chastain: This is called limbo, a section of hell for virtuous pagans
01:06:47 Carol Nypaver: So “limbo” is part of Hell?
01:12:16 renwitter: There is a document put forward by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007 that marks a firm turn away from any idea of limbo in the Catholic faith. Pope Benedict said that the idea of limbo should be abandoned because it had always been always “only a theological hypothesis” and “never a defined truth of faith.” It would seem that the main motivation for this clarification on the part of the Church was that limbo was seen as unjustly limiting the mercy of God.
01:16:58 Carol Nypaver: Someone who never knew God being condemned to Hell seems like a limit to God’s Mercy. (Not trying to be argumentative, just genuinely confused)
01:21:57 renwitter: I was just speaking to the idea of limbo. All I can think about this story is something we have spoken about in the past - that in these writings there is not a distinction made between hell and purgatory as we think of them, and that hell is often used in a way that we would use purgatory. The very fact that they can receive any consolation at all seems to be a clue into the nature of the place - not hopeless. Again, I don’t actually know, but this is something we have spoken about in the past.
01:22:25 renwitter: Of course, hell is often spoken of also in the way we would think about it.
01:24:43 Ambrose Little: I think we can focus too much on figuring out the circles of hell. :) The underlying point in this passage seems to be that it is a greater sin to know God and turn away from him than to never have known him but not believe. This is supported in Scripture, too.
01:25:28 renwitter: Great point, Ambrose. And one that always makes me feel so doomed. :-(
01:26:17 Rachel (30): the distortion is in the understanding
01:27:06 Ambrose Little: Throw yourself on the mercy of God! Be that “valiant struggler” and repent immediately every time you sin.
01:28:42 Ambrose Little: Those whom the Lord loves, He chastises. People don’t recognize that the “hardness” of God is for our own good.
01:30:06 Carol Nypaver: “It is through suffering that the soul is purified.”
01:30:42 Eric Williams: Blame my cat ;)
Tuesday Sep 07, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis IX, Part I
Tuesday Sep 07, 2021
Tuesday Sep 07, 2021
Tonight we began Hypothesis IX on “where the souls of the dying go and how they exist after the separation from the body.” We are presented both with the experience of the Saints as they witness the death of others their ascent to heaven and also the experience of those who witness, through the action of God and his Angels, both Hell and the joys of Heaven.
Our contemplation of these stories is meant to foster kind of urgency within us. We are not to lose ourselves in empty speculation but rather allow the stories to stir within us the desire for God and a spirit of repentance. We are taught that we must have no illusions about our capacity to choose darkness, to dull the conscience, to such an extent that we choose freely the path that leads away from God. It is a frightening prospect but it is also a saving truth.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:28:47 renwitter: PSA: From now on, the link for this group will always be pghco.org/evergetinos
00:29:00 renwitter: The one for Wednesday will be pghco.org/theophan
00:35:24 Ambrose: Now we know why the father spoke so little. He could never get a word in edgewise. :)
00:50:20 Mark J. Kelly: Erick’s point reminds me of a great quote by Blaise Pascal, “To those who seek God, He gives sufficient light. To those who do not seek Him, He gives sufficient darkness.”
00:50:52 Ashley Kaschl: Gotta go! See ya Wednesday. 😁
01:12:51 renwitter: The Church of the Quivering Brethren
01:13:22 Rachel (30): Referring to hidden things from ourselves and not living fully in Christ, I think St. Climacus speaks about this in the beginning of The Ladder. He relates a story of a monk who was living an unspeakably sinful life until he confessed his sins and not only to the priest alone but the whole community.
01:17:11 renwitter: For those who joined the group a little later tonight. PSA: From now on, the link for this group will always be pghco.org/evergetinos
The one for Wednesday will be pghco.org/theophan
01:20:10 Miron Kerul Kmec: will we get e-mail tooo?
01:22:09 renwitter: Yes! For each group
01:26:15 Ambrose: “There but for the grace of God go I.”
01:30:32 Rachel (30): Thank you.
01:31:26 D Fraley: Thank you
Tuesday Aug 31, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis VIII Part III
Tuesday Aug 31, 2021
Tuesday Aug 31, 2021
Continuing with Hypothesis VIII and considering the experience of those who die and come back to life, we are brought to a place of self-reflection that we often resist. The only thing that we take out of this world is either our virtue or our vice. Saint Ephraim tells us tonight that it is the it voice of these sins that will bear witness to the truth about our lives before God.
Again we must strive to think about this in the full context of our faith and what God has revealed to us. God, we are told, wills that all be saved and does everything in his power to bring us to salvation. In His Son He has revealed to us his love and his mercy and he has given us the fullness of his grace in order to elevate us to the very life and the love of the Trinity. We must see our lives in light of this ultimate reality and our engagement with the world around us must be given shaped by this distinctive identity. There is no in-between state for us as Christian men and women. Life has been given to us for repentance; that is, in order to turn toward God and to receive his grace and mercy. We must not through heedlessness or sloth elevate other things above God and make them our idols. The stories that we are presented with tonight call out to us: “Now is the time, now is the moment of salvation.” Let us pray that we would have ears to hear.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:11:56 John Clark: The 3 key ingredients in French cooking..Butter..butter..and butter!
00:34:11 Ambrose: gaudium et spes
00:37:39 Lilly: in the wise words of an old man ... ‘god meets us where we are’
00:40:06 Tyler Woloshyn: Like the Old Testament Brazen Snake was made for good, it did get corrupted when misused for the wrong reasons. It can be the same when people worship liturgy above God.
00:40:15 Joseph Muir: Thank God that He does, Lily!
00:57:11 Tyler Woloshyn: A priest once said, he would rather encounter people who are "theologically stupid" rather than the career theologian who runs people over to put them down to reach the next theology book."
00:58:56 Joseph Muir: Which reminds me all the more, Tyler, that the greatest theologians are those who pray the most❤
00:59:41 Ambrose: GS 44-45 touch on this engagement as well as the priority of the Gospel and the person and work of Christ.
01:02:20 Eric Williams: At least you didn’t quote Only The Good Die Young. ;)
01:02:28 Tyler Woloshyn: Praying without ceasing makes great theologians. Good input their Joseph about prayerful theologians.
01:02:58 Joseph Muir: Hahahaha, wait, what Billy Joel song was he referencing?
01:06:24 Ambrose: Fr. A shared this recently. Thought it was great. If you are an eye-witness of your brother falling [into sin], say without hesitation: “A curse on you, Satan! My brother is not to blame”, and strengthen your heart against judging your brother, or the Holy Spirit will withdraw from you.
Anonymous Sayings of the Desert Fathers
01:06:30 Eric Williams: Even vice is sort of a product now (maybe always was?). “Collect them all! Don’t be left out!”
01:09:40 Eric Williams: Billy Joel lyric:
01:09:45 Eric Williams: “You can get just so much
From a good thing
You can linger too long
In your dreams
Say goodbye to the
Oldies but goodies
‘Cause the good ole days weren’t
Always good
And tomorrow ain’t as bad as it seems”
01:10:10 Eric Williams: Keeping the Faith, from the album An Innocent Man
01:10:40 Francesca pineda (30): Oh no! I missed what Paul of Thebes said because my phone died!
01:15:06 Francesca pineda (30): Thank you
Wednesday Aug 25, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis VIII Part II
Wednesday Aug 25, 2021
Wednesday Aug 25, 2021
There are times when reading the Fathers or the gospel when one walks away feeling as if the earth is shifting beneath one’s feet; or one begins to question their perception of who they are, their identity as a Christian, and whether or not they are living it fully or if it is an illusion. As difficult as it is to consider such things, and as hard as they strike at the heart, they are often the most important things for us to reflect upon. To consider the truth about death and judgment as in Hypothesis VIII in an unvarnished fashion and to let it create tension within the mind and the heart, is something that perhaps relatively few people are willing to do. We grow comfortable in our illusions. To understand that we are being invited into the very mystery of God, the mystery of our redemption and the life that it is made possible, requires a willingness to make an ascent of faith. It means to allow ourselves to let go of all limitations and to allow God to draw us through the darkness of our faith to comprehend what he desires to reveal to us and as he desires to reveal to us. It is always love that is behind this but our experience of it and our resistance to it in our sin or our fear can make us turn away. Like Saint Peter it is our love and trust in Christ at those moments, when our sensibilities rebel or recoil, that allows us to say, “Lord where are we to go? You have the words of everlasting life.“
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Text of chat during the group:
00:54:00 Lilly Crystal: The last sentence “Now, at the setting of the sun, you remember God?” reminds me of the Hymn sung at Vespers- O Joyful Light
01:07:43 Ambrose: That always gives me tingles.
01:22:33 D Fraley: Thank you Fr David.
Wednesday Aug 18, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis VIII Part I
Wednesday Aug 18, 2021
Wednesday Aug 18, 2021
In Hypothesis VIII, we found ourselves considering something that is rather jarring to our sensibilities. We began listening to Saint Gregory the Great on the experience of those who die and come to life again and how this can happen by Divine Providence. We are presented with stories of those who are brought to deep repentance when they began to see that fearful state of Hell. We are also shown that such experiences may take place by God‘s providence perhaps not for the conversion of the one who is dying but for those who witness the the terror of the death of one outside of the grace of God and lacking a repentant heart. There is a fierce love at work bringing about our redemption and that fierceness shows itself by stripping us of any illusions about our lives; illusions either about our own mortality or the immortality of the soul. We see our great dignity and destiny in Christ. We are offered life eternal and an experience of union with the Triune God. However, this immortality of the soul outside of the context of our relationship with Christ presents us with a fearful reality; life without God and eternal death. God and his providence will scourge us in order to correct us and draw us back to the path that leads to life. He will allow us to taste the consequence and the bitterness of our own sin in order that we might turn away from it and hate it. This may not be easy to listen to and our inclination may be to turn away from it or to sanitize it. But if we strip the gospel of its teachings on the last things, if we remove the challenging thoughts of Christ in regards to the unbridgeable chasm that exist between heaven and hell, we lose sight of both our dignity and the weight and significance of our choices in this world. If the stories lead us to repentance they will ultimately lead us to joy; for they will lead us back to the bosom of God. Therefore we must not fear them and we must not avoid them - but allow them to shine their fearsome light upon us.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:16:07 Eric Williams: Father forgot to mute everyone, so everyone check your mics! :)
00:16:23 Edward Kleinguetl: Thanks!
00:21:36 Tyler Woloshyn: He was also the author of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts in the Byzantine church.
00:33:46 Ambrose: The staff is for beating off the wolves. :)
00:39:19 Eric Williams: Like what I was saying about young married priests in the East not having older priest families to learn from.
00:48:32 Edward Kleinguetl: Heb. 12:6.
00:49:58 Edward Kleinguetl: "For whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges.”
00:51:59 Eric Williams: “My child, do not despise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of his reproof,for the Lord reproves the one he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.” - Proverbs 3:11-12
00:52:02 renwitter: We do not always want to draw that connection between suffering and sin though, right? Christ himself addressed that, and I think of job’s friends trying to convince him that all he is suffering is a result of sin, which it wasn’t. Isn’t suffering also something given to us as a means of drawing us closer to Christ in His passion?
