Philokalia Ministries

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

What is it that forms and shapes us the most as human beings? What affects the way that we perceive reality and gives form to the thoughts that we have  throughout the course of a day? Do we have any awareness of an interior life or are we simply drawn along by the flow of external realities; demands, responsibilities or forms of entertainment? 
According to the Fathers and Saint Isaac the Syrian, we are in a constant state of receptivity through our senses. Part of being a human being is that we see and perceive everything that is around us; all of which give rise to a multitude of thoughts, images and feelings. Our lack of awareness of reality and of the internal life and the effect that our thoughts have upon us means that we often allow or identity to be shaped by the changing tides of the times or the constant shifting of our emotions. 
In so many ways, the Fathers were the first depth psychologists. Their movement to great solitude and the stillness of the desert allowed a greater awareness to emerge of what was going on internally. This of course didn’t lead immediately to understanding or transformation. However, the awareness did allow them to begin to discern the source of their thoughts, what thoughts predominate, and where their thoughts were leading them. 
Thoughts can be so strong and so deeply rooted that they become habitual - as well as the actions that follow from them. These habitual thoughts and actions the Fathers call “passions” and the passions as a whole are referred to as the “world”.  Our growing capacity to acknowledge the dominant passions and to struggle with them allows two things to begin to emerge: a good transformation of our way of life and a greater capacity to understand the nature of our thoughts. Simply put, one begins to be able to measure one’s way of life by what arises from within.  
In this Homily, Saint Isaac is setting the stage for guiding us along a path to spiritual healing and transformation in Christ. The fruit of the struggle promises wholeness, freedom, and the joy that our sin often prevents. When we are guided simply by our private judgment or by what satisfies our most basic needs, then our understanding of things becomes very insular and myopic and we lose sight of the dignity and destiny that is ours’ in Christ. 
The more that we desire the life and freedom that Isaac describes above the more discover that we need to have no fear of anything. One who has tasted the love and mercy of Christ also finds emerging within himself the courage of a lion. The fear of soul that once overshadowed him succumbs before this ever-present love like wax from the heat of a flame.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:08:36 Bob Čihák, AZ: Is this the book? Amazon has: The Secret Seminary: Prayer and the Study of Theology by Fr. Brendan Pelphrey  | Apr 28, 2012
00:16:08 Mary Clare Wax: It has all the bells and whistles! Love it
00:18:29 Bob Čihák, AZ: P. 124, paragraph 14
00:19:08 Myles Davidson: Replying to "P. 124, paragraph 14"
“Think to yourself…”
00:20:04 Suzanne Romano: Hey Studge!
00:20:29 Stephen Romano: Hey sis  :)
00:20:47 Suzanne Romano: Reacted to Hey sis  :) with "😅"
00:25:37 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: HEART - (καρδιά - kardia): not simply the physical organ but the spiritual centre of man’s being, man as made in the image of God, his deepest and truest self, or the inner shrine, to be entered only through sacrifice and death, in which the mystery of the union between the divine and the human is consummated. ' “I called with my whole heart”, says the psalmist - that is, with body, soul and spirit' (John Klimakos, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, Step 28, translated by Archimandrite Lazarus [London, 1959], pp. 257-8). ‘Heart’ has thus an all-embracing significance: ‘prayer of the heart’ means prayer not just of the emotions and affections, but of the whole person, including the body.
00:25:52 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: REASON -, mind (διάνοια - dianoia): the discursive, conceptualizing and logical faculty in man, the function of which is to draw conclusions or formulate concepts deriving from data provided either by revelation or spiritual knowledge (q.v.) or by sense-observation. The knowledge of the reason is consequently of a lower order than spiritual knowledge (q.v.) and does not imply any direct apprehension or perception of the inner essences or principles (q.v.) of created beings, still less of divine truth itself Indeed, such apprehension or perception, which is the function of the intellect (q.v.), is beyond the scope of the reason.
00:25:57 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: INTELLECT - (νοϋς - nous): the highest faculty in man, through which - provided it is purified - he knows God or the inner essences or principles (q.v.) of created things by means of direct apprehension or spiritual perception. Unlike the dianoia or reason (q.v.), from which it must be carefully distinguished, the intellect does not function by formulating abstract concepts and then arguing on this basis to a conclusion reached through deductive reasoning, but it understands divine truth by means of immediate experience, intuition or ‘simple cognition’ (the term used by St Isaac the Syrian). The intellect dwells in the ‘depths of the soul’; it constitutes the innermost aspect of the heart (St Diadochos, §§ 79, 88: in our translation, vol. i, pp. 280, 287). The intellect is the organ of contemplation (q.v.), the ‘eye of the heart’ (Makarian Homilies).
00:25:57 Adam Paige: Reacted to "REASON -, mind (διάν…" with 👌
00:26:02 Adam Paige: Reacted to "HEART - (καρδιά - ka…" with ❤️
00:40:30 Catherine: Reacted to INTELLECT - (νοϋς - ... with "❤️"00:41:30 David: I find it interesting some of the main physicist and philosophers are now finding or theorize we are living in a simulation. I have a few atheists people I have come to meet who came to Christ agonizing on things like this.  This seems to be an open door to understand this life is not all there is. I also find it interesting reading the desert fathers.
00:42:49 Suzanne Romano: Acedia?
00:43:10 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "Acedia?" with 👍🏼
00:43:31 David: The worst is the bad translation of acedia badly translated the worst of all today.The seven capital sins, also known as the seven deadly sins, are: Pride Greed Wrath Envy Lust Gluttony Sloth
00:47:04 David: Having studied Economy it is clear the market and people are not rational. Thank God I learned science explains little about real life. ha ha
00:48:54 Anthony: Heresy is a club of people with the same private judgment
00:49:04 Anthony: Reacted to Having studied Econo... with "😂"
00:49:29 Suzanne Romano: Yes!
00:51:11 Ren Witter: To be fair, Father, you look like someone out of the Matrix 😄. Perfect robes. Just need the glasses.
00:51:25 Lee Graham: Reacted to "Heresy is a club of …" with 😂
01:02:01 David: Many atheist or agnostics look for meaning and believe science or stoicism will explain it.  Then they have a child or love someone and that can't be explained rationally alone
01:02:48 David: Love makes little sense but one "knows" it is more real than anything else
01:03:04 Ben: Replying to "Many atheist or agno..."
And I think it was Bishop Sheen who said the worst thing for an atheist is feeling grateful and having no one to thank.
01:03:10 Anthony: And then, I think, perception becomes more acute to sense brief affirmations from God that you are not lost.
01:03:54 David: Replying to "Many atheist or agno..."
👍
01:04:16 Art iPhone: Reacted to "And I think it was B…" with 👍
01:07:52 Anthony: Father is this understanding of incarnation the thesis of Song of Tears by Olivier Clement?
01:09:15 Maureen Cunningham: Hound of Heaven
01:11:39 David: Just an image of what someone said
01:11:49 David: Matrix dogging bullets
01:11:56 David: Orthodox preist
01:19:18 David: Is there something like the Catena Aurea but written based on the desert fathers? I find when I do readings of the scriptures or daily readings I always am interested what meditations the desert fathers might have had.  Reading magnificent or give us our day I don't always find as many treasures as what I have found in the desert fathers. Would be wonderful if there was a missal with this or something like the catena aurea. I have had 3 icons Climatus, Issac and Ephraim for 15 years even with those I would be happy
01:20:36 Ben: "The Bible and the Holy Fathers"? A Byzantine nun mentioned this one.
01:21:29 Lori Hatala: Sounds like a book needs to be written.
01:21:58 Erick Chastain: "The Word in the Desert" talks about generally how the Desert Fathers read and lived scripture
01:22:10 Erick Chastain: There might be things like this there
01:24:13 Myles Davidson: Replying to ""The Word in the Des..."
That’s a good book!
01:24:25 Myles Davidson: Reacted to ""The Word in the Des..." with 👍
01:25:00 Erick Chastain: How does one practice fear for the soul?
01:26:58 Suzanne Romano: My preciouuuus!
01:27:07 Maureen Cunningham: What week would it be in the Bible and Holy Fathers is it different
01:28:07 Anthony: The choice of gollum is perceptive.  In Jewish folklore, a gollum is an artificial thing brought to "life" by magic.
01:28:47 David: There is a great book on Tolkien. Tolkien and Faith. But think of a life without Love existing helped at least me. The alternative is transactional and life has no meaning.
01:29:59 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You on web site
01:30:41 Andrew Adams: Thanks be to God! Thank you, Father!
01:30:43 David: Thank you father bless you and your mother!
01:30:45 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
01:30:47 Suzanne Romano: Pax!
01:30:49 Kathleen: Thank you
01:30:50 Jeff Ott: Thank you!
01:30:52 Julie: God bless all
01:30:57 Lee Graham: Thank you

The Evergetinos: Book Two - XXX, Part II

In their discussion of the struggle with the passions and in particular those associated with the bodily appetites and what we experienced through the senses, the fathers do not neglect to show us the effect that our thoughts and our lack of watchfulness can have upon the unconscious. Certain images and ideas will emerge from our dreams and often take on a form that can be agitating or of a subject matter that is disturbing spiritually. The fathers want us to understand that we are not morally culpable for what arises during the night in our dreams nor can the Evil One directly influence what happens because of our dreams such as nocturnal emissions. Yet, are not to ruminate upon the meaning or the content of these dreams during the day. To do so is to open ourselves “daydreaming”, where we openly allow ourselves to think about images thoughts and ideas that came to mind during the night. Such rumination then can be a source of temptation for us. It is best to set such thoughts aside and focus on fostering temperance and love. As long as we are focused upon God then what arises out of the unconscious will eventually be healed as well. However, if we are slothful or worse prideful we become more subject to the effects of such a dreams or their frequency will become more prominent in our life because of our lack of spiritual discipline.
In Hypothesis XXXII, our attention is drawn toward the work of contrition. Saint Gregory tells us that contrition manifest itself in many forms of spiritual beauty. This is striking if only because of the negative connotation that the word contrition sometimes holds. Saint Gregory tells us that ultimately it is a path to beauty, goodness and love. When a soul first seeks after God at the outset it feels contrition out of fear. It is humbled by the depths of its poverty and how contrary this is to that which is good and to our essential dignity. Tears begin to flow and as they do the soul begins to develop a certain courage in the spiritual life and is warmed by a desire for heavenly joy. The soul which shortly before wept from the fear that it might be condemned, eventually weeps bitterly simply because of how far it perceives itself from the kingdom of heaven. As the soul is cleansed, however, it clearly beholds before it what the choirs of angels are and the splendor that belongs to these blessed spirits. Ultimately, the soul begins to behold the vision of God himself. One then weeps for joy as it waits to experience this vision in its fullness. When perfect contrition emerges then the soul’s thirst for God is satiated; tears now turning in to the living waters of the kingdom.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:11:02 Lorraine Green: Fr., can you take a Mass request?  Where would we send that is so?  And the stipend?
00:11:33 Suzanne Romano: Reacted to I've got a (pet) rab... with "😄"
00:14:00 Bob Čihák, AZ: P. 238 # A
00:21:21 Anthony: This is also an exercise of faith....if a person is hunted by fear of filth, and filth separates us from God, the fathers recommend the exercise of faith and ignoring false feelings of filth.
00:23:37 Forrest Cavalier: Reacted to "This is also an exer..." with ❤️
00:23:41 Andrew Adams: Reacted to "This is also an exer..." with ❤️
00:25:25 Suzanne Romano: St. Alphonsus recommends, for holy purity, three Hail Marys before sleep and three upon waking.
00:26:06 Suzanne Romano: TV opens up the portals of the passions.
00:27:32 Catherine Opie: There is nothing more enjoyable to do with kids than to read a book aloud.
00:28:06 Sheila Applegate: Quitting can feel like a drug addiction. It can release the neurotransmitter dopamine and it is so craveable.
00:28:50 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "Quitting can feel li..." with 👍🏻
00:28:57 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "St. Alphonsus recomm..." with ❤️
00:29:01 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "This is also an exer..." with 🙏🏻
00:29:02 Marias iphone 14: Reacted to "There is nothing mor…" with ❤️
00:29:33 Bob Čihák, AZ: We gave up TV easily. After we drove 2 cars from WA to AZ and had my laptop brick and the AC in one car break, 7 years ago, we haven't yet bother to get a TV.
00:36:19 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "We gave up TV easily..." with 🤓
00:37:28 Anthony: Fyi....even common technology works against us. I have a program on my new cell phone that I don't know how to get off, and when I swipe to use my phone, I'm getting pornography and other ads that is the first thing I see.
00:38:05 Suzanne Romano: I think porn rewires the brain.
00:40:02 Wayne: Have heard one author say that men who have this issue  want to stop but seem powerless to stop the addiction
00:40:29 Myles Davidson: The book “Your Brain On Porn: Internet Pornography and the Emerging Science of Addiction” looks at the science behind the rewiring process
00:42:17 Suzanne Romano: There's a spiritual warfare aspect to the addiction.
00:43:51 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "There's a spiritual ..." with 👍🏻
00:53:08 Catherine Opie: Replying to "Fyi....even common t..."
Is it a google app for news and advertising? I had that on my new phone. You can go to your apps and remove it. It will usually have some kind of media logo on it. So you can see what app it is. Also you can change the settings on your screen, it may just be a simple case of turning off the advertising notifications
01:06:12 Lindsey Funair: Maybe hardest part for me in recognizing the beauty and wanting of the divine is how it folds back on the weak spirit in the form of idolatry and covetousness of that which is so supremely beautiful simply because it reflects God's Love.
01:06:15 Anthony: Reacted to Is it a google app f... with "👍"
01:08:23 Forrest Cavalier: Life-giving repentance is in today's readings. “God has then granted life-giving repentance to the Gentiles too.” Acts 11:18 from today's mass readings (western church.)
01:10:20 Anthony: You also have to love yourself "through" feelings of deficiency, and convince yourself "God hates nothing He has made."
01:17:58 Andrew Adams: Thanks be to God! Thank you, Father!
01:18:01 Sr. Mary Clare: thank you!
01:18:04 Lindsey Funair: thank you
01:18:04 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
01:18:07 Suzanne Romano: Pax!!
01:18:07 Marias iphone 14: Thank you
01:18:14 Catherine Opie: Deo Gratias Fr. Thank you and may God bless you
01:18:15 Troy Amaro: Thank You Father
01:18:27 Sr. Charista Maria: Thank you Fr. :)

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

Life in Christ is not an abstraction and the gospel is not simply a set of teachings or an ideology. It is clarion call to “Follow Me” from He who is the Lord of life and love. We are invited to participate in the mystery of Divine Life. Just as the fathers  tell us that we are to “become prayer” and not simply engage in a discipline, likewise, we must become Christ. We must put on Him mind and our hearts must be animated by His Spirit of love.  It is for this reason that Saint Isaac the Syrian places desire at the heart of the spiritual life. There is one path that lies ahead for us – we are to long for Christ and for the life of the kingdom. Anything else is reductive; shrinking the faith down to what is manageable and acceptable to our sensibilities and understanding. It is no longer faith but a simulation or as Christ would say “hypocrisy“. 
The reality that Saint Isaac places before us is the need for the healing of the soul; afflicted by sin, we are dominated by the passion. Yet because we are made in the image and likeness of God we often unknowingly reach out to grasp what is greater than ourselves while neglecting purity of heart and the need for God‘s grace and mercy. Such a path only leads to greater darkness. Sin unaddressed, like illness undiagnosed only grows worse. We must seek the healing that comes through participation in the Paschal Mystery; that is, a dying and rising to new life in Christ. We must die to sin and self in order to have the purity of heart and the depth of faith that allows us to comprehend what is beyond the senses and reason. 
Central to Saint Isaac’s thought is the purification of the Nous, the eye of the soul. If neglected one simply becomes blind to the presence of God and his love. The words of Christ come to mind in this regard: “the eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is  bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” To neglect such a reality is like the man who shamelessly entered into the wedding feast with unclean garments. We seek to enter into the fullness of life and love while yet immersed in the mire of our sin and clinging to the things of the world.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:13:13 susan: wish I could be there  I am a piano teacher  lol
00:13:20 Bob Čihák, AZ: P. 123, paragraph 11
00:27:04 Myles Davidson: Father, a week or so ago you mentioned private revelation, many of which seem to also fit into this category (ie. fantasies of the mind). There are a plethora of so-called seers around today, many of which have been shown to be fakes. How do the Orthodox deal with this phenomena? I’ve heard they have a policy of keeping private revelations as just that… private. What are your thoughts on this?
00:28:12 Anthony: If Christ on the criss is the Bridegroom,  then I can see a person who has desired impure thoughts is running to be like the Bridegroom but is not "ready" to be married. Although, the Gospel does tell us to take up the cross and follow Christ,  without reference to one's state of mind or holiness.
00:37:36 Ren Witter: In my notes from the last time we did Isaac, you said that this teaching is not harsh, but practical. Sin being understood as a sickness, a person who has not yet been purified through praxis simply would not have the strength to take up the cross in such a way as to ascend to theoria. Sounds a lot like the teaching on taking up fasting beyond your strength - you’ll just end up worse off than you were before.
00:44:14 Joshua Sander: My apologies if you've already covered this or if Isaac is about to get to this and I'm getting ahead of him, but how does one discern that one's own "senses have found rest from their infirmity" and that he or she is ready for theoria, especially given that temptations and struggles against sin will always be with us while we are in the flesh?
00:47:00 Nypaver Clan: What page are we on?
00:47:07 Ren Witter: 124
00:53:46 Anthony: I suspect a lot of us seekers are like St Teresa d'Avila who suffer much from bad advice until we run into clearer presentations of faith, hope and love.00:54:15 Catherine Opie: Replying to "I suspect a lot of u..."
Definitely my path 🤣
00:54:24 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "I suspect a lot of u..." with ❤️
00:54:52 Myles Davidson: add 😁
00:57:23 Myles Davidson: Christ as anchor"We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure."  Hebrews 6:19
00:58:28 Ren Witter: The building where this happened was Pitt’s public health building, which is still nicknamed “Our Lady of Public Health”
00:59:11 Wayne: Reacted to "The building where t..." with 😂
00:59:21 Ben: Reacted to "The building where t..." with 🤢
00:59:21 Max Horcher: Reacted to "The building where..." with 😂
01:00:17 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "The building where t..." with 🤣
01:00:45 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "Christ as anchor"We..." with 🙏🏻
01:01:11 Bob Čihák, AZ: Reacted to "Christ as anchor"We..." with 🙏🏻
01:01:32 Suzanne Romano: Hell on earth! 😆
01:02:07 Ben: Replying to "Hell on earth! 😆"
Health on earth?...
01:06:16 Myles Davidson: 22 "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"Matt 6:22-23
01:06:21 Elizabeth Richards’s iPhone: Replying to "Hell on earth! 😆"““The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭22‬-‭23‬ ‭ESV‬‬https://bible.com/bible/59/mat.6.22-23.ESV
01:06:23 Nypaver Clan: Matthew 6:23
01:12:35 Myles Davidson: Is the word used here “watching” the same as the Greek word ‘nepsis’? (A concept I’ve found very helpful!)
01:12:57 Anthony: Ok, this is where philosophy fails, for in philosophy I only recall being taught about "a priori" knowledge and "a posteriori" knowledge.  Isaac is in a different dimension altogether.
01:15:02 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "Ok, this is where ph..." with 👍
01:15:18 Alex Underwood: Reacted to "Ok, this is where ph..." with 👍
01:17:25 Ben: Replying to "Is the word used her..."
Thanks for pointing that out...I had been understanding "watching" as "vigils"...but I guess in that case it would have just said "vigils". 😆
01:17:59 John Cruz: Come and see….
01:18:13 Ben: Reacted to "Come and see…." with 👍
01:19:53 Myles Davidson: Replying to "Is the word used her..."
Could be both… good point 🙂
01:21:22 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You Blessing
01:21:30 Maureen Cunningham: Yay
01:21:48 Bob Čihák, AZ: Thank you Father. You'll never retire.
01:22:19 Andrew Adams: Thanks be to God! Thank you, Father!
01:22:21 Elizabeth Richards’s iPhone: And with your spirit
01:22:21 Catherine Opie: Thank you Fr. very "enlightening" discussion as always, God bless have a wonderful week
01:22:23 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
01:22:28 Jeffrey Ott: Thank you Father!
01:22:29 Suzanne Romano: Pax!!
01:22:40 David: Thank you Father!
01:22:41 Kevin Burke: Thank you father!

The Evergetinos: Book Two - XXIX, Part IX and XXX, Part I

The more that I read the fathers’ writings and about their spiritual struggles, the more I understand that what we need to see is the desire that is the foundation their life and driving force behind their behaviors.  Our life is to be an urgent longing for God who has given everything to us and revealed his desire to draw us into his life. Our spiritual life cannot be an abstraction; something that exist in the mind alone. Nor can it be a kind of rigorous moralism where one is driven by fear or an intense scrupulosity; rooted in the doubt of God’s compassion and mercy. 
We have had to read the Evergetinos very closely and with a critical eye; for the stories capture for us the fathers’ struggle to hold on to the one thing necessary while maintaining a balanced understanding of what it is to be a human being. This is a difficult thing for people to do in general and for the fathers we find that there withdrawal from society intensified and complicated this struggle. We have noted in past discussions the tendency to project the struggle within the human heart onto others as the cause of their anger, lust, etc. In reality, the battle lies within.
Having said this, we must understand that desire is the heart of the spiritual life. It is the one thing that we should be seeking to inflame from moment to moment and day to day. This the fathers understood; especially those who had experienced a radical intimacy with God and purity of heart. When one has tasted the sweetness of the kingdom, the life and love of the living God, then the urgency of one’s desire for God and holding on to what is precious becomes the goal of life. When one’s heart has been touched by the Beloved one can think of nothing else. And when one has lost that intimacy through ingratitude or sloth, the depths of pain in the heart is equally great.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:01:43 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: This is the best reflection I’ve read on Climacus’ description of the prison in The Ladder of the Divine Ascent:The visitation of the uncreated Light generates the most intense desire which does not allow man any rest on earth. When speaking to his monastic community, Father Sophrony indicated that the prisoners in The Ladder of Saint John Climacus were not ordinary people. They were not people to be despised as sinners who were expelled to be punished. They were people of unrestrainable desire for God, who had known the uncreated Light and then lost it after having sinned in one way or another. They voluntarily went to that prison, determined to die rather than to betray the covenant they had made with God in the beginning. As we read, some of them were so totally consumed by the pain of their desire and repentance, that they passed to the other life even before they had reached the tenth day of their abode in that prison.00:01:49 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: There is a verse from the Psalms which truly describes the state of those prisoners: ‘Lord, remember David, and all his afflictions: How he sware unto the Lord, and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob; surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, nor go up into my bed; I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids, until I find out a place for the Lord, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob.’ In my humble opinion, there is not a more perfect expression of the gift of longing for the living God than this verse of prophet David. Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou “Monasticism”
00:12:35 Suzanne Romano: Nothing in chat
00:12:36 Maureen Cunningham: Nope
00:12:41 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: This is the best reflection I’ve read on Climacus’ description of the prison in The Ladder of the Divine Ascent:The visitation of the uncreated Light generates the most intense desire which does not allow man any rest on earth. When speaking to his monastic community, Father Sophrony indicated that the prisoners in The Ladder of Saint John Climacus were not ordinary people. They were not people to be despised as sinners who were expelled to be punished. They were people of unrestrainable desire for God, who had known the uncreated Light and then lost it after having sinned in one way or another. They voluntarily went to that prison, determined to die rather than to betray the covenant they had made with God in the beginning. As we read, some of them were so totally consumed by the pain of their desire and repentance, that they passed to the other life even before they had reached the tenth day of their abode in that prison.
00:12:49 Suzanne Romano: Yes
00:12:50 Julie: Yes
00:12:50 Maureen Cunningham: Yes
00:12:55 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: There is a verse from the Psalms which truly describes the state of those prisoners: ‘Lord, remember David, and all his afflictions: How he sware unto the Lord, and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob; surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, nor go up into my bed; I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids, until I find out a place for the Lord, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob.’ In my humble opinion, there is not a more perfect expression of the gift of longing for the living God than this verse of prophet David. Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou “Monasticism”
00:12:59 Troy Amaro: Reacted to "This is the best ref…" with 👍
00:23:47 Adam Paige: Reacted to "This is the best ref..." with 👍
00:23:55 Julie: Beautiful
00:26:46 Bob Čihák, AZ: Reacted to "Beautiful" with 👍
00:52:14 Catherine Opie: Fr. with priests who are in the world they are working with young boys all the time mentoring them as servers and during the mass there is a lot of close contact holding vestments etc. I had never really considered this situation in this way. And we are told these days that human touch is necessary for good mental health as well.
00:52:15 Sr. Charista Maria: Fr. are you familiar with Aelred of Rievaulx, Saint of Holy Friendship? Some of what he shares is different than this. Yes it is scary out there though.
00:52:55 Sr. Charista Maria: St. Aelred is very personable though prudent.
00:56:35 Forrest Cavalier: Like most acolytes, nothing inappropriate happened as I served as an acolyte under many priests for 10 years. Nothing inappropriate. The number of abusers is a small percentage. Too many, but a small percentage. That means that this requirement is not difficult.
00:56:52 Sr. Mary Clare: Concerning priests with altar boys, It takes prayer and discernment to lead the boys to Jesus rather than to themselves. A holy reserve can go a long way. Loving others without any possessive love.
00:57:37 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "Like most acolytes, ..." with 👍🏻
00:57:44 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "Concerning priests w..." with 👍🏻
00:58:22 Lori Hatala: Do you think a lack of reverence contributes?
00:59:02 Sr. Charista Maria: Reacted to "Concerning priests w..." with 👍🏻
00:59:13 Dennis M: Reacted to "Concerning priests w..." with 👍🏻
00:59:24 Sr. Charista Maria: Reacted to "Do you think a lack ..." with 👍
01:13:54 Maureen Cunningham: Yes loud
01:15:44 Suzanne Romano: Isaac speaks about the senses being the conduits of a darkening of the soul. I think he says we have to starve them.
01:15:55 Maureen Cunningham: Desert Fathers went to desert fight the evil.
01:20:54 Sr. Mary Clare: Your beautiful explanations are very balanced. Thank you!
01:21:46 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You
01:21:47 Catherine Opie: It becomes clearer all the time how
01:21:51 Sr. Charista Maria: very good Fr.
01:22:06 Janine: It was great Father! Thank you!
01:22:28 Andrew Adams: Thanks be to God! Thank you, Father!
01:22:35 Suzanne Romano: God bless!
01:22:36 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
01:22:44 Catherine Opie: God bless
01:22:48 Bob Čihák, AZ: You're always on target, Father. The targets change, thank God!
01:22:48 Troy Amaro: Thank You Father.
01:23:05 Maureen Cunningham: We're do you listen

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

The experience of reading Saint Isaac the Syrian is something like being caught up in a vortex; not a linear explanation of the spiritual life or spiritual practices, but rather being drawn by the Holy Spirit that blows wherever It wills. It is not as though Isaac’s thought lacks cohesiveness, but rather he presents the life of faith and life in Christ to us as an artist painting with broad strokes. This is especially true in the first six homilies that speak of the discipline of virtue. Isaac seems to be more concerned about our breathing the same air as the Saints. He wants us to be swept up by our desire for God and in our gratitude for His love and mercy. Our life is not simply following a series of teachings or a moral code, but rather embodying very life of Christ. We are to love and console others as we have been loved and consoled by the Lord. If our spiritual disciplines do not remove the impediments to our capacity to be loved and to love others, then they are sorely lacking. 
In every way, our lives should be a reflection of Christ and the manner that we walk along the path of our lives should be reflective of His mindset and desire. In other words, we should desire to do the will of God and to love Him above all things, including our own lives. We are to die to self and sin and have a willingness to trust in the Providence of God that leads our hearts to desire to take up the cross daily and follow him. We begin to see affliction as something that not only shapes are virtue and deepens our faith, but that is a participation in the reality of redemption. We are drawn into something that is Divine and Saint Isaac would not have us make it something common. The Cross will always be a stumbling block when gazed upon or experienced on a purely natural level. But for those who have faith, we begin to see and experience the sweetness of God’s love and intimacy with him precisely through affliction. Isaac would have us know that joy in all of its fullness.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:10:51 Catherine Opie: Hi there, where are we in the text?
00:12:03 Lori Hatala: pg 122 Cover a sinner...
00:13:10 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "pg 122 Cover a sinne..." with 🙏🏻
00:13:53 Fr. Miron Kerul-Kmec Jr.: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064674224441
00:14:25 mstef: What's the best place to buy the text for Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian?
00:14:55 Fr. Miron Kerul-Kmec Jr.: Replying to "What's the best plac..."
https://www.bostonmonks.com/product_info.php/products_id/635/?srsltid=AfmBOop3vDmjuAXUXQSy7YsihYlEpKvTek3MiYqFazzowWu9fREOmiK3
00:16:24 Thomas: I think he is 44
00:17:52 Suzanne Romano: Charbelle
00:19:03 Una: Reacted to "Charbelle" with 👍
00:20:37 Ben: Replying to "What's the best plac..."
Found mine used on Abebooks.com...had study notes, so price was right!
00:22:07 Fr. Miron Kerul-Kmec Jr.: Reacted to "Found mine used on A..." with ❤️
00:29:15 Suzanne Romano: Cover a sinner as long as he does not harm you. How do we define harm? Is a person's obstinate refusal of the truth the kind of suffering we can relieve? Or can dealing with an obstinate person open our heart up to harm?  
00:35:56 Kate : Is there a difference between how the Eastern Church understands sainthood vs the Western Church?  In the Latin Rite you hear the term “heroic virtue” but it seems the Eastern understanding is more “Christ living within.”
00:38:18 Sr. Mary Clare: Reacted to "Is there a differenc..." with 👍
00:38:57 Sr. Mary Clare: That's a good question, Kate.
00:39:43 Anthony: It's important to avoid self-loathing in failure to pursue good things, but commend all things to God's disposition.
00:45:40 Maureen Cunningham: Thank you so true ,
00:46:55 David: It is easy to pray for deliverance or in thanksgiving but it seems as you draw closer it seems the only honest prayer becomes- Lord teach me your way I trust in you.
00:51:51 Ben: When Father's elected Pope...bye-bye, pews. 👍
00:52:11 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "When Father's electe..." with 😊
00:52:44 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "It's important to av..." with ❤️
00:52:46 Thomas: When he says to help the sinners in the first part how much are we supposed to do, because at some point wouldn’t you encroach on spiritual father type of stuff
00:53:02 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "It is easy to pray f..." with ❤️
00:53:09 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "When Father's electe..." with 🤣
00:54:05 Una: With my long-term fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue (severe) I simply could not keep up with Orthodox services, especially Holy Week. And the fasting. I was glad to come back to the Western rite and more relaxing fasting. God bless those who can do it.
00:54:48 Sr. Mary Clare: Unfortunately, covid became an excuse not to return to Mass. This has become a very sad situation. Watching the Liturgy online has become the norm. No doubt, this was a tactic of the evil one.
00:55:20 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "Unfortunately, covid..." with 👍🏻
00:55:35 Eleana: I have seen more participation AFTER covid.
00:55:47 Jamie Hickman: This is how the TLM is in my experience. Yes, there are rushed low Masses out there, but my decades experience of Sunday Sung Mass is minimum 90 minutes, but usually closer to 2. The 10:30 in my area ends between 12:20-12:30 weekly. In Tampa this year, Easter Vigil began at 7 PM and ended around 12:30 AM...and the pastor actually began speaking some of the prayers in English that are permitted so to save some time.
00:56:07 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "This is how the TLM ..." with 👍
00:56:30 Ben: Replying to "I have seen more par..."
Trad. parishes *exploded* with growth, it's true. God brings good out of evil.
00:56:41 Catherine Opie: Interesting that
00:57:00 Myles Davidson: Replying to "This is how the TLM ..."
The Extraordinary Form is just that… extraordinary!
00:57:53 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "Trad. parishes *expl..." with 👍
00:58:55 David: In my parish we are filled with millennials and Gen Z even daily mass it is amazing I hope they stay. Before daily mass was just me and a few older people now almost every pew is full. But my parish is very traditional and lots of silence in mass. Covid might have been an momentary issue but now at least where I am I am shocked to see sunday service flow into the atrium and people holding open the doors outside during feasts.
00:58:59 Catherine Opie: Sorry, pressed enter before ready, I find it interesting that existing Catholics might be doing that, avoiding going to mass in person by watching on line, while for converts like myself lockdowns drove me into the arms of Catholicism, and adult conversions doubled this year on last year.
00:59:31 Sr. Mary Clare: Reacted to "Sorry, pressed enter..." with ❤️
01:00:09 Sr. Mary Clare: Reacted to "In my parish we are ..." with ❤️
01:01:40 Una: Thank you. Very encouraging.
01:06:51 Catherine Opie: I see the physical pain that intensifies when at mass, praying etc as the level of my resistance to sit with God. I offer it up for the souls in purgatory and breathe through it. As well as having to suffer the perfume other people wear!!!!!
01:06:54 Suzanne Romano: Guadalupe
01:06:54 Anthony: Guadeloupe was 1500s
01:06:58 Ben: Guadalupe was 1531 - Aztecs
01:08:12 Myles Davidson: Replying to "I see the physical p..."
Perfumes = penance!
01:09:04 Ben: Reacted to "Perfumes = penance!" with 😲
01:11:32 David: Guadalupe did convert more Christians in the shortest period of time in history after decades of little success in the Americas. My son was baptized in the first stone font when we lived in Mexico,  the next year moved to a museum in Tlaxcala. The first Christians were other communities and the aztecas a minority in the territory were hold outs till Guadalupe.
01:16:57 Ben: Asceticism in the beginning of the spiritual life is basic to the Fathers, but today it's often treated as something for those who are already saints, with no reference to purity of heart.
01:19:05 Eleana: Reacted to "Guadalupe did conv..." with 😮
01:19:35 Lee Graham: Please explain the soul,s incentive parr
01:19:48 Lee Graham: Incentive
01:19:48 Anthony: Asceticism with little prayer and desire sounds similar to Jansenism
01:20:23 Ben: Right - we need all that.
01:23:11 Ben: It's a deep paragraph for 8:38pm
01:23:15 Sr. Mary Clare: What you have been saying is beautiful!
01:23:16 David: Why with all the ministries and works, committee's, Bingo, fundraisers isn't there more spiritual direction and an ER for the the spiritually sick. What I like most about the desert fathers is they identify the error and give a solution or solutions. I am dismayed by the latin approach to dealing with any of the evil thoughts.
01:23:20 Naina: Amen 🙏 Thank you Father 🙏✝️🤍
01:23:57 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
01:24:02 Elizabeth Richards: Peace to you
01:24:02 Catherine Opie: God bless Fr.
01:24:10 Francisco Ingham: God bless you Fr.!
01:24:11 David: Thank you father may God bless you and your mother.