00:52:22 Erick Chastain: oh yeah for sure, not always
00:53:55 Eric Williams: ““How happy is the one whom God reproves; therefore do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.[d]For he wounds, but he binds up; he strikes, but his hands heal.” - Job 5:17-18
00:54:31 Edward Kleinguetl: Abba Dorotheos of Gaza: “In God’s providence everything is absolutely right and whatever happens is for the assistance of the soul. For whatever God does with us, he does out of love and consideration for us because it is adapted to our needs.”
01:17:01 Edward Kleinguetl: I met him, April 2, 2019, on Mt. Kolzam.
01:29:30 Nicole: Thank you!!!
01:29:59 D Fraley: Thank you Father David
Wednesday Aug 04, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis VII Part IV
Wednesday Aug 04, 2021
Wednesday Aug 04, 2021
This evening we concluded Hypothesis VII of the first volume of The Evergetinos. Once again we considered the experience of death of two saintly figures, St. Daniel the Stylite and Abba Sisoes. We begin to see in these two men how their constant repentance and the embrace of God’s grace brought forth, in anticipation, the life of the kingdom. The presence of the saints and angels, the light of Christ and the transformation of their countenance, all speak of the glory that lies on the other side of death. The stories are meant to awaken within us the desire for God and the life of virtue and to give us a lively sense of hope as we approach our own deaths. We are to allow these examples to spur us on in the spiritual life and to do so we must not read them simply in a notional way. Rather we must gaze upon them and listen to them with the eyes and ears of faith; such that we begin to comprehend the mystery of the Kingdom itself. Indeed this should be the posture of every man and woman of faith. We must look at all things in the light of what has been revealed to us in Christ; for only then will we begin to understand our true dignity and destiny as the redeemed Sons and Daughters of God.
--
Text of chat during the group:
00:27:55 Eric Williams: Probably a lounge lizard. ;)
00:31:15 renwitter: Honestly, I feel super awkward when the priest begins confession by saying “Welcome!” Instead of making the sign of the cross. Its like….ummmm…thank you?
00:32:11 Michael Liccione: I'm just relieved to get a priest who doesn't need convincing that my sins are sins!
00:32:20 renwitter: Wow Joe. Ditto to everything you’ve said so far.
00:32:41 Erick Chastain: my secret is my own y'all
00:33:09 carolnypaver: You mean, “yinz.”
00:33:26 renwitter: Ooo….the Saint Philip influence is rubbing off on Erick :D
00:33:49 Daniel Allen: Erick Chastain for the win!
00:33:50 Erick Chastain: am I allowed to use yinz as a non-Pittsburgher?
00:34:02 carolnypaver: Absolutely!
00:34:25 carolnypaver: ; )
00:35:33 Joseph Muir: I maybe lived in Pittsburgh for 11 years, but it was prefaced with 25 years in Georgia, so my vote will always be for “y’all” over “yinz”
00:35:56 carolnypaver: Snob! ; )
00:36:44 Joseph Muir: Having now been in the NYC area for 2 years, we’ll see if “you’s guys” eventually enters my lexicon🤣
00:37:25 carolnypaver: NYC——so sorry to hear. : (
00:38:04 Joseph Muir: Not a fan, I take it, eh, Carolyn?😆
00:38:50 carolnypaver: Visited once…not impressed. One-and-done for me. Thank you very much.
00:39:48 carolnypaver: The ‘Burgh is the place for me. People are friendlier, I have found.
00:40:48 Joseph Muir: Half of my family is originally from here, so a part of it has always felt like home. I also get to hang out a lot with the Missionaries of Charity, Sisters of Life, and Franciscan Friars of the Renewal a lot, which is a blessing (I went to the profession of final vows Mass for the Franciscans yesterday afternoon, actually ❤)
00:41:39 carolnypaver: Awesome! You’re in a good part of NYC! ; )
00:42:34 Ambrose: Who is “the Church”? We is the Church. :)
00:44:56 Jonathan Rodriguez: Great point Eric
00:45:00 Daniel Allen: Facebook and Twitter... the “anti-church”? The depth of a puddle, I like that a lot.
00:45:08 Joseph Muir: That’s a very theologically astute observation, Fr Ambrose!😀
00:47:31 Ambrose: Just a mister Ambrose. There is a Fr. Ambrose Little, O.P. in the St. Joseph province (Eastern USA), who I have occasionally been mixed up with. I don’t mind, but poor Fr. Ambrose! lol
00:48:32 sue and mark: understood that the confessional was sacrosanct and can not be hears by the demons. Isn't that true?
00:50:58 Eric Williams: “Who is the Church?” That’s a great thought and something that should convict us. I was thinking more of the institutional Church, though. We’ve had so many generations of poorly catechized members of the Church that we’re a chaotic mess of well-intentioned klutzes. It seems to me - and I’m frequently wrong - that our leaders have let us down and left us hanging. Too many of us are wandering sheep without reliable shepherds. To mix metaphors, we’re the blind leading the blind.
00:52:34 Ambrose: I dare say that is the perennial reality of the Church—always something of a mess; always in need of reform.
00:53:21 Joseph Muir: On that point, Eric, I’ve been listening to the Bible In A Year podcast from Fr Mike Schmitz ever since the start of this year, and looking at the Facebook group, the comments and questions are so all over the place, in a way that demonstrates the poor catechesis
00:53:45 Joseph Muir: I should probably leave the group, for the sake of my own soul🤣
01:02:27 sue and mark: who would not want to die that way?
01:05:12 Joseph Muir: “Noble simplicity”🙄
01:05:26 Lilly: Agree 100% Fr David
01:13:10 Eric Williams: In other words, we don’t overcome sin, per se, so much as we acknowledge that we are always sinning. So, we must be in perpetual repentence.
01:13:41 Joseph Muir: Found the article😀: https://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2008/06/the-incredible-hulk-the-philokalia-and-anger-management
01:13:56 Lilly: @Eric well said.
01:14:47 Ambrose: The “art” of repentance. A good term for it. Always room to improve and further our art.
01:14:51 Eric Williams: The secret to the Hulk controlling his rage was acknowledging that he’s always angry, rather than blaming his outbursts on particular outrages. He stopped treating his anger as someone else’s fault. He’s always angry, so he is always dangerous.
01:16:32 Joseph Muir: Amen, Eric. This is also why it’s healthier to not simply see sin as the bad things that we do and say and think, but it is the state of our broken selves due to our inheriting this brokenness by virtue of original sin. We aren’t simply sinners due to our commiting individual acts of sin; we are sinners due to inheriting a sinful nature, a disease which only the God can cure us of in in the church, via the sacraments and prayer
01:17:12 Jonathan Rodriguez: Thank you!
Tuesday Jul 27, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis VII Part III
Tuesday Jul 27, 2021
Tuesday Jul 27, 2021
Tonight we picked up with Hypothesis VII, continuing our reflection upon the experience of death by those righteous souls who sought to draw close to God in their life. God in His great mercy will often come to them to console and prepare them for their own passover; their passing over from death to eternal life.
The unknown of this reality can be a fearful thing, and so in the stories we often hear of the dying soul being surrounded by his fellow monks praying for his soul. This moment, often feared and avoided by modern men and women, is something we are encouraged to meditate upon in the deepest way. It is not simply facing our fears, but facing them in light of what God has revealed to us and his only begotten Son. We are in the End Times; salvation is now and so every moment is freighted with destiny because every moment is an opportunity to love and give ourselves in love. The stories magnify that reality for us so that we would take our life seriously; but more importantly, that we would take God at his word. We must foster a kind of stability in life and mind; a clarity about what we pursue as our ultimate goal. Otherwise we may not prepare ourselves for that most intimate of moments when we will stand before God in the full light of His Truth.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:39:34 Eric Williams: Nope, not ready. Thanatophobia is rough. ;)
00:41:30 Ambrose Little: I think it’s the attraction of gnosticism, too.
00:45:21 Eric Williams: Erick must be fun at parties. ;)
00:47:18 Erick Chastain: :)
00:56:59 Tyler Woloshyn: An example of semantron https://youtu.be/iXj7DLHH9-E
01:02:52 Eric Williams: Every parent willing to be honest will say they’ve wanted to flee. ;)
01:03:34 renwitter: Personally, I favor “One day I’ll fly away” from Mulan Rouge :-D My personal favorite “run-away song.”
01:07:45 Eric Williams: *innocent whistling*
01:09:13 Ambrose Little: Eric, rather this: https://youtu.be/3br0tDqW3r8 :)
01:13:21 D Fraley: Thank you, Father David.
01:14:02 Lilly: Thank you!
Tuesday Jul 20, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis VII Part II
Tuesday Jul 20, 2021
Tuesday Jul 20, 2021
Tonight we continued our reading of Hypothesis VII on the experience of death for those who have sought to live a virtuous life; how God often offers consolation or aids them by accompanying them through the experience of death. We are presented with one beautiful story after another. But, what becomes evident is that these are not simply to be read as pious stories, but rather something that speaks to how we view life as a whole including our preparation for death. We are reminded how important it is to be present to those who are dying; not just as an obligation but as a privilege to accompany a loved one in this most important moment. The stories also speak to us about the importance of forming our own hearts and those of our children from the earliest ages to understand how present God is to us at every moment of our lives. We need to shape the religious imagination in such a way that it creates within us an urgent longing for what God alone promises.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:30:16 Joseph Muir: What page are we on?
00:30:28 Eric Williams: 56
00:31:07 Tyler Woloshyn: First saint that comes to mind is St. Rafka, the Maronite nun-Saint, the Lily of Lebanon.
00:43:15 sue and mark: Holy death is a life long process.
00:54:25 Eric Williams: The East has a tradition of reciting the entire psalter over the recently deceased, continuously throughout day and night, if possible. It fell into disuse, but I'm told it's slowly returning. Also returning are families washing and dressing the body, as well as forgoing embalming.
00:59:00 Eric Williams: My wife's family stopped working on their grape farm in the middle of picking when they got news her grandfather was dying. In the midst of that very busy and very important period of time, they dropped everything and showed up at the nursing home in grungy clothes and covered in mud. They were able to be their for his last moments.
00:59:36 Eric Williams: *there (I hate typos :P)
01:03:08 Tyler Woloshyn: It is also chanted on Good Friday night into Holy Saturday Vigil in front of the Tomb of the Lord. Seminarians would take turns in Kathismatas.
01:04:54 renwitter: My funeral is planned and the program is printed :-D
01:06:41 Joseph Muir: My godfather became an alcoholic, so bad that, when I was a young child, younger than 10, my parents pulled away. My mom’s dad was an alcoholic, and some of the family wounds (some that are still felt today) were deep enough that they wanted to ensure my not being needlessly exposed to toxicity. Eventually, now in my 20s, he was on his deathbed, dying of sclerosis of his liver, due to decades of hard drinking. We hadn’t seen each other in probably 10+ years, and he was hooked up to a million tubes, and, while “awake”, wasn’t communicative. Even fo this day, I am convinced that our hearts spoke to each other that day, that he apologized for his addiction, since it kept us from having more of a relationship; and, in my heart, I was able to tell him that I forgave him, that I loved him, and that he could be assured of my prayers❤
01:14:47 Lisa Weidner: An important prayer to pray as someone is dying is the Divine Mercy Chaplet , and after their passing
01:22:17 Eric Williams: I'm always amazed and impressed when I see or hear about children playing "mass", whereas most would play "house, or as knights, or as policemen, firemen, or doctors.