The Evergetinos: Book Two - XXIX, Part VIII

What is the limit of our desire for God?  What conditions do we set on our pursuit of virtue, constancy of prayer and the avoidance of sin? What emerges from the writings of the fathers is their willingness to sacrifice themselves and comfort in ways that are unimaginable to the modern mind. Beyond that their actions seem to be absurd and extreme to the point of falling to the criticism of masochism or self hatred. It is very difficult for many to grasp the nature of such thirst and desire for God and to please Him. Equally, it is hard to imagine going to the lengths that these ascetic did in avoiding sin or overcoming temptation in the heat of the battle. They often treated the body harshly to prevent themselves from pursuing natural or disordered desires. Rarely do we consider the pretext that the Evil One is willing to use to draw us into sin. Therefore, we often will put ourselves to the test or engage in futile warfare that bears witness to pride within our hearts. Thus, even in our critical reading of the fathers we have to be wary of allowing our modern sensibilities to convince us that we see things with greater clarity psychologically and spiritually. If we are wrapped in the illusion of faith and comfortable with mediocrity, our sensibilities are going to be dulled and the Cross will remain for us as it has often been in every generation – a stumbling block rather than the revelation of selfless love.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:01:26 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: Page 231 number 9
01:01:12 Suzanne Romano: This is the reason  why people should dress modestly.
01:02:40 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "This is the reason  ..." with 👍
01:03:02 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "This is the reason  ..." with ❤️
01:07:45 Kate : When children are formed in truth, goodness, and beauty from a young age, they are able to see the falsehood in secular culture.
01:08:37 Suzanne Romano: Reacted to When children are fo... with "❤️"
01:12:15 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "When children are fo..." with ❤️
01:12:28 Anthony: I often think: if these things against innocence are wrong, why does God let it happen? And I have to fight rising anger.
01:16:36 Suzanne Romano: That is a truly consoling answer!
01:16:58 Sr. Charista Maria: Wow, great response Father :).I
01:21:57 Tracey Fredman: I have tasted it - what Fr. is saying is so right - so true, transformative - and then He sends us -
01:22:18 Anthony: Reacted to I have tasted it - w... with "❤️"
01:22:27 Sr. Charista Maria: Reacted to "I have tasted it - w..." with ❤️
01:23:02 Sr. Charista Maria: Reacted to "When children are fo..." with ❤️
01:23:49 Suzanne Romano: Your soul is always young!
01:24:31 Laura: Reacted to "Your soul is always ..." with 👍🏼
01:24:51 Suzanne Romano: 😆
01:25:05 Lee Graham: What is your address
01:25:11 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
01:25:30 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You Blessing
01:25:57 Andrew Adams: Thanks be to God! Thank you, Father!
01:25:58 Catherine Opie: Deo Gratias
01:26:10 Julie: God bless
01:26:24 Catherine Opie: My dog has awoken

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

Gratitude is placing ourselves into the hands of God, trusting in His providence and allowing Him to guide us where He wills (without asking us for permission or our understanding His purpose). It is like having a bucket of cold water dumped over our heads. We are suddenly awakened and our whole being is set on edge. 
We realize in the words of Saint Isaac the Syrian that gratitude and faith are often not what we imagine or want them to be. To show gratitude to He who is crucified Love means that we embrace that Love in our lives, are driven by the same desires as Christ, and willing to bear affliction patiently and with joy. 
In the Scriptures, we hear the surprising words: “He was made perfect by what he suffered“. We see the perfection of love and the mercy of the kingdom most fully when Christ allows himself to be broken and poured out on the cross. Life allows himself to be swallowed up by death.  From the perspective of human understanding, it seems to be absurdity and failure.
Despite our acknowledgment and the celebration of the resurrection of Christ - trampling death by death, so that those in the tombs might be granted life, we do not want this reality to shape our experience of life in the world. Saint Isaac is not presenting us with anything different from the gospel and yet our almost infinite capacity for rationalization makes us avoid affliction at every cost and become resentful when we find it ever present in our lives. 
The kingdom of heaven is within. Salvation is now. The life that we are called to live and the love that we are to embody has been freely given to us. Not to embrace this life and love, not to allow it to shape the very essence of our lives is the height of ingratitude.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:01:11 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: Page 120
01:10:34 Catherine Opie: I think that we have been indoctrinated into only being grateful when things go the way we want, I read a story about St Dominic that he took great pains to build a church on a hill. When it was finally complete the local king demanded it be torn down stone by stone until nothing was left. St Dominic upon finding this out declared joyously "Praise the Lord!". This really struck me deeply because it is so the antithesis of the attitude I was brought up in where we bemoan and curse God for misfortune and only are grateful when we get what we want. Or we see relationship with God only as a place to demand what we want.
01:10:56 Kathleen: Tall order. Very difficult.
01:11:35 Maureen Cunningham: Wow it hard but many rewards . That we can not see
01:11:36 Kathleen: It’s a decision one makes with complete awareness of the situation at hand
01:11:47 Rebecca Thérèse: Sometimes there's no option but to suffer. Uniting one's suffering to the redemptive suffering of Christ gives it purpose.
01:12:36 Art iPhone: Reacted to "I think that we have…" with 👌
01:13:48 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "Sometimes there's no..." with ❤️
01:15:03 David: I don't remember who said it but " It is only in suffering we know we have faith and grow". When everything is easy or pleasurable there is always doubt if this is the ego or faith and virtue.
01:15:28 Elizabeth Richards: We so want to create meaning & give purpose to our suffering (make sense of it), but Isaac seems to be showing that entering into suffering is entering into Christ.
01:17:25 Joseph: The heart of asceticism is stripping away the palpable, to open up space for the noetic
01:18:38 Kathleen: Yes
01:18:48 Ren Witter: ALS
01:19:03 Kathleen: Yes
01:19:28 Kathleen: Yes
01:19:50 Kathleen: Thank you!!!!
01:20:03 Maureen Cunningham: Thank you Father
01:20:04 Julie: Thankyou
01:20:47 Andrew Adams: Thanks be to God! Thank you, Father!
01:20:52 Catherine Opie: 🙏🏻❤️ Thank you
01:20:54 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you, happy Easter everyone🙂
01:20:56 Matt S: Thank you!
01:20:57 David: Thanks father!
01:20:57 Jeffrey Ott: Thank you!
01:21:08 Andrew Adams: Thanks everyone. Great comments tonight!

The Evergetinos: Book Two - XXIX, Part VII

We see clearly within the struggles of the desert fathers how difficult it can be to avoid extremes in thought and action. We see in them those filled with desire for God and striving for purity of heart; maintaining watchfulness and fostering a hatred of sin. Yet, how is one form and develop a sensitive conscience and awareness of the power of our own appetites and desires as human beings, concern with demonic provocation, and yet to hold on to a true view of the beauty of creation and the dignity of the human person? As fully invested as the desert fathers were, and as psychologically and spiritually astute as they could be, this was no small task. We find in their language at times a tendency to project their fear of sin or temptation onto others. This can be uniquely the struggle of religious people; rather than humbly acknowledging the truth within our own hearts and the power of our own desires we will blame temptation upon others – on the things they say or do. Saint Philip Neri once said: “Man is often the carpenter of his own crosses”. We do not like to acknowledge the truth of that fact; that we are the source of our own temptation or that it arises out of our own imagination and memory.
Despite this, however, they did see very clearly that the Evil One can use every pretext to provoke a person into sin. The devil can appear as an angel of light, and the desert fathers would have us never forget this. Even that which is good - those bonds of love and familial affection, nostalgia for those relationships that have been so powerful - all of these things, the evil one will work on to distract us or pull us in a particular direction. One might argue, somewhat convincingly, that such a concern is extreme or neurotic. In this we do not want to defend the indefensible. However, we want to understand the changeableness of the human heart and mind, its fickleness and treachery. Demonic provocation can turn the mind and the heart toward things that we never imagined we would ever consider or do. May God have mercy on us and guide us.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:19:49 Wayne: page  again
00:20:09 Myles Davidson: Pg 230 L 4
00:20:30 Wayne: thnx
00:28:58 Anthony: This actually makes a lot of sense if we consider pagan myth. Monks strove to be like the descriptions of angels. But that desire to be "heavenly" can be perverted if we let the pagan myths distort our minds of the heavenly since sex was so often part of myth: like the relationship of Uranos and Gaiea, or the Olympians. We need a right view of God and creation and created things if we will truly strive to the true God.
00:52:05 Anthony: I saw it. Very good.  Also has scenes of temptation to love a woman who was attracted to him when they were young.
00:57:34 Catherine Opie: Being a new convert and coming from a non Catholic, mostly atheist family, and having a friend base who are not Christian I can relate in a small way how that might feel. I have had both friends and family become vitriolic over my change in belief. It can be challenging because I am no longer their ally in viewpoint.
01:03:01 Ashton L: I’d say a lot of people get fanatic and someone with genuine zeal confused
01:04:11 Anthony: Honest, not being a fanatic is a serious concern because some kinds of fundamentalism and truly nuts and malformed.  I don't want to be that guy.  I don't want to blow out of proportion stories of demons or private visions.  Then you're almost a solupsist, and insufferable.
01:07:29 Kate : There are a number of Western saints, men and women, who were great friends.  For example, Sts. John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila, Sts. Francis and Clare, Sts. Francis de Sales and Jane Frances de Chantal, among others.  I wonder if you could comment on how to understand these great spiritual friendships in light of these writings.
01:08:02 Forrest Cavalier: Reacted to "There are a number o..." with 👍
01:08:11 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "There are a number o..." with ❤️
01:08:56 Vanessa: Replying to "There are a number o..."
Jesus also had female friends. Martha and Mary.
01:09:18 Nypaver Clan: St. John of the Cross
01:11:16 Myles Davidson: The Spanish Teresa of Avila mini serieshttps://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNBgLeqw6lxe_51ysMXFjR54sQf9LCl6j
01:11:30 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "The Spanish Teresa o..." with 🙏🏻
01:11:46 Ashton L: Reacted to "The Spanish Teresa o…" with 🙏🏻
01:13:58 Rebecca Thérèse: Therese asked that the sisters not put poisonous things within her reach lest she should take it in a moment of weakness
01:14:22 Anthony: Reacted to Therese asked that t... with "❤️"
01:15:01 Andrew Adams: Thanks be to God! Thank you, Father!
01:15:03 Catherine Opie: Thank you Fr. God Bless
01:15:24 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you. Happy Easter everyone🙂
01:15:39 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "Thank you. Happy Eas..." with 🥰
01:16:07 Ashton L: Reacted to "Thank you. Happy Eas…" with ❤️
01:17:04 Catherine Opie: Happy Easter!!!

The Ascetical Homilies of St. Isaac the Syrian - Homily I, Part VII and II, Part I

After having spoken to us about the importance of being filled with wonder at the love and mercy of God revealed to us in Christ and desiring him above all things, Saint Isaac immediately stresses that what is born from the heart must be real and concrete. It is one thing for us to use beautiful words to speak about Christ and the faith. It is another to embody the love and compassion of Christ so vitally that our actions and words transmit virtue to others. In other words, for our actions to be life-giving, they must be rooted in the experience of the living God. Otherwise, our wisdom becomes a “deposit of disgrace”. Whereas righteous activity born of the love of Christ and the experience of his mercy becomes a “treasury of hope”. How do we engage the world around us and those in it except by embodying He who is reality, love and truth.
Our temporal life passes so quickly and Isaac tells us that if we love it then our way of life is defiled or we have been deprived of knowledge. He writes: “the fear of death distresses a man with a guilty conscience, but the man with a good witness within himself longs for death as for life.“  If Christ is the center of our life then we will have no fear or anxiety. The only thing that we take out of this world is our vice or virtue. Everything passes away like a dream disappearing in the morning.
All that we have received is pure gift; coming to us through baptism and faith where we are called by the Lord - called by name - to enter into his life and to love as he loved. Indeed it is an interesting thing that Isaac begins his Ascetical Homilies by emphasizing wonder, desire, urgent longing and God‘s desire for us as well how freely He has given us everything that is good. Isaac set us upon a path that helps us keep our focus upon God and God alone. All of our spiritual disciplines must serve to help us love and give ourselves in love or they are hollow. Likewise, all that we receive must be responded to with gratitude. There is only one thing that keeps us from experiencing the richness of God’s grace and mercy. It is our failure to turn towards him through a lack of trust or appreciation for His generosity.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:08:47 Catherine Opie: Apologies I missed last weeks zoom due to being offline. What page are we on today?
00:10:29 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: Page 118 paragraph 34
00:19:12 Catherine Opie: Things move slower down here in Australasia 🤣
00:24:50 David: I find this part so beautiful my grandmother was an artist near Lake Superior and painted in water colors I spent my summers with her and while I love her paintings I remember more the scenes , smell of the wildflowers and of course being next to her. The painting is but a pale reflection. So to with talking about love but feeling that from my family/mentors special people illuminates long after the time has past.
00:29:18 David: In the end I found Christ seeing him in my grandparents and others not the years of studying, reading the Summa. He was there next to me living through them.
00:46:06 Ren Witter: Don’t worry Father, I’ll throw myself on your grave and weep ;-)
00:46:50 paul g.: Reacted to "Don’t worry Father, …" with 😇
00:47:25 Tracey Fredman: Sometimes we find ourselves in a position ... I have thoughts! I pray for everyone's prayers - don't know how to raise my hand on the phone! lol
00:47:51 Tracey Fredman: Reacted to Don’t worry Father, ... with "😇"
00:48:13 Tracey Fredman: I can unmute
00:49:23 Tracey Fredman: (or not , lol)
00:49:36 David: I nice thing to do is to take a picture and send it to them SMS. Someone did this for me and it is really comforting in bad times to see a candle lit, a thought shared etc.
00:51:53 David: We enter this life and leave the same way - no teeth, no hair and in diapers what is important is what we share in-between was a saying from my Grandfather.
00:54:46 Bob Čihák, AZ: I've given up saying, "I can't wait to be a burden to my children." too much static.
00:57:01 David: Reacted to "I've given up saying..." with 😂
01:00:09 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: HIs advice here would also apply to those who carry trauma memories.
01:01:39 David: When my Mom was in hospice at home dying I was also raising my sons alone and commuting to Chicago (4hrs driving). I had a lot of anxiety and listed to relevant radio on the way back. Father Simon said the only honest prayer is not asking for things but - God teach me your ways. When I started doing this most of the anxiety and frustration went away. I guess letting go of pride?
01:02:23 Bob Čihák, AZ: Reacted to "When my Mom was in h..." with 👍
01:03:02 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "When my Mom was in h..." with ❤️
01:03:14 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "We enter this life a..." with ❤️
01:03:45 Anthony: A problem is that these very remedies - Bible, sacraments, real theology - have been distorted and abused and therefore look ugly and repulsive.  That blockage needs to be overcome
01:03:58 Bob Čihák, AZ: My favorite is "Thy will be done." So much so that we're planning it for our gravestone.
01:05:16 David: Reacted to "A problem is that th..." with 👍
01:05:21 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "My favorite is "Thy ..." with 🤣
01:17:39 Ryan N: Father, How does one who struggles with giving gratitude arrive to such state. Is it left to the grace of God? Do we ask God for the grace to be grateful?
01:19:45 Naina: Thank you Father 🙏✝️❤️
01:20:30 Andrew Adams: Thanks be to God! Thank you, Father!
01:20:30 Jeffrey Ott: Thank you!
01:20:42 Catherine Opie: Thank you Fr, I will pray for you.
 

The Evergetinos: Book Two - XXIX, Part VI

Tonight‘s group consisted mostly of a monologue (out of necessity) about how it is that we are to read the Fathers. We have learned over these few years that one must read in a discerning and discriminating fashion, as well as prayerfully. There is great wisdom to be found within the ascetical writings, however, we must understand that the spiritual life and the personal struggle of each of the desert monks was unique. Furthermore, the desert itself was a laboratory like no other. In the deep solitude, the fathers saw with great clarity the workings of the human mind and heart as well as temptations that came from within and through demonic provocation. 
If there is one point that I wanted to make clear in pressing through this with the group is that our love of virtue, of God and our desire to be free of the passions can lead us not only into extremes of discipline but also into a kind of psychological violence. The sorrow over our own poverty and sin can lead us to repress certain parts of our personality and aspects of our life as human beings that are a source vitality and the capacity to love. We have often spoken about desire being at the heart of the spiritual life; we seek He  alone who can fill what is lacking within us.  Yet when the ascetic life is treated like a defense mechanism, we can project our struggles and responsibility for ourselves onto others or, in the intensity of the struggle, repress that which is essential to being fully human. This is not an ancient phenomenon. Those who engage in the spiritual battle today can be tempted in similar ways. Each generation is unique in regards to the nature of the battle but the same pitfalls remain.
It is for this reason that the ascetical life cannot be seen as an end in itself. It must begin with Christ, our relationship with him and our trust in his mercy and grace. Devoid of this relationship, the ascetic life can draw us into self focus that is destructive to us both emotionally and spiritually. Thus, our reading of the fathers places upon us a responsibility to be striving at the same time to draw close to Christ. Otherwise, the spiritual life can become a tragic distortion of the truth rather than the source of healing that it is meant to be. The current state of affairs within the life of the Church and the disconnect with this greater spiritual tradition points to such a distortion. When Christianity becomes a cultural phenomenon and whenever even its deepest and most beautiful forms of prayer become habitual and automatic, it becomes lifeless. Let us take heed then of this great responsibility and entrust ourselves to the grace of God and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. All things are possible with God, but without him there is  only darkness or a sad simulation of faith.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:13:17 Bob Čihák, AZ: P 230, K
00:23:29 Rachel: Is the connection instable for anyone else?
00:23:42 Rachel: unstable*
00:24:21 Monk Maximos: Replying to "unstable*"
Mine is fine
00:24:44 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "Mine is fine" with 👍🏼
00:24:50 Bob Čihák, AZ: Reacted to "Mine is fine" with 👍🏼
00:25:38 Adam Paige: Reacted to "Mine is fine" with 👍🏼
00:27:02 Anthony: Would it be psychology healthier for people to be ordained or vowed religious as older people? St Paul suggests this, but the stories of saints romanticized young vocations (like St. Agnes).
00:27:55 Adam Paige: Reacted to "Would it be psycholo..." with 🤔
00:30:39 Sr. Charista Maria: Very important thoughts you are sharing Father. Holiness and Wholeness. Human/Spiritual integration.
00:31:30 Adam Paige: Reacted to "Very important thoug..." with ❤️‍🔥
00:32:10 Rachel: Reacted to "Mine is fine" with 🙏
00:33:19 Anthony: Right. Even St Symeon the New Theologian cracked mentally or emotionally as a young man.
00:35:58 Sr. Charista Maria: Pope Leo 13th spoke of the 100 years of satan which we have been in, hence such deep wound today and the need for longer formation for most.
00:38:48 Monk Maximos: The Servants of the Paraclete had a similar experience.
00:41:33 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "Very important thoug..." with ❤️
00:44:42 Monk Maximos: Not only secular universities… some “catholic” ones are too.
00:44:54 Forrest Cavalier: Reacted to "Not only secular uni..." with 👍
00:45:57 Maureen Cunningham: We need the Holy Spirit an lots of joy
00:46:03 Rachel: I wonder if we are not still reeling from that but have only just begun to see the havoc modern psychology relied upon as if gospel truth has wrought upon civilization. The eye when not purified by a life in Christ views the world skewed through modern psychology no matter how good the intentions of those pursuing help though these means. How much though, do we see through this lens? How much doe it affect how we see ourselves, others and Christ Himself? How do we relate to each other?
00:46:18 Forrest Cavalier: Before going to secular college (CMU, late 1980s), I promised myself to always meet my Sunday obligation. I know without a doubt it saved my faith.
00:49:56 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "Before going to secu..." with 🙏🏻
00:57:56 Kate : It seems we have to look at these stories not through a moralistic lens, otherwise we will end up thinking of this in terms or right vs wrong.  Rather, they we seeking healing of the soul and healing from the passions.
00:58:14 Sr. Charista Maria: I believe reading the desert Fathers and also being open to the graces that God is pouring out in our times. There is a great movement within the Church to encourage healing of the deeper heart, opening up the deep struggle or disorder, being so real with Jesus about the longing, and invite Jesus in to redeem, heal; Jesus then reveals the truth that it is really longing for union with Him (the God-sized void) underlying such disorders. Then the disorder becomes a portal to invite God in. Oh happy fault. and St. John of the Cross spirituality. Many are ashamed to invite God into such disordered longing, and they repress and thus close off the deeper heart to God.
00:58:54 Forrest Cavalier: Reacted to "It seems we have to ..." with 👍
01:02:10 Adam Paige: I see this in a positive light, that we should create spaces for men to be with one another in the church. I went to a men's retreat in Ontario in January and their homework for us was to start a men's group in our parishes if one doesn't already exist. At our last local men's group, we prayed Compline together and we've had Orthodox and Protestant men join us from time to time.
01:08:17 Maureen Cunningham: Monks had mothers I do not understand if Jesus was very close women when did all start
01:11:04 Anthony: In my opinion, some of the issues may be ethnic issues, not fully conformed to the Gospel. Norman's profoundly shaped the  Latin Catholic culture, but they had issues. The Greeks had issues (read the Alexiad...wow!). We all have probematic ethnic issues we are not fully recognizing.
01:13:50 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You Father
01:13:51 Catherine Opie: Thank you Fr. very thought provoking as always.
01:14:32 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
01:14:38 Sheila Applegate: Reacted to In my opinion, some ... with "👍"
01:14:57 Troy Amaro: Thank You Father.
01:15:25 Nypaver Clan: Please pray for the soul of Cindy Moran, a member of this group.

The Ascetical Homilies of St. Isaac the Syrian - Homily I, Part VI

Saint Isaac the Syrian begins his teaching with a gentle reminder that liberation from material things, that is, our attachment to the things of this world and placing them above God, is a slow process that involves great toil. Yet, this is the common order of things. In our journey, we often have to break loose of the mooring of those things that prevent us from loving. And so Isaac teaches us that righteous activity involves comprehending what God has revealed to us and then embodying it through action - praxis. Even as we make gains our memory of past sins and failures often brings grief to the soul. We shouldn’t be discouraged by this, St. Isaac tells us, but we must simply allow these recollections to lead us to greater repentance and gratitude for God‘s mercy.
Yet all of this is but a prelude to Isaac asking us an important question: Do you desire to commune with God by perceiving the love and the mercy that He reveals not just with the mind or the senses but through faith and experience?  Do you desire God? Do you desire Love? If our answer to this question is “yes” then Isaac tells us we must pursue mercy: “For when something that is like unto God is found in you, then that holy beauty is depicted by Him.“ We begin to see and comprehend the mercy and love of God by loving as he loves; by going beyond the limitations and the confines of our own understanding. 
Such spiritual unity once unsealed incessantly blazes in the heart with ardent longing. The soul‘s divine vision, Isaac tells us, unites one to God and the heart becomes awestruck; filled with wonder at what no eye has seen or mind could imagine outside of the grace of God. The path to divine love first begins by showing compassion in some proportion to the Father’s perfection. As Christ tells us, “Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect, be merciful as your Heavenly Father is merciful“
The dignity and destiny that is ours, the life and love into which God draws us should be what we pursue the most in life. To desire God, to give free reign to an urgent longing for Him brings about our transformation. Desire is our path to the Kingdom within.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:15:08 Callie Eisenbrandt: I’ll take your books Father!! 😂
00:16:21 Bob Čihák, AZ: P 117 paragraph 26 starting "Liberation from...."
00:20:11 Eleana: I want Icons😁
00:30:39 Sr. Charista Maria: Amen Father. So very true. We so often fall so short of such communion with the indwelling presence of the Holy Trinity. Most don't realize the profound grace of our Baptism.
00:30:43 Anthony: This is interesting.....in Italian, a translation of "lust" is "desire."  Lust (the sin) must be misplaced desire.
00:31:53 Paisios: There's a phenomenal article by Cormac Jones about converting desire being the most important thing in the Christian spiritual life
00:31:55 Paisios: https://cormacjones.substack.com/p/converting-desire
00:33:38 Sr Mary Clare: Reacted to "https://cormacjones...." with 👍
00:34:19 Anthony: Reacted to There's a phenomenal... with "👍"
00:34:25 Anthony: Reacted to https://cormacjones.... with "👍"
00:36:16 Jamie Hickman: Replying to "This is interestin..."
concupiscence...think concupiscible appetite. we tend to think of it only in the negative (evil, sinful), but as you say: it is not in itself bad
00:41:56 Anthony: Too much asceticism leads to resentment
00:45:00 Nypaver Clan: Father, How do we balance Mercy with the Judgement of God?  Is it possible to rely too much on God’s Mercy?
00:50:05 Paisios: I once read, "God's judgement is mercy"
00:52:37 Maureen Cunningham: W hat about abusive act
00:55:43 Sr Mary Clare: There are many out there who constantly say, "Don't judge!. when a person may just be speaking about sins that hurt the heart of Jesus Christ. It is a constant cry of those who seemingly have problems with church teachings and the ten commandments.
00:59:45 Jamie Hickman: I might have missed it: to whom is Isaac intending homily? Was this preached in a church during Divine Liturgy? Looking for context and audience.
01:02:08 Anthony: Leaving their boats and family was leaving freedom and security of having your place where you belong.
01:02:20 Jamie Hickman: thank you, Father
01:02:37 Anthony: Also they left economic power
01:02:52 Sr. Charista Maria: There's a video called The Third Way, which is so beautifully done, that may reflect what you are saying here Father regarding love. Letting Love inspire in all things. The first way is Judging, the second is compromising, the third is Christ's way it seems.
01:04:42 Sr. Charista Maria: It is testimonies of some who were in the homosexual lifestyle, but then were drawn by love to the truth.
01:05:49 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: The intensity of man's thirst for God determines his spiritual progress. Longing for God stands above all ascesis. Man's desire constitutes the small human part, which man offers to God, and God then adds to it the great part of His grace. It is essential to constantly rekindle our desire, and this should be the main concern of our life. God gave the same commandments to all, so if God's gifts are more abundant in some, this means that their thirst for God is greater and they renew their desire day after day. Spiritual thirst brings the whole heart of man to the source Christ, as He Himself said, 'Where your heart is there shall your treasure be also." Respecting man's freedom, however, God responds to man according to his longing, as Saint Silouan writes: ‘The Lord has love for all men but His love is greater for the one who seeks Him.' If we expect the Lord's visitation with all our heart, then, of a surety, we will attract the living waters of His grace.
01:06:28 Lee Graham: Life with Christ must be “experiential”,
01:08:22 Sr. Charista Maria: There's a video called The Third Way, which is so beautifully done, that may reflect what you are saying here Father regarding love. Letting Love inspire in all things. The first way is Judging, the second is compromising, the third is Christ's way it seems. It is testimonies of some who were in the homosexual lifestyle, but then were drawn by love to the truth.
01:12:05 Kathleen: HAHA
01:12:45 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You Father
01:12:53 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
01:13:10 Maureen Cunningham: Yes
01:13:20 Lee Graham: Yes!
01:13:25 David: Thank you father!
01:13:26 Sr Mary Clare: Thank you
 

The Evergetinos: Book Two - XXIX, Part V

In our ongoing discussions of the Desert Fathers’ writings, especially upon sexual desire and sensuality as a whole, one comes to the realization that we have to read in a discerning fashion. In other words, we cannot be lazy while sitting at the feet of the elders. Their wisdom grew out of experience. However, it was the experience of the desert and of monks. What they discovered and understood is unparalleled in its value for the life of the Church and our understanding of spirituality.  Yet, although they saw so very much it does not mean they saw everything or that they articulated it in a way that is going to speak to every generation in the same fashion. Every generation, every person, must embrace and embody the fullness of the gospel through striving to enter by the narrow way. The ascetic life is our exercise of that faith and every generation will have particular struggles and battles that are unique to it. In a time like our own, when so many aspects of the culture have been hyper-sexualized, living a life of purity of heart can seem to be not only a difficult but impossible pursuit. While we can see that the dignity of human sexuality and women change radically with Christianity, those changes were not immediate or complete and we see lingering vestiges where women are seen as the cause of sin.
This implants in the spirituality of purity of heart and the struggle with temptation a kind of misogyny, a temptation to the hatred of the self and of sexuality. Inevitably this leaves a void in our understanding and practice of the faith that can be disastrous. Rather than seeing the dignity of the human person made in the image and likeness of God and our destiny in Christ to participate in the Divine life, we can drift into a lifeless moralism. Christianity must speak to the deepest part of a person‘s religiosity; capturing what it means to be a human being, fully alive and transformed by the grace of God.
Even as we sit at the feet of the Fathers, we must keep our eyes upon Christ; for it is in Him alone, that we can plumb the depths of mysteries of God and the kingdom, but also the mystery of what it is to be a human being. Purity of heart is much more about what we can see having removed the impediment of the ego or of disorder desires. Far from being restrictive, it gives us a greater capacity to love and be loved. What is needed in our day are saints who embody this reality so fully that their lives reveal to us the deepest truths about ourselves and God. Only saints stand transparent to the fullness of truth revealed to us in Christ.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:12:51 Bob Čihák, AZ: P 227, I
00:14:06 Bob Čihák, AZ: P 227, I
00:24:18 Una: Let the past stay in the past, in other words
00:24:32 Diana Sciuto: Reacted to "Let the past stay in…" with ❤️
00:24:49 Mary Clare Wax: This is why it is so important to live in the present moment. The past is dead, the future yet unborn. God is the God of "I Am", not "I Was," or "I Will Be."
00:25:05 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "This is why it is so..." with 👍
00:25:23 Diana Sciuto: Reacted to "This is why it is so…" with 👍
00:26:08 Una: The movie and book "Sophie's Choice" really illustrates the danger
00:26:44 Una: Her memories of trauma
00:34:19 Sr. Mary Clare: Very interesting that the First Reading at Mass today was about Susanna and the Elders lusting after her.
00:34:46 Una: Reacted to "Very interesting t..." with 👍
00:35:27 Sr. Charista Maria: It seems this was the issue with the Pharisees who confronted Jesus for being too close to women, such as the one who washed His feet with her tears. They were projecting their impurity of their hearts onto Him, whose heart is so pure.
00:36:17 Sr. Mary Clare: Reacted to "It seems this was th..." with 👍
00:37:56 Anthony: "Purity Culture"?
00:39:27 Nypaver Clan: Chastity ring or Promise ring almost like a pre-engagement ring
00:43:48 Sr. Charista Maria: Great point Fr.
00:52:51 Sr. Charista Maria: I think of the issue the Pharisees had who confronted Jesus for being too close to women, such as the one who washed His feet with her tears. They were projecting the impurity of their hearts onto Him, whose heart is so pure.
00:53:27 Sr. Mary Clare: Reacted to "I think of the issue..." with ❤️
00:59:27 Anthony: I wonder if any of the women here can enlighten us whether in a woman's general spiritual outlook, there can be a "negative anthropology" about men when they pursue purity? Or are the women in a different dimension in this regard?
00:59:40 Julie: I think it starts with our watchfulness of thoughts.
01:01:02 Julie: I taught my sons to see women as someone’s mother, sister or a daughter with that respect and love in their beauty
01:02:59 Sr. Charista Maria: Agreed Fr. Women bring the heart, such as Mary.
01:04:20 Sr. Mary Clare: It this day and age, it seems to be more of a Jezebel spirit among us.
01:07:45 Anthony: "You will be just like my horse, my dog and my falcon, only I will love you more and trust you less." Pharoah Ramses in The Ten Commandments
01:08:04 Bob Čihák, AZ: “Men and Marriage” by George Gilder is an excellent book for our  current times. He strips off the lies of radical feminist ideologies.
01:08:39 Sr. Charista Maria: Agree with you regarding the Theology of the Body needing more commentary on the transcending aspect of our sexuality.
01:19:04 Sr. Mary Clare: Well said, Father, you are so right concerning this.
01:20:08 Sr. Charista Maria: Reacted to "Well said, Father, y..." with 👍
01:26:11 Sr. Mary Clare: We are called not to be possessive in our love
01:27:26 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
01:27:27 Forrest Cavalier: Thank you so much!
01:27:42 Troy Amaro: Thank You Father.