01:25:09 renwitter: There is nothing like the sound of little voices humming “pray for us” (from the litany of our patron saints that we do) as they walk to their cars **heart eyes**
01:28:31 Sharon: Catechesis of the Good Shepherd is a beautiful catechetical model which is a fruit of Maria Montessori’s philosophy of teaching.
01:31:25 carolnypaver: Armata Bianca (White Army) was PadrePio’s vision.
01:37:49 sue and mark: catechesis of the Good Shepherd is excellent!
Tuesday Jul 13, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis VI Part III and Hypothesis VII Part I
Tuesday Jul 13, 2021
Tuesday Jul 13, 2021
Tonight we began our discussion of Hypothesis VII on the many times that the souls of virtuous people are made cheerful at the time of death by some divine overshadowing.
What we find in these paragraphs and the stories that they tell of the experience of those dying being consoled by God, by a vision of angels, or by saints is a portrait of how God has transformed for us the experience of death. For those who draw close to Him in faith and have embraced his grace, the moment is transformed from one of fear or terror to a moment of deep consolation and the experience of the presence of God and of his love.
On another level, this speaks to us about the nature of the Incarnation itself. All that has been assumed has been redeemed. This includes the experience of suffering and death. For those who have faith, entering into these realities - whether our own or others - should be something that we do freely.
This is how a Christian is to love. We do not live in isolation from each other; we do not suffer alone or allow others to suffer and die alone. If God comes to the aid of his faithful in these stories, it is to show us what we are to do and be for others at the moment of their death. We are to love as He loves. We are to enter into the most fearful of experiences and grasp the hand of the person that God has put before us as He will one day take hold of our own.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:13:27 Daniel Allen: What page are we on?
00:13:36 carolnypaver: 51
00:13:56 Daniel Allen: Thank you
00:33:28 carolnypaver: Some of us have no choice…
00:43:32 Jim Milholland: We are always looking to take another bite out of the proverbial apple of knowledge.
00:43:51 Eric Williams: Great way to put it!
00:45:05 Eric Williams: A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
00:49:32 Ambrose Little: It’s a memorable anecdote that can make the deeper reflection stick more, though.
00:53:18 Eric Williams: This sort of reminds me of when Jesus told people to not touch Him or hold on to Him because He had yet to ascend. Perhaps we shouldn't see these dying words as treating the wife's touch as sinful or tempting the husband to sin. Rather, he desired to depart this world and join his Lord, and his wife mustn't cling to him, preventing his departure.
00:53:39 Ambrose Little: It’s a backhanded compliment for her. Lolz
01:09:11 Eric Williams: I've read or heard countless stories of Eastern saints from whom fragrant, often miraculously healing, myrrh flowed at death. Are there similar stories from the deaths of Western saints? Is it less common in the West, and if so, why? (This might be too much of a digression, which is why I opted to type rather than raise my hand to speak.)
01:21:06 carolnypaver: “The Fourth Wiseman” (movie)has a good depiction of the leper colony.
01:24:53 Jim Milholland: A pandemic of fear and complacency
01:25:12 Ambrose Little: I could yawn a lot more. :D
01:25:19 Edward Kleinguetl: "The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread" (Mother Teresa of Calcutta).
01:29:37 Eric Williams: The Evergetinos: Sponsored by Clorox(TM)
01:31:58 Ashley Kaschl: I think, too, the technology we have (while able to be used for good) gives the illusion of action and participation so it’s easy for people to grow complacent because they think they’re acting by watching, posting, etc.
01:32:06 iPad (32) jeane kish: Outstanding teaching by the Master, Fr. David, thank you!
01:32:34 Jim Milholland: Has the pandemic been a kind of asceticism too?
Tuesday Jul 06, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis VI Part II
Tuesday Jul 06, 2021
Tuesday Jul 06, 2021
We read the Fathers in the way that we read the Scriptures; with a profound humility and knowledge that we lack perfect understanding. There are no experts in the desert Fathers any more than there are experts in the Faith or the Scriptures. When confronted with eternal realities, whether that reality be the eternal love of God or that of Hell one is compelled to sit in silence. When reading the Evergetinos this silence must be that of one who has a docile heart, a heart that is teachable. The heart that is teachable understands that it must suspend judgment and gradually allow God to pull back the veil that limits its vision. It is the pure of heart who come to see God. This we must acknowledge - that in the face of our sin we are not going to see and understand things clearly, much less eternal realities. We must humbly gaze upon our God with the eyes of love and through the ascetical life we must set aside the self that we so often make the idol that we worship.
Tonight we reflected in Hypothesis VI upon the glory of the Saints and the joys of heaven. Yet, we do so knowing that we see so little. We hold on to these things with hope. We hope in the One who has promised us life. We hope in the One who has died for our sins.
Most often this experience expresses the full measure and limit of our faith. We cling to the God who has revealed himself in His only begotten Son.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:01:46 The Pittsburgh Oratory: https://marginalia.lareviewofbooks.org/ammoun-sisoes-path-evergetinos-michael-centore/?fbclid=IwAR2KR3EEARnefZjqAky5KEwWYcBCUqKRs9VyX6s0RUC_fkKjILHI8GmeM14
00:01:56 The Pittsburgh Oratory: A must read!!
00:01:56 Robyn: Hi Father, hi everyone
00:04:09 The Pittsburgh Oratory: https://marginalia.lareviewofbooks.org/ammoun-sisoes-path-evergetinos-michael-centore/?fbclid=IwAR2KR3EEARnefZjqAky5KEwWYcBCUqKRs9VyX6s0RUC_fkKjILHI8GmeM14
00:11:52 The Pittsburgh Oratory: https://marginalia.lareviewofbooks.org/ammoun-sisoes-path-evergetinos-michael-centore/?fbclid=IwAR2KR3EEARnefZjqAky5KEwWYcBCUqKRs9VyX6s0RUC_fkKjILHI8GmeM14
00:20:35 Tyler Woloshyn: Newly baptized and newly illuminated infants, are new temples of the Holy Spirit. In a certain sense bowing to the Holy Spirit. Just a quick thought.
00:35:36 Lilly Crystal: 1 Corinthians 2:9 “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man, The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” There IS joy in suffering, though few know how to embrace it with love. We must take up our cross, no matter how heavy, and follow Him! :)
01:07:42 Eric Williams: St Ephraim wouldn't think highly of universal salvation theologies, it seems.
01:31:01 Erick Chastain: yep
01:32:03 Lilly Crystal: Thank you Father!
Tuesday Jun 29, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis V Part VII & Hypothesis VI Part I
Tuesday Jun 29, 2021
Tuesday Jun 29, 2021
“What will become of me?“ Such a simple question but one that clarifies the importance of the moment for us as men and women of faith. Where do we live our lives? What do we seek, what do we love and desire? These simple questions turn out to be the most important for us because in the end they shape our identity and the path that we take.
Moving on to Hypothesis VI, we began to consider the end of that path which is the glory of Heaven and of the Saints. We must foster a longing and develop an appetite now for the Divine. We must have a “nostalgia” for our homeland, remembering in hope the promises of God and understanding that while we are in this world we are also in exile. We are to seek to allow ourselves to be nourished more and more upon the things that foster not only strength of virtue but depth of desire for God.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:03:46 carolnypaver: Does the baby Miron have a Confirmation name?
00:29:39 Joseph Muir: Put the book title here in the chat, Daniel!!!!!!!
00:30:28 Erick Chastain: Lauris?
00:31:28 Daniel Allen: Laurus. The only thing I have ever read that is similar to it are the works of Dostoyevsky.
00:32:30 Erick Chastain: I have a copy but I haven't read it!
00:37:52 Joseph Muir: I’m a huge Russian literature fan, Dostoyevsky in particular (I’ve probably read the Brothers Karamazov 3 times)
00:40:14 renwitter: I am as well Joe! I read Laurus a while back, and have always loved Dostoyevsky, but I have to say that Solzhenitsyn is #1 for me.
00:42:08 Joseph Muir: I’ve never read anything from Solzhenitsyn, but am more than open to recommendations!
01:02:34 renwitter: Wow. That is amazing Ambrose. Thank you.
Tuesday Jun 22, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis V Part VI
Tuesday Jun 22, 2021
Tuesday Jun 22, 2021
Such power in a few words. Perhaps this is what makes the writings of the Fathers so compelling. In a few brief sentences or in the short story they capture for us the very essence of the life of faith. We begin to see with a kind of radical simplicity, a simplicity perhaps with which we are uncomfortable, the clear focus that we are to have in our pursuit of God. We must allow nothing to prevent our movement towards Him. We have been promised a share in life eternal; where the joy of life will have no end, where intimacy will have no limitations, where there will be no fear or anxiety. This is what our hearts are to be set upon; this is what spurs us on to travel the narrow path in the pursuit of God and the things of the kingdom.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:19:00 Lisa Weidner: Hello,
00:19:17 Lisa Weidner: What page are we reading? thank you
00:19:24 carolnypaver: 44
00:20:00 Lisa Weidner: thanks!
00:25:25 Joseph Muir: This passage reminds me of a common Byzantine prayer for the dead:
“O Christ our God, with the saints grant rest to the soul of your departed servant, in a place where there is no pain, no grief, no sighing, but everlasting life.”
00:25:52 carolnypaver: Lovely.
00:53:51 Tyler Woloshyn: Once again it connects to me liturgically with this excerpt. Sixth Ode for Preparation of Holy Communion: "Whirled about in the abyss of sin, I appeal to the unfathomable abyss of Your Compassion: Raise me, O God, from corruption." "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." "O Savior, sanctify my mind and soul, my heart and body, and deem me worthy to approach Your awesome Mysteries without condemnation." "Cast me not from Your presence, nor deprive me of Your Holy Spirit." "O Christ, grant that I may be ride of my passions and grow in Your grace. May I be strengthened and confirmed in life by communion of Your holy Mysteries."
00:54:53 carolnypaver: Wow!
01:01:36 Eric Williams: I remember when watching Brother Sun, Sister Moon was a traditional experience at Oratory retreats. ;)
01:02:26 Tyler Woloshyn: It has been a movie that a vocations director recommended people watch. On my to watch list.
01:02:54 Carole DiClaudio: Good to know; I’ve never watched it.
01:03:36 carolnypaver: Very 1970’s but the message is there.
01:06:24 Wayne Mackenzie: Brother Sun, Brother Moon..
01:07:20 carolnypaver: Yep.
01:08:19 Carole DiClaudio: ??