The Ascetical Homilies of St. Isaac the Syrian - Homily I, Part V

As one reads the thoughts of Saint Isaac the Syrian the experience is almost like that of the disciples on the road to Emmaus: “Did our hearts not burn within us?” Isaac speaks to something so deep within the human heart that it ignites the very thing that he sets out to inflame: desire, wonder, awe at the love of God and the mystery of the Divine Life into which God invites us. 
One of the great struggles that we have as Christians is that we approach the faith and the spiritual life in a common fashion.  In our reading of the Scriptures, we approach them in a reductive manner, dissecting the gospels; pulling out for ourselves bits of wisdom to help us get through life. Yet, Isaac understands that we cannot over-scrutinize the words that are written or spoken to us, but rather must immerse ourselves humbly in Divine Wisdom. Isaac tells us that those who are filled with grace are led by the light that is running between the lines. It is this humble and prayerful approach not only to the scriptures but to the faith as a whole that prevents the heart from being common and devoid of that holy power that “gives the heart a most sweet taste through perceptions that awe the soul.”  A soul that is filled with the spirit is going to run toward God, driven by an urgent longing for the fullness of life and love that He alone can satisfy. Not every soul is awakened to that sense of wonder yet it is the pearl of great price, the treasure hidden in the field, and the one thing necessary. May God fill our hearts with a holy desire.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:09:28 The Recovery Community Hub of PBC, Inc.: Hey everyone, in Christ, my name is Ian, I am only using my former workers Zoom platform
00:11:17 Myles Davidson: Pg. 116 “Just as the heaviness of weights…”
00:11:50 Vanessa: I'm in Ontario too. Blizzard is bad here.
00:12:18 Edward Kleinguetl: I lived in Toronto for a year!
00:12:46 Ben: Replying to "I lived in Toronto f..."
I'm east of Ottawa.
00:14:16 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: When you desire to do something for the love of God, put death as the limit of your desire. In this way you will rise in actual deed to the level of martyrdom in struggling with every passion, suffering no harm from whatever you may meet within this limit, if you endure to the end and do not weaken. 
~ St Isaac the Syrian
00:20:34 Anthony: It appears Isaac uses "Liberty" of mind different than the Greek Fathers?
00:34:08 Ben: I remember reading "The Imitation of Christ" for the first time in my youth, and thinking, "Oh, boy, this totally demolishes everything we were ever taught about self-esteem!"
00:36:20 David: I am wondering if the Diatessaron which was the most common with Aramaic communities might have influenced idea of living the gospel instead of the legal way of the west?
00:38:06 David: St Emphrain wrote a discourse on that and I assume Issac was likely exposed where the separate gospels tend to compare and contrast and get far to analytical.
00:40:22 David: The other thing I find fascinating the Syrian fathers taught through poetry which moves emotions not just debates or arguments.
00:42:17 Anthony: Seeing the Word of God as the Divine Logos keeps us from the "fundamentalism" that makes categories of touchable and untouchable.
00:42:27 Jamie Hickman: Great podcast episode on the show Square Notes looking at Thomas Aquinas's poetry...too often he's only known by his Summas as though that's his only writing style
00:42:46 Jamie Hickman: hat tip to Fr. Innocent Smith, OP, for his contribution
00:43:11 Paisios: Next book/class should be Hymns on Paradise
00:44:14 Anthony: Reacted to Great podcast episod... with "❤️"
00:44:52 Paisios: yes
00:45:04 Zack Morgan: I feel like the over-scrupulous approach we are discussing works more towards an apologetic end than anything else.  We find it almost too easy to read the Gosepls and accept them in contrast to a world that wants to reject them, so we easily fall into the temptation to over-explain that which we have come to blieve by a gift of faith that is in contrast very simple.
00:50:04 Kate : Perhaps it is a lack of faith and trust in the grace of God and the workings of the Holy Spirit in the depths of the soul.
00:52:37 Jamie Hickman: In one of St Louis de Montfort's books on the Holy Rosary, he recounts that Our Lady apppeared to Saint Dominic and told him to preach a simple homily rather than the one he had prepared, which was super eloquent, because in his humility he would convert the souls in the church even though the academics wouldn't be impressed...apparently Our Lady told him to preach the same simple version repeatedly, which led many academics present to think less of him...I might have confused which Dominican, but I think it was Dominic and definitely it was a saint
00:52:40 Sr. Charista Maria: My experience in reading the desert Fathers has been that the purpose and heart of it all is an encouragement to strive to "become fire!"
00:56:53 lauren: Reacted to "My experience in rea…" with ❤️
01:00:12 Elizabeth Richards: Reacted to "My experience in rea..." with ❤️
01:06:37 David: "Virtue seen and lived inspires and virtue explained often makes others weary " was a saying of my grandfather. People were attracted to Christianity by seeing love among the followers not convincing arguments. My own path from being young and not sure of religion was seeing Christ along side me in my grandparents and parents living their faith in love and sacrifice.
01:11:20 Ben: I've thought of that...
01:12:18 Catherine Opie: ❤️🙏🏻
01:12:21 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
01:12:23 Jamie Hickman: thank you, Father!
01:12:23 Diana Sciuto: Thank you
01:12:25 Jeffrey Ott: Thank you Father!
01:12:26 David: Thank you father !
01:12:31 Catherine Opie: Deo Gratias
 

The Evergetinos: Book Two - XXIX, Part IV

PLEASE NOTE THAT WE ENCOUNTERED TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES WITH THE AUDIO IN THE RECORDING OF THIS EPISODE. AS A RESULT, IT DOES SOUND GLITCHY. WE APOLOGIZE.
What is unique and distinctive about the Christian identity, perception of reality, and our experience of what it is to be a human being? How do we experience human sexuality and understand how it is shaped by the grace of God or how it can be distorted by sin or demonic provocation? 
If we are honest, we would have to say that it is the popular culture, modern psychology, and politics that shape our understanding of these things rather than an encounter with the living God. It is Christ who reveals to us what it is to be a human being made in the image and  likeness of God. Beyond this, it is the Grace that comes to us through baptism, the Eucharist, and the gift of the Holy Spirit that shapes are perception of reality most fully. The ascetic life, driven by our desire for God, seeks to remove the impediments to our understanding what it is to be a human being and “fully alive.” We are not simply seeking psychological peace of mind or self understanding. Rather, we are seeking to understand the mystery of our existence and our dignity and destiny in Christ. 
These realities should sharpen and intensify our sensibilities and how we engage in our day-to-day life and relationships. The writings and actions of the desert fathers may seem distorted, masochistic or misogynistic.  Yet, upon deeper reflection we discover they had a fuller experience and understanding of life. One Saint said: “HE who ceases to pray is no longer a human being.” In other words, when we turn away from God, we lose sight of ourselves and the truth. Our focus and our vision is turned downward, like animals, only seeing what is before us and what can be consumed or used to satisfy our own desires. The life and the writings of the fathers cry out to us saying: “See your dignity, O man. See your glory in Christ your Redeemer and embrace your true identity in Him.”
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:11:32 Bob Čihák, AZ: P 220, paragraph starting "After these words...."
00:27:32 Sr. Charista Maria: So true Fr. Thank you for your vulnerable sharing regarding social media even if it's ministry; how important it is to be ever vigilant and conscienceous
00:36:27 Anthony: There are some special considerations regarding Arsenius. He fled imperial Rome to enter the Desert. And, he might have in mind the role women played in puffing up Arius.
00:44:39 Julie: This can be both ways.
00:44:55 Julie: For a women
00:49:09 Maureen Cunningham: Was this because it  is the early church. And it would have never lasted all these years.
00:49:18 Maureen Cunningham: Had they compromised
00:52:46 Kate : I don’t know if this is the proper use of the word “gluttony”, but curiosity seems to lead to a certain kind of gluttony for information.
00:53:22 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "I don’t know if this..." with 👍🏼
00:55:43 Forrest Cavalier: Fr. de Souza in his March 29 2025 column warns against the 3 "digital P's" online that often lead young men  away from Jesus: Porn, Pious conflict, Politics. Most are aware of the danger of the first, not the other two.
01:06:10 Sr. Charista Maria: It is interesting how some Bible passages, such as Isaiah
10:66, can seem so free in sharing images of bonding between Mother and Child "Oh that you may suck fully... nurse at her breasts", or even espousal union with God, such as Song of Songs, where there is such an underlying purity, which can be so beautiful and meaningful; but still how cautious one must be as spoken of in these writings.
01:10:37 Sr. Charista Maria: Isaiah 66:10 (oops)
01:11:35 Una: Sorry if this is a stupid question, but how does same sex attraction figure with these young boys?
01:12:43 Mary Clare Wax: Reacted to "Isaiah 66:10 (oops)" with 👍
01:12:56 Mary Clare Wax: Reacted to "It is interesting ho..." with ❤️
01:13:06 Mary Clare Wax: Reacted to "Sorry if this is a s..." with 👍
01:14:28 Sr. Charista Maria: Reacted to "Sorry if this is a s..." with 👍
01:17:21 Joseph Muir: The editors note, that immediately follows the last reading, from Ephrem, addresses some of the cultural contexts
01:17:27 Rebecca Thérèse: I heard an expert say that homosexuality used to be something people did now it's something they are which makes it seem immutable.
01:17:28 Sr. Charista Maria: yes, there can be a danger with an emotional bond between a mentor and other.
01:17:49 Sr. Charista Maria: I've heard it said our bonding area is near the genital area.
01:20:11 Mary Clare Wax: The evil one is quite an expert in drawing spiritual friendships into something other.
01:20:52 Sr. Charista Maria: I already posted
01:25:24 Anthony: The Church has been continually berated for its conduct in regard to so many different groups - which is exaggerated  - and that hammers at the resolve to BE Christian.
01:26:33 Una: Thanks for spelling this subject out in detail. I know we'll probably be revisiting it as we go along.
01:27:19 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You  ! Blessing
01:27:35 Sr. Charista Maria: Fr. Charbel, thank you for your classes. They are a wealth of blessings in delving more deeply into the early Church desert Fathers.
01:27:44 Mary Clare Wax: Reacted to "Fr. Charbel, thank y..." with 👍
01:28:14 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
01:28:16 ANDREW ADAMS: Thanks be to God! Thank you, Father!
01:28:27 Troy Amaro: Thank You Father.
01:28:42 Sheila Applegate: Thanks Father!

The Ascetical Homilies of St. Isaac the Syrian - Homily I, Part IV

Again, already in these first paragraphs of Homily One what comes forward most powerfully in Saint Isaac‘s writing is that the ascetic life is driven by love and desire for God. More accurately, one might say that it is the soul’s response to God‘s revelation of His love, mercy and compassion to us in His only begotten Son. 
Therefore, Isaac can speak of things such as shame not in the sense of diminishing an individual’s self-identity but rather as a veil protecting the mind and the heart for Christ alone. As one purifies the heart one begins to see with a greater clarity those things that can diminish one’s capacity to love and to see that which is good in God and others. Thus, while shame mortifies us it also protects us from being led indiscriminately by our thoughts and desires. 
One of the blessings that God has given to us in order to purify the heart is the scriptures. We are exhorted to have a fervent love of instruction; to fill the mind and the heart with the words and deeds of Christ. In doing so we create a new habit of mind that directs the soul toward God in such a way that we put behind us and even forget everything that is a distraction from this greater reality. We are surrounded by the noise of the world and in kind of thoughtless fashion we allow ourselves to be led away from what endures unto eternity or what is uplifting. However, when the mind is captivated by the divine word, it can be filled with such wonder that it becomes unaware of even thoughts that are associated with our basic human needs - when our last meal was or how the night has passed away so quickly.
The ascetic life, therefore, is not about self perfection or endurance. Rather, it is a recognition of our identity in Christ. We are made in the image and likeness of God and by his grace and his redemptive love we are being drawn into the very life of the Holy Trinity. Isaac’s homilies are an invitation to enter into the wondrous depths of God’s love.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:14:37 Bob Čihák, AZ: P. 115 paragraph 15 from start of homily
00:28:16 Jamie Hickman: Sorry, I had trouble with the keyboard...regarding the last paragraph that begins "Not he is chaste who...": just wanted to say that the saint we are reading would be guarding his own thoguhts, but I wonder: can we say confidently that he doesn't judge another? Instead, can we assume he regrets that another has fallen prey to evil one by not preserving his purity in thought, word, or action? My purpose: guarding our purity seems to include guarding us from judging others...something I struggle with for sure, shamefully!
00:30:53 Jamie Hickman: Thank you, Father 🤝
00:32:39 Anthony: Father, how does this differ from "quietism?"
00:39:34 Jessica Imanaka: Would Saint Isaac have memorized most of scripture? I wonder if such memorization would also facilitate driving out worldly memories.
00:43:12 Christian Corulli: How can one avoid being like the older brother of the prodigal son parable in all this? It is so easy to work and focus on ourselves and our own perfection in the spiritual life... there seems to be a fine line where we cross over into fixation on ourselves in the spiritual life.
00:48:52 Christian Corulli: Thanks 🙏
00:48:55 Alex Underwood: It is so profound that God offers us this practice of asceticism and hesychasm… these homilies are almost like an owner’s manual, that sadly not many people have. Yet it seems as if Isaac is saying that really everything he has found and has been shown about this practice can be deduced from the scriptures, if only one would look.
00:52:35 Ryan Ngeve: Father, if we memorize the scriptures as St. Isaac describes, how different are we from the Pharisees and where does the grace of God come to play in understanding and living the scripture?
00:53:46 Anthony: The new Syriac Divine Office book ("Book of Before and After") arranged by Fr Andrew Younan is pretty nice, especially while reading St Isaac the Syrian.
00:54:02 Alex Underwood: Reacted to "The new Syriac Divin..." with 👍
00:55:28 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "The new Syriac Divin..." with 👍
00:56:01 Jamie Hickman: Reacted to "The new Syriac Div..." with 🙏
00:57:16 Catherine Opie: I joined a class to study the Pentateuch and was surprised to find out that even though I had read the Bible several times I had never fully understood underlying meanings, patterns of language and numbers and foreshadowing within the scriptures in quite the same way it has opened up to me through doing this
00:58:02 Catherine Opie: Sorry pressed enter without thinking
01:00:14 Myles Davidson: Fr. Agapetos YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@FatherAgapetos
01:00:24 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "Fr. Agapetos YouTube..." with 🙏🏻
01:00:51 Lori Hatala: Reacted to "Fr. Agapetos YouTube..." with 🙏🏻
01:01:18 Jonathan Wiseman: Reacted to "Fr. Agapetos YouTube..." with 🙏🏻
01:09:57 Julie: Reacted to "Fr. Agapetos YouTube…" with 🙏
01:10:15 Alex Underwood: “To suffice the mind firmly to pinion it’s thoughts to a single thought of wonder”
01:10:31 Julie: Reacted to "The new Syriac Divin…" with 🙏
01:10:44 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "“To suffice the mind..." with 🔥
01:12:02 Jamie Hickman: Reacted to "“To suffice the m..." with 👁️
01:12:23 Jessica Imanaka: Reacted to "“To suffice the mind..." with ❤️
01:12:24 Christian Corulli: Reacted to “To suffice the mind... with "🔥"
01:12:36 Jamie Hickman: thank you as always, Father
01:12:40 Alex Underwood: Excellent insight, thank you
01:12:57 cameron: Thank you Fr
01:13:37 Julie: God bless you are in my prayers 🙏🏻
01:13:38 Ben: Thank you very much, Father! God & Mary keep you.
01:13:41 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
01:13:47 Elizabeth Richards: Amen 🙏🏼
01:13:51 Jamie Hickman: wow!
01:13:52 Jeffrey Ott: Thank you Father!
01:13:57 Rachel: Thanks be to God!
01:14:06 Rachel: Thank you
01:14:25 David: Thank you Father!
01:14:36 paul g.: God Bless Father
01:14:37 Catherine Opie: Thank you

The Evergetinos: Book Two - XXIX, Part III

“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.“  As we read through the stories of the desert fathers and the trials and temptations they experienced in relation to their passions, we began to see with greater clarity how we must cling to God and rely on His grace. No matter how disciplined or virtuous an individual may be the wiles of the devil are always going to be relentless and fierce. If the Evil One can appear as an “angel of light”, then he most assuredly can present a thought to the mind that leads one to assent to sin or present himself as the very object of temptation. In the stories of the fathers tonight, the object of temptation was women or thoughts about them that arise through direct contact, conversation or imagination. 
It would be very easy for us and it is often a danger when the Fathers are read out of context to have our thoughts devolve into a negative anthropology - a negative image of what it is to be a human being as well as a sexual being. In hearing some of the stories, one might think that the monks simply sought to destroy this part of themselves or to bury it whether consciously or unconsciously. Perhaps it was simply a manifestation of masochistic repression.
Thus, we must read these stories in a discerning fashion. Yet, even more so, we must read them in context; not only in the context of the larger corpus of the writings we are considering, but in the context of our spiritual lives. For it is only within our own hearts that we begin to understand the nature of human desire as part of our identity and experience of the world. It is also only within our hearts that we understand that desire gives us the capacity to love and give ourselves in love. The ascetic life must reveal that we understand that we are created in the image and likeness of God and that with which He has endowed us is good. It only becomes destructive when it is distorted by sin and selfishness. We must also understand that these desires are very powerful – capable of leading us to great good or, outside of the grace of God, to become something that brings us unending grief.
We must read the Fathers writings, then, within the context of interiorizing the worldview rooted in faith that they put forward. Do we desire what they desired? Are longing for God and the desire to please him the reality that drives us forward in our day-to-day lives? Do we understand that it is only by living in the grace of God, living in Christ, that we become fully human?
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Text of chat during the group:
00:19:21 Bob Čihák, AZ: P. 221 # D
00:28:08 Rebecca Thérèse: Do you think that lack of asceticism is a cause of clergy or monks perpetrating abuse or could it  an indicator that perhaps abusers have entered these vocations/occupations with nefarious motives hence they would not be committed to the more challenging aspects of these ways of life?
01:01:49 Forrest Cavalier: Father, I expected to see the mention that desire for sexual relations outside of matrimony is irrational selfishness (especially victimizing women and offspring), and use the contemplation of that realization to dissuade the passions. But I haven’t noticed that in any of these stories so far, which combat the temptation with physical activity (fasting, fleeing, burning) only. Am I missing it? It seems the intellect is ignored.
01:06:47 Mary Clare Wax: The tender love of a perfect Mother, the Mother of God, and consecrating ourselves to her Immaculate Heart is very powerful in this day and age. When we do this, it is like riding the waves of grace rather than being tumbled underneath them.
01:07:11 Sr. Charista Maria: Reacted to "The tender love of a..." with 👍
01:09:09 Sr. Charista Maria: It seems that the more one grows in purity of heart and human/spiritual integration, the less one has such intense struggle or temptation when with a beautiful young woman or a young boy. I believe Pope St. John Paul II's Theology of the Body is a great aid to this. And, yes, I believe our Holy Mother and the Rosary are a GREAT aid!
01:09:47 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "The tender love of a..." with ❤️
01:13:37 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "It seems that the mo..." with 🙏🏼
01:15:03 Adam Paige: Reacted to "It seems that the mo..." with 📿
01:15:22 Adam Paige: Reacted to "The tender love of a..." with 🧕
01:15:42 Adam Paige: Reacted to "Father, I expected t..." with 🧠
01:15:44 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "It seems that the mo..." with 🙏🏻
01:20:34 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You Blessing
01:21:08 Mary Clare Wax: Reacted to "It seems that the mo..." with ❤️
01:21:11 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
01:21:12 Catherine Opie: Thank you Fr.
 

The Ascetical Homilies of St. Isaac the Syrian - Homily I, Part III

Holy inebriation! We are to become drunk with faith.  For those inebriated with alcohol there is often a loss of the capacity to think about things or see things clearly. For those inebriated with faith, there is a loss of sight of the things of this world and attraction to them because one’s gaze is fixed upon the Beloved. Love alone draws the soul forward. Indeed, it is by the grace of God that we make that initial turn towards Him and so begin to see with a greater clarity the inconstancy that sin brings into our life and the healing, the hope, and the joy that faith alone provides.  
Our senses and our natural faculties that we use constantly to perceive the world around us often become a source of distortion because of the weakening of our will and the darkening of our intellect. And even if these faculties should function perfectly, they still are incapable of comprehending God as he is in himself.  
When faith begins to grow, we begin to see the presence of God in all things and his Providence acting on our behalf. Love, seeks union and communion and perfect Love is present in our lives in a transformative fashion. We need not fear affliction, poverty, or the hatred of others knowing that we are loved with a perfect love. We are never in isolation when we are in Christ through faith and the grace that he provides us. The inconstancy of sin is replaced with the stability and fearlessness of faith. The world can take everything from us, including our honor, and yet we find no loss in it. With St Paul we count all things as refuse in comparison to knowing Jesus Christ and him crucified. Isaac wants a to understand the need to be fully immersed in this love, to be inebriated by it and permeated by it so that it shapes our entire existence.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:02:32 Paisios: Baptismal. One moment I'll get headphones.
00:09:33 Una: I see we have a dog and cat in attendance tonight
00:09:45 Una: Very Franciscan
00:09:59 Una: Are they keen on Isaac?
00:14:26 Bob Čihák, AZ: P. 114, # 7
00:16:53 Paisios: Reacted to "Are they keen on I..." with ❤️
00:22:00 Eric Jobe: There is an emphasis here on “perception” (rgeshta), which he repeats, a perception of the power of faith versus the perception of visible matter. I think this keys into the notion of being drunk. When we are drunk, we lose perception. If we are drunk with faith, we lose perception of worldly things and become perceptive to spiritual things.
00:22:07 Una: How does this paragraph fit with the essence/energy ?
00:23:10 Una: Thank you
00:23:40 Jamie: Reacted to "There is an emphas..." with 👍
00:23:42 Lee Graham: Reacted to "There is an emphasis…" with ❤️
00:27:50 Alex Underwood: Reacted to "There is an emphasis..." with 👍
00:36:46 Bob Čihák, AZ: Just over the last few days, my nous perceived than I am a reflection of God in that He created me in His “image and likeness.” Other people are also blessed in this way. I’m seeing Christ more easily in others.
00:37:18 Rachel L.: Is it wrong then,to want to be comfortable around people,  want friends, and have relationships with others outside of my family?
00:37:50 Anthony: Our parish priest said something very important: it is very difficult to commit a mortal sin. This counters a tendency to fear we will lose God, that is kind of common among "traditional" ways of thinking.
00:37:58 Rachel L.: I'm confused about the practical application of this
00:42:35 Eric Jobe: St. Isaac makes a contrast between fear of death and fear of God (who destroys death by death). It seems we are controlled by one or the other, as if some type of fear is necessary. Why? Perhaps because we lack perfect love that “casts out all fear”. I believe it is something that Diadochos of Photiki talks about in Philokalia Vol. 1.
00:42:44 Joshua Sander: I've been reading commentary on the book of Job, and it seems to correspond well to this paragraph, especially demanding investigation due to a lack of faith, and then moving from that to a faith that is born of grace and viewing God relationally rather than legalistically. Do Isaac or any of the other Fathers view Job's journey in this way?
00:45:14 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "There is an emphasis..." with ❤️
00:45:45 Kate : Is this trust in the providence of God something that we bring about in ourselves, or is it a grace that we must pray and beg God to give to us?
00:56:36 Art: This paragraph calls to mind St John of the Cross “…if the desire of the will be dispersed among other things than virtue, it must be weaker as regards virtue.  And thus the soul whose will is set upon various trifles is like water…never rises.”   Ascent of Mt Carmel.
00:59:50 Paisios: "Silence is the womb of wisdom"
01:00:07 Paisios: I don't
01:11:13 Kathleen: Can’t find raise hand. But can you elaborate more on #13?  Examples? Perhaps next week if no time.
01:14:00 Una: Look under "reactions" on the tool bar on the bottom. It's an icon of a heart
01:14:20 Una: Right beside "chat"
01:15:00 Anthony: Sorry I can't find the raise hand button.  I sense now the same sense of rage and vengeance as in 2001
01:17:19 Myles Davidson: Replying to "Can’t find raise han..."
Maybe repost your question so Fr. sees it
01:19:03 Paisios: In my rage, whose heart will I change?
01:19:25 Jessica Imanaka: Reacted to "In my rage, whose he..." with 👍
01:19:43 Carol Roper: Reacted to "In my rage, whose he…" with 👍
01:20:04 Edward Kleinguetl: “God’s love is powerful enough to heal everything, but you must find the courage to decide to pass through the ‘narrow gate’ of forgiveness. This choice is more demanding than the spontaneous reaction of resentment and accusation, but it is a decision in favor of true life.” (Fr. Jacques Philippe)
01:20:28 Elizabeth Richards: Reacted to "“God’s love is power..." with ❤️
01:20:32 Fr. Miron Kerul-Kmec Jr.: Reacted to "“God’s love is power..." with ❤️
01:20:54 Mary Clare Wax: I think of the movie, "The Mission," where some of the priests decided to fight back, and in the end, they were all killed. It was a very sad thing to see. I so hoped they would change their minds and pray until the end like the Superior of the Jesuits did.
01:23:28 Edward Kleinguetl: Reacted to "I think of the movie..." with ❤️
01:23:52 Edward Kleinguetl: Reacted to "In my rage, whose he..." with 👍
01:25:42 Catherine Opie: Since I have become Catholic and humbled myself before God the anxiety and restlessness I always felt has disappeared. Now I find I am  even more humbled by becoming an outsider in my family and with old friends because of this choice. I feel grief but not anxiety. Because
01:25:58 Gina Marie: Reacted to "“God’s love is power..." with ❤️
01:26:24 Tracey Fredman: Reacted to "Since I have become ..." with ❤️
01:27:04 ANDREW ADAMS: Thanks be to God! Thank you, Father!
01:27:07 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
01:27:13 Gina Marie: Thank you, Father!
01:27:17 Jeffrey Ott: Thank you!
01:27:20 Joe: Thank you Fr. Charbel
01:27:23 paul g.: Excellent tonite
01:27:25 David: Thank you Father. May you be blessed with good health
01:27:50 Catherine Opie: Thank you Fr.
01:28:25 David: Meeting Planner – Find best time across Time Zones

The Evergetinos: Book Two - XXIX, Part II

Fear and hope! These are the two realities that are put before us by the writings of the fathers on the struggle with lust and fornication. They are hard stories to listen to for in them we begin to see the poverty of man and what we are capable of doing not only in our lesser moments, but when we turn away from God in the slightest fashion. Whatever one’s religious identity might be or how vigorously one has embraced the ascetic life, what brings an individual to the depths of sin is hubris; trusting in our own understanding or following our own desires in such a way that we put ourselves in God to the test. 
Thus, the stories should give rise to fear within our hearts in order that we might place our trust only in God and cling to him through constant prayer. However, we are also give that which provides hope of salvation through the very same stories. God does not abandon us even when we have turned away from him. He will use every means possible (other people or affliction) to draw us back to himself. He will turn the world upside down if it gives rise to a spirit of repentance within our hearts. It is this repentance that draws us out of the mire. 
The fathers are quick to instruct us that we are not to abhor human sexuality or members of the opposite sex. However, we must respect the power of natural desire, especially when it is paired with concupiscence. The darkness brought to our minds because of our sin often leads us to objectify the other; to lose sight of their dignity and to focus simply on ourselves and the satisfying of our needs. The fathers would have us understand the great power of the demons. We are told in one story this evening where all of the forest in the place were consumed by the flame that came from the serpent being cast out.  We must understand, then, that we are not simply struggling with our natural defects and flaws but rather with principalities and powers. 
Sin is a fearful thing and true faith allows us to see its ugliness and destructiveness. This same faith allows us to see the only source of our true hope – Christ. With humility let us cry out to him that he might show us his abundant mercy.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:38:06 Forrest Cavalier: Hard topic1
00:38:59 Forrest Cavalier: I've heard bits and pieces of what you have said, from different people, who were not prelates. The 1970's approach of trying a cure was disastrous.
00:54:15 Forrest Cavalier: Teach us to strive from the pulpit. Hebrews 12:9-12 Besides this, we have had our earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them. Should we not [then] submit all the more to the Father of spirits and live? They disciplined us for a short time as seemed right to them, but he does so for our benefit, in order that we may share his holiness. At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it.e
00:59:41 Forrest Cavalier: A fire poker
01:00:43 Maureen Cunningham: If he would have fell and a chid would came then he could not be a church Father .  What would happen
01:04:32 Anthony: I worked for a firm that worked in divorces and in child protection....even in the Bible Belt, divorce is a SERIOUS problem. We don't have much understanding beyond flesh, and that is reinforced by ads and movies and cartoons and songs.
01:08:49 Maureen Cunningham: Always a Blessing  Thank You
01:09:36 ANDREW ADAMS: Thanks be to God! Thank you, Father!
01:09:36 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
01:09:51 Troy Amaro: Thank You Father.
01:12:09 Maureen Cunningham: Yay for you Father ,  and for all those who listen
01:13:06 Arthur Danzi: Thank you, father

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

How we begin something often determines how it will develop in later stages and the fruit that it will bear. Thus, Saint Isaac tells us, that the beginning of the path of life is our immersion in the word of God and to live in poverty. This is strikingly unlike how other ascetic/mystical writers begin speaking about the discipline of virtue. Isaac immediately encourages us to take the focus off of ourselves, of our own judgment of the world as well as to remove our attachment to the things of this world. Our identity is rooted in God. We have been made in his image and likeness and we only find the fulfillment of love and life for which our hearts long in him. To exercise the mind in the words of God is not like reading a book on history. It is opening the heart to receive the fullness of what God has revealed to us and when we approach this word in faith and silence, it allows God to speak a word that is equal to himself. It allows that Divine word to be born in our hearts. This encounter is what transforms us and fills the heart with desire for what we are promised in Christ; that is, theosis, deification, being made one is with God by grace. The more this desire grows within us the less we are attached to the things of this world.  We seek to simplify our lives.  To become poor in the things of this world allows us to become rich in that which endures. Free from the anxiety that our attachment to the things of this world brings we are able to immerse ourselves in the eternal word of God. Lacking this, Isaac tells us, no one can draw close to God. The more occupied we are with the things of the world the more susceptible we become to the passions. When we surround ourselves with the noise of the world all of the senses are flooded and we are in a constant state of receptivity. Thus, we become less receptive to the one thing necessary and that is sanctifying. What we find in Isaac then and what makes his writing so captivating is his understanding that love is the most powerful source of motivation and transformation. It is Christ who raises us up out of the poverty of our sin and when we have Him, as St paul reminds us, everything else appears to be mere refuse.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:07:20 Una: Where is the hand button?
00:07:58 Una: Mine is a heart icon
00:10:21 Una: I feel like Isaac the way I felt when I first discovered the Bible. Total immersion
00:11:48 Una: Replying to "I feel like Isaac ..."
I have not been able to stop listening to the audiobook
00:11:53 Bob Čihák, AZ: P. 113, # 4
00:11:55 Daniel Allen: i am but my camera and mic aren't working
00:11:57 Daniel Allen: yes
00:11:59 Daniel Allen: confirmed
00:12:13 Daniel Allen: on a laptop instead of ipad tonight and i can't seem to figure out zoom on this
00:12:34 Daniel Allen: not sure if you can see my typing
00:13:07 Bob Čihák, AZ: P. 113, # 4
00:16:56 Bob Čihák, AZ: P. 113, # 4
00:29:27 Kathleen: Rationale thought
00:34:38 Lee Graham: No
00:46:20 Maureen Cunningham: I find everyone seems so Angry these days.
00:46:40 Maureen Cunningham: Silence is the only way
00:51:16 Daniel Allen: It's hard to leave Christ for Christ, to see it as such. As a parent, sometimes the last thing you want is a kid asking you a question, or really anyone needing you. And inevitably when you try to find time to pray, that's when you're needed without fail. The natural reaction, especially after awhile, can be frustration. So to "leave Christ for Christ" is a challenging thing to actually do.
00:54:20 Joshua Sander: Forgive my question for going back a paragraph in the text, but when Isaac speaks of "the word of God," is he simply speaking of the formal canon of Scripture, or is he extending this to the holy writings of the Fathers as well?
00:56:36 Catherine Opie: Reacted to "It's hard to leave C..." with ❤️
01:00:14 Anthony: If St Neri is an example, this becoming prayer comes gradually, organically. It isn't grasped at with ambition.
01:00:41 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "If St Neri is an exa..." with 👍🏼
01:07:09 Nick Bodmer: We are amusing ourselves to death
01:08:16 The Recovery Community Hub of PBC, Inc.: At our wedding our priest had this line that stuck with me, that every single struggle in marriage will ultimately lead to the cultivation of a virtue that each of the spouses needs to attain heaven
01:08:36 Alex Underwood: It seems like Isaac’s concept of “separation” here could be a direct lesson from and emulation of Jesus when he would remove himself into the wilderness or desert to pray and commune with the Father?
01:18:36 Kevin Burke: Thank You Father, this is awesome !
01:18:38 Elizabeth Richards: Thank you Father!
01:18:41 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You
01:18:44 santiagobua: Thank you Father!!
01:18:46 Nypaver Clan: Sorry to disagree with Lord Byron…If I thought “marriage was hell” I wouldn’t have stuck with it for 41 years.   🥰
01:18:47 Una: That's very tempting to do Isaac more than once a week
01:18:52 Francisco Ingham: Thank you father!
01:18:52 Una: What about Friday?
01:18:53 Daniel Allen: Thank you Father!
01:19:32 ANDREW ADAMS: Thanks be to God! Thank you, Father!
01:19:35 Joe Mugo: Thank you Father.
01:19:37 Bob Čihák, AZ: Bless you, Father!
01:19:37 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
01:19:56 Catherine Opie: That sounds wonderful
01:20:01 Elizabeth Richards: Lenten group sounds good!!
01:20:03 Anthony: Ok sounds good.
01:20:04 Maureen Cunningham: Ok Saturday is wonderful
01:20:07 ANDREW ADAMS: That sounds great!
01:20:09 Kevin Burke: Reacted to "Ok sounds good." with 👌
01:20:14 Dave Warner | AL: Thank you Father! Would like to participate in a Lenten group.
01:20:17 Joe Mugo: Reacted to "Ok sounds good." with 👌
01:20:17 Catherine Opie: 🙏🏻

The Evergetinos: Book Two - XXIX, Part I

As we are drawn more deeply into the spiritual warfare of the Desert fathers and learn from their stories of how the demons will provoke a soul and lure it into sin, we begin to see how important it is to put on the mind of Christ; that is, to embrace fully the mindset of the person of faith and the life that we are meant to embody. One of the beautiful aspects of the Evergetinos is that it does not simply present us with teachings but also with the concrete struggle of the fathers and the nature and subtlely of demonic provocation. 
We begin to understand that there is no room for pride in the spiritual life. In particular with the passion of fornication, it is the coward who is the victor; that is, he who flees. Our strength is found only in the Lord and clinging to him. We must have no illusion about the strength of our virtue, no matter how long we have engaged in the spiritual life or how virtuous we may seem to be. “Pride rideth before the fall”. 
We also see in these stories how the demons sing out to the soul in order to present the temptation as the most attractive and beautiful of things. They can draw even the most seasoned of ascetics into a kind of crazed frenzy or mania. Therefore, we are taught that we must turn immediately to the Lord, raising our hands to the heavens and falling on our knees, begging for his protection. 
The demons will show no mercy. In fact, their goal is not simply to draw an individual into sin, but also to draw them into despair where repentance is stymied. After a fall, they become the soul’s accuser and will even use scripture to mock her in such a way as to drive her into greater darkness. Their desire is to make us lose confidence in the mercy and compassion of God.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:05:21 Bob Cihak: P. 212 # 8
00:13:45 Bob Cihak: P. 212 # 8
00:20:40 Wayne: What page?
00:20:53 Nypaver Clan: 213
00:21:00 Nypaver Clan: top
00:21:05 Wayne: thanks
00:28:27 Fr Marty, AZ 480-292-3381: It's interesting to consider that we can till the soil for this temptation by giving into other passions. Just reminds me to be vigilant, especially in how I consider others. And in fleeing too. Valuable insight to help me realize that I'm not as blindsided as I thought but I'd been opening doors to weaken me in temptation.
00:32:14 Anthony: Sometimes it takes getting sick and tired of the situation to develop a contempt for it.
00:35:04 Fr Marty, AZ 480-292-3381: Did you say the mindset is called phronema?
00:35:48 Kate : The mindset you describe is like nothing I have ever heard or experienced being a Latin Rite Catholic.
00:39:49 Anthony: The West co.es by it honestly...having to know by size, weight a day number, which medieval texts extrapolate I think from Sirach.  I prefer St Ephrem's poem on the Hidden Pearl taken as a unity.
00:40:12 Anthony: Comes
00:42:19 Nina and Sparky: Phil 2:2 πληρώσατέ μου τὴν χαρὰν ἵνα τὸ αὐτὸ φρονῆτε     "fill up my cup of happiness by thinking with the same mind"  See the last greek word phronete. In modern writing, I have heard the phrase "according to the mind of the church"
00:42:25 Myles Davidson: The word “re-enchantment” is being used more amongst some Catholic circles. The need to return to a more poetic pre-Cartesian worldview
00:44:00 Anthony: Reacted to The word “re-enchant... with "👍"
00:44:11 Nina and Sparky: Sorry, it is me, Forrest Cavalier.
00:51:36 Myles Davidson: The Jesus Prayer is the fastest way to shake off unwanted thoughts, in my experience.
01:04:33 Anthony: But if we can trust what demons say (something I really don't like) their mockery gave a clue of the problem....Exaltation by arrogance.  So, do the opposite.
01:08:20 Fr Marty, AZ 480-292-3381: This seems to reveal that the devil's plan is more than just sin, from which we can again stand and receive forgiveness, but the devil, through sin stirred by pride, attempts  to poison our mind into despair or to forget God and his love for us and our vocation.
01:09:56 Anthony: The devil made himself a bastard in relation to the Creator and wants to bastardize and neuter us.
01:14:26 ANDREW ADAMS: Thanks be to God! Thank you, Father!
01:14:28 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
01:14:34 Bob Cihak: Bless you, Father.
01:14:55 Bob Cihak: I forgive you.

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

It bears saying that we find ourselves upon a privileged path as we begin this new journey with Saint Isaac the Syrian. To have access to his writings and access to such a translation in the West is a recent phenomenon and one not to be taken lightly. Further it is often said that Isaac is the greatest of the Desert Fathers in that through his writings one can move from being a novice in the spiritual life to the heights of contemplation.
Immediately, one discovers that Isaac is unique and distinctive in his manner of approaching the spiritual life. He appeals to our capacity in faith to comprehend divine love and what has been revealed to us through Christ. It is what we comprehend in faith that fills the heart with wonder; that we are embraced by a love that never ends and that only seeks to raise us up out of the darkness of sin to the fullness of light. Isaac understands that, made in the image and likeness of God, we are going to be driven by desire; that is, a sense of lack and incompleteness. God has made us for himself and we only find our identity and the fullness for which we long in him.
Our struggle is our attachment to the things of this world, including our own ego – the self. There are so many things that vie for our attention that the “one thing necessary” is often pushed out to the margins of our life or out of mind altogether. The love out of which we have been created and the lavish love through which we have been redeemed is often supplanted by that which eventually turns to dust.
Our awareness of this should produce within us a fear that creates a movement toward God. Repentance is simply or acting on that awareness; turning away from our sin and our attachment to the things of this world and opening ourselves up to the healing grace and mercy of God. It is for this reason that Isaac does not focus on the development of virtue and the overcoming of vice as others do. For ultimately, we are not seeking the perfection of natural virtue or even to exceed what we understand as the heights of virtue. Rather, we are to understand the ascetic life is radically tied to being “in Christ”. In other words, the radical transformation that takes place through the grace that we receive through baptism, the Eucharist, and through the gift of the Holy Spirit leads to our participation in the life of the Trinity. Deification is what has been promised to those of faith. It is divine humility, divine love, divine compassion, and divine vulnerability that we are to embody. This takes place not through raw grit but rather through abandonment to Christ in a spirit of humility. As we let go of the illusion of self identity, independent of Christ, the true self begins to emerge. Thus if we take anything away from this evening’s discussion and reflection it should be the sense of wonder and desire that Isaac seeks to cultivate within the human heart. Love alone endures and the desire it produces inflames the heart to pursue the Beloved and the Life of the Kingdom.
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Text of chat during the group: 
00:15:34 Bob Cihak: Father's Substack comments are another blessing for me. The come by email to me, several times daily and are beautifully succinct, most of the time.
00:17:15 Sr. Mary Clare: Thank you, Father!
00:36:18 Ren Witter: Sr. Barbara - would you mind sending your question to the whole group in the chat so that the people reading/listening to the podcast know what you asked? (I think your question must have been sent directly to Fr. Charbel).
00:36:30 mflory: The whole first paragraph is a chain of practices/virtues: reflection on the “restitution” (providence/the second coming) leads to withdrawal from the world which leads to control of thoughts which leads to faith which leads to fear of God which leads to virtue.
00:36:33 Jamie: Reacted to "Sr. Barbara - woul..." with 👍
00:37:26 mflory: Mark
00:38:37 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: Sentence two begins with "It"  - referring to fear of the Lord or to faith?
00:38:42 Eric Jobe: Some comments:The fear of God - it strikes me like the Freudio-Lacanian notion of symbolic castration, whereby we are inscribed into the divine order of virtue.
In Syriac, St. Isaac specifically says that one “takes the opportunity to withdraw his mind from the world” This is important I think - we have an opportunity that we must deliberately take.
…00:39:21 Ren Witter: Reacted to " Sentence two begins..." with 👍🏼
00:40:19 Eric Jobe: This “reflection on the restitution to come” is more evocative in the Syriac. There is a kind of dazzling imagination - sharagragriatha. And “restitution” is the order of the age to come - tuqana. It is a positive thing to meditate on imaginatively, not the judgment to come.
00:41:15 Josh: Would it be possible to get a link to the copy of the book that is being used? I missed the email that may've said it.
00:41:47 Ren Witter: https://www.bostonmonks.com/product_info.php/products_id/635/?srsltid=AfmBOorJmXoZG7njKJoH-E9BPgTnoNHhClUY3JtkWMW_1R4AAeZ_fCRp
00:41:47 ANDREW ADAMS: Replying to "Would it be possible..."
https://www.bostonmonks.com/product_info.php/cPath/75_105/products_id/635
00:41:55 Jamie: Can we interpret fear as aligned with awe? By that I mean: fear implies awareness of unknown about the object we fear. God is the ultimate mystery...we can't know him perfectly, so the fear is a healthy appreciation for "other". It's living in the reality that God is entirely other than creation. We appreciate how utterly other God is as object, so we fear God in awe and wonder. We will never fully know God, even as we grow in intimacy with him, so we continue to fear / awe God. It's a healthy thing. Is this a workable interpretation? If this is workable, it would seem the beginning of virtue is to appreciate God as not me, akin to he must increase and I must decrease. It's a fear that leads me closer to God -- not driven away, because this Utterly Other is the object who can provide for me all my needs.
00:42:04 Niño: I think the modern day problem is that we often associate the Love for God with emotionalism or sensationalism ...but like what you said father..the discipline, the virtues are ways of showing and increasing our love for God 
00:42:05 David: Is the focus on fear of the lord similar to training wheels to focus our attention on God and push away the work of the evil thoughts often using fear. I see later writings say once you have mastered the fear then you focus on love of God and each moment and expression of love possibly leaving fear like training wheels behind?
00:42:07 Josh: Replying to "Would it be possible..."
Thank you!
00:42:15 Josh: Replying to "https://www.bostonmo..."
Thank you!
00:43:21 Eric Jobe: Replying to " Sentence two begins..."
“Fear” most likely. It’s ambiguous in Syriac, but “fear” is the grammatical topic.
00:44:16 Ren Witter: Standard procedure for questions: If you have a question you would like Fr. Charnel to respond to in the group, please type your question, and then “raise your hand.” Once Father sees the hand, and calls your name, send the message.
00:45:47 Anthony: So "restitution" is like "restoration."
00:45:54 Niño: Reacted to So "restitution" is ... with "❤️"
00:46:12 Jamie: Reacted to "Standard procedure..." with 👍
00:48:09 Anthony: A spirituality of "The Song of Songs."
00:48:34 Jamie: Reacted to "So "restitution" i..." with ✍️
00:50:34 Gina Marie: Reacted to "Standard procedure f..." with 👍
00:50:45 Rebecca Thérèse: I don't know about Syriac but in biblical Hebrew (a closely related Semitic language) "fear" as in "the fear of the Lord" can also be translated "reverence".
00:57:39 Anthony: $ for land too. 😉
00:58:08 Ryan Ngeve: Father is there a connection between Isaac’s phrase on the fear of God and proverbs 9:10?
00:59:04 David: Reacted to "Father is there a co..." with 👍
00:59:35 Nick Bodmer: People are realizing that they aren't fulfilled, so they are trying all these things to have a chance to fill the void within themselves.
01:00:22 Niño: Reacted to People are realizing... with "❤️"
01:01:48 Eric Jobe: “Contain himself” could be translated from Syriac as “recollects”, which brings up the prodigal son as well as the myriad of statements of the Fathers on the notion of recollection.
01:04:00 Eric Jobe: “Honor” is plural in the Syriac. It likely refers to many instances of others giving honor, like we may say in English: “He received many honors from the military.”
01:06:07 Jamie: In his high priestly prayer, Jesus prays that the Father would glorify him. Jesus can handle being honored, but he does NOT seek honor from men...he seeks it from his heavenly Father. If we are to imitate God in fear, healthy appreciate and awe for God as the provider of all our needs, then we should seek the glory God wishes to give us, which likely means Cross in this world and heavenly paradise in the next (because heaven we will see him face to face...the ultimate honor).
01:07:19 Catherine Eisenbrandt: Father how do you tell the difference between when you need to be obedient and accept “good” active things as service and when not to engage
01:12:13 Niño: Without Love for God, there is no real love for neighbor
Christ showed His love for us by dying on the cross to save us from sin death and hell... Therefore the Love of a neighbor also means to admonish them of obvious sin and to help them, if they are willing, to go to confession 
01:13:49 St. Stanislaus Kostka Religious Education: Next Sunday's Gospel includes being concerned more abou the splinter in the other's eye rather than the beam in our own.
01:17:04 maureencunningham: Thank  You Father Blessing
01:17:21 Jamie: Reacted to "Thank  You Father ..." with 🙏
01:17:40 Niño: Salamat Padre (Thank you Father-Filipino language)
01:18:34 Julie’s iPhone: Thank you Father You are in my prayers
01:18:53 Laura: Reacted to "Thank you Father Yo..." with 👍🏼
01:19:14 ANDREW ADAMS: Thanks be to God! Thank you, Father!
01:19:15 Dave Warner | AL: Thank you Father!
01:19:16 David: Thank you Father. God bless you and your mother!
01:19:17 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
01:19:24 Jeffrey Ott: Thank you!
01:19:25 Mari: Thank you
01:19:31 Tommie’s iPhone: Glory to Jesus Christ
01:19:32 Gina Marie: Thank you, Father!
01:19:35 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: Thank you!
01:19:45 Ben: Thank you, Father! God bless.

The Evergetinos: Book Two - XXVIII, Part VI

Once again, we are blessed by the practical counsel of the fathers in regard to the struggle with the passion of lust and fornication. What becomes evident is that the struggle is primarily with the thoughts and how we address them in our lives. The origin of such thoughts may be from ourselves and our own memories, what we experience with our senses in the present moment or from demonic provocation. Whatever their origin, our asceticism must be such that we are willing to lay all such thoughts aside in preference for remaining in stillness with our focus set upon Christ. 
It is always best not to engage the thoughts that rush upon us understanding that we will be overwhelmed, especially if their origin is from the demons. We are not to argue or wrestle with the thoughts but rather call upon the holy name of our Lord and to plead for his help and strength. 
This is the source of our healing, even in ways that we do not comprehend. The more we call upon the Lord, the deeper the healing becomes and the more free we become from our attachment to the things of this world. The Jesus Prayer in particular can be used as a gentle weapon to cut away the thoughts as they come upon us. When we are able, it is beneficial to say the prayer in an audible fashion making use of multiple senses. Having a chotki in hand as we say the Prayer and making prostrations repeatedly involves the whole self in the spiritual battle. When we humble ourselves in mind and body before God, He rushes to our aid. 
Thus, humility, vigilance and constancy of prayer must be the foundation of our ascetic practice. Furthermore, we must be simple and not count ourselves as clever in this battle. The wiles of the evil one can turn even our conversations about piety into instruments that agitate and stir up the heart. Let us examine our hearts well as we approach the Great Fast and ask the Lord to be our strength.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:11:46 Niño: Have a nice day everybody 💞 it's 830 am Feb 25 Tuesday here Philippine time
00:15:10 Bob Cihak: P. 210, # G
00:15:46 Kathleen: What is the name of teh beginner’s book?
00:16:07 Kathleen: Thank you
00:16:28 Myles Davidson: https://www.amazon.com/Beginners-Introduction-Philokalia-2016/dp/1880971798
00:16:39 Kathleen: Thank you Myles
00:17:05 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "Thank you Myles" with 🙏
00:20:50 Josh: Can anyone tell me what page we are on tonight? Thanks.
00:21:03 Bob Cihak: P. 210, # G
00:21:10 Josh: Thank you
00:28:40 Maureen Cunningham: Maybe it was to protect women. It seems that women were used like property and could be cast away and killed.
00:39:46 Myles Davidson: This advice at the end of this saying reminds me of this quote you posted today Fr.“Unceasing calling upon the name of God cures one not only of passions, but also of actions; and as a medicine affects a sick man without his comprehension, similarly the invocation of the name of God destroys passions in a manner beyond our comprehension."
00:40:25 Adam Paige: We have to choose: the news or the nous ! ;)
00:40:30 Maureen Cunningham: Beautiful movie free
00:40:48 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "We have to choose: t..." with 😊
00:40:49 Bob Cihak: When I decided, a long time ago, to let passionate thoughts just go by me, and ignore them, it lightened me a lot. I call this my toreodor defense.
00:40:49 Forrest Cavalier: Reacted to "We have to choose: t..." with 👍
00:40:55 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "Beautiful movie free" with 👍
00:43:27 Niño: Is there a prayer before and after doing a prostration? I used to do prostrations 33 times while meditating on the passion of Christ ...
00:46:08 Niño: Reacted to We have to choose: t... with "❤️"
00:47:08 Adam Paige: Reacted to "Beautiful movie free" with 🎞️
00:47:24 Niño: The power of the name of Christ is calming the storms within and without ...
00:48:13 Maureen Cunningham: What is the nous
00:48:32 Nypaver Clan: Replying to "What is the nous"
The eye of the soul
00:48:39 sr charista: As well, regarding main stream news it is said that 6 people own all the stations, it is the deceptive mockingbird media with an nefarious agenda it seems.
00:50:03 Niño: Yperagia Theotoke Soson Imas
00:50:41 Suzanne Romano: Reacted to We have to choose: t... with "😊"
00:54:05 Adam Paige: Replying to "Yperagia Theotoke So..."
Yperagia Theotoke Soson Imas  ΥΠΕΡΑΓΙΑ ΘΕΟΤΟΚΕ ΣΩΣΟΝ ΗΜΑΣ// Most Holy Mother of God save us
01:01:17 Niño: Thus having an icon that would remind us of our goal and skull to remind us of death would help our imagination to focus on the things that are eternally true
01:02:05 Adam Paige: Reacted to "Thus having an icon ..." with 💀
01:07:20 Kathleen: You mentioned earlier about conversations that go in an unholy direction…it’s awkward at best finding ways to change the subject or exit or be silent without any body language or gestures that may indicate approval of the conversation.  i find myself in these situations so looking for ways to handle
01:07:38 Niño: Reacted to You mentioned earlie... with "❤️"
01:08:06 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "pic-a711b3ac-351b-4294-8af5-576d965386f4.jpg" with 👍
01:09:31 Josh: Reacted to "You mentioned earlie..." with ❤️
01:09:40 Josh: Reacted to "pic-a711b3ac-351b-4294-8af5-576d965386f4.jpg" with 👍
01:12:02 Adam Paige: Replying to "You mentioned earlie..."
"7. Do not regard the feelings of a person who speaks to you about his neighbour disparagingly, but rather say to him: ‘Stop, brother! I fall into graver sins every day, so how can I criticize him?’ In this way you will achieve two things: you will heal yourself and your neighbour with one plaster. This is one of the shortest ways to the forgiveness of sins; I mean, not to judge. ‘Judge not, that you be not judged.’" - THE LADDER OF DIVINE ASCENT, St. John Climacus, Step 10 - On slander or calumny
01:13:35 Kathleen: Haha
01:14:27 Maureen Cunningham: Praying for you when do we start fast
01:15:30 Niño: Grateful always to be part of this group 🙏 thank you Padre For making this platform public(what I mean free)
01:15:40 ANDREW ADAMS: Thanks be to God! Thank you, Father!
01:15:41 Bob Cihak: Thank you, father.
01:15:42 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
01:15:50 Adam Paige: Replying to "Praying for you when..."
Praying for you when do we start fast depends on your rite !
01:16:06 Kathleen: I have no books yet. Is this info on your website?
01:16:15 Niño: Pls pray for me ..I'm planning to go back to the sacrament of penance after a long time of being away 🥹
01:16:22 Adam Paige: Reacted to "Pls pray for me ..I'..." with 😇
01:16:26 Josh: Reacted to "Pls pray for me ..I'..." with ❤️
01:16:26 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "Pls pray for me ..I'..." with 🙏🏼
01:16:29 Suzanne Romano: Reacted to Pls pray for me ..I'... with "🙏🏼"
01:16:39 Kathleen: Hahaha
01:16:44 Niño: Reacted to Hahaha with "😂"
01:17:05 Francisco Ingham: Thank you father! Let’s all offer our prayers and fasts for the Pope this week 🙏
01:17:14 sr charista: what is the name again
01:17:45 Adam Paige: I have no books yet. Is this info on your website? https://www.ctosonline.org/patristic/EvCT.html
01:18:10 Anthony: Reacted to When I decided, a lo... with "👍"
01:18:26 Adam Paige: I have no books yet. Is this info on your website? https://www.bostonmonks.com/product_info.php/products_id/635/?srsltid=AfmBOooAjdCUbwFztCJTIdrREtqfZwwp9RRgofV0q8U344Uov_z8_8q5
01:18:28 sr charista: Replying to "I have no books yet...."
thank you much :)
01:18:46 sr charista: BEAUTIFUL
01:18:46 Nypaver Clan: zacharias zacharou

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Appendix "To The Shepherd", Part XI

We come to the end of this journey with St John Climacus knowing that it is also only the beginning. What joy has come through sitting at the feet of St. John for these few years and to be led along the path that brings us to Christ and the freedom to give ourselves in love and receive love. 
In these final paragraphs about the qualities and the responsibilities of a spiritual elder, what shines forth most brightly is the absolute and complete love that the elder must have for those in his care. The love of Christ that burns within his heart must embrace and give warmth to all those he guides and be a true source of light for them. There are times where he may have to be strict and forceful yet the love dwells within his heart, like divine love, is curative not punitive. Divine love offers itself completely, lavishly, allowing itself to be broken and poured out for others. Thus, the elder must have ever before him those in his charge; so much so that purity of heart allows him to see their needs and suffering and compels him to come to their aid. 
There will be many times when he must carry those in his charge to the Lord through his own example, his hidden sufferings and constant prayer. Like a parent, there will be moments when he must take them by the hand and guide them one step at a time along the narrow path that leads to the kingdom. Despite the fact that the kingdom of heaven dwells within us, the journey is often toilsome.  Left to ourselves, we may never find the narrow gate or enter. 
The elder must be long suffering; that when the lack of dispassion in others pierces his heart like a sword his response is like the Divine Judge - restraining himself and looking at others only with compassion. He must be willing to receive and take up upon his shoulders of the burden of his office as Christ took upon himself the burden of the cross and he must not despise the wounds that may come through rejection and betrayal.
The elder’s love must run so deep that intuitively he knows the sufferings of those in his care even before they speak of them to him. Without hesitation and quickly, he seeks to apply the healing balm. 
And perhaps most powerful and beautiful of all - - in the end, the elder must acknowledge that he must decrease in order that Christ might increase within his children’s hearts. There will come a time when they no longer need human instruction because they have given their hearts to the Lord and are guided by His Spirit. Blessed are those who bring others to Christ and whose guidance passes on from generation to generation.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:12:41 Bob Cihak: P. 260, # 89
00:17:46 Anna Lalonde: It was a complete blessing the four months I was in religious life! Transformed my prayer life.
00:19:12 Joanne Martínez : Joanne Martínez here, just signed on
00:19:55 Bob Cihak: P. 260, # 89
00:20:13 Joanne Martínez : Reacted to "P. 260, # 89" with 👌
00:31:14 Kate : In order to be broken and poured out in love for others, does it necessitate allowing ourselves to be broken first by God, so to speak, and to have received the Love of God poured into us?
00:31:58 Rebecca Thérèse: Nathan
00:32:59 Jeffrey Ott: The daily meditation of Gaston Courtois was on that very thing…profiting first from God’s love so that we may reveal that love to the multitude of other souls
00:33:58 Tracey Fredman: Sometimes willingly pouring ourselves out for others is the way we are broken by God, particularly when we don't feel like doing whatever it is for others whether in ministry or simply serving another.
00:44:53 Joanne Martínez : In reading about the lengths to which the people of Mesoamerica went to receive baptism after the apparition of Guadalupe, I have a new understanding of the gift that sacrament truly is
00:57:21 Maureen Cunningham: There is a short you tube called  The 21 remembering Martyrs who died in February 2015. The faith of  these men  was moving
01:01:58 Anna Lalonde: Fostered about 130 teens. 😂
01:22:16 Sr. Mary Clare: That is certainly a love that is not possessive
01:22:58 Joanne Martínez : Thank you! These last two years journeying with you all has been extraordinary.
01:23:02 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You Father
01:23:55 Zachary Morgan: This was wonderful - thank you Abouna!
01:24:37 Sr. Mary Clare: Beautiful
01:24:40 Janine: Thank you Father Charbel…looking forward to St Isaac
01:24:43 Jeffrey Ott: It’s been a joy. Thank you Father.
01:24:52 Lee Graham: Thank you, this has been wonderful
01:25:42 ANDREW ADAMS: Thanks be to God! Thank you, Father!
01:25:45 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
01:25:45 David: Thank you Father God Bless you and your Mom!
01:25:58 Art: Thank you for this wonderful journey with John Climacus!
01:26:08 Cindy Moran: Than you Father

The Evergetinos: Book Two - XXVIII, Part V

Tonight we follow the thought of Saint Isaiah, the Solitary and St. John Cassian on the struggle with the passion of lust and fornication. One things stands out clearly: we must be fully engaged in the formation of the mind and the heart in virtue - for the devil is fully engaged in seeking to provoke us to sin. Therefore, we must guard all of the senses with great attentiveness. With this particular passion, we must engage in the battle both physically and spiritually. Thus, we must be attentive to both prayer and fasting; that is, humbling the mind and the body in such a way that we turn to God for our nourishment and strength. In shaping the habit of virtue, we must study the scriptures, engage in fervent prayer, and labor with our hands; in other words, we must keep our focus simple in order that we might be aware of what is going on within the heart. 
Cassian makes it clear that the heart is the place where the disease is hidden – the depths of the soul. Yet, it is also here that the remedy is found. We must open our heart fully to God by guarding the senses and directing all of our energies towards the formation of virtue and the love of the things of the kingdom. 
Humility is the foundation of all of these pursuits. In it, we recognize our poverty and so cling to God. As we cling to him, we experienced that he alone can bring not only healing where there has only been sin but also fill the heart with the love that he alone can satisfy.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:02:12 Anna Lalonde: Hello! We missed last week due to sickness. Glad to hear Father Charbel you've gained 11 new brothers in the monastery!
00:20:51 Joseph Muir: What page are we on?
00:21:07 Bob Cihak: P. 207 E
00:22:00 Joseph Muir: Reacted to "P. 207 E" with 👍
00:27:58 Joseph Muir: After a period of my life of living in rampant sin, upon my reversion, returning to the sacramental life of prayer and repentance, I really struggled with talking about my past without ultimately devolving into my bragging about my past. This was something that I took to confession probably every week for a period, until the priest, whom I personally knew, eventually asked me, “Are these people asking to hear about your past? Or are you shoehorning it into conversation?” It was obviously the latter, stemming from a misplaced sense of zeal for my return to God, though the priest exhorted me to practice biting my tongue instead, and that it would afford me the silence so as to healthily discern when and whom to share certain bits regarding my past, if at all
00:30:59 Joseph Muir: 😂
00:31:56 Anthony: I recommend "Hope," Pope Francis ' memoiore released this year.
00:32:16 Anthony: He deals with his own shame
00:35:25 Anthony: Ossuary
00:36:08 Myles Davidson: There’s a great scene in a Mt. Athos doco of a monk moving a wheelbarrow full of skulls to a new home they were building for them
00:37:48 Joseph Muir: “Keep your eyes on your own plate”, as an old monastic maxim goes
00:49:14 Adam Paige: https://philokalia.podbean.com/e/to-love-fasting/
00:49:33 Anthony: There's a related issue: I was working with a church youth group, and so, wanting to relate to their culture as other adults could, I watched a lot of movies like the Marvel Universe.  That was a bad idea.  That just uploads other people's malformed imagination into mine.
00:50:57 Myles Davidson: Replying to "There's a related is..."
Hollywood in general is very toxic
01:05:54 Niño: It's really hard to practice these disciplines especially if someone experimented with living a life of sin out of curiosity... I'd been away from the sacraments for 2 months to satisfy my lower appetite...but now I regret everything ...it's a foolish thing to give a chance to the devil in the name of "choosing" between evil and good ... Now, I'm beginning from zero again 😔 it's good thing to find this meeting.thanks Fr.
01:06:22 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "It's really hard to ..." with 🙏
01:08:09 Myles Davidson: Oscar Wilde said the best way to get rid of temptation was to give in to it
01:08:16 Forrest Cavalier: Welcome back to the fold, N!
01:08:26 Joseph Muir: “[E]ach person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full-grown brings forth death.”—James 1:14-15
01:09:05 Adam Paige: Oscar Wilde also said the only feast of the church he kept was Septuagesima haha
01:09:18 Anthony: Mayne Wilde meant that temptation is a part of life, don't just roll over to temptation and play dead
01:09:41 Julie: Like Eve who had a dialogue with the devil
01:10:13 Cameron Jackson: Oscar Wilde is a contrary indicator.
01:15:23 Cameron Jackson: Thank you Fr Charbel!
01:15:31 Niño: Replying to "Welcome back to the ..." 
 I don't know...but, deep within me and every event that took place these past few days is like a deep calling from God to return ..I don't know and I'm not sure
It seems to be overreacting for me ..but, the events really are clear to me that God is calling me back
I know how to return..but I don't know if I am really sincere in my conversion 
How will I know that I am really sincere ...one of my concerns is that I only have the feeling to return because of guilt but really deep inside me I am not repentant ...I cannot abuse the Mercy of God 
I am sure of the Mercy of God but not sure about myself ..pls pray for me
01:15:42 sr charista: Blessings to you Fr.! Thank you :).
01:15:55 Jacqulyn: Pray for me! Tomorrow is my birthday! 🎉
01:16:07 ANDREW ADAMS: Thank you, Father!
01:16:11 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
01:16:15 Aric B: Thank you Father!
01:16:16 Forrest Cavalier: Replying to "Welcome back to the ..."
Go to confession!
01:16:20 Laura: Replying to "Welcome back to the ..."
👍🏼
01:16:22 Bob Cihak: God be with you.
01:16:27 Laura: Reacted to "I don't know...but, ..." with 👍🏼

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Appendix "To The Shepherd", Part X

St. John does not hesitate to speak to us about the beauty and the extraordinary responsibility of the spiritual elder. To find oneself with the care of souls one must take up the work without question. One cannot approach the care of the flock as a hireling. As we have received so we must give. If God has given us the particular gifts to guide others in the spiritual life, then gratitude must compel us to offer the same consolation to others. 
One cannot stress enough how great the responsibility is that is placed on the shoulders of the elder. He must be especially sensitive to the most vulnerable and the weakest within the community and understand how to offer guidance to multiple individuals at the same time. He must be able to strengthen the resolve of all the men in his community through timely rebukes and humbling the stronger members of the community even though their actions do not warrant such correction. An elder cannot set aside his identity, even while always seeking to be tender and gentle with those in his care. They must respect him and his life must be respectable in regard to his virtue if they are going to follow his counsel and if they are going to remain obedient. Only in this way will his monks have absolute confidence in his guidance. 
He must hold their trust by also holding everything they say as private and not to be shared among others. Such trust is hard won and can be lost in an instant if the elder acts indiscriminately. While he is forbearing, he must deal directly with the disobedient. His failure to do so may, in the end, weaken their commitment or cause them to despise him when they are unable to endure.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:09:32 Adam Paige: https://youtu.be/0uBTKGd3L_g?si=1t1YtY9_ACx02Pd7
00:10:54 Suzanne Romano: Thank you, Adam! That's it!
00:11:44 Zachary Morgan: I love your substack!!
00:12:04 Jacqulyn: Reacted to "I love your substack..." with 👍
00:12:20 Adam Paige: Reacted to "Thank you, Adam! Tha…" with 📽
00:12:33 Una: Reacted to "I love your substa..." with 👍
00:13:44 Zachary Morgan: I find that substack is more for other writers/contributors outside the now-prevalent "shorts" we see on other platforms
00:33:49 Anthony: I think this is helpful.  When I'd read something like Desert Fathers and come across confessing thoughts, I thought it was literal.
00:53:50 Zachary Morgan: Speaking of openly wearing clerical garb, one of the biggest arguments that I have experienced among clergy is whether deacons should wear their clerics openly because not being a priest, they shoudn't be seen in "spiritual way" in public or be confused as potentially being a priest by others - almost as if the Deacon cannot be a source of spiritual good outside the service of the altar.  Can I ask what your thoughts are on this?  I think it is much more of a Western struggle.
00:58:25 Margaret: Thank you for your comments on Priests and Sisters wearing their clerical garb in public. I bristle when I see sisters that aren't in "clerical garb". It makes me think they are ashamed to be Brides of Christ
00:59:47 Suzanne Romano: It's not rigidity. It's zeal and lov ae.
01:02:05 Sr. Mary Clare: When I walked into a store with another sister, two Protestants said, "What a breath of fresh air to see Catholic Sisters wearing their long garb. We have seen them running down the street in shorts. We just smiled.
01:02:18 Suzanne Romano: All your comments on wearing the habit are spot on!
01:03:23 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "All your comments on..." with 🥰
01:03:49 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "When I walked into a..." with 👍🏼
01:04:09 Suzanne Romano: Reacted to When I walked into a... with "👍🏼"
01:07:38 Sr. Mary Clare: Why "Fear in our presence?"
01:09:53 Sr. Mary Clare: Thank you for explaining. I was a little confused
01:12:40 Sr. Mary Clare: Absolutely correct!
01:14:00 Suzanne Romano: Love cannot be divided from authority. Love requires authority.
01:20:16 Una: Reacted to "When I walked into..." with 👍🏼
01:20:20 Maureen Cunningham: Thank you Father
01:21:03 ANDREW ADAMS: Thank you, Father!
01:21:05 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
01:21:15 Margaret: Thank you!
01:21:46 Jeffrey Ott: Thank you! Great to be with you all!

The Evergetinos: Book Two - XXVIII, Part IV

The spiritual life is not lived out in the abstract. Among the fathers, we find a distinct emphasis on praxis; that is, the practice of the faith. We come to know God and to love virtue not through reading but rather through experience. 
As a defense, often used to hold onto attachments, we make our faith into something that is purely intellectual or notional. Yet in this hypothesis, hearing tonight in particular from Saint Ephraim, the Syrian, we are presented with the experience of those tempted by the demons to minimize the effects of the embrace of sin and the loss of grace. Rather than holding onto our virtue as precious and maintaining a clear vision of our identity as temples of the Holy Spirit, we cast it all aside thoughtlessly for a moment of pleasure.
The struggle with sensuality in particular is challenging because of how it is experienced. We covet what we see and when something is seen it is held within the imagination and the memory. It remains with us even if for a moment we are drawn away from it. When we indiscriminately expose ourselves to what stimulates the passions, we make ourselves more vulnerable. Once the demons have been successful in leading us to embrace such thoughts and actions, then the images seep into the unconscious and emerge later in our dreams.
The loss that comes to us is immeasurable, and it is only by the grace of God that healing can come. Saint Ephraim counsels us to keep our eyes downward in their focus and not allow our vision to rove around indiscriminately. On the other hand, we must keep the eyes of our soul constantly turned upward toward God. Only when He fills us with his grace when we turned to him in a spirit of repentance can the imagination, memory and unconscious be healed. The more we fill our hearts with the love of virtue and the things of the kingdom the more we are transformed and begin to experience, once again, the freedom of those who have been made sons and daughters of God.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:12:48 Suzanne Romano: It's certainly been a bad flu season for the chickens... 🥴
00:15:35 paul g.: Whoa. Great !
00:31:28 Forrest Cavalier: Priests can be more firm at setting limits. My wife was confirmed in the 1980's only because Fr. Vanyo at the cathedral refused to baptize her youngest sibling unless all were in catechism. I pray for him often.
00:32:11 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "Priests can be more ..." with 👍🏼
00:41:59 Mary and Al: Yes scary!
00:55:13 Forrest Cavalier: That reference to wax in this paragraph sounds like a reference to Ps 68:3 "As wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God"
01:03:23 Sheila: I find this holds the same when people tell you gossip about others. It changes how you see the person whether you wanted tonor not.
01:03:29 Sheila: Or not
01:05:13 Sheila: These images, can they be purged? Or are they truly as you say permamently there to be used against yourr charity and thoughts?
01:17:06 Lee Graham: The many “good” things we could do are enemy of the “best”.
01:22:45 paul g.: Yes
01:23:00 Forrest Cavalier: everge Teen o's
01:23:08 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "everge Teen o's" with 😂
01:23:10 paul g.: Reacted to "everge Teen o's" with ❤️
01:23:56 Bob Cihak, AZ: Preach it, Father!! Please! and Thank you!!!
01:23:59 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
01:24:14 Sheila: Thanks Father!
01:24:16 Forrest Cavalier: No fasting this week, though!
01:24:23 Troy Amaro: Thank You Father.