01:09:16 Wayne Mackenzie: It's the name of the movie about St.Fancis
Tuesday Jun 15, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis V Part V
Tuesday Jun 15, 2021
Tuesday Jun 15, 2021
We continue this evening with our study of Hypothesis V - on the remembrance of death and final judgment. While this might fill the minds and the hearts of many with trepidation, many of the fathers see the remembrance of death as the essential work in the spiritual life. The reason for this and the intention behind it is not to fill the heart with anxiety but rather to turn the heart toward God Who alone promises us forgiveness and the fullness of life and love in Him. The Scriptures tell us that God is set upon our salvation and so hope is always to be found in Him. His love for us is unquenchable. As we have heard, the mere turning of the mind and the heart toward him brings upon us a flood of mercy and grace. The remembrance of death and judgment are simply an aid to remind us not to take this gift lightly. God has given us everything and has nothing greater to give – the perfect love of His only begotten Son. It is that love that is eternal and we will either respond to that love or we don’t. Now is the moment of salvation and how we respond perpetuates itself both in this world and in the world come unless we turn toward God in repentance. Once our eyes close for the last time that opportunity - to turn toward the embrace that is ever reaching out towards us - passes.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:02:09 carolnypaver: Wow! Sounds exhausting!
00:44:55 Joseph Muir: Here are two prayers from Byzantine vespers, according to the Gregorian calendar, from earlier today, in a similar vein to the one that I read earlier:
O Christ, You are the only sinless One, the only patient One, the only Source of goodness! Look upon my misery and affliction. Wipe away all the scars of my wounds. In your mercy, save your servant; that having driven away all clouds of despair, O Savior, I may glorify Your supreme goodness!
Ponder your deeds, O my wretched soul! Behold how they are all defiled with filth! Behold your nakedness and your isolation. For you are in danger of being separated from God and His holy angels and of being delivered to eternal torments. Be vigilant, then, and make haste to cry aloud: “O Savior, I have sinned! Grant me Your forgiveness and save me!”
00:48:21 Joseph Muir: ¡De nada!
00:53:35 Wayne Mackenzie: Don't we send ourselves to Hell, rather than God?
00:54:35 Eric Williams: "There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, 'All right, then, have it your way.'" C. S. Lewis
01:05:39 Lilly: I’ve never seen that Icon before. I will have to look it up. What is it called?
01:06:54 Erick Chastain: except judas
01:07:14 Erick Chastain: the patristic witness to judas being in hell is pretty clear
01:07:23 Erick Chastain: /consistent
01:07:28 Fr. John (Ivan) Chirovsky: icon of fearful or awesome judgement, aka last judgement, sometimes might also be called icon of or for Meatfare Sunday.
01:09:09 Fr. John (Ivan) Chirovsky: in the Coptic orthodox tradition there is a point of view that Judas Iscariot repented between the time when he jumped and when the rope broke his neck, but I cannot find the exact quote.
Tuesday Jun 08, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis V Part IV
Tuesday Jun 08, 2021
Tuesday Jun 08, 2021
We continued tonight our study of Hypothesis V where the Fathers speak to us of the importance of the remembrance of death and the remembrance of judgment.
We began with the thoughts of Abba Isaiah the seeks to teach us about the three things that preserve virtue; sorrow for sin, tears for our sins, and the ceaseless recollection of death. These three hold before our minds the significance of the present moment. Every moment for us is freighted with destiny because every moment is an opportunity for us to embrace the love and the grace of God or to neglect it. We have to let go of the illusion not only that we will have time enough for repentance but also the illusion that simply living a good or a moral life is in fact living a Christian life. We may pursue virtue as a commodity; something that is gathered and stored and that builds up our self-image and self-esteem. Such things have their own value but they are not necessarily reflective of the fact that we have embraced Christ and the life that he has made possible for us through the cross. We are called to the divine life and all of our words, thoughts and actions are to be reflective of Christ. We are to be living icons of the gospel. We can approach our lives with a kind of indifference when it comes to their spiritual significance. We can expend a lot of energy and be willing struggle to pursue our own ends in this world but we will accept willingly being wounded and bitten over and over again by the spiritual dragon and bearing his stings of distraction. We can allow ourselves to be swallowed up by sin or evil daily and pay it no mind. It is for this reason that the remembrance of death and judgment is important. It speaks to us of what God has given us but also the weight and the significance of our response.
Tuesday Jun 01, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis V Part III
Tuesday Jun 01, 2021
Tuesday Jun 01, 2021
We continued this evening with our study of Hypothesis V and the writings of Saint Ephraim on the subject of the importance of remembering death and judgment. Like so many of the Fathers, Ephraim stresses the need to prepare ourselves for that final journey that inevitably comes to us all – the moment of death. He also speaks to us about how the enemy will try to make us delay or put aside our attention to this reality. When it comes to life in this world death, in a sense, is the ultimate master. Death, of course, does not have the last the last word. God has spoken His Word of Life and through it has opened up a path for us to experience the fullness of the life of the Holy Trinity. The enemy, however, will try to convince us that we are young and have a great amount of time; that we can put off repentance until after we lived life in this world to its fullest. However, Ephraim tells us that the one who is truly blessed is the one who has carried the yoke of Christ from his earliest days. In fact, this is the greatest gift that a parent can give to their child. From the moment of their baptism they enter into this profound relationship with God. To be taught to embrace the gift of being a child of God is the greatest thing that a parent can offer their son or daughter. The Fathers, like Christ in the gospel, want us have no illusions about the fact that how we respond to the love perpetuates itself unto eternity. What is offered to us is Love; and that Love can be embraced or it can be scorned and neglected. The Fathers pleas with us as Christ did to embrace life, to embrace love. This is what Christ thirsts for – that His love would be requited.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:59:50 renwitter: That parable always sounds a bit catty if it is not explained well :-D
01:05:11 Erick Chastain: that was in one of the psalms
01:14:28 Eric Williams: Fortunately, when I joined the Church in 2000, Fr David was still preaching fire and brimstone, so my catechesis was not warm, fuzzy, or weak. ;)
01:24:18 Nicole: Sorry! Did you want our microphones on so we are hearing each other pray?
01:24:43 Nicole: I forgot LOL
Have a great week everyone, thank you Father :)
Wednesday May 26, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis V Part II
Wednesday May 26, 2021
Wednesday May 26, 2021
We continued with our reading of Hypothesis Five where the Fathers discuss with us the importance of remembering death as well as judgment. Such thoughts are not to elicit fear within the heart but rather magnify the significance of the moment and help us live in the moment as opposed to the past or the future. Every moment is freighted with destiny because every moment is an opportunity to love or not to love. The remembrance of death teaches us not to put off repentance and not to doubt the mercy of God when we find ourselves caught up in our sin. It also teaches us to listen keenly to the voice of our conscience as it calls us back to God. This is a fundamental and permanent element of the spiritual life and so should be cultivated with great discipline and care.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:31:03 Erick Chastain: "sin makes you stupid"
00:48:19 Michael Liccione: Negative anthropology becomes very attractive if you spend much time on social media.
00:51:09 sue and mark: now it makes sense.
00:58:26 renwitter: First he coughs at me, then he yawns at Ambrose. . . geez. I think the next time Erick starts talking we should all start quacking or something.
00:58:45 Michael Liccione: LOL
00:58:49 Carole DiClaudio: hahaha
00:58:59 Lilly Crystal: Lol @ren
00:59:00 Erick Chastain: Yeah sorry everyone for that.
00:59:16 Joseph Muir: 🤣
00:59:49 Erick Chastain: It's the live experience I guess
01:00:05 Michael Liccione: Your lived experience :)
01:01:04 renwitter: I love that our chat transcript is published along with the podcast 😂😂😂
01:01:09 Daniel Allen: Only adds to the group it’s hilarious.
01:02:01 Erick Chastain: Yeah who needs TV?
01:08:39 Sharon: Otherwise, would that be the sin of presumption?
01:08:59 renwitter: And terrifying
01:11:34 Ambrose Little: Work out your salvation with fear and trembling. (Phil 2:12)
01:11:39 Sharon: … and ought we not canonize people when they die?
01:12:55 Sharon: I don’t mean canonized saints, but just anyone at the time of death.
01:13:18 Michael Liccione: No
01:14:56 Sharon: I agree. It just seems like no matter whose funeral, people talk as though they absolutely know the deceased is in heaven.
Tuesday May 18, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis IV and Hypothesis V
Tuesday May 18, 2021
Tuesday May 18, 2021
Tonight we picked up with Hypothesis IV. Its focus is that those afflicted by the passions should be guided slowly in the works of repentance. To help us understand this we are given a wonderful story of a young man who is sent into the fields to clear them. However upon seeing them filled with thorns and weeds he very quickly becomes depressed at the thought of the work that was ahead of him. He lays down in the grass and goes to sleep. His father on approaching him ask him why he has been so negligent. The young man states that he was overwhelmed. Wisely and with compassion the father simply tells him to sleep in a different place every night so as to flatten out the grass and the weeds simply where he chooses to lay down. This is the son did and over time he was able to clear the entire field. This is a wonderful parable because it shows us how difficult the spiritual life can be at the beginning. The bar is set very low by the father so as not to discourage. We must invest ourselves and create a rule to follow. That is a given. However, we must have patience and an awareness of our poverty. We must work within our limits until God adds grace to grace and we are able to complete the task. The spiritual life is not simply about our will but rather our embrace of the grace of God in the moment.
In Hypothesis Five, the fathers begin to describe the importance of keeping the thought of death and future judgment in mind in order that one might struggle constantly against the passions. Remembering death daily will begin to free us from unduly attaching ourselves to worldly things or losing ourselves in the work of our own hands. The remembrance of death dispels the illusion of pleasures and lifts up the soul when it is inclined to sin. All the stories in this section seek to remind us not to be prideful about our spiritual pursuits or to see them as arising from our own efforts. They also remind us not to put off our conversion from day to day for we are not guaranteed a long life. We know neither the day nor the hour when God will call us to himself and when we will stand in the fullness of his light. This is the very nature of God. To come into His presence is to be penetrated by the light of truth. Nothing shall be hidden and so nothing in this life should be taken for granted or taken lightly.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:15:11 Lilly Crystal: Welcome Kyle and Andrew! Happy you guys could make it :)
00:15:35 Kyle Davidson: thanks for the invite, Lily
00:35:26 Tyler Woloshyn: Spiritual directors mention that God's work is clearest in the hidden. The liminal space, or that threshold a person crosses is where God is working the most in the soul of the Christian. Not focusing on the past or worrying about the future. It is like a furnace and forge at work simultaneously.