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Appendix "To The Shepherd", Part IX

I was struck this evening not only with the wisdom of St. John’s counsel in regard to the care of souls, but also the beauty of the heart of the Shepherd that emerges as we read through the text. Only a heart that has been conformed to Christ and a life that in every way has become prophetic in the sense of bearing witness to the love, humility, and obedience of the kingdom can give itself over to the care of other souls. The role of an elder is not simply to instruct, reprove and guide but above all to love. His affection for those in his care as well as for all people must lead him to console others as he himself has been consoled. He approaches this reality not with a spirit of condescension but rather as one who has been humbled by life and his own poverty and lifted up by the mercy of Christ. It is a spirit of gratitude that leads him to enter into the struggle of others with a spirit of generosity. He feels no revulsion at the sight of sin or weakness. Rather, it draws his attention and draws forth from his heart, compassion and mercy. 
One of the most striking things we considered this evening was the nature of obedience. St. John tells us that it is the very definition of obedience to be fearless and to have no anxiety about anything at all. The truly obedient heart of an elder can calmly guide, direct, and comfort others without saying a single word.
It is this reality that we are to embody in our lives; whether priest, religious, married or single. The best and the beautiful are meant for all and that which comes to us from the hand of our Lord must be freely extended to others. Thus, to have the care of souls is part of the very nature of Christian life.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:08:38 Bob Cihak: P. 257, # 64
00:15:03 Wayne: The idea of repentance is the major focus of the Eastern practise.
00:21:51 Myles Davidson: "Flee from discussions of dogma as from an unruly lion" St. Isaac the Syrian
00:23:43 Bob Cihak: Reacted to ""Flee from discussio..." with 👍
00:31:34 Daniel Allen: That’s the best definition I’ve ever heard of obedience. Applicable even to mundane things, unafraid of the death of the ego in order to obey on a whim.
00:32:00 David: Obedience is often faith and humbling of the intellect. What one believes can be based on feelings what one knows is very little
00:33:06 Anthony: An acquaintance told me theology is or should be like chemistry: predictable,  according to something like law.   I think it's more like cooking: the artful and beautiful and surprising use of "chemistry" without necessarily "knowing" the "rules" in depth.
00:36:58 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: I often find myself rejoicing as I do physical labor that because of my religious vows/dedicated life, even cleaning offers worship to God!
00:37:39 Suzanne Romano: Reacted to I often find myself ... with "❤️"
00:40:19 David: Reacted to "I often find myself ..." with 👍
00:41:48 Rebecca Thérèse: Reacted to "I often find myself ..." with 👍
00:42:10 Lee Graham: Reacted to "I often find myself …" with ❤️
00:44:44 Thomas Dilts: For me, Brother Lawrence best demonstrated day to day labors as service to God.
00:50:21 St. Stanislaus Kostka Religious Education: St. Andre Bessette...sickly and poor, orphaned and seemingly of a lower intellect
00:53:21 Adam Paige: All the T’s are pronounced in Bessette
00:53:30 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "All the T’s are pron..." with 👍🏼
00:53:37 Anthony: It maybe would be good to have a "Sons / Daughters of the Covenant" arrangement of single people to live within and among parishes.
00:54:44 Adam Paige: Pronounced like “buh-set”. We call him Saint Brother André locally (I live a 40 minutes walk from his tomb)
00:59:35 Anthony: In the Gospel,  Jesus told a demonic Not to be a "traditional disciple" but sent him on his own mission among his peopl.
01:00:43 David: A convent I used to visit in Tlaxcala Mexico used to put a mirror in every room and waited till anyone that came asked for it to be removed as a sign they were ready to actually leave vanity and focus on Christ.  I was really stuck by something that simple being used with novices.
01:03:39 Bob Cihak: Be careful about mud huts. My father was born in one. My uncle Frank lived in a mud hut when he got his own lad to farm. When he married, he built and outhouse so that his new wife wouldn't have to go to nature to do those natural things.
01:09:52 paul g.: My birthday is Feb 4th too😊.
01:10:13 Suzanne Romano: I was baptized on Feb 4!
01:10:20 Francisco Ingham: We love you Father
01:10:25 Anthony: ❤️
01:10:28 Francisco Ingham: You are the absolute best
01:11:11 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
01:11:17 Jeffrey Ott: Thank you! Great to be with you all
01:11:21 David: Bless you father and your Mom!
01:11:21 Mary Clare Wax: thank you
01:11:28 David: Thank you
01:11:29 Art iPhone: Welcome all
 

The Evergetinos: Book Two - XXVIII, Part III

The struggle with impurity and fornication in our day is so fierce - as well as accepted and embraced by most of the secular culture - that those seeking purity of heart not only have to engage in the ascetic life deeply but also have to embrace a living martyrdom. 
The fathers understood how powerful our natural desires can be; in particular our sensuality. They also understood the devil‘s machinations and the relentless nature of temptations that also come to us  from our own imagination and memory. What is captured for us in the writings of this hypothesis is the necessity of engaging in the spiritual battle. We must of course cling to the grace of God and engage in constant prayer. Yet knowing the devil‘s actions, we must embrace many different remedies; such as doing violence to the self and depriving ourselves of the things that the culture freely embraces.  
What we heard tonight from multiple writers is the need to remember our own mortality. What we behold as beautiful and covet with the eyes quickly turns to dust. With salvation in the balance, the devil can often tempt us to give ourselves over to satisfying a passion “just once” - as if that would resolve our need. We have to understand that desire does not work in that fashion. The more that it is fed the more its longings increase. 
If we could only understand this in light of our desire for God! The more that we desire him in love, the more that we pursue him through prayer, the greater our longing becomes. Soon our attachment to lesser things begins to diminish and we are freer to pursue the Beloved. 
Finally, we are encouraged to look to the heroes of our faith; in particular those who wage war against this particular passion or who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect their purity. In them, we see those whose hearts belong to the Lord and to Him alone. May God give us the grace to imitate them.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:03:25 Tracey Fredman: I apologize if I'm in and out this evening. I'm on call for work and may need to in/out.
00:13:39 Anthony: Well, some of the women were looking for a female take on 6th commandment concerns...here is a lead...
00:13:56 Bob Cihak: P. 202, top of page
00:24:32 Lee Graham: Brother Sun and Sister Moon
00:24:46 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "Brother Sun and Sist..." with 👍🏼
00:26:50 Anthony: This reminds me of an apocryphal story that after Adam and Eve sinned, they withdrew from each other for the sake of doing penance. They had the right to each other, but living a time of repentance is withdrawing from comfort - which is what vowed religious have chosen. 
00:31:26 Forrest Cavalier: Father, I am wondering how to see this advice to control the imagination to see horrible things as being honest and pure of heart. I understand how it can be effective, but it seems to be contrary to reality and second, to rely on willpower, which is less admirable than a more excellent submission to grace, (as previous warnings we have read recently here.)
00:41:07 Una: The Buddhists have a meditation on rotting corpses too.
00:48:51 Kathleen: Interestingly Sirach 11:27-28 speaks about how death brings full understanding of one’s life
00:53:57 Anthony: Thomas Sowell wrote about the violent, irreverent character of the Scots and English Colonists in the South during the time of the American colonies.  They have left their mark on American character and culture.  There's an audiobook version of his book on YouTube where I heard it.
00:54:19 paul g.: Reacted to "Thomas Sowell wrote …" with ✔️
00:56:53 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "Thomas Sowell wrote ..." with 🥰
00:57:35 Nypaver Clan: Replying to "Thomas Sowell wrote ..."
Thomas Sowell is so gifted!
00:58:03 Bob Cihak: Replying to "Thomas Sowell wrote ..."
Amen.
00:58:03 Anthony: Replying to "Thomas Sowell wrote ..." 
 I should clarify Sowell was talking about places like the Ozarks, that prioritized excessive pride and vendettas.
00:58:24 Jacqulyn: Reacted to "Thomas Sowell is so ..." with 👍
00:59:17 Nypaver Clan: Replying to "Thomas Sowell wrote ..."
👍🏼
01:09:58 iPhone (61): Thank You Father Blessings
01:10:27 Sr. Charista Maria: Thank you dear Fr. Abernethy!
01:10:39 ANDREW ADAMS: Thank you, Father!
01:10:41 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
01:10:46 Kathleen: Thank you
01:11:02 Troy Amaro: Thank You Father
01:13:03 Kathleen: Hahaha
01:14:04 iPhone (61): Beautiful Icon
01:15:22 iPhone (61): Who is Saint Catherine
01:16:38 Suzanne Romano: Replying to "Who is Saint Catheri..." 
 https://catholicharboroffaithandmorals.com/St.%20Catherine%20of%20Alexandria.html
01:16:47 Anthony: Replying to "Who is Saint Catheri..." 
 An Egyptian philosopher whi also found Christ, decided to be a consecrated virgin.  Virginity angered pagans and they tortured her on a wheel, to death.
01:16:51 Forrest Cavalier: Great story! Thank you!
01:17:07 Suzanne Romano: Replying to "Who is Saint Catheri..." 
 She's beyond the pale awesome!

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Appendix "To The Shepherd", Part VIII

The counsel and the guidance that St. John offers in this letter is unparalleled. His understanding of the role of the spiritual elder and the nature and manner of engaging those in his responsibility is deep and astute, both psychologically and spiritually. Yet what stands out the most in this letter is the dynamic that must exist between the spiritual elder and those in his care. The Abbot or the elder could never be described as an administrator or a master platoon leader in the military. Simply put, he is to be an embodiment of Christ to those in his care, being willing to lay down his life on their behalf. It is crucified love that saves and redeems us, and it is the same love that must guide the words and actions of one who has been given the responsibility for the care of others. What drives the heart of such an elder is the understanding of the care that he himself has been given, the consolation that God has offered to him. These realities move him to share what he himself has received an abundance. In fact to fail to do so is a reflection of a lack of charity as well as gratitude. By nature, a spiritual elder longs to help those in his care to avoid the pitfalls that the Evil One places before them in the spiritual life. He must be sensitive to the most subtle movements among the members of his community and the spirit that is manifesting itself among them.  Likewise, driven by love he must foster a sense of generosity between the members of the community and those in his care. He cannot allow himself the luxury of treating everyone the same - any more than a parent addresses the needs of their children in a mechanical fashion. St. John tells us “the overseers must heed to the sowing of the seed: to the season, person, quality, and quantity.” The elder must nurture and nourish as need demands. And finally, the one who does this in the fullest measure acts in a hidden fashion so that all glory and gratitude is directed toward God.  May God give us such faithful shepherds!
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:10:09 Suzanne Romano: I just this minute received word that Bishop Richard Williamson passed away this evening. Please pray for his immortal soul.
00:10:54 Anna Lalonde: Are you moving there?
00:11:06 Anna Lalonde: In California
00:11:23 Anna Lalonde: Awesome
00:16:20 David: One thing I like about my Dad who keeps a saying from my Grandfather is when someone says thank you. He always says No thank God I am able. A small detail but I have come to appreciate it more with age and now do the same
00:23:04 Zachary Morgan: alhamdulilah!
00:39:34 Anthony: This relationship of shepherd to sheep reminds me of the "royal priesthood" described by St Ephrem in The Cave of Treasures.  Adam and his successor priest-kings on the mount of paradise took the care of all the faithful in their hands....until the numbers of faithful dwelling on the mountain dwindled, going into the plain and mingling with Cain's people.....and then God sent the Flood.
00:40:09 David: When I taught at a catholic school in Spain one of my mentors used to say there two types of teachers: One that seeks control and power and the other is one who learns more than the students about himself and faith.
00:51:50 Joseph Muir: For those who don’t have the book, the two quotes at the end of the last paragraph come from the prophets Jeremiah and Obadiah, respectively
00:54:57 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "For those who don’t ..." with 👍🏼
01:10:47 Anthony: That was the training at my Evangelical university. It's hard to break.
01:10:52 David: It's interesting you look at the early church and people were attracted by love. No where does it say a great Proof or having the best arguement, theology or put people in their place
01:12:11 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You Father Blessing
01:12:46 ANDREW ADAMS: Thank you, Father!
01:12:54 Zachary Morgan: Thank you Abouna!
01:13:02 Jeffrey Ott: Thank you! Great to be with you all.
01:13:19 Francisco Ingham: Thank you father!! I hope I can go visit the monastery some day 🙏
01:13:22 David: Thank you father and blessings to you and your Mom
01:13:27 Art: Thank you Father!

The Evergetinos: Book Two - XXVIII, Part II

We have continued our discussion of the farhers’ writing on fornication and the effects that it has upon the soul. Purity of heart is the foundation of the spiritual life and the immediate goal. We are called to remove every impediment that prevents us from not only receiving the grace of God but from offering him our hearts and our love fully. 
In fact, our hearts can be divided, and this is exactly what the demons seek to accomplish. They know they have a strong bodily appetite and desire that they can stir up through our thoughts and images, words and the actions, and the presence of others. Even memories of conversations and the images of people from the past can be used against us in more vulnerable moments to lead us astray.
Holiness and purity is not something that one can judge from external realities. Even the most holy individual who seems to be most endowed with gifts from God can have a heart that is radically divided and even wholly given over to the spirit of fornication. To lack watchfulness in this regard opens one up to the experience of obsession. It does not take more than one instance of infidelity to open the door to taking another step in that direction where obsession can become oppression. Fornication can take hold of the mind and the heart with a fierce grip. Finally oppression can give way to possession where the demon of fornication takes hold of one’s life and darkens their heart completely. 
Disconnected from the wisdom of the father’s we find the counsel of our day much akin to self-help.  Such counsel sad leads a person more deeply into the obsession that wounds them. Under the false guise of prudence and wisdom there’s often deep foolishness that leads an individual to put himself and God to the test. The discipline and watchfulness the father‘s put forward would often be dismissed in our day as scrupulosity or unhealthy. Yet the Saints knew and understood what is precious and what must be protected. Unless one loves virtue and has tasted the sweetness that it brings to one’s life one will easily walk away from it.
I might hazard to say that very few of our generation know the kind of purity of heart of which the fathers speak and to which we are called. Our culture has become so permeated with disordered sensuality that our love for the virtue of purity has been compromised as well as our capacity to pursue it. Only radical humility and clinging to the grace of God can aid us.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:04:28 Sr. Charista Maria: Fr. what community?
00:05:24 ANDREW ADAMS: Replying to "Fr. what community?"
https://www.monksofmttabor.com
00:41:37 Rachel: I think this is very important. fwiw not scrupulous at all
00:42:23 Myles Davidson: Replying to "I think this is very..."
I agree
00:44:16 Mary Clare Wax: Very well said! Thank you!
00:44:33 Forrest Cavalier: Attributed to St Alphonsus: “To avoid the sight of dangerous objects, the saints were accustomed to keep their eyes almost continually fixed on the earth, and to abstain even from looking at innocent objects,” says St. Alphonsus de Liguori.
00:45:35 Forrest Cavalier: There are many times I need to do this, in Sheetz. Or Walmart. Or wherever
00:53:34 Una: What exactly does she mean by prudent? Is there another word?
00:55:21 Forrest Cavalier: Greek is σωφροσύνην
00:55:37 Forrest Cavalier: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophrosyne
00:58:16 Una: What would the nuns have been leaving the convent for? Shopping? Visiting?
01:00:42 Una: One priest told me that in seminary he was advised to visit his family regularly to protect temptations against chastity
01:00:56 Una: To avoid too much lonliness
01:01:31 Sr. Charista Maria: Father I would like your thoughts if you are familiar with the story of Bishop Nonnis in the book: Harlots of the Desert, by Benedicta Ward? She shares of the beauty of the Harlot Pelagia, and Bishop Nonnis was so struck by her beauty that it led him to pray for her, and she converted. I happened to just read this on the Feast of St. Anthony.
01:03:07 Mary Clare Wax: Reacted to "Father I would like ..." with 👍
01:03:43 Una: I'm reading Harlots of the Desert too!
01:03:52 Una: One potato chip, yeah
01:04:25 Sr. Charista Maria: Reacted to "I'm reading Harlots ..." with 👏
01:05:01 Una: Today's gospel was about not dividing the Kingdom. A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand
01:06:19 Mary Clare Wax: The other clergy turned their eyes away from Pelagia, but Bishop Nonnis looked at her with love.
01:07:24 Anna Lalonde: Seeking prayers... Incense is gravely affecting my health after BioLab chemical fire exposure in September.
01:13:09 Sr. Charista Maria: Father I love your sharing on "oh I just want to watch a movie" or the like. It is so important to recognize the weaknesses of the flesh in order to be on guard against them when they surface.
01:14:46 Una: Or going to movies often
01:14:58 Sr. Charista Maria: Agreed regarding not escaping into family visits. It is such a grace to invite Jesus into the loneliness
01:15:43 Mary Clare Wax: Such jewels from the desert Fathers!
01:15:49 santiagobua: Thank you Father!!
01:15:51 ANDREW ADAMS: Thank you, Father!
01:15:52 Rachel: Thank you
01:15:52 Josh: Thanks father
01:16:16 Troy Amaro: Thank You Father

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Appendix "To The Shepherd", Part VII

The deeper that we go into this letter, the more we begin to see the necessary qualities of an elder. In our society, we often value what seems to be productive. Yet what St. John emphasizes is the heart of the elder. One cannot offer care to another soul unless they have struggled long and hard with their own passions and are able to look at those who come to them through the lens of compassion, humility, and the love of Christ. 
Repeatedly, we are shown the care that the elder must exhibit in his approach to those who come to him. He cannot be easily agitated when anger or hostility are directed toward him. Nor can he show disgust at the past or present behavior of another. He does not condescend, but rather makes himself the servant of one like himself – one who knows the deep wounds of sin; often wounds that are self inflicted. 
Therefore, John tells us it is not right for a lion to pasture sheep, and it is not safe for a man who is still subject to the passions to rule over passionate men. One who does not seek to tend to the wounded, but rather to rule - one who does not seek to lead by example, but rather instruct with force - is going to be a gross distortion of the image of Christ.
The elder must have the greatest sensitivity to the needs and the struggles of those who come to him, realizing that there is great variety and difference between individuals. Thus, an elder must be the most obedient and humble of souls; that is, he must have a refined ability to hear the truth, to hear the word of God spoken in his heart, and he must possess discernment that is born of humility. An elder can only see in others what he has contemplated in himself. 
His awareness of the wounds that others bear only help him to understand that they are his responsibility. He approaches others not in a detached fashion, but as one who shares deeply in their sorrow and desires their healing as he desires his own. In this, St. John tells us Christ is the standard. The elder must receive all that is thrust upon him with the same selfless love that we witness on the cross. It is here that we begin to understand that John is not simply speaking about monks. He speaks to all of us and the necessity of taking Christ at his word; to love others as he has loved us, to be willing to lay down our lives for others, including those who treat us like enemies.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:09:11 Anna Lalonde: Pray because I was just anointed. Been not well since late Sept.
00:10:02 Janine: Yes Anna…I will pray for you!
00:10:09 Bob Cihak, AZ: Replying to "Pray because I was j..."
Will do. God bless you.
00:10:50 Rebecca Thérèse: Reacted to "Pray because I was j..." with 🙏
00:11:18 Suzanne Romano: Happy Feast of St Paul, Proto Hermit!!!
00:12:50 Anna Lalonde: What's your special day Father?
00:13:09 Tracey Fredman: Reacted to "Pray because I was j..." with 🙏
00:13:53 Anna Lalonde: Yes a BioLab Chemical Fire happened Sept 30. That caused me life threatening health issues in my lungs. So thanks for prayers.
00:14:12 Anna Lalonde: Congratulations!
00:15:16 Suzanne Romano: Maybe St. Paul is responsible for your love of the Desert Fathers! 😇
00:15:18 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 254, # 44
00:16:16 Eric Ewanco: what step are we on, and what's the lede to the paragraph?
00:16:38 Myles Davidson: Replying to "what step are we on,..."
P. 254, # 44
00:16:50 Eric Ewanco: Replying to "what step are we on,..."
I don't have that book.
00:18:05 Bob Cihak, AZ: Replying to "what step are we on,..."
Lede: Let the established order...
00:18:38 Bob Cihak, AZ: Replying to "what step are we on,..."
of To the Shepherd
00:32:28 Anthony: Gamal Nasser?
00:32:50 Art: Edi Amin?
00:32:50 Myles Davidson: Mubarak?
00:33:03 Adam Paige: Hosni Mubarak ?
00:34:08 Adam Paige: The Life of Repentance and Purity (Pope Shenouda) pdf http://stphilopateerdallas.org/The%20Life%20of%20Repentance%20and%20Purity%20-%20HH%20Pope%20Shenouda%20III.pdf
00:41:23 David: Without detachment of the world we cannot even glimpse heaven.
00:42:01 David: I can't remember the saint that said that but when I looked for a spiritual director someone told me look for detachments first.
00:58:40 David: I love the saying of Mother Teresa- We are all pencils in the hand of God.
01:05:08 David: I have on my bedroom door a saying Fr. George Maloney had which is really hard to practice every day- In loving one another God in us is made flesh. I try to keep this in mind but as the day goes on I sometimes get lost.
01:06:11 Daniel Allen: Terrifying thought… what if instead of the explanations we give or hear to make the gospel more approachable, what if Christ meant the things He said? That’s the most terrifying thought because who really has embodied that? And yet that’s what we’re called to.
01:09:20 Anna Lalonde: Reacted to Terrifying thought… ... with "❤️"
01:11:24 Eric Ewanco: yes
01:15:00 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you. Have a good retreat🙂🙏
01:15:46 ANDREW ADAMS: Thank you, Father! Have a good time with the monks!
01:15:48 MOME hermits: Excellent!!!!
01:15:52 Suzanne Romano: Thank you!
01:16:14 Anna Lalonde: Yes
01:16:16 David: Thank you very much Father. Isaac is worth the wait
01:16:19 Vanessa: i'm fine with that
01:16:21 Jeff O.: happy to finish this!
01:16:22 Lori Hatala: yes comtinue
01:16:23 MOME hermits: Continue
01:16:26 David: Not in our time but God's Time
01:16:27 Janine: Yes…continue with it..
01:16:28 Art: I’m fine with that.
01:16:29 ANDREW ADAMS: I’m good with whatever the group prefers.
01:16:33 Kate : Please continue!
01:16:40 Eric Ewanco: I'm fine finishing it FWIW
01:16:41 Bob Cihak, AZ: Preach it, Father.
01:16:42 Adam Paige: It’s worthwhile to take the time to complete Climacus
01:16:43 Jessica Imanaka: Makes sense to complete it.
01:16:43 Anthony: Isaac's waited 1500 years to talk to me, he can wait a bit more :)
01:16:46 Lee Graham: Yes, finish it up
01:16:48 Jeff O.: Thank you!
01:16:50 Leilani Nemeroff: Thank you!
01:16:50 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father!
 

The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XXVII and XXVIII, Part I

Once again, my first thought at the end of this group is “Revolution“.  When read in the context of all that we have considered from The Evergetinos to date and from St. John Climacus, our entire way of viewing reality is being challenged, overthrown, or illuminated. One begins to see that our capacity as Christians to read and hear the Gospel, let alone the writings of the fathers, has been compromised. We have been formed in and by an atheistic secular culture.  That culture has permeated the Church in modern times in ways that we cannot even comprehend. 
God has revealed himself to us; not only the depth of his love and compassion, but also the reality of sin and the struggle that remains for us within this world.  We cannot understand the danger of fornication and lust to our salvation unless we come to understand the importance of purity of heart. God has created us for Himself, in His image and likeness, and our desire must be directed toward Him if we are to experience the fulfillment of the deepest longings of the human heart - let alone the right ordering of our bodily desires. Thus, our lust or fornication is not simply a moral infraction or a negative view of human sexuality but evidence of an idolatry of the self and so adultery in regard to our relationship with God - infidelity in regard to the Heavenly Bridegroom who has given Himself to us completely.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:22:39 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 195, # A
00:31:49 Myles Davidson: There’s a book called Your Brain On Porn about the brain changes that happen
00:35:05 Myles Davidson: Yes, its a book… Your Brain on Porn: Internet Pornography and the Emerging Science of Addiction
https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B00N2AH8NW?ref_=mr_referred_us_au_nz
00:43:58 Myles Davidson: John Cassian does a good job of outlining the difference between abstinence and chastity (Conference 12)
00:49:41 Forrest Cavalier: If they are unrepentant in a state of mortal sin, the attempt to be married will fail.
00:55:26 Anna Lalonde: Yes! I don't wear makeup because I feel the same way.
00:57:28 Anthony: Someone on substance wrote an article that dressing to be titillating is a way to exert power over others and is socially worse than pornography which often is in red light areas.
00:57:48 Anthony: Substance. Sorry. :)
00:57:56 Anthony: Substack
00:57:58 Myles Davidson: Substack?
01:07:32 Anna Lalonde: When is a thought a sin? My child asks.
01:12:21 Anthony: There's got to be an "easier" way to approach this. God wouldn't make us to be so easily manipulated without help ready at hand; God wouldn't make us so that we understand the value of chastity only after experiencing sin in thought word and deed.
01:17:17 Anthony: I wasn't being facetious.
01:20:53 Cameron Jackson: Evil is real. Warfare is not really a metaphor.
01:27:15 Myles Davidson: Replying to "202501131635300000.jpg"
That’s a beautiful book! Where did you get that?
01:27:39 Nikki: Wonderful teaching
01:30:59 Anna Lalonde: Replying to "[Full message cannot be displayed on this version]" 
 What's the book link? I got kicked out
01:32:37 Lilly: Sorry I didnt hear. No class Wed?
01:32:40 MOME hermits: Thank you dear Father :)!
01:32:44 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You it always a Blessing every time we gather
01:32:48 Cameron Jackson: Thank you Father!
01:33:25 Suzanne Romano: Pax!
01:33:27 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
01:33:33 Dave Warner | AL: Thank you Father!
01:33:47 Troy Amaro: Thank You Father
01:33:48 Simon Greener: Thank you for my first session from down under.

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Appendix "To The Shepherd", Part VI

One of the reasons that I’ve decided to prolong our study by reading this letter of St. John Climacus is that it speaks to our hearts about not only our interior life, the struggle with the passions and the growth of the virtues, but it also exhorts us - warning us that the care of others in love, our concern for their spiritual well-being trumps all things. In other words, our spiritual life cannot lead us to become self focused. Rather, it is meant to create hearts that are selfless and attentive to others and their needs. 
What St John says about the care of souls and the responsibilities of spiritual elders he says to all of us. The consolation that we have received from Christ and the wisdom that he has bestowed upon us in our spiritual life and through experience is not our own possession. We seek to console as we have been consoled. We seek to protect as we have been protected by the grace of God and the guidance that we have received at the hands of others. The Church is not a business nor is it to function like one. We come to Church and receive the Sacrament not to “take something” for ourselves. We are drawn into the very life of the Holy Trinity and our “Amen” when receiving this gift means that we are saying “so be it” - let this be the reality in my life!  Like the good Shepherd, I will lay down my life for the good of others.
We can never set aside our identity to fit in with society, any more than a spiritual elder can set aside his responsibility and his role of guiding and forming others. Therefore, this letter we are reading is not simply a pious exhortation but rather a call to revolution; that is, a call to radical repentance. We must turn to God in every way in order that by His grace we might love others as He has loved us.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:04:54 susan: asking prayers for my son peter and 16 week pregnant wife in la brea la below fires.
00:11:19 Rebecca Thérèse: Reacted to "asking prayers for m..." with 🙏
00:20:42 David: Having lived in Latin America for 12 years. Another notable difference is the priest often goes and meets everyone in the parish. I do think a lot of vacation days and shorter work hours help community as well.
00:25:21 Myles Davidson: The Protestant work ‘ethic’ has a lot to answer for
00:25:40 Wayne: Reacted to "The Protestant work ..." with 👍
00:25:50 David: Work to live not live to work is the saying in Spanish
00:25:56 Anthony: For the change in culture, see A History of the Protestant Reformation in England and Ireland by Cobbett.
00:26:16 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "Work to live not liv..." with 👍
00:31:30 Bob Cihak, AZ: Re: priests and visiting their flock: Our Ruthenian church, at least in the wester USA Phoenix eparchy, has a strong tradition of annual House Blessings, (at least in the 3 out of about 20 Parishes that we know well) which does get the priest visiting parishioners, including a Gomez family here in CA. The family has 14 children and many grandchildren. The house was full AND they hosted a very good dinner for the family and the priest's family (my wife and me).
00:35:26 David: When I grew up near Lake Superior every house had a BMC and two crosses put on each door jam by the priest but that was Franciscans
00:35:38 Una: How can a priest balance his need for friendship with being a pastor. If the friend elects to go to confession to another priest, isn't that perhaps preferable. Especially if the person can find another good priest?
00:36:50 Myles Davidson: Our priest is doing house blessings as we speak
00:43:01 Kelli: PRIDE
00:45:06 David: A nice way to handle that is great question how can we find the truth and then delegate yourself and others to come back with different things.00:50:08 David: Leaders at least in business are best chosen by those who people follow not appointed.
00:53:56 David: Does some of that be the secular take and separation of church and state? It almost seems like there is tolerance or opinions about everything but values based on faith sometimes. When one decides when human life begins there is faith on both sides.
00:55:43 David: I am just wondering if a lot of the difference it based on secular beliefs
00:56:21 David: We act one way in church and are pressured to relativism in the world.
01:04:10 Lyle: Amen, Father.
01:04:34 David: Mmm monetizing BINGO or spiritual direction great point
01:11:38 Lyle: The Holy Spirit can do it!
01:12:04 Maureen Cunningham: Church in Egypt and Middle East is being persecuted
01:12:35 Myles Davidson: The growing interest in the desert fathers in the Church is going to change it in a dramatic way eventually I think
01:13:13 Anna Lalonde: Holy Spirit was moving in you. Don't apologize.
01:14:02 Bob Cihak, AZ: Replying to "Holy Spirit was movi..."
Preach it, Father!!!
01:14:10 Bob Cihak, AZ: Reacted to "Holy Spirit was movi..." with 👍
01:14:15 ANDREW ADAMS: Reacted to "Holy Spirit was movi..." with 👍
01:14:27 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "Preach it, Father!!!" with 🔥
01:15:05 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You Father and everyone such a Blessing
01:15:14 ANDREW ADAMS: Thank you, Father!
01:15:16 Suzanne Romano: Pax Vobiscum!
01:15:17 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
01:15:20 Deiren Masterson: Thank you Father
01:15:21 David: Thank you father God bless
01:15:35 Cindy Moran: Thank you@

The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XXVI, Part IV

The human appetites and desires are ever so powerful. This we know from experience.  Reflecting upon them through the lens of the ascetic life of the desert fathers shows us the scope and the depth of these realities and how they affect our lives. 
The spiritual and psychological astuteness of the desert fathers is unparalleled, but we must read their writings in a discerning fashion. We do not want to overgeneralize certain aspects of their teaching and so develop a negative anthropology; a kind of hatred for the body and its’ natural desires. Indeed there are many stories where certain desert fathers fell into great extremes; making themselves ill or placing themselves in grave danger.
The desert fathers had to learn as we do through experience how to approach these desires and to be clear about what they were truly seeking. The goal is purity of heart; a capacity to love and to give ourselves in love freely and without objectifying the other. Understood in this fashion, purity of heart and chastity should increase our capacity to love. It is not a restriction of our freedom but rather a state of being unfettered by our own desire for satisfaction and pleasure. The human heart can be a treacherous thing and at times can lead us along a path of self-destruction even when that path seems to promise the satisfaction of our hearts’ deepest longing. What the fathers came to understand through experience is that Grace alone can bring the healing that we desire and that Divine Eros is what overcomes disordered Eros. The Love of God dwelling within us opens up a path to the fulfillment of life. It is not control that we seek in the ascetic life but transformation; specifically transformation “in Christ.”
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:09:34 Forrest Cavalier: Snowfall in inches in Pittsburgh by season.
00:10:09 Forrest Cavalier: Data from https://www.weather.gov/media/pbz/records/hissnow.pdf
00:10:44 Una: Why do we live in these environs?
00:20:05 Lilly: What page number?
00:20:36 Lori Hatala: 192
00:20:37 Wayne: 192
00:21:03 Lilly: Reacted to "192" with 👍
00:21:06 Lilly: Reacted to "192" with 👍
00:21:37 Una: At last, a woman's experience!
00:36:01 Una: When I'm deep in stillnes, I can see (to some degree) but when I engage with the world, I find it easy to doubt what I've seen
00:36:13 Una: and believed
00:36:16 Personal phone: I often find when I’m trying to exercise discipline (like fasting) on far too many occasions I find myself getting “hangry” and thus an certain I’d be far better to break my fast less than giving into my hanger and exposing that to others
00:36:47 Nikki: What would he have changed to continue clinging to God if it were suggested he lessen his prayer life, fasting, etc?
00:36:54 Una: I suspect this is part of the spiritual battle too and that transitions are important to be guarded
00:38:27 Anthony: As an FYI incase someone distrusts the heart too much:  I've run into the opposite error regarding the human heart....the error that says it is so untrustworthy and "totally depraved" that you can't trust anything in your self.  I learned it at a formative age, and it's hard to get rid of that error.
00:40:16 Personal phone: Reacted to "I often find when I’…" with ❤️
00:45:34 Una: That comment was a continuation of a previous comment from me
00:46:39 Una: Reacted to "As an FYI incase s..." with ❤️
00:54:10 Nikki: It is natural that the human body has these feelings of arousal, in order for humans to reproduce. What is it the monks here are wanting to achieve? Being able to shut down these hormonal responses in the body? I ask also because this occurs without demonic influence.
00:54:12 Anthony: On this topic of purity, I learned from "The Cave of Treasures" attributed to St Ephrem that the Flood came due to massive fornication.
01:01:02 Lilly: Other than Theology of the Body, are there other sources we can read about this topic?
01:02:13 Lilly: I find it a bit too confusing and romanticized
01:02:26 Judith: Reacted to "I find it a bit too ..." with 👍
01:05:13 Lilly: Like this young monk who didn't have knowledge of his normal bodily functions, how are future-parents supposed to teach their children properly? I don't see myself using Theology of the body as a main source
01:05:48 Anthony: Reacted to Like this young monk... with "👍"
01:08:49 Anthony: Then it looks like the primary teaching should be on the Will: it's formation, inclination,  weaknesses and deliberation to do bad or good.
01:09:50 Anthony: Ok. Thank you.
01:14:11 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You   Blessing
01:14:19 Personal phone: 6 days! I’d super hangry!
01:15:03 Nikki: Thank you
01:15:09 Suzanne Romano: God bless everyone!
01:15:12 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
01:15:21 Aric B: Thank you Father!

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Appendix "To The Shepherd", Part V

As we read this letter we slowly begin to see that St. John is not presenting his reader with a manual for spiritual direction; that is, specific counsels in regard to practices and disciplines. St. John’s astute psychological observations and his capacity for discernment reveals a heart that has been transformed by love. Contrary to the old adage love is NOT blind. Love, in fact, sees all things with greater clarity. 
One of the things that we struggle with in our day is a tendency to dissect certain realities (as well as personalities) in order that we might see ourselves as understanding them or being able to control them. The desert fathers, however, never allow us to lose sight of the mystery of the human person or the relationship that is at the heart of Christianity. A human person is not the sum of their actions or their opinions any more than God can be reduced to the teachings of the catechism. Love draws us in to the mystery of God and also allows us to see the presence of God in the other. If any Christian, let alone any elder, loses sight of this then our interactions with others are going to become grossly distorted and our view of God myopic. Love must shape our hearts and expand them to the dimensions of God himself. 
This may seem to be an absurdity and yet it is the reality that has been revealed to us. God has become man in order that man might become God. Our Lord assumes all that there is in the human experience - our sin, sorrow, failure, weakness and death. He embraces all in order that we might never be in isolation and that his presence within us might also be a source of radical healing. The miracles in the gospel merely show us the desire of God to remove every obstacle in our experience of His life. 
Therefore, an elder must have experiential knowledge of this Love; especially how it touches the woundedness of our sin and our experience of hopelessness and isolation. The elder must become that love so as to enter into the sufferings of those who come to him. Whatever guidance he offers, whatever correction he makes, must be rooted in a love that is curative and that seeks to raise up the other. Only one who has encountered the wonder of such Divine Love has the capacity to enter into and take upon himself the vulnerability of the other. In this sense, the spiritual elder and his role cannot be seen outside of his relationship with Christ; for it is only the love of Christ that can possibly bring healing to the human heart.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:04:47 Anna Lalonde: What about them?
00:05:37 Anna Lalonde: I'm in GA. Where are they?
00:15:30 Anna Lalonde: We finally got both books for family gift and we're ordering four volumes too.
00:27:58 Myles Davidson: I know someone who has never owned a computer and goes to the library to use the internet, due to his fear of what it might lead to
00:30:22 Anna Lalonde: We experienced a family friendship break and after saw how we fell into sin or lessened our way of life. Such an awakening experience.
00:31:49 Lyle: His fear may be VERY warranted.  How often does the devil DIRECTLY attack us?  His friend may view something that “appears” very innocent, but it may lead to something very evil.
00:38:04 Anna Lalonde: My sister is a missionary of charity. Love her letters home on guidance to family.
00:42:06 Lyle: A word of ecouragement from a recovering ADDICT.
00:42:23 Andres Oropeza: St. Theophane wrote that we should picture a lazy man sitting in his room. His house is on fire but you wouldn’t tell him it’s fire, you would let him see the flames. Then he would be roused to look for a way out; an open door, a window. He said the Holy Spirit does this for us. Maybe we can do this for others too, patiently and lovingly help them to see that their way of life is harmful and were it inevitably leads. Though often times I think we wouldn’t try to escape even once we realize our house is on fire. I’ve experienced this myself!
00:42:33 Lyle: Avoid ANYTHING that appears "questionable".
00:43:58 Lyle: Myles' friend.
01:04:51 David: We often sit back and hope for miracles but all these verbs the Lord uses requiere us to be doing things first before the remedy can be found-“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
01:09:03 Suzanne Romano: A great confessor I had always used to say, "There's a time for every grace."
01:13:32 MOME hermits: Thank you Fr. David, Blessed Solemnity of Mary and New Year :)!
01:13:40 MOME hermits: Fr. Charbel
01:13:46 Joanne Martinez: Thank you!
01:13:53 Suzanne Romano: Thank you!
01:13:57 Aric B: Thank you Father!
01:13:58 David: Have a blessed 2025! Thank you father
01:14:03 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you. Happy New Year everyone🙂

The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XXVI, Part III

After many weeks of reading the hypotheses on fornication and the pursuit of purity of heart, what finally comes into focus is the fruit of the fathers’ experience in the struggle. What they discovered is that discipline, fasting, vigils, etc. are absolutely necessary. Yet these practices are not ends in themselves. They are to be a reflection of our desire for God and our seeking in love our soul’s Beloved. 
Desire is what gives us the capacity to love and give ourselves in love. In it we sense a lack that only God can satisfy. Ascetic practice is not meant to be an act of contempt for our human nature, but rather an acknowledgment of the strength and the power of our natural desires. What is good can become disordered whenever there is an imbalance or lack of measure. Our natural desire, Eros, can only be transformed by Divine Eros. Therefore, it is only by grace that the passions can be overcome.  Our hearts must be filled with an urgent longing for God. 
Outside of the acknowledgment of the necessity of Grace, we become the most pitiable of all creatures. So long as we hold onto the illusion of overcoming the passions by raw grit, we will find ourselves returning to our sin or sinking into a much darker place of anger and pride. St. John Cassian tells us we must “base our courage not on our own power or on our asceticism, but in the aid of God, our Master”. When this takes place, even the deepest recesses of the unconscious can be healed and transformed. Likewise, the  countenance of the pure of heart begins to change; we begin to see the inner beauty that rest in the heart of one who loves and desires God wholly.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:04:03 Lori Hatala: reboot
00:12:17 Una: Problem with sound?
00:12:25 Una: Yes
00:13:01 Una: It's good now
00:13:08 Una: . Can hear you humming
00:16:33 Lilly: Do you know Fr Teodosy?
00:16:34 ANDREW ADAMS: My copy came today!
00:21:09 Una: What page? I'm lost
00:21:23 ANDREW ADAMS: 190
00:21:50 Una: Thanks
00:32:34 Lilly: Asking this question respectfully, if a Priest can’t cure his passion, would it be appropriate to take medicine to help ?
00:33:37 Lilly: Generally speaking, no specific medicatiob
00:33:42 Lilly: n*
00:37:28 Suzanne Romano: My experience has been that the grace of continence is given to those who use the means God gives, and is diligent in avoiding the occasions of sin.
00:48:38 Anthony: Life is like art. Each of us is a unique material: canvas, copper foil, paper, wood. Part of Christian life is learning what material we are and what techniques best bring out the beatific vision in the material we are.  The same image can be brought out uniquely in each different art.
00:52:24 Suzanne Romano: Father, may I ask a question that relates to the previous Hypotheses on gluttony? 
00:52:37 Forrest Cavalier: Elias in the earlier story did not mutilate, emasculate, or injure himself. By avoiding injury, keeping his masculinity intact, and building on nature, he returned to serve the convent in a very masculine and fatherly way for a long time. It would have been tragic if he deformed the gifts God had given him.
00:52:52 Myles Davidson: Is using caffeine during a night vigil cheating?
00:54:22 Una: It can mess with your sleep when you do get to bed
00:54:59 Una: I used to write until 3 a.m. during my last novel.
00:56:09 Suzanne Romano: Father, may I ask a question that relates to the previous Hypotheses on gluttony? 
00:56:59 Suzanne Romano: Thank you. I can distill three principles from the readings: Eat once per day; stop eating before you are completely full; and never eat for the sheer sake of pleasure or comfort. If one takes up these three principles as a regular discipline, are there ever times when it is permissible to take something just for pleasure or comfort - say on Sundays or on Holidays - say, a dessert or a hot cocoa, etc?
00:59:25 Anthony: Haha
00:59:34 Carol Roper: Reacted to "Haha" with 👍
01:01:57 Adam Paige: Reacted to "Haha" with 🍝
01:02:12 Suzanne Romano: Reacted to Haha with "🍝"
01:06:02 Rebecca Thérèse: Psychologists think that impulse control is a good thing in areas where it suits them!
01:06:03 Maureen Cunningham: Maybe  it just a season when a person get rid of fleshly desires
01:06:37 Maureen Cunningham: Not forever  maybe  a Season
01:10:22 Una: I think in Cassian's Conferences, he talks about how you spend your day will be reflected in your nighttime dreams. For example, if you aren't occupied with God during the day, you will have these troubling dreams
01:10:32 Bob Cihak, AZ: I'm 84 and finally started "settling down" several years ago.
01:10:36 Myles Davidson: Conference 12
01:10:53 Adam Paige: Reacted to "I'm 84 and finally s..." with 😇
01:11:00 Una: Thanks, Myles!
01:11:09 Myles Davidson: Interestingly the 19th C. translation refused to translate this conference
01:11:26 Myles Davidson: Too spicy for them
01:11:34 Wayne: Replying to "I think in Cassian's..."
Good point, thanks for this observation.
01:14:20 Una: Another mystical operation!
01:14:33 Una: How can we understand these?
01:21:40 Wayne: YOU might find the movies on You Tube
01:21:56 Myles Davidson: Replying to "YOU might find the m..."
Yes its there
01:22:17 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you. Happy New Year everyone.🙂
01:22:23 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You Father  Lords Blessing In the  New Year
01:22:26 MOME hermits: Thank you Fr. David!
01:23:09 ANDREW ADAMS: Thank you, Father!
01:23:12 Suzanne Romano: Great meeting! Thanks!

The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XXVI, Part II

How do we approach in our own lives the interior struggle for purity of heart, chastity? The battle, as we see in the writings of the fathers can be incredibly fierce. Part of this intense struggle is that that it is the human condition: sexuality and sensuality are part of what it is to be a human being. Furthermore, as we are in a constant state of receptivity through our senses, there are so many things that can stimulate the desires associated with this appetite. 
We also know that we can be lazy about understanding this reality of human life and equally lazy in the spiritual life in seeking the grace  and wisdom of God to order our desires towards that which is holy. Furthermore, our struggle is also with principalities and powers. The fathers teach us that the demons are provoked by envy when they see an individual growing in holiness. Therefore, they will terrorize an individual by placing images and fantasies before them. 
On an emotional and spiritual level, this often gives rise to a terrible sense of shame, casting the soul into despondency and despair. As a person struggles with this passion, the sense of vulnerability is great precisely because it is such a deep part of who we are as human beings. The demons use that sense of shame to their advantage. The mere presence of thoughts tied to this passion frustrate the soul and fragment the mind. The demons will also use the shame to manipulate the way that we respond to the struggle; they will seek to make us a demonize human desire and sexuality in order that we might repress it in such a way that it distorts our perception of reality. They do so to keep our focus off of God and his grace.  If they can keep us in despair and make us believe that God is disappointed with us, then they have won the battle. If we ignore them and turn the mind and the heart to God in prayer and rest in his grace then we are not only freed of their temptations, but experience the peace of the kingdom. 
In an uncanny way, the fathers saw and understood all of this through experience; many after 40 years of struggling came to experience freedom only through their abandonment to God and his mercy. It is then, when humbled in mind and body, that they were consoled. Having received such a gift, it then became their responsibility to console others in this delicate yet fierce struggle.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:15:28 Rachel: Hi
00:15:42 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 188, Mid-page "From the Same Author"
00:18:05 Bob Cihak, AZ: Thanks. "Fornication" = lust as well as physical actions or interactions. if I understand correctly?
00:41:34 Forrest Cavalier: The first two accounts in this hypothesis are warning to even those who do not struggle with the intensity of this kind of temptation. Those who are unmolested are not safe by their own efforts only. God's grace is at work.
00:41:54 Rachel: I find it interesting that we can be more comfortable with admitting anger, envy, ambition and other forms of pride into the heart yet are filled with shame for temptations against purity. Do you think that other sins such as anger cease with the grace of purity of heart?
00:56:18 Rachel: Thank you. You touched upon how we see each other thank you
00:58:01 Una: I did an article years ago for the National Catholic Register about the dismal record of marriages breaking apart when the couple had been living together. Stats were very bad.
01:00:42 Vanessa: Exactly why I homeschool:)
01:03:35 MOME hermits: You are so right on with all of that Fr. David. We love your balance in it all.
01:03:58 Vanessa: Reacted to "You are so right on ..." with ❤️
01:05:31 MOME hermits: Yes, to help facilitate the person going where they need to, to hear from God within.
01:14:10 Phil: Father, could you kindly attempt to reconcile the type of vexation that a saint like Padre Pio experienced, with the quote form Jesus in the gospels, where he says, "...my yolk is easy, my burdern is light." Thank you!
01:15:12 Rachel: Not just making a fool out of ourselves by defending our own honor but losing our very Life, christ Himself
01:23:07 Rachel: Thank you
01:23:08 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you 🙂 Happy Christmas everyone 🎄
01:23:21 Troy Amaro: Thank You Father

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Appendix "To The Shepherd", Part IV

As one moves along through this text, one begins to understand that St. John Climacus is not only addressing elders but all those who have the care of souls. Fundamentally this is every Christian!There is no radical individualism in our faith, nor do we see ourselves disconnected from the sins of others and the burdens they bear. Love, compels us to be attentive to the other; not in a condescending fashion, but attending to them with the tenderness and compassion that we have received from Christ. Our Lord is the archetype for us and the consolation that we receive from his hand we are to offer to others freely.
The fundamental virtues of an elder are humility and obedience; that is, truthful living and the capacity to listen. How can one serve others when there is any focus on the self or when they are still in the grip of the passions? There is  nothing so unseemly as an angry elder - one who looks at others with a harsh eye or is always quick to investigate trifling sins. The elder must be driven by love that makes him ever vigilant and watchful of those things that can be obstacles to the spiritual development of those in his care. He cannot be lax in fulfilling this responsibility or timid and cowardly in offering correction. He must be willing to offer counsel even when there is no thirst for understanding. 
One begins to understand that such a responsibility is carried out with fear and trembling. The care of souls carries within it the Cross; it is crucified love that guides the elder and gives light to his path.  He is never a passive observer, but one who like Christ looks out and acknowledges the crowds as being sheep without a shepherd; in fact, as sheep already mauled by the wolves and in desperate need of healing. Thus, the capacity to care for others in this fashion is not something that can be set aside; nor can the abilities that God has given to an elder be buried in the ground with drawing down His wrath.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:09:34 Una: Does Father send out handouts in email?
00:10:08 Una: Could I get one at Una.McManus@gmail.com?
00:10:25 Adam Paige: https://mcusercontent.com/c38acab568d650f7ef65f39df/files/22eb6d8c-a2f9-1ed8-1270-b5bcd86c22f6/To_the_Shepherd.01.pdf
00:10:31 Una: Thank you
00:10:43 Adam Paige: Reacted to "Thank you" with 👍
00:12:22 Una: Yes for me on New Year DAy
00:12:26 Sam: Greetings from Hot 🔥 Australia Fr
00:12:39 Adam Paige: Reacted to "Greetings from Hot ..." with 🇦🇺
00:18:01 paul g.: Amen
00:21:55 Bob Cihak, AZ: Amen, Amen!
00:33:54 Mary Clare Wax: Fr. it is so refreshing listening to you. We love your contemplative spirit and your love for the desert father teachings. Thank you. We appreciate your present sharing on the priesthood. So true.
00:34:22 susan: Amen
00:36:20 Bob Cihak, AZ: Reacted to "Fr. it is so refresh..." with 👍
00:37:22 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "Fr. it is so refresh..." with 👍
00:38:31 Andres Oropeza: Is it always pride when you have trouble trusting your spiritual Father because of his manner of life or that of his monks? I feel like I’m judging him/them but I also have serious misgivings. Could it be just a test of obedience where the Lord wants me to obey even with the misgivings, to have faith before understanding ?
00:41:56 Bob Cihak, AZ: As the fathers and you say, the wisdom required to be a spiritual leader is learned from and with experience, not just book learning, which usually required a lot of time.
00:43:08 MOME hermits: I (sr charista maria) believe Mary's special presence in our times helps to make up for what is lacking in the priesthood today, when we have a special relationship with her.
00:49:32 David: The orthodox later republished that as Unseen Warfare by Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain and Theophan the Recluse
00:49:47 Kate : Father, could you address what to do when one experiences a spiritual father who is not mentally healthy and whose guidance not sound?  In this case, I would think that one must pay attention to their misgivings.  We lived through this and sadly witnessed much damage done to souls.
00:50:24 Maureen Cunningham: Christ was betrayed
01:14:07 Victor - WV: Thanks to all, to Father as well. Merry Christmas! 🎄 🙏🏼
01:14:26 Bob Cihak, AZ: Reacted to "Thanks to all, to Fa..." with 👍
01:14:47 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "Thanks to all, to Fa..." with 👍
01:16:02 Laura: Reacted to "Thanks to all, to Fa..." with 🎄
01:16:17 Adam Paige: Reacted to "Thanks to all, to Fa..." with 🎄
01:20:00 Andres Oropeza: I think it was in this book where it describes the spiritual father being like Moses stretching his arms out so his child can pass through the sea unharmed. Beautiful image Off topic, but does it make a bad confession if you feel like you should’ve confessed to your spiritual father that you judged him specifically (vs just judging people) but didn’t because of anxiety ?
01:23:26 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You
01:23:28 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂Happy Christmas everyone🎄
01:23:29 David: Thank you Father and God Bless you and your mother! Merry Christmas! As we celebrate his birth may he be reborn anew in our hearts.
01:24:17 ANDREW ADAMS: Thank you, Father!
01:24:27 Rachel: Thank you father
01:24:28 Deiren Masterson: Thank you Father.
01:24:36 liz sabath: Thank you Father!!
01:24:37 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: BleSSED Christmas~

The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XXV, Part VI and XXVI, Part I

Once again, we find ourselves in the midst of the laboratory of the desert and watching the Fathers’ struggle with the passions, in particular the passion of fornication or lust. The beauty in this, of course, is that we are placed in the privileged position of seeing their struggle from the inside; dealing with both the passion and also learning how to engage in the ascetic life in a measured fashion.
It is made clear that we are to struggle with our whole being and to be fully engaged in the battle. On a physical level, this means restraining our appetites. We hear that the monks understood that they must not give themselves over to satiation in regard to bodily appetites. They must humble the mind and body in order that they might cling more to God in their prayer and trust in his grace. This meant, of course, the experience of privation; but it also opened them up to the richness of the interior life and the depth of prayer. Therefore, it was not just an act of endurance but also an expression of hope in God and his promises. More importantly we might say it is an expression of love. We are willing to make great sacrifices for the things that we hold to be precious. When we love God and the things of God, when we love virtue and prayer, we will do all in our power to attain it and maintain it.
With hypothesis 26, we begin to see the fruit of their long experience in the ascetic life. They could see that they often emphasized the wrong thing in the spiritual battle or became unmeasured in their disciplines to the point of losing sight of God. One can become so fixated on overcoming a particular passion or fighting with the thoughts of the demons, that they fall into pride by failing to emphasize the one thing alone that can overcome the demons, as well as draw the natural into the supernatural; that is, the grace of God. To say that Christianity is an ascetical religion is not to say that the discipline of such a life and the exercise of our faith is an end in itself. The end of our striving is love and and theosis – intimacy, union, with the triune God.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:08:09 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 184, # 12
00:13:00 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 184, # 12
00:21:05 Adam Paige: “A clear rule for self-control handed down by the Fathers is this: stop eating while still hungry and do not continue until you are satisfied.” - St John Cassian, On the Eight Vices
00:21:43 paul g.: Reacted to "“A clear rule for se…" with ✔️
00:21:47 Bob Cihak, AZ: Thanks, Adam.
00:21:50 paul g.: Reacted to "P. 184, # 12" with ✔️
00:21:52 Phil: Modern medicine also says humans need 12 serving of carbs a day and half as much dairy. Bless their heart, they are trying! ... "Lord forgive them, for they know not what they do!"
00:23:30 Myles Davidson: Because people need differing amounts of sleep or food, what would you say is the thing we should be looking out for, to know we are getting the right amounts of both. Is it a clarity of mind and attention in prayer? Anything else?
00:26:16 Adam Paige: Reacted to "Thanks, Adam." with 👍
00:28:49 Andres Oropeza: Is it always a bad thing to derive comfort from food? I mean a hot meal is preferable to a cold one during winter especially. Or a hot drink really sets you at ease after being outside in the cold. Should we shun the comfort and just eat cold meals and drink cold drinks (or hot if the drink isn’t good hot). Or is the comfort only an issue when it becomes the point of eating?
00:30:48 Myles Davidson: There have been plenty of studies done on rats that reducing caloric intake extends life.
00:31:21 Adam Paige: “Stand at the brink of despair, and when you see that you cannot bear it anymore, draw back a little, and have a cup of tea.” - Saint Sophrony Sakharov
00:36:03 Carol Roper: it seems like the issue is longing. to what do we direct our longing. Advent strikes me as a season of longing.
00:40:16 Myles Davidson: @Phil What was the name of that Elder with the stages of the Jesus Prayer
00:40:37 Adam Paige: @Phil What was the name of that Elder with the stages of the Jesus Prayer Father Archimandrite Ilie Cleopa
00:40:42 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "@Phil What was the n..." with 🙏
00:44:04 Liz D: Reacted to "it seems like the ..." with ❤️
00:48:09 Phil: Yea, Ramana died in middle age, but his extreme fasting (starting in his teenage years) does seem to have shortened his life.
00:49:12 Phil: Replying to "@Phil What was the n..." 
 Yes, I believe that is him!
00:49:38 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "Yes, I believe that ..." with 👍
00:50:26 Phil: Yes, there are at least a half dozen videos on YouTube of Cleopa himself giving spiritual advice.
00:50:58 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "Yes, there are at le..." with 👍
01:03:20 Adam Paige: The Struggle with God - Paul Evdokimov (PDF) https://jbburnett.com/resources/evdokimov_strugglewGod1966.pdf
01:03:24 Phil: "The mystics are a law unto themselves." Fr. Anthony De Mello.
01:03:56 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "The Struggle with Go..." with 👍
01:06:07 Adam Paige: “It behooves us as well to destroy the sinners in our land-namely, our fleshly feelings-on the morning of their birth, as they emerge, and, while they are still young, to dash the children of Babylon against the rock. Unless they are killed at a very tender age they will, with our acquiescence, rise up to our harm as stronger adults, and they will certainly not be overcome without great pain and effort.” St John Cassian, The Institutes (6th Book: The Spirit of Fornication)
01:16:51 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You Father
01:17:15 Phil: LOL, that's great! Thank you, Father.
01:18:05 ANDREW ADAMS: Thank you, Father!
01:18:08 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
01:18:13 Aric B: Thank you Father!

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Appendix "To The Shepherd", Part III

Sometimes during a group it is as if a light comes on that illuminates some aspect of life in a magnificent fashion and that speaks to each person in the group whatever their background or station in life. This was true in particular this evening as we continued to discuss St. John’s writing “To the Shepherd” on the responsibilities of a spiritual elder. As we made our way through the text, it became clear that St. John’s teaching about the care of souls applies to all of those who are responsible for the formation of others; not only priests or religious, but also parents, teachers, friends, etc. 
Not one of us is free from the charge of the salvation of others; aiding them through our prayers, taking opportune moments to clarify their understanding of the faith, being living witnesses of the gospel and the love of the cross. All of us have the responsibility of seeking purity of heart and freedom from the passions in order that we might be able to discern with clarity and humility the needs of those around us. Lacking this, St. John tells us, we undermine our capacity to be well disposed and compassionate to each individual for whom we are responsible or who enters our life. How is it that we can serve others if we cannot discern good from evil and everything in between?
In fact, St. John tells us it is a great disgrace for a superior to pray for or hold forward spiritual gifts to others that he himself is not acquired. How is it that he can faithfully guide others to God and to become partakers of the glory of God if he has no understanding of this within his own heart. Experience is the truest teacher and if the superior lacks that experience, he may only bring harm to others.
Those who are spiritual elders, fathers, or mothers, must not be tempted to set aside this role in order to enjoy worldly friendship with those in their charge. It can be a natural thing to want companionship and to some extent this can exist. However, if a familiarity develops between the superior and others, he may lose the capacity to guide and feel constrained to do the bidding of others; never to contradict them, refuse them, or correct them.
The elder must be pure of heart and able to understand the interior life and also the realities that sanctify us within the life of the church. The elder must be able to create a culture that forms a mind and heart directed toward God, the love of neighbor and the love of virtue. He must be able to discern the emotional capacity and maturity of others, so as not to push too hard and risk breaking their spirit or neglect giving counsel or correction of those who are quick witted and naturally gifted.
Such purity of heart alone allows the elder to perceive supernatural realities and to understand the struggles that individuals have with multiple demons. The elder must be able to cure passions thought by others to be incurable. In this sense, he must have truly put on the mind of Christ and be the most humble and obedient member of the community.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:14:02 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 251, # 14
 
00:19:16 carol_000: Is much known about the repentance of Joseph's brothers or God chastising them for their treatment of Joseph
 
00:26:27 David: I think this is a big problem also in families. My oldest son felt I was often to hard on him. Now that he is 27 he has mentioned several times that I was the only one that loved him and was always there. It is really hard but being a father is different than being a friend only there to enjoy the good times and not try to guide someone to what has value.
 
00:28:48 Art: Reacted to "I think this is a bi..." with 👍
 
00:28:52 Catherine Eisenbrandt: Father when you are entrusted to forming children it is easy to understand friendship with angels and saints is beneficial for them but how can you explain that to a child who is suffering from isolation
 
00:29:17 David: Well from 15-22 we are idiots but we get smarter and as time goes on even seen as wise. ha ha
 
00:35:31 Anthony: The cultivation of religious imagination must be cultivated so as to distinguish this "friendship" from "imaginary friend" or a dialogue in the mind with oneself.
 
00:36:38 Carol Roper: My 10 year old loves those books
 
00:37:27 Carol Roper: They’re like graphic novels
 
00:37:34 David: One nice tradtion with small t is in Spain where you celebrate "Tu Santo" or your saints day with the same passion as a birthday. Cake, read the life etc. I did this with my kids when they were younger and it makes an impact later.
 
00:38:36 David: The saints let the light of God enter into our life and saints through the windows.
 
00:39:15 Una: Who is this author?
 
00:39:54 Myles Davidson: Replying to "Who is this author?"
 
https://creativeorthodox.com/
 
00:40:10 Una: Thank you
 
00:41:43 Art: https://www.themerrybeggars.com/shows/the-saints 
The Saints: Adventures of Faith and Courage
A daily podcast bringing the Saints to life with award-winning actors, writers, and sound designers.
Thrilling and inspiring stories to ignite your family's faith. Intended for children but I really enjoy them too.  My sons really enjoyed the episode on Moses the Black.
 
00:42:10 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "https://www.themerry..." with 👍
 
00:42:11 Anna Lalonde: That's what we do!
 
00:43:27 David: This is nice at bed time for kids or better to read with your own voice. LibriVox
 
00:43:44 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "https://www.themerry..." with 👍🏼
 
00:44:07 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "This is nice at bed ..." with 👍🏼
 
00:45:07 carol_000: Thank you All for the Links
 
00:45:52 Art: Reacted to "This is nice at bed ..." with 👍🏼
 
00:46:07 Anna Lalonde: Reacted to This is nice at bed ... with "👍🏼"
 
00:46:20 Anna Lalonde: Thank you David!
 
00:49:43 Anthony: Mass media kills imagination and familyblife
 
00:50:28 David: The way of the Pilgrim really impacted me and how this moves the orthodox both to the divine liturgy and the Philokalhia. Where in the west se send people to St. Thomas before they can really understand it. I like the hospital of the sick how do I deal with all the 8 evil thoughts not intellectual gymnastics and memorizing proofs. As least I have always struggled with discernment I don't get a lot of that from intellect but focusing on being close to God. When I taught a mentor said: don't teach them to memorize you only need to teach "the love of learning" and learning will follow. I think the same is true for faith- learn to love God the other things fall into place.
 
00:53:37 Myles Davidson: Replying to "The way of the Pilgr..."
 
Way of the Pilgrim had a big impact on me too
 
00:53:48 Carol Roper: Reacted to "https://www.themerry…" with 👍
 
00:53:58 Carol Roper: Reacted to "This is nice at bed …" with 👍🏼
 
00:54:03 David: Replying to "The way of the Pilgr..."
 
👍 I thought it was just me. Thanks
 
00:54:16 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "👍 I thought it was ..." with 👍
 
00:54:55 Myles Davidson: Replying to "The way of the Pilgr..."
 
@David Inspired me to pray the Jesus prayer to a much greater degree
 
00:55:45 Anna Lalonde: Yes, love of learning is what we do. My children are into all kinds of things now because they love learning.
 
00:55:54 David: Replying to "The way of the Pilgr..."
 
Me too I always carry a prayer rope with me now
 
00:56:15 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "Me too I always carr..." with 👍
 
00:56:44 David: Replying to "The way of the Pilgr..."
 
Instead of wasting time I can dedicate that time to God. Waiting at a Dr. office with my Dad, stuck in traffic
 
00:56:59 Myles Davidson: Replying to "The way of the Pilgr..."
 
@David Yes, me too
 
00:57:29 David: Replying to "The way of the Pilgr..."
 
Thanks ! Nice to know there are at least two of us. ha ha
 
00:57:40 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "Thanks ! Nice to kno..." with 🙏
 
00:59:17 Anthony: The Holy Trinity is subliminal. Most real & underlying reality. More real and more clear than "real life."
 
01:01:24 David: Replying to "Thank you David!"
 
My pleasure Anna I hope you find it helpful. I really struggled raising my kids alone with time
 
01:02:01 Vanessa: Reacted to "I think this is a bi..." with ❤️
 
01:04:13 Maureen Cunningham: How long was the early church . Hour or many hours
 
01:16:06 susan: physics break through   all atoms interacting/from beginning to end throughout all time/ action impacts all the atoms one way or another  gave me such a deeper understanding of Jesus liturgy Eucharist the actions of the Mass present to all time and how Jesus 2000 years ago can actually be Here in the Mass now  made liturgy real to me. Helps me to see Jesus real with me now (Jesus prayer)
 
01:16:11 Aric B: Regarding the subject of paragraph #17. I have been reading a book that is about us living with Christs mysteries as also our mysteries to be experienced throughout liturgy and the liturgical year.
 
01:19:11 David: It is not what we get out of the mass in entertainment but what we bring to the table of the Lord. I see this as a big difference and evangelical friends are often dumbstruck when I mention this. The book "The supper of the Lamb" has really helped many come home in my experience.
 
01:22:06 Victor - WV: Thank you, Father, & all.
 
01:22:20 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You Father &  everyone
 
01:22:33 Alexandra: Thank you Father. I'll pray for you
 
01:23:11 Cindy Moran: Great session tonight! Thank you, Father.
 
01:23:13 Jeff O.: Thank you Father! Great to be with you all.
 
01:23:15 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you 😊
 
01:23:18 Aric B: Thank you Father!
 
01:23:22 David: Thank you father and may God bless you and your mother!
 
01:23:35 carol_000: Thank you Father
 
01:23:42 Alexandra: Thank you everyone
 
01:24:41 David: God does not speak through one of us but all of us is what my Grandmother always said. Thank you Father for being our guide
 

The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XXV, Part V

We were taken very deep this evening; not only into our understanding of the passion of lust or fornication, but also deep into the human mind and heart and how they function. The anthropology of the Desert Fathers was astute and profound. Despite residing in the desert, far removed from converse with both men and women, they knew the nature of the human person very well. We are sexual beings; that is, our sexuality is part of the experience of ourselves within the reality of this world and in our relationships with others. We relate to others in and through our sexuality; not consciously but simply as part of the reality the shapes are perceptions. This in turn shapes are imagination and understanding - again in ways that we often do not perceive. 
The Fathers teach us to keep this in mind in regard to the spiritual struggles that we have surrounding our appetites, in particular sensuality. These natural human appetites are very powerful and shapes us in both conscious and unconscious ways. 
Furthermore, these realities are not unknown to the demons. They are relentless and crafty in how they try to divert the mind and the heart away from God. We were given a couple of interesting stories this evening about young boys who came to the monastery as children having never experienced or seen a woman. Yet, in both accounts, they find themselves either overwhelmed by the thoughts associated with this particular passion or having such thoughts manifest themselves in their dreams. 
How is this possible one might wonder? Well at least it tells us why we must be vigilant and watch all of the movements of our minds and our hearts and what we expose ourselves to on a day-to-day basis. But it also tells us that the influence can be far more subtle than we imagine, and that we can be moved simply by the natural desire itself or by demonic provocation. The demons through the words and actions of others, or through our subtle observations of the world around us, can influence the turn of our minds to the things that take hold of the are imagination. Of course, this can be completely benign. Yet it will be used against us in the spiritual battle. Therefore, if we wonder why the Fathers emphasize the necessity of such intense vigilance and the humbling of the mind and the body through prayer and fasting, we begin to see that it is because they had no superficial understanding of the human person. They understood this realities better than we do in our own day; the mystery of the human person, the forces at work within us, the contradictions that we bear within our own minds and how we can even be drawn to things that are clearly destructive. Therefore, in an unvarnished fashion, they make it clear to us that we must create a new habit of mind, a habit of virtue. Our hearts must become attached to the Lord and the Lord alone if we desire to know the holiness and freedom that he makes possible for us. What they speak of is beautiful beyond measure - a life caught up in the eternal love of Christ. Will we seek it out for ourselves?
---
Text of chat during the group:
 
00:01:40 Phil: Fr. who is the cloacked figure in the icon over your left shoulder?
 
00:02:21 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 183, # 9
 
00:03:39 Bob Cihak, AZ: “The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac
the Syrian, revised 2nd Edition” published by Holy Transfiguration Monastery, https://www.bostonmonks.com/product_info.php/products_id/635 .
 
00:05:03 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 183, # 9
 
00:17:05 Bob Cihak, AZ: “The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian, revised 2nd Edition” was published in 2011
 
00:19:13 Adam Paige: Reacted to "“The Ascetical Homil..." with 👍
 
00:28:32 Anthony: It could also be that these particular women were clandestinely visiting, and the child saw them in drowsiness. 
 
00:37:07 Lisa: Does a person need a spiritual director (or other such person) to help with the healing of the imagination and memories?  Or does the person simply ask the Lord in prayer?
 
00:51:27 Anthony: Well, even Heaven is not the final goal. It's a partway point to the more perfect cohabitation and collaboration with God and men. Like this, a monastic life isn't the resting place either.
 
01:05:35 Vanessa: Thank you, Father.
 