00:38:54 Lilly Crystal: @Diana welcome hermana so happy you could make it :)
00:53:01 Lilly Crystal: “4 Last Things” by Father Isaac Mary Relyea is an amazing 4-part sermon… New Yorker by the way ;)
00:57:04 Tyler Woloshyn: "As I arise from sleep, I thank You O Most Holy Trinity, for Your great goodness and patience with me, an idler and a sinner. You have not become indignant towards me, nor have You allowed me to die in my sins. Instead, You have shown me the love that You have for all mankind. You raised me from sleep, that I may greet this new day in prayer and glorify Your sovereign power. And now enlighten my eyes of understanding, open my understanding, open my ears to receive Your words, and teach me Your commandments. Help me to do Your will, to sing to You, to profess You from all my heart, and to praise Your all-holy name, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now and for ever and ever. Amen." (Morning prayer of St. Basil the Great)
01:00:58 Joseph Muir: Prayer of Saint John of Damascus, to be prayed before going to sleep:
O Lord, Lover of Mankind, is this bed to be the coffin, or will You enlighten my wretched soul with another day? Here the coffin lies before me, and here death confronts me. I fear, O Lord, Your Judgment and the endless torments; yet I cease not to do evil. My Lord and God, I continually anger You, and Your Immaculate Mother, and all the Heavenly Powers, and my Holy Guardian Angel. I know, O Lord that I am unworthy of Your love, but deserve condemnation and every torment. But, whether I want it or not, save me, O Lord. For to save a good man is no great thing, and to have mercy on the pure is nothing wonderful, for they are worthy of Your mercy. But show the wonder of Your mercy to me, a sinner. In this, reveal Your love for Man, lest my wickedness prevail over your unutterable goodness and mercy. And order my life as you will. Amen.
01:01:45 Tyler Woloshyn: In ancient Rome, whenever a Roman General or Emperor returned from a victory in battle. During the Triumphant parade, there would be a man hired to whisper into his ear, "Thou art mortal."
01:11:19 Tyler Woloshyn: Thank you for the wonderful lesson tonight Father. I am off to a Moleben to the Mother of God. Have a blessed evening everyone.
01:11:36 Kyle Davidson: thanks for the talk. I have to join a new call.
01:11:52 renwitter: We should have shirts made that say YODO - You Only Die Once. Get Ready.
01:12:17 carolnypaver: Oh yeah!
01:12:17 Joseph Muir: I’d buy one, Ren!
01:12:18 Lilly Crystal: @Ren omg lol
01:12:52 renwitter: I’ll design it. With a nice little skull. Maybe a prayer rope.
01:13:06 Eric Williams: Life is Short: Pray Hard
01:13:07 Lilly Crystal: Yesss girl
01:14:18 Joseph Muir: You could collaborate with https://instagram.com/pursuedbytruth?utm_medium=copy_link
01:16:13 Lilly Crystal: @Joseph coolest nun ever
01:17:18 Eric Williams: The second law of thermodynamics tells that nothing left alone stays the same. Anything we don't put energy into will degrade into chaos.
01:17:44 renwitter: Ooo. I love that. Lessons in the spiritual life straight from the natural world **heart**
01:20:06 carolnypaver: Are there any books left to purchase?
01:20:12 renwitter: No, not at the Oratory
01:20:18 renwitter: But direct from the Publisher
01:20:55 sue and mark: retreat!!!!!
Tuesday May 11, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis III, Part II
Tuesday May 11, 2021
Tuesday May 11, 2021
This evening we concluded Hypothesis III on “how a person should repent”. The elders begin by emphasizing sorrow in the spiritual life. This is not a sorrow that leads a person into depression or despondency. It is not rooted in shame but rather in the acknowledgment of the impact of our sin on the relationship that we have with God and also how we have treated the grace and mercy that he has shown us. Sorrow, therefore, is to be carried along in the spiritual life as a bridle for the soul which will keep us from falling into sin once again. Granted, this is a very difficult thing for us to understand and embrace. We do everything in our power to alleviate the sorrow tied to sin or to escape it. But in regards to anything that afflicts or affects us on a spiritual level, it becomes the most powerful remedy. Each story this night tells us that we are to care for our passions with medicines that are at odds with them. We must consciously struggle to blot out recollections of the sins we have enjoyed with the corresponding hardships that they have brought.
Yet, in all of this the elders emphasize a kind of freedom in the embrace of a specific practice of penance. Each person is unique and God Who alone searches the depths of the mind and the heart can guide the individual along the path of true healing. There are many paths to this healing and as many remedies as there are human beings. Each person is a mystery, a mystery that only God can grasp. Therefore, our wounds can only be healed by more radically open the mind and the heart to His grace. The ascetical life simply serves as an aid in doing this.
Until next week dear friends . . .
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Text of chat during the group:
00:23:19 Daniel Allen: What page and number are we on?
00:23:28 renwitter: PAge 32
00:23:31 renwitter: #4
00:23:37 Daniel Allen: Thank you
00:46:19 Lilly Crystal: Very well said, Father :)
00:56:28 Lilly Crystal: What prayer was that?
00:57:17 Tyler Woloshyn: 6th Prayer Before Holy Communion by St Symeon the New Theologian
01:13:18 Tyler Woloshyn: Have a blessed time folks. Off to Moleben (prayer service) to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
01:15:59 Eric Williams: Their repentance had equal merit, but one of them was a lot happier. I’m a fan of the happy one. ;)
01:19:10 Lilly Crystal: Please keep my Canadian friend, Bill, in your prayers. He’s in the hospital attached to oxygen as of 2 days
01:30:05 Lilly Crystal: There’s never too many books, Father. Just not enough time :)
01:35:00 Nicole’s iPhone: Thank you!
Tuesday May 04, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis III, Part I
Tuesday May 04, 2021
Tuesday May 04, 2021
There are times that it becomes perfectly clear that one is being fed on solid food. Tonight was such a moment. We picked up with Hypothesis Three on “how we should repent”. We heard from St. Isaac the Syrian with whom we are familiar. St. Isaac begins by teaching us that for every illness, whether of the soul or body the appropriate medicine must be applied. Only then will one be cured. We must apply the appropriate remedy to the passion that afflicts us the most.
St. Isaac gives us two examples this evening of men pierced to the heart with contrition. Both impose upon themselves penances that seem disturbingly severe to modern sensibilities. But it is precisely here that we must suspend judgment and allow ourselves to consider the deeper action at work in the hearts of these men. We must ask the question: Could they ever know the joy of the hand of mercy reaching out to them and lifting them up out of their sin and offering them forgiveness if they first did not experience the depth of sorrow for their sin against love? Having been so cut off from the spiritual tradition and developing such a truncated view of the human person that is often either overly intellectual or psychological, we tend not grasp the wound of sin and the effect that it has upon our relationship with God. We do not see what we have become in Christ; that we are God-bearers and that we have been imbued with His own Spirit that searches the depths of our souls. We have become so isolated from one another that we no longer see the radical solidarity that exists between ourselves and each other in our sin. How can we know anything about either the depth of compunction that arises from a heart that mourns the loss of love and will do anything to regain it or of the beauty and tenderness of the mercy of God that reaches out to touch us and raise us up?
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Text of chat during the group:
00:22:16 Tyler Woloshyn: This reminds me in many way of the many saints of the east who bore the title, "Fools for Christ" who took on those self-imposed penance to maximize their humility as a witness to those who are indifferent otherwise to the gospel.
00:23:12 carolnypaver: Why does he say “the rule” put him in chains?
00:24:42 Joseph Muir: What page are we on?😀
00:24:58 carolnypaver: 31
00:25:02 Tyler Woloshyn: 30
00:25:04 Tyler Woloshyn: 31
00:25:05 Joseph Muir: Much thanks!
00:30:10 Tyler Woloshyn: When I think of red hot piercing contrition it reminds me of The Great Canon of Saint Andrew of Crete during Great Lent. Prayerful and very catechetical.
00:53:43 renwitter: Most. Beautiful. Story. Yet. *heart*
01:03:08 Lilly Crystal: Amen!
01:14:34 Lilly Crystal: Yes! It’s so sad here in Toronto!
Tuesday Apr 27, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis II, Part II
Tuesday Apr 27, 2021
Tuesday Apr 27, 2021
This evening we concluded the Hypothesis II of the Evergetinos. The focus is on the remembrance of death. Our mortality is a very powerful lens through which to view our life, our actions and most importantly our relationship with God. God and His love alone endures and it is to this love alone that we must cling. If we sin and turn away from that love then repentance must be our constant companion. In fact, we are told that even our virtue can lead us into sin without repentance. We can begin to imagine that such a virtue has its origin in our asceticism. Such a view of life will not lead us to love God above all things and so hate sin. It is not enough simply for us to avoid certain behaviors we must develop an aversion to anything that is not God and that does not lead to Him.
In Hypothesis II, the Fathers begin to speak to us about how we should repent. We should grieve in measure with the wrong which we have committed. Otherwise, we will usually fall again into the same net. There is a kind of guile that exist in the human heart when there is an expectation of being able to repent later after having committed a sin a second time.
Finally, discussion ensued about how we are to understand sin. We must be very careful in the distinctions that we make and by which we judge our lives and our behavior. It must not be simply in accord with our own reason and intellect but rather in accord with a standard that has been revealed to us that this judgment is made - the cross of Christ and the self-emptying love that we witnessed there.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:24:42 renwitter: Hi Eric’s baby! (The wave just killed me)
00:25:48 Eric Williams: His name is Peter Damian. :)
00:31:02 Joseph Muir: Hello, Godson Peter😀❤
00:59:55 Lilly Crystal: You're fine Erick! I'm just as confused lol
01:02:26 Tyler Woloshyn: That whole part of self-emptying brings the term kenosis to mind, where it is always at work with Christ always pouring out His love and graces to us.
01:04:52 renwitter: Maybe the first Eastern Canadian voice ;-) You are not forgotten Wayne :-)
01:07:08 Wayne Mackenzie: Thanks
01:08:43 renwitter: The form the Fathers of the Oratory use is: “God, the Father of mercies,through the death and resurrection of his Sonhas reconciled the world to himselfand sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins;through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace,and I absolve you from your sinsin the name of the Father, + and of the Son,and of the Holy Spirit.”
01:09:11 Joseph Muir: ❤
01:14:05 Lilly Crystal: Amen! Thank you all so much❤️
01:15:09 carolnypaver: God bless you, Lilly! So glad you’re here!
01:17:39 Tyler Woloshyn: God bless you Father! Have a blessed evening everyone!
Tuesday Apr 20, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis I, Part X and Hypothesis II, Part I
Tuesday Apr 20, 2021
Tuesday Apr 20, 2021
Tonight we concluded Hypothesis I with a story of a bishop who fell into grave sin and scandal. Broken in spirit, he embraces a life of repentance in a monastery, while also seeking to hide his the dignity of his office. However, God reveals to the Abbot of the monastery that the bishop is coming to him. The abbot recognizes him and tells him that he will follow him wherever he goes to reveal that he is a bishop. The abbot does this not with a morbid delight but rather that the bishop might be fully healed. The very scandal of having fallen from such a lofty position as bishop into grave sin must not be something that he hides. The fullness of healing can only take place when the fullness of the sin is exposed. He who humbles himself will be exalted. Humbling himself completely, the bishop will not regain the dignity of his office but rather regain something greater - his dignity as a son of God. Again, we see that such repentance is not embraced in isolation from others. The fruit of the bishop’s repentance and its perfection is passed on to others after he dies. Many miracles surrounded his death demonstrating to all the genuineness and the sincerity of us repentance.