01:05:39 Maureen Cunningham: Thank you  Father
 
01:06:28 Troy Amaro: Thank You Father
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Appendix "To The Shepherd", Part II

We continued our reading and discussion of the treatment and cures that the spiritual father must understand for every malady that afflicts a person in the spiritual life. He must understand not only how to apply them but also the manner they are applied to each individual person with their unique needs. No person is the same and in the spiritual battle the elder must understand the subtle manifestations of spiritual illness and the manner in which various cures might be applied.
One of the most striking aspects of tonight’s discussion was on the capacity of the elder to be free from and endure nausea and to be able to untiringly strive to dispel the stench of vomit. Of course, St. John is speaking about sin itself and the willingness of the elder to enter into the darkness in which the other person finds himself; to descend into their hell and to endure the stench of sin itself. The capacity to do this comes through engaging in the spiritual battle throughout the course of one’s life and attending in obedience to the counsel of one’s own spiritual father. The lack of nausea and the ability to endure the stench of the vomit of sin comes from having long been immersed in it through one’s own struggles. Compassion is born in a powerful way through the experience of common trials. 
Beyond this, St. John tells that the shepherd must experience blessed dispassion. In other words, he must be free of the passions that would blind him and his ability to discern the particular needs of those in his care. This discernment allows the elder to illuminate the path that leads to repentance and so gives him the capacity to “resurrect every dead soul”.
This is the identity that every Christian soul should seek to embrace. While it’s true that not everyone is called to be a spiritual elder, every Christian by virtue of their baptism is called to the holiness described here and given the responsibility for the care of souls in their midst. We are responsible for the salvation and goodwill of those around us as much as we are responsible for our own.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:04:47 Anna Lalonde: Well my kids learned to walk up our hallway wall today so you up for that Father? 😄
 
00:08:41 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 250, # 12 halfway down "An ointment...."
 
00:10:11 Lori Hatala: https://gmail.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c38acab568d650f7ef65f39df&id=3f6ad96818&e=b6af48f1a0
 
00:10:52 Lori Hatala: link for To the Shephard pdf
 
00:11:18 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 250, # 12 halfway down "An ointment...."
 
00:25:47 Anna Lalonde: Anyone have a link for buying this version?
 
00:27:09 Bob Cihak, AZ: The current book is The Ladder of Divine Ascent by Saint John Climacus at https://www.bostonmonks.com/product_info.php/products_id/569 .
 
00:41:33 Anna Lalonde: Replying to "The current book is ..." 
 
 Thank you! Ordered
 
00:43:28 Bob Cihak, AZ: Replying to "The current book is ..."
 
Good! It's on the expensive side, but is well worth it; the quality of the book exceeds its price.
 
00:45:11 Anna Lalonde: In Roman Catholic there are Spiritual Director certificates. But I love using Desert Fathers for this aspect with my clients.
 
00:51:23 Anna Lalonde: I prefer Catholic Coaching versus Therapy because it's an integrative of the soul as the trauma is affecting the soul.
 
00:55:52 Myles Davidson: Jung had very high praise for the Catholic Mass and felt that Catholicism was the closest thing to psychotherapy Interestingly enough
 
00:58:20 David: There is a nice podcast by Fr. Joshua Macoul called "Healing the Unresolved" but I don't know what school he ascribes to but does mention the desert fathers sometimes.
 
01:01:35 David: In the presence of nothing, everything is revealed. Can't remember which desert father wrote this but it stuck in my head.
 
01:02:40 Kate : What about the role of the grace of priesthood in shepherding of souls?  I know there are some Catholic spiritual direction training programs that train laity to be spiritual directors.  But what about the grace of priesthood in leading souls?  Isn’t this something that cannot be “trained” so to speak?
 
01:07:05 Anna Lalonde: I agree Father! As a certified Catholic Coach and a Certified Catholic Spiritual Director. My living the ascetic life and domestic monastics while studying desert fathers is very great so I can serve souls.
 
01:07:08 David: Not a criticism but it seems with all the honey, coffee, handicrafts and items monasteries produce it might be better to offer spiritual direction and donations through patreon or something?  My old parish priest mentioned he did not have capacity to offer spiritual direction to all the young people we had in catechism.  There seems to be a great lack of this for most parishes.
 
01:07:49 Anna Lalonde: Agree David!
 
01:17:26 Phil: Thank you, Father and Victor, for your responses.
 
01:18:16 Céline: Thank you father God Bless you.
 
01:18:23 Victor - WV: Thank you!
 
01:19:23 Bob Cihak, AZ: Sometimes it's focus, not digression.
 
01:19:24 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father!
 
01:19:37 Jeff O.: Thank you!! Great to be with you all!
 
01:20:10 Aric Bukiri: Thank you Father!
 
01:20:11 David: Thank you Father. May God bless you and your mother!
 
01:20:17 Rachel: Thank you!
 

The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XXV, Part IV

We continued our reflection upon the fathers’ writing on fornication and the passion of lust. What becomes immediately clear is how much they prized this virtue and how important they saw it for the spiritual life as a whole. Purity of heart has always been connected, rightly wrongly, with purity on the level of sensuality. The fact that the fathers valued it so greatly also led them into a kind of fierce ascetic battle to attain it. At times they could fall into extremes and excess - leading to a weakening of the body almost to the point of death. They had to learn that the disciplining of the body through fasting, vigils and prayer is only part of the struggle. The more important element is relying upon the grace of God and trusting in him in the midst of the spiritual warfare.
One of the things that have made this battle with fornication so difficult is the shame that is often associated with it; not only with the physical act itself, but the relentless thoughts that often afflict an individual. This shame often creates an internal agitation and anxiety that makes a person more vulnerable to seeking immediate physical relief. Shame also has led asceticism to be used as a defense mechanism, causing many to repress the desires that they have rather than allowing them to be transformed by the grace of God and by a growing attachment to and love for him.  Inevitably such repression will break down and the same desires will manifest themselves in an even stronger fashion. It is for this reason that the demons become the greatest accuser of one who has fallen into this particular sin. He knows that if he can lead them into despair and get them to give up on the hope for healing, he will be able to dismantle their spiritual life.
Patience, endurance, the willingness to bear affliction without making concessions to the thoughts that afflict us – this is the path forward. Paired with clinging to the grace of God and the strength that comes through the holy sacraments, the disordered attachments begin to diminish. The fathers eventually discovered, as we have already seen, that it is important to avoid excess. If we are ruthless with ourselves, we can we can weaken ourselves not only physically, but also in terms of our resolve. Quite simply a person can grow so tired that they want to give up.
We must always keep before our eyes, then, the heavenly bridegroom and the understanding that we wage the spiritual warfare, not in isolation, but surrounded by all the angels in the Saints. And even if we are to fall every single day, St. John Climacus tells us, and yet turn to God in repentance our guardian angel looks upon us with joy. 
May God give us all not only the resolve to remain in the battle but an invincible hope in his grace and mercy.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:14:38 Cindy Moran: I studied 3 years with Dr Muto & Fr, Adrian
 
00:15:21 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 181, # 4
 
00:15:28 Anna Lalonde: I'm interested in Spiritual Formation if you can share
connections at some point.
 
00:15:39 Cindy Moran: ok!
 
00:32:08 santiagobua: We can start recieving after we bend the knee to the Lord, not before
 
00:32:55 Anna Lalonde: Humility and Holy Eucharist brings upon Chastity. Is that right?
 
00:33:54 Anthony: It would be helpful for a person in a moment of any moral suffering to distinguish actual sin from "spiritual warfare."
 
00:34:21 Anna Lalonde: Yes
 
00:58:42 Anthony: The image for me is a starfish opening a clam.  The clam tries as hard as it can to stay shut. The starfish wants to enter, and (I'm mixing metaphors), stick a knife in between the shells to cut off the victim from God and the land of the living.  That, for me, is the pure fear, of being cut off from hope and God.
 
01:08:53 Forrest Cavalier: This story #8 shows a wisdom in using the natural reactions of the physical body to abhor the sin for how deadly it is. It looks like good Pavlovian psychology.
 
01:11:55 Sheila: Salvation Army
 
01:14:09 Una: Is that Jack Sparks?
 
01:14:45 Una: Victory in the Unseen Warfare (red cover)
 
01:15:03 Una: Also Virtue in the Unseen Warfare (green cover)
 
01:15:09 Una: Fr. Jack Sparks
 
01:15:18 Rod Castillo: I’ve read it but in Spanish
 
01:16:40 Lilly: Thank you Father
 
01:17:19 Cindy Moran: Thank you, Father!
 
01:17:23 Cameron Jackson: Thank you Father!
 
01:17:25 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you ☺️
 
01:17:28 Dave Warner | AL: Thank you Father!
 
01:17:28 ANDREW ADAMS: Thank you, Father!
 
01:17:28 Serene Lai: THank you Father!
 
01:17:37 Janine: Thank you Father!
 
01:17:51 Aric Bukiri: Thank you Father!
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Appendix "To The Shepherd"

Having completed the 30th Step of the Ladder of Divine Ascent, we are blessed to receive from the hand of St. John one additional bit of writing – “To the Shepherd“. It is here that John writes to the Abbot of the neighboring monastery who first requested that John produce for his monastery a treatise on the spiritual life.  He turns his attention now to this shepherd of souls – he who is responsible for the care of those entrusted to him. For the Abbot, it would be the monks of his monastery, and for those within the church, it would be the spiritual father. One might also say that the words written here would apply to all of those who offer spiritual care to others, including and especially mothers and fathers. 
John begins by telling us that the shepherd is he who seeks out to set aright the lost sheep. He does this not primarily through words, but by means of guilelessness, zeal and prayer; that is, by example. The shepherd above all must be a model of virtue and one who instructs out of experience not from what he has read.
He must also be a pilot. One who is a skilled helmsman, guiding his ship, not only through the billows of a storm, but raising it up out of the abyss itself, as if raising a ship that has sunk or smashed against the rocks. Again, one who has the capacity to do this is a person who has persevered through the experience of fear and hopelessness, one who knows where the dangers lie, the signs of a storm, and where one will crash upon the reef. He must be a genuine teacher, one upon whose heart God has etched the truth. He should not be one who needs other books, but rather he should be one who speaks from the heart and speaks of his own distinctive and unique trials. He must understand then that he must teach from on high. For lowly instructions cannot possibly heal lowly beings. We are healed by grace and through divine wisdom. 
In the role of a shepherd, he must not be afraid to reprimand those sheep who fall behind because of slothfulness or gluttony. To be separated from the flock, to cut oneself off from communion with God and with others who seek to breathe the same air, is to place oneself in jeopardy. The shepherd must forever keep his gaze directed heavenward, especially when the sheep are inclined to keep their heads turned towards the earth and the things of this world. It is then that they become easy prey for the wolves and so like John the Baptist he must forever be calling them to repentance. His mind must be like that of a dog; senses heightened and alert to the approach of any danger warning those in his charge. 
As a true physician of souls, he must not only have the capacity to diagnose the malady, but the instruments necessary to heal the wounds of others. He must understand the seriousness of the ailment and the right kind of remedy in order that he does not make things worse or fail to apply what is needed to bring an individual back to the fullness of health. He cannot be squeamish or hesitant in offering the diagnosis or applying the remedy. For he knows that he must give answer to the Master for the care he has given.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:09:32 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 249, # 1
 
00:31:03 Jeffrey Fitzgerald: On that note, Father, about the disconnect with the Fatjers, Ive discovered that even the simplest mention of the Eastern Fathers—in my spiritual direction or other Catholic contexts—people in general look at me like I’m speaking gibberish.  In my own parish, it’s all a matter of “Vatican 2 says…”, followed by agreement or disagreement depending on their own spiritual world view. I know you and many commentators have noted that this would happen, but it’s still startling.
 
00:33:34 Kate : To tag onto to Jeffrey’s point, I was warned to stay away from the Fathers.  I was warned that hesychasm is “dangerous.”
 
00:34:11 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "To tag onto to Jeffr..." with 😮
 
00:35:42 Bob Cihak, AZ: Yes, words in books can be wonderful. BUT, words are symbols of experience, as said by philosopher Eric Voegelin. Many of the writings we've read reflect the latter, i.e., experience leads; words try to articulate the experience for others.
 
00:35:50 Myles Davidson: On a positive note, I listened to a Bishop Barron video he did on the Holy Hour and he was giving different examples of what one may do in a Holy Hour. As an example he outlined what he had done in his Holy Hour that morning and he had prayed the Jesus Prayer for half of it. He said he loved it and did it regularly. Great to such a high profile Roman Catholic bishop promoting the Jesus Prayer like this!
 
00:36:55 Art: Let us start up Desert Fathers Societies in churches everywhere to teach these very baseline concepts, practices, and readings.
 
00:40:16 Anthony: Encounter. In War & Peace, an old man advises to read the Bible, even in the unfamiliar slavonic language, and over time will come comprehension and understanding.  That's like the spiritual life.  And, it's kind of true for me when I read New Testament in Italian.  Slowly the meaning comes.
 
00:40:28 Anthony: Reacted to Let us start up Dese... with "👍"
 
00:45:06 Gregory Chura: Learning in a different language... Attending Mass in Spanish made me listen to what I was praying.  Yes!  Slow down.
 
00:45:38 Anna Lalonde: I'm so grateful you're training us in desert Father's. My children ask almost every night if you're on. 😂
 
00:57:30 Bob Cihak, AZ: Faith DOES heal!!
 
01:09:09 Anthony: Maybe our catechizing should include this: repent immediately, be confident God forgives, do the opposite of the bad, and when you see a priest, if the matter was grave, ask for Confession.
 
01:10:03 Anna Lalonde: Minimal weekly Repentance has worked awesome for us!
 
01:11:49 Kate : I have to say that I am just amazed.  At the risk of oversimplifying, what we are talking about is love.  The Love of Christ.  There is a saying that time heals all wounds…but really, it is the Love of Christ that heals.  Honestly, this has been one of the biggest revelations to me since discovering the Fathers…that the Love of Christ heals!   And the spiritual father is an instrument of this Love.
 
01:12:26 Anthony: Reacted to I have to say that I... with "❤️"
 
01:15:51 Rebecca Thérèse: thank you🙂
 
01:15:55 Jeff O.: Thank you! Happy Thanksgiving to you all!
 
01:16:10 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: Reacted to "Thank you! Happy Tha..." with 👍
 
01:16:11 Laura: Happy Thanksgiving 🥧
 
01:16:18 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father!
 
01:16:26 Aric Bukiri: Thank you Father!
 

The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XXV, Part III

Both in the stories that we are told from the lives of the fathers and from the particular teachings that they offer their spiritual sons, we begin to get into the nitty-gritty of the struggle with the passion of lust and fornication. Again what we are presented with is the fierceness of the battle. Part of the reason for this is that the soul has implanted in it by nature a proclivity towards certain pleasures. Saint Anthony the great tells us that it does not act, however, without the heart so desiring. Desire as we’ve so often discussed is essential in the spiritual life. We have a keen sense of our lack and incompleteness outside of God. In this sense, all of our desires as human beings are reflection of our great desire for God and for what He alone can satisfy. 
This proclivity towards certain pleasures can begin to take hold of the soul when we are over-attentive to nourishing our bodies with food and drink. In our tendency towards excess our hearts can be taken over by the desire for fleshly pleasure. 
When we find ourselves repeatedly seeking out pleasures as an end in themselves then we become vulnerable to the provocation of the demons due to their envy. They can try to stir up the fleshly desires in order to distract us from the things of God and the remembrance of God. 
It is so important for us who struggle in the spiritual life to know well the difference between these sources of our proclivity toward sensuality. We cannot allow ourselves to be ignorant of their causes and the many ways that they manifest themselves. We must learn how to confront our temptations as well as to embrace the remedies that the fathers put before us.
It is important for us to understand that much of the spiritual battle plays itself out on a psychological level and the means of warfare begins with the thoughts. When we lack watchfulness and allow ourselves to daydream and entertain every kind of thought and image, we find that our memory and our imagination become the holding place of so many things that come back to afflict us in the spiritual battle.
Therefore, we will discover in the coming months that such a spiritual battle is only won through the grace of God and constant of prayer. The spiritual life is not about endurance but rather humility. We engage in the ascetical life because we know our poverty. We must exercise our faith to the fullest extent in order that God’s grace might bear the greatest fruit possible within our hearts.
---
 
Text of chat during the group:
 
00:36:02 Kate : I recently read a quote, “The avaricious soul is one for whom God is not enough.”  It made me wonder if this could be applied to any of the passions…gluttony, lust, etc.
 
00:41:06 Nypaver Clan: Film cameras = analog photography
 
00:41:12 Una: The lust of the eyes = images
 
00:41:46 sharonfisher: I think so true, and ‘middle’ class needs to best of these things to feel like they’re keeping up. It shouldn’t be so. It makes  it hard for a family to afford life.
 
00:42:18 sharonfisher: Reacted to "The lust of the eyes..." with ❤️
 
00:43:20 Anna Lalonde: Blue light and other things are dangerous in the neurology and psychology of children. It damages their brains.
 
00:43:35 sharonfisher: Replying to "I think so true, and..."
 
Thanks for your corrections!
 
00:48:18 Anthony: I think the shock of any vile thought (lust, avarice, blasphemy) that spontaneously arise in the mind causes grief.
 
00:49:26 Anthony: In the Philokalia I appreciate a father emphasizing Deliberation in something being a free act of will.
 
00:52:38 Una: I don't understand what these blasphemous thoughts are
 
01:03:39 Rebecca Thérèse: When I worked in mental health I found that often when women had been abused from a young age, they often didn't understand that they had the right to say no. People who are used to having no control over their bodies find it almost impossible to set appropriate boundaries even simply relating to their own desires. It's easy to be judgemental of people's relationships if we don't understand what's underlying the decisions that they make.
 
01:03:50 Myles Davidson: UFC
 
01:03:50 Francisco Ingham: mma
 
01:04:14 Una: Gladiator movies!
 
01:04:35 Wayne: Reacted to "When I worked in men..." with 👍
 
01:06:00 Anthony: I STILL love baseball games on AM radio. :)
 
01:11:41 Anthony: Another thing that caused shock and grief is forgetting we have the sneaky bodies enemies who attack psychologically, not like people or beasts.
 
01:12:58 Una: Reacted to "When I worked in m..." with 👍
 
01:15:18 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You Father Blessing
 
01:15:38 Lisa: Reacted to "Thank You Father Ble..." with 👍
 
01:16:45 ANDREW ADAMS: Thank you, Father!
 
01:16:48 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:17:01 Aric Bukiri: Thank you Father!
 
01:17:22 Troy Amaro: Thank You Father
 
01:17:24 Francisco Ingham: This is wonderful Father, thank you for this place of spiritual rest
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXX, Part IV

As we come to the end of the Ladder of Divine Ascent St. John unfolds for us the heights to which we are drawn – the theological virtues of Faith, Hope and Love. Hope, often the most neglected of virtues, is the annulment of despair. It allows us to hold on to the promise of Christ to be with us always. Even when faith seems to fail us and all grows dark because of the cross that we carry, our hope in the Lord allows us to be consoled by his mercy and to be drawn forward. It protects us from despondency and doubt.
Love when unimpeded allows us to see as God sees; to see the signs of the times and how things will unfold even when all seems chaotic. This divine love yields miracles; the supernatural healing and perfecting the natural. Through it we come to see the things of the kingdom with clarity. This clarity creates a fire within the heart; an urgent longing and thirst for the Lord that only he can quench. It is our movement into eternity. It reveals to us that the kingdom is now, heaven is now, eternity is now! We come to see that this love is not distant but that the kingdom dwells within. 
St. John closes the step by calling out to Love Himself to satisfy his desire, to show him the path of the ascent that is most direct. For even though he had received this wisdom from others, St. John understands that it is only Love himself who can guide us. It is the experience of this love alone that moves us from words to reality.
Finally, St. John exhorts us along with all those who read his book to ascend eagerly and to be resolved in their hearts to strive for the Lord above all things. He is our life, our salvation, our love!
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:01:21 Bob Cihak, AZ: My microphone isn’t working again but this is probably for the better, because I have a strong head cold with the virus also giving my voice into a gravelly inflection.
 
Doreen Stacy, our artist friend’s funeral was yesterday. Preparations conflicted with our Monday meeting; I know I’m already excused but wanted to ask for prayers. Doreen only had 3 children but one of her daughters had 11. Who would have guessed that an English Professor could splendidly support a family that size?
 
00:08:21 Lori Hatala: https://gmail.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c38acab568d650f7ef65f39df&id=3f6ad96818&e=b6af48f1a0
 
00:12:25 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: What is the title of the St. Isaac book?
 
00:12:44 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 179, # I
 
00:14:52 Bob Cihak, AZ: Oops. Wrong book. Actually p.246, # 30 P. 179, # I
 
00:15:15 David: Sr. Barbara it is ISBN 978-0-943405-16-2 Holy Transfiguration Monastery my copy is 2011
 
00:26:39 Rebecca Thérèse: In what specifically are we supposed to hope? And what does lack of hope look like?
 
00:27:16 Lilly (Toronto, CA): “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” ...It's hard to surrender our weakness or sufferings, but it's in those darkest times that a simple Psalm will be enough to help us persevere
 
00:30:58 Myles Davidson: Replying to "What is the title of..."
 
The Ascetical Homilies of St. Isaac the Syrian
 
00:32:31 Myles Davidson: Replying to "What is the title of..."
 
https://htmp.org/St-Isaac-Ascetical-Homilies/overview.html
 
00:58:14 Maureen Cunningham: Hound oh heaven
 
00:58:41 Joseph: “Love is the progress of eternity” echoes St. Gregory of Nyssa’s notion of epektasis, the eternal ‘stretching and straining’ of the soul toward God. Each step toward God is both a fulfillment and a new beginning. Our mystical ascent never truly comes to an end, the cup is never entirely full, our love reaches out to God for eternity.
 
00:59:54 Lilly (Toronto, CA): Who's the author of Flying over the abyss?
 
01:00:28 Dave Warner | AL: Flying over the Abyss: https://essexmonastery.com/bookshop/flying-over-the-abyss
 
01:01:26 Lilly (Toronto, CA): Thank you
 
01:01:41 Dave Warner | AL: Replying to "Who's the author of ..."
 
Archmandrite Zacharias Zacharou
 
01:02:18 Dave Warner | AL: Reacted to "Thank you" with 👍
 
01:03:20 David: I had an aunt who everyone loved. Children who were very bad she used to say "how peppy". She always told me - look till you see a glimmer of Christ and with patience you will see even the slightest light in some aspect. I remember this often and it seems like once you know what they have gone through or lacked in their experience there always is some of the divine in almost everyone. Just that thought helps me with trying to find something in the most difficult people I have encountered.
 
01:06:55 David: So your uncle thought you were peppy?
 
01:12:01 Lori Hatala: https://gmail.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c38acab568d650f7ef65f39df&id=3f6ad96818&e=b6af48f1a0
 
01:12:32 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You and all are always a blessing.
 
01:13:21 ANDREW ADAMS: Thank you, Father!
 
01:13:22 Cindy Moran: These sessions have taught me so much! Thank you!
 
01:13:23 David: Thank you Father may God bless you and your mother!
 
01:13:24 Bob Cihak, AZ: Thank you, Father.
 
01:13:31 Joseph: Thank you, Father
 
01:13:36 Art: Thank you Father!
 
01:13:38 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 

Saint Charbel Novena, Day Nine

Saint Charbel Novena, Day Eight

The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XXV, Part II

Tonight once again we are immersed in the struggle for purity of heart and the avoidance of its opposite in action, fornication. We are presented, of course, with heroic examples of those who embodied this virtue. Yet the most powerful thing that stands out both in the examples and the writings of the fathers is their understanding of Eros being conquered by Divine Eros; that is, our attachment to the things of this world and are very selves overcome by a greater love - the love of God for us. 
When we begin to see and taste this love within our day-to-day life, and when we experience a greater measure of freedom through the ascetic life, that Divine love begins to grow within us and we find ourselves running with a swiftness aided by the grace of God. 
Love is always the more powerful motivator and there is nothing more powerful than to experience the love of the one who created us in His own image and likeness. He alone can satisfy the deepest longings of the human heart. Once we begin to let go of the illusion that this world places before us - the illusion that it can provide for all of us are pleasures; and once the grace of God begins also to purify the memory, we begin to experience the invincible joy, peace, and humility of the kingdom. 
As long as we are in this world, we all always find ourselves embattled. Therefore, the fathers tell us to cry out like David in the psalms: “Deliver me, O my joy, from them that have compassed me about.“ At that moment, we will always find ourselves in the hands of the living God.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:13:28 Rebecca Thérèse: Happy Birthday Joshua
 
00:21:38 Anthony: Sounds like St Augustine in City of God regarding virgins who jumped off buildings for fear of rape by Vandals.
 
00:22:33 Anthony: Maria goretti
 
00:32:00 Myles Davidson: Committing oneself to an Adoration time outside of normal sleep time can be a great way to get used to combatting the need to sleep.
 
00:45:12 Wayne: Its interesting that the protestant tradition don't have the crucified Christ on the cross. There is focus on the resurrection but forget about Good Friday.
 
00:55:26 Forrest Cavalier: Some terms I have come across to describe the non-sacrificial, non-repentance approach to Christianity are "Moralistic therapeutic deism" and "cheap grace"
 
00:59:04 Rebecca Thérèse: If John Lennon's "Imagine" came true that would be world communism.
 
01:07:45 Anthony: Also, iconographers and musicians and poets who give us a vision to hope for.  Something that reaches us outside of reason for an irrational world.
 
01:14:29 Anna Lalonde: I do vigils, it's grown through desert Father's training me.
 
01:14:40 Adam Paige: Reacted to "I do vigils, it's gr..." with 👍
 
01:14:48 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "I do vigils, it's gr..." with 👍
 
01:15:00 Erick Chastain: Reacted to I do vigils, it's gr... with "👍"
 
01:16:11 Myles Davidson: I’ve taken to sometimes when I wake in the middle of the night, getting up for an hour of praying the Jesus Prayer, then going back to sleep. The stillness of the night and the mind make it very special
 
01:16:36 Wayne: Reacted to "I’ve taken to someti..." with 👍
 
01:16:46 Lee Graham: Reacted to "I’ve taken to someti…" with 👍
 
01:17:24 Adam Paige: Reacted to "I’ve taken to someti..." with 👍
 
01:18:45 Anna Lalonde: I'm a spiritual director of Latin and East and a Catholic Coach.
 
01:20:48 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You to Father and all who are here
 
01:20:51 ANDREW ADAMS: Thank you, Father!
 
01:20:56 Santiago Búa: Thank you Father
 
01:20:56 Macarena Olsen: Thank you!
 
01:20:57 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:21:13 Jacqulyn: Reacted to "Thank You to Father ..." with ❤️
 
01:21:21 Erick Chastain: Thank you!!
 
01:21:48 Francisco Ingham: Thank you Father!!
 

Saint Charbel Novena, Day Seven

Saint Charbel Novena, Day Six

Saint Charbel Novena, Day Five

Saint Charbel Novena, Day Four

Saint Charbel Novena, Day Three

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXX, Part III

What do we live for? Or rather, better stated, Who do we live for? As we come to the end of the Ladder of Divine Ascent, St. John speaks to us about the nature of Divine Love that is our destiny and dignity in Christ. We pursue the spiritual life for no abstract reason - not for moral perfection - not to satisfy a sense of religious duty. Nor are we driven by fear or anxiety as has sadly so often been the case. 
It has always been Love that beckons us forward, that gradually heals the wounds of our sin or the traumas that we have borne. Anything that obstructs our vision of love and the mercy, God desires to overcome. God has created us for himself, made us in his own image and likeness precisely that we might share in the fullness of his life. The nature of love is curative not punitive. 
St. John begins by speaking of those who keep in their imagination the face of the beloved and embrace it tenderly. This love often is so strong that it strips them even of the need for sleep or for food. The one who yearns for God says: “My soul thirsts for God, the mighty, the living God. The grace of this reality transforms nature to the point that even their countenance changes and is filled with the joy and the peace of the kingdom.
Furthermore, the pure of heart, the one who loves without impediment, is the truth theologian and so grasp the very nature of the most holy trinity. Their heart transformed by love shows itself in their love of neighbor, their intolerance for slander or anything that might diminish the other.
St. John also tells us that the power of love is in hope because by it we await the reward of love. Even when we cannot see, when we find ourselves wrapped in the darkness of the cross that we carry, it is in hope that we find rest and the reassurance of God‘s love for us .
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:14:33 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 245, # 16
 
00:27:24 Jeff O.: Seems like Psalm 1, Jeremiah 17, the river of life flowing in and through us producing within us fruit no matter what
 
00:30:04 Anna Lalonde: Is that the fear of reverence and awe of God?
 
00:31:17 Cindy Moran: I remember in a worldly being a love sick teenager and could care less about eating
 
00:32:30 David: Are there different levels of fear? I remember when I was a child my sister and I used to say the worst punishment was seeing disappointment from our mother and father not any correction. I sometimes feel more like this than trying to reconcile a loving God who has done so much and fire and brimstrone.
 
00:34:48 Myles Davidson: I love St. Isaacs view of hell as the love of God that is painful to those who have rejected Him
 
00:43:17 David: I love the mass no matter what but I often find homilies downloaded from sites which feel detached, not from the heart. I find the priest who speak of personal experience or their struggles capture the parish more. It seems there are administrators and holy men but they are often not in balance.
 
00:47:57 Jeff O.: St. Maximos’s “Questions 17-19” are great examples of examining the inner meaning of Scripture’s ‘enigmas’ with the fear of God (as he says). A higher reading, deeper reading - a mystical engagement with the Spirit that brings out the beautiful truths. He works out Exodus 4 with Moses and the angel threatening death into a beautiful way of describing the spiritual journey
 
00:48:54 Rebecca Therese: I heard someone say once that hell is a mercy for
those who feel tortured by the vision of God.
 
00:50:19 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "I heard someone say ..." with 🙏🏼
 
00:53:26 Francisco Ingham: We need less news and more nous
 
00:53:37 David: Reacted to "We need less news an..." with 👍
 
00:53:45 Bob Cihak, AZ: Reacted to "We need less news an..." with 👍
 
00:54:01 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "We need less news an..." with 😂
 
01:02:20 Anna Lalonde: I call that domestic monastic as we do
 
01:12:15 Nick Bodmer: Wow, that's amazing, Fr. !
 
01:12:38 Serene Lai: How can we increase our hope?
 
01:14:49 Nypaver Clan: They instantly become little saints!
 
01:16:58 Myles Davidson: Fr’s Substack:
https://substack.com/@frcharbelabernethy
 
01:17:42 Anna Lalonde: Prayers for my healing to Charbel please.
 
01:17:42 Art: Reacted to "Fr’s Substack:
https..." with 👍
 
01:18:27 Rebecca Therese: Thank you🙂
 
01:18:33 David: Thank you father! May God bless you!🙏
 
01:18:34 ANDREW ADAMS: Thank you, Father!
 
01:18:34 Jeff O.: Thank you!! Great to be with you all!
 
01:18:44 Nick Bodmer: Reacted to Prayers for my heali... with "🙏"
 
01:18:52 Nick Bodmer: Thank you!
 
01:19:01 Anna Lalonde: Reacted to Prayers for my heali... with "🙏"
 
 

Saint Charbel Novena, Day Two

Saint Charbel Novena, Day One

The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XXIV, Part II & XXV, Part I

Why is it that we engage in the ascetic life and the spiritual life as a whole?  How is it that we come to understand the extreme practices of the desert fathers as they entered into the struggle with the passions? Seemingly they were willing to do almost anything to overcome temptation and to suffer extreme disciplines, punishing the body, until the passions were overcome.Again, we must understand that the desert was a laboratory. The fathers were driven there by their desire to live for God and to live for Him completely. Of course, they entered into these exercises with an imperfect understanding. Yet, in reading the Evergetinos we are blessed to see the development of their understanding and practice; how it becomes more measured and more focused upon God and the grace he provides.Beyond this, however, they were engaging in this way of life not simply in the pursuit of certain principles. Nor were they seeking to overcome their natural flaws and defects. They understood the struggle was also with demonic provocation. Therefore, they were not simply trying to foster good habits or to acquire a taste for that which was more virtuous. They understood that the spiritual life involved a bloody warfare against evil. The shadow of the Cross always falls over our struggles and stands as a reminder of the costs of sin. To overcome sin and its consequence, Christ sweat blood in the garden of Gethsemane and was obedient unto death on the cross. The spiritual life is formed and shaped by the Paschal Mystery. It involves always a dying to self and rising to new life in Christ. To strip it of this understanding is to make our spiritual life and practices impotent. We are to be conformed to Christ in every way. We preached Jesus Christ and him crucified not only in words, but in our day-to-day struggle against sin and the passions.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:13:41 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 172, # C
 
00:22:42 Myles Davidson: What’s the difference between an oath and say, a general intention to do something?
 
00:24:43 Kate : What about resolutions that we make for a penitential time, such as Lenten resolutions or Advent resolutions?   Is this a good practice according to the Fathers?
 
00:26:58 Forrest Cavalier: And all of these rely on God's grace for success. not our will alone.
 
00:37:38 Erick Chastain: Why does fat mean there are increased passions? Are there other foods like that?
 
00:38:25 Myles Davidson: Today is the beginning of St Martins Lent so to finish this now has been good timing
 
00:40:39 Erick Chastain: Why does fat mean there are increased passions? Are there other foods like that?
 
00:42:05 Myles Davidson: I’ve been eating less meat meals and find a definite increase in nepsis and general ability to concentrate in my prayer
 
00:43:18 Wayne: I think you you eat to much surgar etc you get highs and low  from it..
 
00:44:33 Sheila: It's a true challenge to avoid all the desserts because it seems these days people start Christmas festivities as soon as Thanksgiving ends, or in the case of many around me at school...now.
 
00:44:55 Sheila: Secular Christmas is all around.
 
00:47:16 Kate : And there are so many different diets now that encourage us to fixate on certain types of foods…keto, carnivore, longevity diets, etc. etc.  There might be some health benefits to them, but they can become intense distractions.
 
00:48:22 Anna Lalonde: Homeschooling... Everything then is centered in faith.
 
00:49:50 Anna Lalonde: There's so many resources and online live classes and tutoring we have less issues as homeschooling.
 
00:50:01 Anna Lalonde: Lol
 
01:01:14 Myles Davidson: Better to engage in the battle imperfectly than to not engage in it at all
 
01:18:21 Anna Lalonde: Yes that's what I do. Go to Jesus Prayer
 
01:19:12 ANDREW ADAMS: Thank you, Father!
 