Turning then to Hypothesis II, we began considering the importance of keeping before our minds the reality of death. We must do good here and now and not delay until the future. This is not meant to instill fear in the hearts of men but rather to liberate them from the illusion that our life in this world is endless or that we are guaranteed a tomorrow. Grace is to be embraced in the moment. God is to be embraced in the moment. To do so is to experience freedom from the fear and anxiety that so often holds the human heart and in its grip.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:11:53 Tyler JVW: Holy Transfiguration Monastery has a wonderful Psalter
00:39:02 Eric Williams: I never felt invincible. I was a very odd child. ;)
00:40:14 Joseph Muir: You’re a very odd adult, Eric😉😂
00:42:27 Lilly Vasconcelos: Be nice to Eric, Mr. Muir😂
00:43:40 Lilly Vasconcelos: Yes I feel the same Father🙂
00:45:52 Lilly Vasconcelos: Humans were not made for long periods of solitude, there is so many negative pschological effects if one doesn't have God as the centre of their lives
00:48:52 Tyler JVW: The definite spiritual high after any retreat or catechetical talk in some experiences.
00:52:59 Lilly Vasconcelos: Praying the Divine Office throughout the day helps me feel like Jesus shares my day with me, so that at night it's kinda exciting if we might depart to him❤️ I don't know if that helps, Ren💕
00:55:55 Tyler JVW: The whole Passion Week Troparia, "Behold the Bridegroom comes in the middle of the night" comes to mind.
00:57:57 Eric Williams: Sort of like showing up for the heavenly banquet without the proper garment?
00:58:00 renwitter: Don’t forget your unblemished white wedding garment bathing suit ;-)
00:58:06 renwitter: Ha! Eric get there before me
01:00:28 Joseph Muir: Behold, the Bridegroom is coming in the middle of the night. Blessed is the servant that He shall find awake. But, the one that He shall find neglectful will not be worthy of Him. Beware, therefore, O my soul! Do not fall into a deep slumber, lest you be delivered to death, and the door of the Kingdom be closed on you. Watch, instead, and cry out: Holy, holy, Holy are You, O our God! Through the Theotokos, have mercy on us!
—from bridegroom matins during Holy Week in the Byzantine churches, both Catholic and Orthodox; and also in the mesonyktikon, the liturgical midnight hour
01:01:20 Joseph Muir: Or they get a passing grade, but only after needlessly inducing a panic attack🤣
01:03:31 Lisa Weidner: In response to Ren’s comment on what to do
01:03:36 Joseph Muir: At the risk of spamming these comments, I once broke up with a girl after she told me that she was a diehard fan of the Saw movie franchise
01:03:37 Lilly Vasconcelos: Theotokion from Orthros:You are truly most blessed, O Virgin Mother of God: through the One who was incarnated of You, Hades was chained, Adam revived, the curse wiped out, Eve set free, Death put to death, and we ourselves were brought back to life...
01:03:50 Tyler JVW: It also reminds me of the Byzantine Prayer before bed time: O Eternal God, King of every creature, Who hast enabled me to attain to this hour, forgive me the sins which I have committed this day by thought, word and deed. Cleanse my humble soul, O Lord, from every defilement of flesh and spirit. Grant me, O Lord, to pass through the sleep of this night in peace, that I may rise from my humble bed and please Thy most Holy Name all the days of my life, vanquishing the enemies both fleshly and bodiless that contend against me. Deliver me from vain thoughts that defile me, O Lord, and from evil desires. For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory: of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
01:05:39 Lisa Weidner: prior to going to bed, Sister Theresa Althea Noble speaks of a practice of Memento More- remembering one’s death as part of one’s examination conscience prior to bed- with the gratitude of the day that Fr David mentioned with a review of the day in reference to our judgement with God- how the day would be reflected in that judgement- so living with an awareness of one’s death/ judgement prior to God.
01:08:43 Tyler JVW: Prayer before retiring before bed by St, John of Damascus: Upon retiring, say this prayer: O Master, Lover of mankind, is this bed to be my coffin, or wilt Thou enlighten my wretched soul with another day? Behold, the coffin lieth before me; behold, death confronteth me. I fear, O Lord, Thy judgment and the endless torments, yet I cease not to do evil. My Lord God, I continually anger Thee, and Thy most pure Mother, and all the Heavenly Hosts, and my Holy Guardian Angel. I know, O Lord, that I am unworthy of Thy love for mankind, but am worthy of every condemnation and torment. But, O Lord, whether I will it or not, save me. For to save a righteous man is no great thing, and to have mercy on the pure is nothing wonderful, for they are worthy of Thy mercy. But on me a sinner, show the wonder of Thy mercy; in this reveal Thy love for mankind, lest my wickedness prevail over Thine ineffable goodness and merciful kindness; and order my life as Thou wilt.
01:10:21 Lilly Vasconcelos: Thanks Father! God bless and good night
01:11:21 Nicole: THANK YOU!!
Tuesday Apr 13, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis I, Part IX
Tuesday Apr 13, 2021
Tuesday Apr 13, 2021
We picked up this evening with Hypothesis I which we have been considering over the past month or so. Again the theme is repentance and the avoidance of despair. We have been presented with stories from the Gerontikon which is a collection of the saying of the elders. The focus of the first story we considered tonight was a monk who fell in love with an Egyptian woman. Her father went to a pagan priest and was instructed by a demon through that priest to tell the monk that if he denied God, denied his holy baptism, and rejected his monastic vows then he could marry his daughter. Yet despite doing all of these things, God did not abandon him. The demon acting through the pagan priest understood this and so told the father to refuse the monk’s request to give his daughter in marriage. At that moment, the monk came to the realization of what he had done and repented with deep sorrow. Turning back to his elder, he was instructed to engage rigorously in a fast for weeks and to ask God for his mercy. Eventually the monk was given a vision of a dove entering into his mouth. At this the elder understood that God had received the monk’s penance and restored him to the life of grace. This tells us something very important about the nature of repentance and far reaching it must be. Our penance cannot be something that has no meaning or value but must be a remedy that heals the wound hat led to the fall in the fall in the first place. We must also seek out the guidance of an elder, like this young monk, who not only can instruct us but also intercede on our behalf before God.
Following this, an elder teaches us that when a person is experienced in asceticism and has built his life on the very things to draw him closer to God, falls from grace, he can return more quickly along the path to holiness because even though his house, as it were, may have been demolished he still has readily available all the materials from which constructed it. A person newly initiated into the spiritual life, however, will not only have to build the house but search for the materials. Both suffered the demolition and distraction brought about by their sin, but the one whose life had long been directed toward God can return with a greater swiftness.
Discussion then ensued about how we understand affliction in light of all the things that we have been talking about in regards to repentance. How does one not fall into despair when afflicted again and again? It is only when our knowledge of God is no carried tale and no abstract notion but rather the fruit of a relationship of love that we are able to see through the tears in the darkness and find our way into the embrace of the loving God. This is what we must seek to possess ourselves and to which we must guide others.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:37:59 Tyler Woloshyn: This reminds me of St. Mary of Egypt's retreat into the wilderness to overcome the passions that surrounded her, yet in that long suffering she overcame it with the greatest ascetism and prayer.
00:38:13 Lilly Vasconcelos: Sin is sin. I dislike the idea of venial vs mortal, just my opinion. We should strive for holiness :)
00:39:33 Tyler Woloshyn: Very Byzantine focus there Lilly. Categorizations can sometimes complicate the examination of conscience.
00:45:36 Tyler Woloshyn: St. Pachomius of Egypt?
00:46:25 Erick Chastain: Modern-day Egypt, back then it was Thebes
00:47:47 Wayne Mackenzie: It's the rule of Pachomis
00:49:51 Tyler Woloshyn: The Prayer of St. Pachomius at least for the Jesus Prayer sure sets a wonderful template for building a crescendo for praying the Jesus Prayer.
00:50:12 Wayne Mackenzie: yes
00:50:50 Eric Williams: Rule of St. Pachomius: http://www.saintjonah.org/services/stpachomius.htm
00:51:04 Joseph Muir: Thank you, Eric!
00:56:56 carolediclaudio: I’m late- what page are we on? :)
00:58:18 carolnypaver: 25
00:58:26 Wayne Mackenzie: p 25
00:58:28 Tyler Woloshyn: Acedia, which Evagarios of Pontus talks about those 8 passions. Despair being grave.
00:58:28 carolnypaver: bottom
00:58:39 carolediclaudio: Thank you!
01:09:45 Lilly Vasconcelos: Thank you Father David :)
01:10:20 Tyler Woloshyn: Christ is Risen! Thank you for the wonderful explanations and being very welcoming Fr. David.
01:10:24 carolediclaudio: Yes, very beautiful. So sorry was late.
01:11:38 Lilly Vasconcelos: I brought 2 more Canadians
01:11:43 Lilly Vasconcelos: Hahaha
01:11:49 Katharine M: :D
01:11:59 carolediclaudio: Good :)
01:13:45 Sue and Mark: YES!!!!!!
01:13:58 Erick Chastain: That would be great!
01:14:16 Eric Williams: Maybe “The Way of a Pilgrim”?
01:14:17 Daniel Allen: perfect i won’t have to buy another copy
Tuesday Apr 06, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis I, Part VIII
Tuesday Apr 06, 2021
Tuesday Apr 06, 2021
We continued with our reading of Hypothesis I on “repentance in the avoidance of despair.” After giving us a foundation of many stories of God‘s infinite and boundless mercy, the focus of attention this evening is on the human response to this mercy. Repentance is not a static reality. Rather, it is a source of protection, a cloak that one wears. We are not meant to simply remain in the sadness of having committed sins, but rather we are to rise and engage in the spiritual warfare that God’s mercy and grace gives us the strength to enter. We are to be combatants. Our weapons are not worldly nor are they rooted in ourselves but rather arise first from the grace of God and manifest themselves in our hearts as humility, obedience, self-sacrificing love, contrition. We are also shown that the impact of repentance is not limited to one person. Repentance when it is deep and true brings about miracles not only in one’s own life but in the lives of those around us. God’s grace and mercy overflows in response to the abundance of tears that an individual sheds on behalf of his sins and the sins of the world. The presence of penitents in the Church strengthens it and gives others who have fallen into sin hope of salvation and conversion of life.
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Text of chat during the group
00:31:48 Eric Williams: PEWSLAG
00:56:07 Eric Williams: The ass saved the ass from himself!
00:58:25 Eric Williams: “Finally, draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power. Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens. Therefore, put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground. So stand fast with your loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness as a breastplate, and your feet shod in readiness for the gospel of peace. In all circumstances, hold faith as a shield, to quench all [the] flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” - Ephesians 6:10-17
01:03:47 The Pittsburgh Oratory: Erick we lost you.
01:16:38 Eric Williams: “Say: woe is me, alas, O soul, and weep; for thou hast been left and orphan so young by the blameless fathers and righteous ascetics. Where are our fathers? Where are the saints? Where are the vigilant? Where are the sober? Where are the humble? Where are the meek? Where are those who vow silence? Where are the abstinent? Where are those who with a contrite heart stood before the Lord in perfect prayer, like angels of God? They have left here to join our holy God with their lamps brightly burning. Woe is us! What times are these in which we live? Into what sea of evil have we sailed? Our fathers have entered the harbor of life, that they might not see the sorrows and seductions that overcome us because of our sins. They are crowned, yet we slumber; we sleep and indulge in selfish pleasures.” - St Ephraim the Syrian
Tuesday Mar 30, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis I, Part VII
Tuesday Mar 30, 2021
Tuesday Mar 30, 2021
Such beauty! Not only were tonight‘s passages from the Evergetinos memorable - one is compelled to memorize them due to their profundity. They speak to us of the sweetness and the joy that comes to us through repentance and that God desires to give to us. At every turn we are encouraged to be confident and not to be duped by the temptations of the Evil One to ruminate on past sins or to doubt for a moment the God desire to forgive.
We are to be fearless in the face of our own sins and the thoughts from which they arise. To acknowledge them openly is to make them powerless and without weight. To bring them before God and the light of His love is to bring ourselves healing and hope. Immediately, like the father in the story of the prodigal son, God desires to robe us with innocence and restore to us the promise of adoption which the Holy Spirit bestows upon us. God desires to make us partakers of eternal life. In fact, repentance is to be seen as a rebirth from holy mother church who will supply us with nourishment and bring us to a mature faith. With tenderness we are embraced by God who draws us to the maternal breast. As Father he does not desire to punish but rather understands our weakness and likewise seeks to carries us and support us until we are capable of understanding the Evil One’s ways and fighting against them fully.
If we know sorrow because of our sin it should always be paired with the joy; the joy that comes from turning toward God and being restored to that relationship. Despair is the great enemy and we should not wait a moment to return to God.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:48:42 Eric Williams: We’re shy about sharing all our thoughts with a wide elder or confessor, but we broadcast them loudly and proudly on social media.
00:49:37 Mary Schott: Lol, true that.
01:05:11 Eric Williams: Just go up to the pulpit and stare ominously in silence. After an uncomfortable period, announce, “Thus ends the lesson” and step down. ;)
01:23:02 D Fraley: Thank you Father.
Wednesday Mar 24, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis I, Part VI
Wednesday Mar 24, 2021
Wednesday Mar 24, 2021
Another beautiful group tonight! We picked up with Hypothesis I, page 13. Again we are given multiple stories of individuals repenting from sin and turning back to God from states of depravity. The very movement of the mind and the heart brings down upon them a flood of God’s grace and mercy.
What is different in the stories we read tonight is the radical solidarity and empathy that we see in the minds and the hearts of the elders. They approach those in their charge not as masters but as servants; not condescending to them but rather seeing themselves sharing intimately in the sorrows and the woundedness of their sin. The responsibility was theirs’ to weep over these sins and seek to help others overcome them if possible. There is no such thing as an individual Christian; that is, a Christian separated from the body of Christ and from one another. Our own repentance should help to elevate and lift up the Church and the repentance of others can also help raise us up and strengthen us as well. God‘s desire is to heal us, not to punish us. We have lost this sense of the need for healing and understanding that the Church is a hospital and have instead turned the acknowledgment of one sins into a legalistic practice or rather a psychological and emotional release. Consciences can be so hardened - not only among individuals but among whole groups of people - that we can completely lose our way unless God and his great mercy and Providence does something to up-end the illusion. He will do anything to help us overcome what affects and afflicts us. Blessed be God forever.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:17:02 Fr. John (Ivan) Chirovsky: in case anyone needs it my brother wrote A Brief Primer on Patristic Greek Anthropology with an Emphasis on the Process of Contemplation and Obstacles to It Very Rev. Andriy Chirovsky, SThD September, 2003 http://tho3306.sheptytskyinstitute.ca/2013/11/27/a-chirovsky-brief-primer-in-theological-anthropology/
00:17:36 carolnypaver: Thank you, Fr. Ivan!
00:18:11 Wayne Mackenzie: I have a copy of this. A good read.
00:51:30 Katharine M: Sorry I forgot to raise my hand, :)
01:07:00 Eric Williams: “Each generation is converted by the saint who contradicts it most.” - GK Chesterton
01:08:53 Lilly Vasconcelos: Russia is definitely spreading Her errors across the world, as Our Blessed Theotokos warned us in Fatima, Portugal
Tuesday Mar 16, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis I, Part V
Tuesday Mar 16, 2021
Tuesday Mar 16, 2021
Tonight we continued our study of Hypothesis I on repentance and the avoidance of despair. Again, we are presented with a number of stories that emphasize the importance of the simple movement of the mind and heart toward God through acknowledging one’s sin. This immediately brings down upon the individual the mercy and the grace of God - no matter when or where it takes place. God who sees the mind and the heart knows the person’s motivation and the depth of the repentance.
One of the things we are warned about is the kind of sorrow that the demons often will place within the human heart to cast us into despair and make us call into question the mercy of God. Again and again the demons put forward the doubt that one has lived too long in sin in order to receive the mercy of God, that they belong to the demons and hell due to the amount of time they spent in their sin. Yet, repeatedly we hear the angels say that God is the true master of heaven and earth and in his omniscience sees to the depths of a person’s soul. He alone has the right and the capacity to judge.
We may find ourselves particularly challenged by the fathers’ emphasis upon how our conscience should immediately cease to be troubled the moment that we acknowledge and confess our sins to God. So often it is fear and doubt that allows our sin to cling to us; that it gradually undermines the unconditional love and mercy that God wants to fill us with in order that we might engage others with that same perfect love. It is often one of the great stumbling blocks for us even as men and women of faith to enter into this profound mystery, to let ourselves to be guided by the grace of God to imagine the unimaginable – that His love could so transform us and so free us from the shackles of sin. The darkness that sin brings to the mind and the heart often clouds our vision just enough to throw that all into doubt; making us want to qualify it in one way or another. All the “reasonable” objections immediately come to our hearts and minds and we stumble. The mercy that we are given is meant to free us in every way, from our sin and from every limitation on our capacity to love and give ourselves in love.
Tuesday Mar 09, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis I, Part IV
Tuesday Mar 09, 2021
Tuesday Mar 09, 2021
We continued our study tonight by reflecting upon the Fathers’ encouragement to reach out to God in the spirit of repentance. More than anything, the examples that are given, the stories that are told, are meant to help us to avoid despair. We have a God who is set upon our salvation. The mere movement of the mind and the heart towards Him with contrition brings with it a flood of mercy and grace. We are meant to be valiant strugglers; taking hold of the grace that God has given us and the mercy and the forgiveness He has bestowed upon us in order that we might come to experience the full freedom of those have been made sons and daughters of God. The Ascetical life is not simply about self- discipline: it is about love and the fullness of life. Christ is the most beautiful person. In Him we see the fullness of God and the depth of His love. It is to this beauty that we are called and it is this beauty that we cultivate through the Ascetical life. It is better for us to struggle with our own poverty and sin and experience it truly than to remain in the fearful enslavement of Egypt; that is, bound to the emptiness of sin.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:23:38 renwitter: Everything he writes is amazing. 100% recommend “Woman and the Salvation of the World.”
00:24:46 Joseph Muir: Is that by the “more contemporary elder” whom Fr David mentioned, Ren?
00:25:10 renwitter: Yep! Evdokimov
00:25:23 Sue mcmillen: was the name?
00:25:41 renwitter: Paul Evdokimov
00:30:48 Joseph Muir: Fr Jeremiah Shyrock, CFR, is his name, if anyone wants to look him up
00:43:05 Anthony Gallagher: my raise hand button is not working :-( trying to raise hand.
00:56:28 Eric Williams: Kids fought over something sharp and the 6yo’s finger got cut badly enough that she’s off to the ER to maybe get stitches (hence my sudden disappearance). What page are we on now?
00:56:54 renwitter: Same one Eric :-D
00:57:09 Eric Williams: 11?!
00:57:16 renwitter: Yepperz
00:57:25 carolnypaver: 11
00:57:49 Michael Liccione: Prayers for your daughter
00:58:30 Eric Williams: Thank you :)
01:14:12 Eric Williams: “All your life you live so close to truth, it becomes a permanent blur in the corner of your eye, and when something nudges it into outline it is like being ambushed by a grotesque.”
― Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
01:15:49 James Ellis: Thank you Father!
Tuesday Mar 02, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis I, Part III
Tuesday Mar 02, 2021
Tuesday Mar 02, 2021
We continued our reading of Hypothesis I of the Evergetinos regarding “Repentance and the Avoidance of Despair.” We are presented with one story after another of someone who finds himself or herself in grave sin; sometimes struggling year after year and yet returning to God with a repentant heart.
Monk Paul, who compiled the text, begins by giving us stories that at first are a reflection upon the nature of repentance itself; from the perspective of those who receive mercy in order to foster confidence in God. But there’s a gradual and extraordinary progression that takes place in the stories themselves. They take us deeper and deeper into the very heart of God who is set upon the salvation of all and who looks for the smallest movement of repentance in the human heart in order to draw a person back to Him.
We tend to look upon ourselves and our own sin and the sins of others through the lens of our own intellect and judgment or our malformed consciences. Ultimately the fathers tell us it is only when we begin to look at the mercy of God in light of the Cross and the precious blood of Christ that was shed on our behalf that we begin to understand. God’s generosity cannot be called into question. Rather, we must humbly allow ourselves to be drawn into the mystery. We must allow God to show us the nature of love and receive it ourselves before we can truly show it to others. May God bless it and make it so!
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Text of chat during group:
00:15:41 Joseph Muir: please pray for my friend Lilly in Toronto, who joined us for the past two meetings. She is dealing with some pretty severe health issue (not Covid-related), and isn’t able to join us tonight, unfortunately
00:16:33 Katharine M: Prayers for Lilly
00:19:01 Eric Williams: I was taught “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without”
00:57:27 Eric Williams: The penitent who sins every day and repents every day reminds me of St. Mark Ji Tianxiang, who was an opium addict who didn’t receive the Eucharist for the last 30 years of his life and died a martyr.
01:17:08 Erick Chastain: strangely enough it was a favorite feast day of Pope John XXIII who convened the 2nd Vatican council
01:28:25 Sharon: I realize we need to wrap up, but the themes of toleration and boundaries keep coming up within my circle. The devil uses the word “tolerate” instead of “love.” And more and more people are encouraged to create boundaries. I just wonder how we can be truly seeking conversion of heart and unity with God if we are spending our time and energy just tolerating people and building boundaries.
Tuesday Feb 23, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis I, Part II
Tuesday Feb 23, 2021
Tuesday Feb 23, 2021
What an extraordinary reading! We’ve been considering Hypothesis I about repentance and not falling into despair. Tonight we began with the writing from the life of St. Synkletike. She’s one of the Desert Mothers and considered by many as equal to Saint Anthony the Great. The counsel she offers is psychologically subtle and spiritually beautiful. She encourages us always to support others, especially neophytes, and encourage them in the struggle for the good. No matter how small their virtues deeds might seem we must lift them up and praise them in order to encourage them in the spiritual battle. Likewise, no matter how great a fault may be we must, in front of them, treat it as though it is the least an on worthy of note. The evil one wishes to destroy their efforts and so we must in every way lift them up and encourage them to continue. God‘s compassion and mercy is unlimited and she gives us multiple examples from the Scriptures to remind us: Saint Paul Rahab the prostitute from the Old Testament, and St. Matthew the tax collector. In all of these we see the worth of repentance and the compassion of God towards the repentant man.
Those who struggle with pride God himself will prune so they do not begin to attribute their growth and virtue to themselves. He will humble them in order that they might continue to cling to Him and to His grace.
Next, the holy Palladios recounts for us the story of Saint Moses the Ethiopian. We see in him how the passion of anger unchecked and murderous in its nature and conduct can be transformed by the gift of repentance. After a violent existence, Moses was moved to contrition and the incensive faculty within him redirected the anger towards sin and drove him in the ascetical life to war against the demons. He became so virtuous that he rivaled even those elders of Skete. By the time he died, there were 70 disciples who joined him, many of whom were his fellow former criminals.
All of this is meant to lead us to set aside the judgments of our own reason when it comes to love, compassion, and mercy. We are called to imitate God who, while we were still enemies, had mercy upon us and gave us His only begotten Son.
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00:21:02 Fr. John (Ivan) Chirovsky: https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2017/01/05/100099-venerable-syncletica-of-alexandria
00:22:25 Eric Williams: sin-kle-ti-kee (not sure which syllable gets emphasis; Fr Ivan?)
00:23:00 Fr. John (Ivan) Chirovsky: St Nikolai Velimirovich's Prologue of Ohrid: Syncletica was of Macedonian descent. She was educated in Alexandria. As a wealthy and distinguished maiden she had many suitors, but she rejected them all and fled from her parents' home to a convent. In great self-restraint, vigil and prayer, Syncletica lived to her eightieth year. Her counsels to the nuns have always been considered true spiritual pearls, for this righteous one did not attain the heights of wisdom through books but through sufferings, pains, daily and nightly contemplation, and spiritual communication with the higher world of the Divine. Her soul took up its habitation in that higher world in the year 350 A.D. Among other things, St. Syncletica was known to say: "If it is the season for fasting, do not dismiss fasting, claiming illness, for behold, even those who do not fast succumb to the same illness." She further said: "As a treasure, when uncovered, is quickly seized, ….
00:23:03 Fr. John (Ivan) Chirovsky: so it is with virtue: when it is made public it becomes eclipsed and is lost."
00:23:55 Fr. John (Ivan) Chirovsky: her feast is Jan 5 in the Byzantine calendar
00:26:16 Fr. John (Ivan) Chirovsky: The Life and Conduct of the HOLY AND BLESSED TEACHER SYNKLETIKE by St. Athanasios the Great was published in English in 2015.
00:29:29 Fr. John (Ivan) Chirovsky: Σύγκλητος means “senate” or “assembly”; hence, the name Συγκλητική denotes what is “senatorial” or “noble”; in this instance, a noble in the “heavenly assembly” of Saints. The accent is on the last syllable in Greek: syn-klee-ti-KEE. In English it is "Syncletica".
00:43:21 Joseph Muir: tax collectors are still hated today😂
00:49:23 Ren Witter: I would stay on video and be social, but I am eating dinner and I’m a slob :-D
00:49:29 Katharine: :D
00:50:01 carolediclaudio: :):)
00:58:51 Fr. John (Ivan) Chirovsky: skete or sketis is defined on pg. 425 in glossary
01:09:10 Andres Mason: he is pretty cool
01:09:14 Andres Mason: straightforward
01:14:28 Joseph Muir: I emphatically recommend backpacking, particularly of a long-distance variety😀
01:21:31 Eric Williams: “Therefore it is the paradox of history that each generation is converted by the saint who contradicts it most.” - GK Chesterton
01:21:48 Joseph Muir: ❤
01:24:16 Lilly Vasconcelos: @Joseph When the US/CA border opens, sign me up for hiking retreat with Franciscans 🙏
01:29:57 Lilly Vasconcelos: Bon nuit, merci
01:30:11 Micah Valine: Thank you
Tuesday Feb 16, 2021
The Evergetinos - Vol. I, Hypothesis I, Part I
Tuesday Feb 16, 2021
Tuesday Feb 16, 2021
With great joy we began our study of the Evergetinos after years of waiting and preparation. This collection of the writings and the lives of the desert monks has been a rich source of spiritual nourishment for Eastern Christians for centuries - and is meant for all who pursue the life of Orthodoxy - who pursue “right glory”. Providentially, we live in a time when this work has become available to us in English and so accessible as never before. In an age that knows very few spiritual elders it offers great comfort to be able to sit at the feet of those who were icons and remain icons of Christ and the life of the gospel in its fullness. We began with Hypothesis number 1. Our study begins with Repentance, as does the spiritual life. We are presented with the image of a young man who had lived a dissolute life. When he comes to recognize the horror of it in the light of truth, his heart is filled with compunction and he groans from his depths. He leaves the world and begins to live in the tombs where he can embrace the life of repentance unceasingly. As he embraces this movement of grace within him, he is immediately attacked by demons who seek to dissuade him from taking this path. When unable to do so, they physically assault him and encourage his family members to come and to try to take him home. He will not be moved and so the demons eventually acknowledge that they have been conquered and that his repentance and heart are true. We are told that he remains in the tomb and makes it his hermitage for the rest of his life. Repentance is an unending reality for us and the greater our sin the greater our desire for it and protection of it must become. As we enter into the holy season of Lent we are called to imitate this young man by being single-hearted in our purpose. Lent is not simply for 40 days but rather the beginning of greater conversion and abandoning our life to Christ.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:16:41 Fr. John (Ivan) Chirovsky: LOL
00:40:30 Fr. John (Ivan) Chirovsky: John 17:24 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom thou hast given me, may be with me where I am, to behold my glory which thou hast given me in thy love for me before the foundation of the world. In biblical Greek the meaning of the word "doxa" was "glory". Only quite a few centuries later did the word acquire additional meaning of "doctrine/faith" or "worship". That meaning did not exist when the holy apostle and evangelist John wrote his Gospel.
00:41:43 Eric Williams: Someone created a filter for Facebook, so you can virtually put an ash cross on your profile picture’s forehead. #AshTag2021 *sigh*
00:41:48 Ren Witter: I’m actually anticipating that the lines will be a lot shorter since the ashes will not be visible.
00:42:14 Ren Witter: Why do something if you can’t post about it? ;-)
00:42:19 Joseph Muir: #ashwednesdayselfie🙄 a trend amongst many in the western church that I would love to see fizzle out and die
00:46:05 Fr. John (Ivan) Chirovsky: The wages of repentance are mercy and forgiveness unto everlasting life and so Byzantines (on the Gregorian calendar) "distributed" forgiveness upon one another, on the eve of beginning the Great Fast of Lent (yesterday evening).
00:54:20 Fr. John (Ivan) Chirovsky: Jesus: "In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (Jn. 16:33). Holy chief apostle Paul: to the Romans: "we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us" (Rom. 5: 3-5). Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Heb. 12:1-2)
00:55:03 Fr. John (Ivan) Chirovsky: "This is the great work of a man: always to take the blame for his own sins before God and to expect temptation to his last breath." … "Whoever has not experienced temptation cannot enter into the Kingdom of heaven," adding the words often quoted in the Christian spiritual tradition, "without temptations no one can be saved.“ (St. Antony the Great in a letter to St. Peomen)
00:55:13 Lilly: Matthew 16:24-26
00:55:29 Fr. John (Ivan) Chirovsky: As often as you find your way to be peaceful, without variations, be suspicious. For you are deviating from the divine ways trodden by the weary footsteps of the saints. The more you proceed on the way towards the city of the kingdom and approach its neighborhood, this will be the sign: you will meet hard temptations. And the nearer you approach, the more difficulties you will find. The hard temptations into which God brings the soul are in accordance with the greatness of His gifts. If there is a weak soul which is not able to bear a very hard temptation and God deals meekly with it, then know that it is not capable of bearing a hard temptation and so is not worthy either of a great gift. (St. Isaac the Syrian)
00:56:58 Lilly: Amen
00:59:10 Ren Witter: My favorite response to the demon’s questions comes from Saint Ephraim: “Do not lose heart, O soul, do not grieve; pronounce not over thyself a final judgement for the multitude of thy sins; do not commit thyself to fire; do not say: the Lord has cast me from His face. Such words are not pleasing to God. Can it be that he who has fallen cannot get up? Can it be that he who has turned away cannot turn back again? Dost thou not hear how kind the Father is to a prodigal? Do not be ashamed to turn back and say boldly: I will arise and go to my Father. Arise and go!. . .
00:59:19 Ren Witter: . . . He will accept thee and will not reproach thee, but rather rejoice at thy return. He awaits thee; just do not be ashamed and do not hide from the face of God as did Adam. It was for thy sake that Christ was crucified; so will He cast thee aside? He knows who oppresses us. He knows that we have no other help but Him alone. Christ knows that man is miserable. Do not give thyself up to despair and apathy, assuming that thou hast been prepared fro the fire. Christ derives no consolation from thrusting us into the fire; He gains nothing if He sends us into the abyss to be tormented. Imitate the prodigal son: heave the city that starves thee. Come and beseech Him and thou shalt behold the glory of God. Thy face shall be enlightened and thou wilt rejoice in the sweetness of paradise. Glory to the Lord and Lover of mankind Who saves us! “
01:06:24 Fr. John (Ivan) Chirovsky: sorry, I forgot to finish the St Isaac quote. here is the rest.... “God never gives a large gift and small temptations. So temptations are to be classed in accordance with gifts. Thus from the hardships you are called to endure you may understand the measure of the greatness which your soul has reached. And your comfort will be in proportion to your endurance. .” “In accordance with your humility you will be given endurance in your distress. And in accordance with your endurance its weight will be lifted from your soul and you will be comforted in your troubles. And in accordance with your comfort, your love of God will increase. And in accordance with your love, your spiritual joy will increase.” “When our compassionate Father is of the will to relieve those who are real children in their temptations, He does not take their temptations away from them, but He imparts to them endurance under temptations, and all that good which they receive through it, to the perfection of their souls.
01:06:28 Fr. John (Ivan) Chirovsky: May Christ in His grace make us worthy of bearing evils for the sake of His love, with thanksgivings in the heart. Amen.”
01:15:50 Fr. John (Ivan) Chirovsky: Recently Ukrainian biblical scholar Taras Tymo has been posting videos on youtube explaining the psalms. in his commentary on Ps. 50 he reminds his viewers that In Ps 50, "blot out" is the same Greek word as the one used for cleaning old text off of lambskin to make it ready for new text to be written on it, a somewhat brutal process; and, "wash me" means to clean by beating with or against stones. So repentance is not "ouchless".
01:18:28 Andres Mason: I thought more of a "never left the state of repentance"
01:18:43 Lilly: Does the tomb represent the Sacrament of Confession?
01:20:21 Andres Mason: eventually he will come out of the tomb our resurrection is just delayed
01:21:48 Ren Witter: It actually reminds me of Saint Isaac: “In this life there is no Sabbath.” No rest from repentance.
01:22:28 Andres Mason: The tomb is not negative
01:22:34 Andres Mason: anymore*
01:26:28 Lilly: Gracias hermanos
01:27:30 Micah Valine: Thank you
01:27:55 carolnypaver: Thank you, Father!
01:28:14 Joseph Muir: shookran, Abouna!