01:19:16 Rebecca Thérèse: thank you🙂
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXX, Part II

What does it mean to be drawn into the mystery of Divine Love? Even as beautifully as John writes, it is difficult to wrap our minds around the experience of the living God; the experience of a love that is free of every impediment and passion, a love that makes us sons and daughters of God and so shapes are identity in such a way that it is unshakable. 
What is it that can overcome such a love? Our identity is often shaped by anxieties and fears, the unexpected and unknown, and our insecurities. Yet, as we are immersed in the love of God, all fear dissipates and is overtaken by an urgent longing for God and the thirst for his love. 
We often resist opening ourselves up and becoming vulnerable to this love. One famous author wrote, “humankind can only bear so much reality.“ Yet the love of God, the more that it is experienced, allows us to run toward that reality rather than avoid it . It  reveals to us that even our weaknesses, the things that we perhaps hate about ourselves or the wounds that we bear, draw us toward him. Love reveals to us that we experience nothing in isolation. Christ is always present to us and within us. This being so allows us to offer Him all that we are without shame.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:06:36 Una: Byzantine Carmelite nuns https://www.byzantinediscalcedcarmelites.com/index.html
 
00:06:55 Una: In Sugarloaf, Pennsylvania
 
00:08:46 Bob Cihak, AZ: The author was one of the lecturers at Acton University when I attended over 10 years ago.
"The Glory that is Pittsburgh" at 
https://www.theepochtimes.com/opinion/the-glory-that-is-pittsburgh-5753572
 
00:12:33 Una: A line from that article that has me ROFL
 
00:12:35 Una: Pittsburgh is a town that makes me want to rhapsodize like a follower of Ayn Rand.
 
00:14:05 carol_000: Does this Zoom start a bit before 5:30 E Time ?
 
00:14:28 Una: Just chat before 5:30
 
00:15:10 carol_000: Una ..Thanks
 
00:16:00 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: Is it the same material as Father posts on FB?
 
00:16:01 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 244, #9
 
00:19:08 Daniel Allen: What page are we on again? Sorry I missed it.
 
00:19:16 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 244, #9
 
00:19:21 Daniel Allen: Thank you
 
00:46:02 Anthony: Part of the issue is how we receive the Gospel and Apocalypse....these are written with fearful language.
 
00:48:36 susan: some of the teaching seems so hard to do or embrace and seems like climbing Mt Everest lol so I have decided to become a micro ascetic  offer the smallest, micro offerings tiny tiny acts
 
00:50:21 Anthony: Should peter have been confident of forgiveness , even before the Lord forgave him?
 
00:51:12 David: Isn't there a process of letting go of things that leads us from obedience and caring to devotion. It seems love itself has stages and perhaps devotion is a joy in itself. But without letting go we lack faith and trust in the beloved.
 
01:04:11 David: My grandfather one time had me write down everything I was worried about for weeks. He kept it and showed it to me a year later and I realized how much time I wasted on that. While it took me years to understand it did help me move from belief to faith.
 
01:04:29 Daniel Allen: How do you give God “those things” in a concrete way? For instance how do you give God your anxiety in a concrete way, because sometimes offering it in prayer seems somewhat abstract.
 
01:05:19 Wayne: Reacted to "My grandfather one t..." with 👍
 
01:08:28 David: A beautiful tradition I saw in Potes, Spain was at collection people would give both money but what concerned them or what sins they were struggling with written on small pieces of paper to bring to the altar. I wonder which this is just a small town and (small t tradition) rather than more common. Just struck me as beautiful and I still think of that when I put something in the collection basket.
 
01:09:07 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: Some find writing helpful - a note or letter to the Lord in one's journal. Or an expression in art...
 
01:09:14 Anna Lalonde: More frequent mystery of Repentance and gratitude are so important for this! Seen it with grief in my children and I.
 
01:14:41 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father!
 
01:14:48 Rachel: Thank you
 
01:14:49 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:14:50 David: Thank you father. May God bless you!
 
01:15:33 Jeff O.: Thank you so much!
 

The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XXIII, Part II and XXIV, Part I

Tonight we read the final sections on the fathers’ reflection on the practice of fasting. Once again the focus is on decorum; how does one eat in the presence of others while not giving himself over to pride. It is ever so easy to think oneself the great ascetic and hold oneself above others within the community. Ego can even distort well-practiced discipline into something that sets oneself apart from others rather than leads one to show greater desire for God, virtue and mercy towards others. 
All of our practices, the fathers teach us, must be guided by spirit of gratitude. We give thanks for the food that we receive and that nourishes us and we avoid criticizing others for how much they eat. Self discipline is not a weapon to be wielded by the ego for its own pleasure. Our tendency is to devour our brothers’ flesh by our criticism, and as the psalmist tells us to “eat up God’s people as if eating our bread.”
A humble attitude must be fostered, and we must not be ill-mannered. For example, a senior monk within a monastery must not demand honor or reverence or put on airs before his juniors. He must not draw attention to Himself in any way that would diminish charity among the brothers. What is the value of toiling all day only to undermine oneself to satisfy petty pride?
Again, the fathers want us to understand that fasting and all of our disciplines are about love. We must not diminish the practice by becoming legalistic or moralistic in our view. Therefore, we are taught not to takes oaths about avoiding certain foods. In doing so we set aside the freedom that is ours. No food is reprehensible. We are merely to eat with restraint and gratitude. But if we take an oath and then break it by eating the particular food we fall into perjury. As Christ tells us, no food is unclean; rather it is what comes out of the heart that makes a person unclean or sinful.
A rather lengthy discussion ensued in regards to avoiding a kind of ghetto mentality in our Christian practice; setting ourselves apart from others rather than serving them in the love of Christ. It is a narrow line that we walk and demands that we understand that all is grace. Christ has taken on our poverty and emptied himself in order that we might know the fullness of life and love. Our exercise of the faith, that is, our asceticism, must be relational; it must be directed toward Christ and enable us to love as He loves. Asceticism is not an end in itself, nor do we live out our Christianity in isolation. We turn to Christ, we die to sin and self, in order to be raised to life in him. To avoid the kind of isolationism that we would see in the scribes and Pharisees, we must become Christ.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:09:37 Cindy Moran: The joys of home ownership 😜
 
00:11:29 Una: I'm a happy renter
 
00:12:37 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 168, #F
 
00:35:02 Erick Chastain: Once you pop you can't stop- pringles
 
00:35:21 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "Once you pop you can..." with 😮
 
00:36:46 Adam Paige: Two recommendations on fasting and feasting.. Benedictine monk Adalbert de Vogue's book To Love Fasting is back in print in English (https://a.co/d/3hSwoIX), and I recently watched the film Babette's Feast for the first time - very moving !
 
00:38:09 Myles Davidson: A free PDF of To Love Fasting is available here:
https://archive.org/details/tolovefasting
 
00:40:39 Adam Paige: Reacted to "A free PDF of To Lov..." with ❤️‍🔥
 
00:46:33 Francisco Ingham: There’s a great Chesterton quote related to this point
 
00:46:43 Francisco Ingham: “Let us put a complex entrée into a simple old gentleman; let us not put a simple entrée into a complex old gentleman. So long as human society will leave my spiritual inside alone, I will allow it, with a comparative submission, to work its wild will with my physical interior. I will submit to cigars. I will meekly embrace a bottle of Burgundy. I will humble myself to a hansom cab. If only by this means I may preserve to myself the virginity of the spirit, which enjoys with astonishment and fear.”
 
00:54:11 Adam Paige: Reacted to "“Let us put a comple..." with 🍷
 
00:55:51 Ambrose Little: Can you comment on the seeming contradiction between Christ’s example of eating and drinking with sinners (and generally chastising Pharisees for being puritanical), and the counsel to avoid such and only surround oneself with those we deem holy and who think like we do.
 
01:05:17 Ambrose Little: It seems like there is real danger (that has actually been realized) in thinking and acting as if the church is only for the already perfect. But as Pope Francis has emphasized, the church is supposed to be a hospital for sinners. I just think the advice to avoid sinners and those who are not seeking God as we imagine we are can easily be internalized as exclusivity, isolationism,  and judgmentalism. It requires humility as a primary principle, to realize we are sinners, too.
 
01:14:29 Ambrose Little: Amen. Thank you!
 
01:14:48 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:14:54 santiagobua: Thank you !
 
01:15:36 ANDREW ADAMS: Thank you, Father!
 
01:15:47 Francisco Ingham: Thank you Father
 
01:15:52 Troy Amaro: Thank You Father
 
01:15:59 Erick Chastain: Thank you father!
 
01:16:05 Una: Thank you
 
01:16:08 santiagobua: Where can we find the Substack?
 
01:16:10 SYu’s iPhone: Thank you, Father.
 
01:16:43 ANDREW ADAMS: Replying to "Where can we find th..."
 
https://substack.com/@frcharbelabernethy
 
01:16:46 Myles Davidson: https://substack.com/@frcharbelabernethy
 
01:16:50 Adam Paige: Reacted to "https://substack.com..." with 👍
 
01:17:10 santiagobua: Reacted to "https://substack.com..." with 👍
 
01:17:17 Ambrose Little: Reacted to "https://substack.com…" with 👍
 
01:17:18 Erick Chastain: Just woke up earlier
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXIX, and XXX, Part I

We are brought to the denouement of the Ladder in these final steps on Dispassion and the “Trinity of Virtues” - Faith, Hope and Love. The words of St. John ring forth as if from the mouth of a poet. It is only one who has experience of and has seen the beauty of Divine love who can then speak of the urgent longing that begins to take over the soul when it no longer is held back by the weight of sin or one’s ego.
The dispassionate man, St. John tells us, no longer lives himself, but Christ lives in him. He has eyes only for the beloved and living in constant union with him.  All becomes Grace; Christ’s virtue becomes our virtue, Christ’s strength becomes our strength, Christ’s love becomes our love. 
Understanding this we must not allow anything to hold us back. Above all we should desire to enter into the bridal chamber; for this is exactly what Christ has made possible for us. Our relationship with God is often described with nuptial imagery; we are destined to become one with the most holy Trinity. What excuse could we possibly put forward for not at least seeking to break through the wall of our sin by embracing the forgiveness that is so freely offered?
St. John’s discussion of dispassion leads us to the final step of the Ladder. The theological virtues, named so because they have God as their end, become St. John’s subject matter. These three are preeminent because they endure unto eternity. The greatest of them, love, allows no respite for the soul but drives her on with a kind of blessed madness. Overcome with an urgent longing for the Beloved it takes on a greater resemblance to God in so far as this is possible. The soul becomes inebriated - so often does it seek to satisfy its thirst for divine love. Having satisfied this desire the heart expands, taking on  distinctive properties where it becomes a fountain of faith, an abyss of patience and a sea of humility. What takes place then is extraordinary: love banishes every thought of evil or judgment. Only mercy, forgiveness and compassion remain.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:13:44 Myles Davidson: According to Wikipedia Scorcese is doing one on Moses the Black
 
00:14:08 Myles Davidson: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Scorsese_Presents:_The_Saints
 
00:18:40 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 243, #13
 
00:37:15 Anthony: Renzo Allegri write a book: "Padre Pio Man of Hope." Good book.
 
00:39:32 Anthony: And this is why legalism and scrupulousity is such a problem. They strangle wonder and longing.
 
00:41:29 Anthony: Franciscans are  like the east
 
00:56:20 Anthony: Eastern Star
 
00:56:26 Leilani Nemeroff: Eastern Star
 
00:57:29 David: A book that really lead me to the fathers and from mere belief to faith was "What Difference Does Jesus Make"- Frank Sheed. Really hard to find not sure why this is not more popular.
 
00:59:25 carol_000: What time zone did this meeting start at 7:30
 
00:59:34 Nypaver Clan: EST
 
00:59:34 David: EST
 
00:59:48 carol_000: Thanks
 
01:00:09 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "Thanks" with 🥰
 
01:01:21 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: The kingdom must be preached/shared -  we are way too silent about sharing our faith...
 
01:02:42 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: Guardini has a great book on prayer..
 
01:02:49 Jeff O.: Reacted to "Guardini has a great..." with 👍
 
01:04:42 carol_000: Calgary, Alberta Canada.  Mountain Standard Time. My first time here.
 
01:05:07 Nypaver Clan: Meditations Before Mass - Guardini
 
01:05:07 Myles Davidson: Welcome 🙂
 
01:06:19 carol_000: Replying to "Welcome 🙂"
 
Thanks.
 
01:07:33 Nypaver Clan: Replying to "Welcome 🙂"
 
Hooray!  Glad you found us! 🙏🏼
 
01:07:36 Jeff O.: The madness of pride as opposed to the madness of love is an interesting juxtaposition. Two very distinct and different “pictures” of madness.
 
01:09:10 Cindy Moran: Reacted to The madness of pride... with "👍"
 
01:09:48 Cindy Moran: Me, too!!
 
01:09:53 Nypaver Clan: Replying to "Welcome 🙂"
 
Welcome, Canada!🇨🇦
 
01:10:06 carol_000: Replying to "Welcome 🙂"
 
I've been following Fr. Charbel for a while, but now I'm wondering which branch of Orthodoxy is this? Reference to author & "Mass" ?
 
01:10:59 Nypaver Clan: Replying to "Welcome 🙂"
 
Byzantine
01:11:09 carol_000: Replying to "Welcome 🙂"
 
Thanks
 
01:12:54 Anna Lalonde: Thank you! My children and I are loving this.
 
01:13:03 Nypaver Clan: Replying to "Welcome 🙂"
 
Ukrainian Greek
 
01:14:09 Jeff O.: That would be lovely!
 
01:14:26 carol_000: Replying to "Welcome 🙂"
 
Thanks, I was raised Ukr. Grk Orthodox but now go to OCA church in All English.
 
01:14:45 Kevin & Lilly: Yes!!
 
01:14:52 Rachel: and icon paintng
 
01:15:00 Jacqulyn: Let's do it!
 
01:15:34 Cindy Moran: Thank you, Father
 
01:15:35 ANDREW ADAMS: Thank you, Father!
 
01:15:35 Anna Lalonde: Prayers for my healing. Please especially St Charbel help me!
 
01:15:38 Rachel: thank you!
 
01:15:39 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you 😊
 
01:15:42 Jeff O.: Thank you! Great to be with you all!
 
01:15:44 David: Thank you father!
 
01:15:46 Dave Warner (AL): Thank you Father!
 
01:15:54 Edmund Dyjak: Thank You GOD Bless You
 

The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XXIII, Part I

We have continued to make our way through the final few hypotheses about fasting and eating in general. What is gradually coming to light is that our relationship with Christ and our identity in Him is to form and fashion every aspect of our lives. This includes what we might consider the most mundane aspects of our life or what we take for granted, such as eating and common meals. 
What becomes perfectly clear in this hypothesis, however, is that there is a specific decorum that emerged in the practice of the fathers. The way that they looked at food and the way that they ate their common meals was all shaped by their greater commitment to the life of prayer and silence. The ascetical life shaped their actions and supported their pursuit of the ultimate goal. Thus eating, the quality of the food, the mannerisms at table and amount of food that other monks ate and the general behavior during meals all became important matters and subject to proper formation. 
The ideal was not to form a Christian gentleman, but rather to form a heart that was watchful at all times of the day and that was very much aware of the power of our most basic appetites. We see restraint being taught; that is, slowing oneself down at meals and not being driven by the pressure of hunger or the allure of delicious food. It is Christ the Bread of Life that one is always seeking and so the way that we approach our meals should be a reflection of how we approach the Lord in the Holy Mysteries. Our mindset, our sense of gratitude, the solemnity of our attitudes and behaviors are all reflection of our understanding of the connection with the Paschal Mystery. When we think of our own formation we must have this broad scope so that we do not treat our ascetic practices as ends in themselves. All that we do must be offered to God or it is wasted.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:17:20 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 165, #A
 
00:44:06 Una: LOL about the comment about men eating. And then they throw their silverware in the trash? Obviously, I've never been in a men's monastery. But how can we who are living in the world apply these standards to everyday dinners with family?
 
00:46:49 Una: I'm thinking of Thanksgiving Dinner where people gobble gobble gobble and aren't focused on God at all. Last year I had a hard time getting them to listen to the Prayer of St. Francis before the meal. Very secular family. How I personally may maintain my recollection yet still be social
 
00:47:50 Una: I find I can "go out" of myself so easily and get lost in socializing and talking (I'm an extravert) and then have difficulty becoming recollected again
 
01:03:42 Una: Is it true that the early Irish monasticism came from Egypt?
 
01:10:13 Una: There's a new book on this subject: Monastery and High Cross: The Forgotten Eastern Roots of Irish Christianity
 
01:10:20 Una: by Connie Marshner
 
01:10:34 Una: Sophia Institute Press
 
01:11:49 Steve: Good story
 
01:11:59 Una: Connie Marshner is a Melkite Green Catholic in Virginia
 
01:21:26 ANDREW ADAMS: Thank you, Father!
 
01:21:48 Troy Amaro: Thank you Father.
 
01:22:30 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you, sorry I was so late, our clocks went back an hour yesterday and I forgot about the time difference
 
01:24:18 ANDREW ADAMS: Where does one find the substack? I’m not knowledgeable on the whole social media scene.
 
01:25:19 Adam Paige: Where does one find the substack? I’m not knowledgeable on the whole social media scene.
https://substack.com/@frcharbelabernethy
 
01:25:44 ANDREW ADAMS: Replying to "Where does one find ..."
 
Thank you!
 
01:27:47 Bob Cihak, AZ: .. or https://frcharbelabernethy.substack.com/
 
01:28:16 Paul G.: Replying to ".. or https://frchar…"
+1
 
01:29:21 Maureen Cunningham: Thank  you
 
01:32:17 Maureen Cunningham: Wow
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXIX, Part I

St. John understands that we are out of our depths whenever we try to capture with words what comes through experience. This is true in particular of the heights of prayer, contemplation, and with dispassion. John’s language is poetic and thus a reflection of his straining to present us with the end of the spiritual life and what the heart longs for the most.
In concluding his teachings on prayer, he warns us of certain pitfalls to avoid in order that our focus might remain upon Christ. Above all he does not want us to become discouraged by the attack of the evil one. Such a thing is to be expected. Prayer is so beautiful and transformative that the demons are going to do everything they can to disrupt it. Yet, John would have us understand that the demons are scourged by prayer and when we show fortitude they flee. Finally, he would have be confident in the practice of prayer. There is nothing that one can write in a book that is necessary when we have God himself as the Teacher of prayer. It is the Holy Spirit that searches the depths of God the guides us forward.
Dispassion is even more difficult to capture with mere words for it describes one who has made his flesh incorruptible and has subdued all the senses; keeping his soul before the face of the Lord and always straining towards him. One is not only detached from the things of this world but has a gathered an exhaustible store of virtue as a source of strength. They are driven no longer by fear, but now only love; love that cannot be understood by mere reason. The soul is drawn forward by an urgent longing that belongs only to those who are created in the image and likeness of God. Therefore, St. John sees dispassion as purity of heart; where a person has reached a level of existence where sin has no hold upon them and there is no longer even any awareness of the presence of demons. Such an individual is wholly united with God and always will be.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:05:24 Gregory Chura: Which step?
 
00:06:05 Bob Cihak, AZ: p. 240, #58
 
00:07:29 Myles Davidson: Can I ask what edition of The Ladder we are reading from?
 
00:08:08 Adam Paige: Paulist Press edition page 281 🙂
 
00:09:01 Adam Paige: The introduction is excellent too, although it doesn’t contain the Letter to the Shepherd at the end
 
00:11:21 Bob Cihak, AZ: p. 240, #58
 
00:15:46 Kevin & Lilly: Aren't we supposed to expose our wound (sin) in its entirety for Jesus to heal it (in the confessional)? Similar to removing the band-aid, even if it hurts us?
 
00:21:42 Cindy Moran: Some things you can not "unsee"
 
00:26:26 susan: I get attacked walking up to communion and then I feel
 
00:26:48 susan: like I have done something wrong
 
00:29:02 Anthony: I also think having undergone at least once a spiritual attack, a person anticipates it and therefore brings it to mind?
 
00:31:05 Christian Corulli: Love of God destroys all fear
 
00:56:07 Christian Corulli: This sounds like the 7th Mansion of St. Teresa, can we make that comparison? Do the Carmelites trace the same spiritual path as St. John Climacus?
 
01:08:10 David: Is there an element of experience or getting older in this step. My grandfather always used to say youth is a process of acquiring and drive and growing old is the challenge of learning to let go. Through suffering, experience I can see more an more elements of dispassion or not feeling as connected to what many seek in the world and am left with only what endures which is family and faith.
 
01:22:15 David: Saving us from ourselves
 
01:22:38 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You Blessing to all
 
01:23:06 Gregory Chura: Thank you, everyone,
 
01:23:06 Tracey Fredman: Reacted to "Thank You Blessing t..." with ❤️
 
01:23:07 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father !!!
 
01:23:10 Anthony Kinyon (Αντώνιος Κινγιόν): Thank you Fr. Charbel.
 
01:23:10 Jeff O.: Thank you!!
 
01:23:10 David: Thank you father and God bless you and your mom
 
01:23:11 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:23:16 Cameron Jackson: Overwhelmed again. Thank you Fr.
 
01:24:13 Alexandra: Thank you Father. I'll pray for you
 

The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XXII, Part III

It’s important for us as we read the fathers and consider the discipline that they embraced regarding our appetites and desires that we do not demonize these realities or fall into extreme practices. At the heart of the fathers’ lives and teachings is desire; allowing the love of God and gratitude for his gifts to guide and direct their understanding of life and perception of reality. 
It is true that the desert was every bit the laboratory; the fathers often pushed themselves in extreme ways in order that their appetites and their desires for satisfaction and pleasure would lose their grip upon them. They were often harsh with themselves in ways that seem abhorrent to modern sensibilities. 
Yet they realized that these realities are very powerful parts of our humanity. The body, for example, through the ascetic life can be a powerful aid in our sanctification. However, if we approach our appetites in an unmeasured fashion, or in a way that is simply focused upon the self, then that which is most beautiful can be corrupted.
Thus, our own embrace of the ascetic life should be rooted in desire; our sense of lack and incompleteness outside of God. Our truest identity is established and found only in Him. Such a vision must be fostered from the earliest years of our lives. For it is not something that one can give or share with another. It comes only through experience. One comes to love the disciplines of which the father speak (fasting, prayer, vigils etc.) because they are far more than mere disciplines. They open up the path for us to experience the invincible joy and peace and freedom of the Kingdom. “Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.”
---
Text of chat during the group: 
00:15:57 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 161, G
 
00:16:11 Adam Paige: Reacted to "P. 161, G" with 👍
 
01:05:40 Bob Cihak, AZ: From Adam:
Adam Paige 5:14 PM
Should we avoid restaurants since they’re typically predicated on desirable food ? Or should we order a less appealing meal when we are at a restaurant ?
 
01:12:52 Cindy Moran: You aren't missing anything!
 
01:14:19 Adam Paige: Reacted to "You aren't missing a…" with 😂
 
01:19:42 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You Father
 
01:19:55 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:19:59 ANDREW ADAMS: Thank you, Father!
 
01:20:11 Tracey Fredman: Glad you are feeling better, Fr. Charbel!
 
01:20:14 Troy Amaro: Thank You Father.
 
01:20:21 Kevin Burke: Thank You Father!
 
01:20:39 Tracey Fredman: Liturgy of the Hours is one you mentioned one time. Is that a possibility for a topic?
 
01:20:47 Adam Paige: Reacted to "Liturgy of the Hours…" with ❤️
 
01:21:01 Cameron Jackson: Thank you Father
 
01:21:19 Myles Davidson: Your Substack is excellent Father
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVIII, Part VII

As St. John draws us more deeply into his understanding of prayer and the experience of intimacy with God, he begins to emphasize the importance of maintaining purity of heart and humility. Either through negligence or through demonic provocation, we can find ourselves being driven not by the Holy Spirit toward God but rather driven by the desires of the flesh. The vulnerability of prayer, opening our minds and our hearts to God, also carries with it the need to have established watchfulness of heart. If we have not we can indiscriminately open ourselves up to certain dangers. For example, we may allow our mind to wander during prayer in such a way that we turn away from God. It can even happen that in this turning away we are move towards the enemies of God. Like Judas we can share most intimately with the Lord at the table of the holy Eucharist and then immediately be driven out by an unholy spirit into the darkness. It is those who are closest to Christ who often betray him the most. 
We all take certain things for granted. This is true in our relationship with God. We can treat that relationship cheaply; enter into it with a kind of familiarity to the point that we lose sight of the preciousness of what God has made possible for us. Our attachment to the things of this world or to individuals can fill our minds and our hearts even during the time of prayer. Therefore, John wants us to have no illusions about what it is that we ask for and seek in prayer. Our greatest desire should be what leads us to God and what endures unto eternity. As Saint James tell us: “we ask, but we do not receive because we ask wrongly.” We seek only the satisfy our natural wants and desires.  As it has been said, “The fool’s portion is small in his eyes.” Often we do not see the beauty of what God offers us.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:12:58 Bob Cihak, AZ: P.239, #50
 
00:13:44 Tracey Fredman: Reacted to "P.239, #50" with 👍
 
00:14:28 Dave Warner (AL): Reacted to "P.239, #50" with 👍
 
00:51:38 Rachel: or to satisfy ego since it is difficult to see oneself as nothing and in such need.
 
00:59:38 David: Someone told me once - measure your thoughts and you measure what you treasure. Treasure only what is everlasting.
 
01:02:14 Laura: Reacted to "Someone told me once..." with 👍🏼
 
01:04:59 Rebecca Thérèse: It seems to me that it's easier to catch someone in infidelity these days because of socia media and smart devices etc than it was previously.
 
01:11:31 Anthony: I've wondered if we get monastic life and vocations imbalanced? I read that among Syrians, there was one "monastic" community composed of subsets of vowed religious, families and singles.  This makes for universality and diversity and maybe a healthier psychology for persons?
 
01:13:45 Rebecca Thérèse: Thomas Szasz the anti-psychiatry psychiatrist wrote a paper about how psychiatrists persuaded the Church that sex abusers were ill and could be treated and how this led to priests being "treated" and moved instead of being fired.
 
01:14:12 Una: Jon Hassler wrote North of Hope dealing with this situation of the priest who dealt with this issue
 
01:14:29 Una: Excellent novel
 
01:18:38 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father...great to be back in class!!
 
01:18:40 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you 🙂
 
01:18:47 David: Thank you father. Glad your feeling better!
 
01:18:51 Jeff O.: Thank you!!
 
01:19:02 Rachel: Thank you
 
01:19:03 Tracey Fredman: Reacted to "Thank you father. Gl..." with ❤️
 

The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XXII, Part II

It may seem surprising that the fathers spend so much time speaking about food and how we approach eating. Yet the needs of the flesh are very much a part of who we are as human beings. So how we eat and what we eat can affect what goes on internally. We can be subject to disorder or extremes in one fashion or another. 
What we see in the desert fathers and mothers is a love of fasting because they saw it as the insurer and foundation of the other virtues. In other words, when one can order an appetite and a desire towards what is good and specifically as tied to our hunger for God, then we are able to do so with other aspects of our humanity and our other appetites. Eating, being one of the most basic needs can lead us in one of two directions; either it is the gateway vice that opens us up to be more vulnerable to disordered appetites, or our restriction of our diet can turn us toward God who satisfies the deepest longings of the human heart.
The fathers examine the practice of eating from multiple perspectives. They had an acute sense of the subtlety with which the mind approaches such a practice. We can be hyper-focused upon the body and its needs. We can use illness as an excuse for slothfulness or to eat beyond our needs or what health demands. Likewise, we can become overly focused upon the quality of food and only want what is pleasing to the pallet or perfectly fresh. We lose sight of the fact that what we prize so much passes into the latrine. It may satisfy the pallet but it does not give rest to the soul.
The fathers also understood that we must give ourselves over to this practice without over-analyzing its value. Our tendency to pamper the body can make us and our consciences become callous and lead us down the path to hedonism. We lose sight of the fact that this appetite is incited by everything in the culture around us that has made food an idol. It has also made it a medicine in the sense that we turned to it to find solace and comfort. In a subtle way we are being taught to avoid affliction at any cost and to question the redeeming nature of the cross.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:10:54 Nick Bodmer: I had a question about the next work for the Wednesday group.  What is after the Ladder, and is there a recommend translation?
 
00:12:17 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 159, #B
 
00:12:40 Nick Bodmer: 👍
 
00:21:03 Bob Cihak, AZ: A good friend lost 20 pounds. His method: When I'm not hungry, I don't eat.
 
00:22:02 Myles Davidson: Do you have any advice for those of us who are very slim and with very little body fat but who want to increase our fasting practice? I’m finding it a real art-form and a balance that’s not easy to find.
 
00:25:01 Bob Cihak, AZ: Many find "Eat, Fast, Feast" a book by my friend, Jay Richards, very helpful. He looks at fasting for spiritual, fitness and dietary reasons; he says no one else had written such a book.
 
00:25:25 Forrest Cavalier: Hi Myles, I am low BMI myself. I discipline my fasting in order to not go below a target weight. For me 137 lbs. I do not eat breakfast. I do not eat snacks during Lent. I have to increase calories at some meals. Most of my fasting discipline is not calorie reduction, but not eating dairy or meat on Wednesday and Friday.
 
00:28:10 Nick Bodmer: This is why the medieval monks made beer 🤣
 
Maintains calories.
 
00:29:28 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "This is why the medi..." with 😃
 
00:36:23 Nikki: If someone is not lean after a decent time of fasting and self discipline with their eating, would that be an indicator they aren’t being disciplined enough to reach that deeper intimacy with the Lord?
 
00:39:40 Anthony: St Thomas Aquinas was so big they cut a hole in dining table fir him....so I've heard. Some people like Neapolitans can be big boned people.
 
00:41:58 Andrew Adams: cortisol
 
00:42:02 Nick Bodmer: Cortisol
 
00:42:51 Joseph: St. Athanasius described St. Anthony: “And they, when they saw him, wondered at the sight, for he had the same habit of body as before, and was neither fat, like a man without exercise, nor lean from fasting and striving with the demons, but he was just the same as they had known him before his retirement.”
 
00:46:45 Bob Cihak, AZ: Our culture now promotes paying MORE money for LESS nutritional value, counting calories as a nutritional value.
 
00:52:28 Anthony: The news scares about food also contribute to our derangement
 
01:00:20 Anthony: Bloomin onion
 
01:05:06 Anthony: The marketers sell us on the things that cause problems and then sell us on the "remedies".....which cause more problems.  This is prophecy of Amos territory.
 
01:09:52 Nick Bodmer: Health is a good, but when we make it an ultimate good, and end in itself, it becomes an idol.
 
01:11:16 Bob Cihak, AZ: Reacted to "Health is a good, bu..." with 👍
 
01:11:51 Bob Cihak, AZ: . As a recovering (retired) MD, I agree with Nick.
 
01:13:21 Andrew Adams: Thank you, Father!
 
01:13:23 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVIII, Part VI

Above all St. John’s writing on prayer works to break through the myopic vision that we have of life, of prayer, and of God.  Like so many of the fathers, he will hammer away at anything which prevents us from experiencing the fullness of God’s love and mercy. Thus, he both rebukes and encourages. 
We began this evening with a warning about admitting fantasies into our mind and heart during prayer. The demonic provocation at such times will be to use religious ideas, visions, etc., to distract us from the beloved and the encounter with him in silence. However, John tells us, if we hold fast to this prayer we are given an invincible assurance; there is a loss of all doubt and the certainty of God’s love is all that remains. The encounter with God Himself is proof of the unprovable!
We must give great care to put on the mind of Christ. We must be merciful as our Heavenly Father is merciful. To allow ourselves even to think of justice is going to immediately pull us down. For there is no justice! What has been revealed to us is unconditional love, mercy, and compassion. To turn a harsh eye toward another is to turn our eyes away from God.
Furthermore, we must allow God in his providence to set both the time and measure of prayer. We cannot treat it as something that anything else in our life is equal to in importance. This is especially true in those blessed moments where God fills the heart with compunction and the eyes with tears that cleanse the soul. We must not break away or abandoned prayer until we see that by divine Providence both the fervor and tears have diminished. “For perhaps you will not have such a moment for the remission of your sins again in all your life.“ We must always choose the one thing necessary.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:15:36 Una: The Catholic psychologist Dr. Raymond Lloyd Richmond
 
00:15:53 Una: ChastitySF.com
 
00:31:09 Anthony: Why are Roman Catholics so fixated on justice? I've thought it's due to inheriting the legal notions of Roman imperial law and German folk law.  But we're so focused on law, that being a Roman Catholic is sometimes not appealing.  Thank God for persons like St Francis of Assisi.
 
00:33:15 Victor Haburchak: Americans are impacted by English Common Law. We’re more rigid than Italians it’s been said.
 
00:34:42 Anthony: I went to Italy. Naples and South. It's so different
 
00:34:56 Victor Haburchak: Reacted to "I went to Italy. Nap…" with 👍
 
00:38:00 Victor Haburchak: On the monastic rules for fasting my grandfather, a Ruthenian immigrant from Eastern Europe, said they were practically starving & yet there were constant calls to fast throughout the year while he was slaving in coal mins v
 
00:38:47 Victor Haburchak: Coal mines….
 
00:41:16 Victor Haburchak: He was a Greek-Catholic so experienced strictness of G-C priests.
 
01:05:38 Anthony: So that prayer also is as quick as breath
 
01:16:48 Andrew Adams: Thank you, Father!
 
01:16:51 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:16:51 Myles Davidson: That was a great hour. Thankyou Fr ! God bless you!
 
01:16:53 David: Thanks Father!
 
01:16:55 Cindy Moran: Thank You Father!!!
 
01:16:57 Jeff O.: Thank you! Great to be with you all.
 

The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XXI, and XXII, Part I

We continued this evening to delve more deeply into the fathers’ understanding of the practice of fasting. Once again we see that they learned from experience that it is better to eat once a day but not to the point of satiation. One must be measured and restrained in the practice, so is not to become weak and incapable of work or of fulfilling one’s prayer rule. 
We also began to see that there was variance in the practices embraced by various monks, both in terms of their diet and the amount they ate. The practice was not to pamper the body but also not to destroy it. The body is necessary in the spiritual battle. Thus one must be discerning in one’s spiritual practice and patient. 
We were also introduced this evening to the particular temptations that arise throughout the course of one’s spiritual life. Again, we must realize that we struggle not only with our own natural weaknesses and the weakness of our sin, but also with temptations and provocations that come to us from the Evil One. We are often tempted by what we see. We covet what appeals to the eyes and seems to promise enjoyment or satisfaction. We hear stories of the father’s catching themselves being tempted to break the rule of fasting. 
What is needed is humility. Fasting is a discipline and when we fail we are to humbly acknowledge it and confess it. We must never be tempted after having fallen to hide our failure or lie about it. It is then that we are truly in the grip of the father of lies and will be further led astray by even greater deception.
Finally, we were taught that there are certain passions that we must be willing to cut out of our life completely. There are certain things that have such a hold on our hearts and enslave our wills that there must be the courage and the willingness to remove it from our lives completely. We must always be willing to choose the better part and to sacrifice all for that pearl great price.
---
Text of chat during the group:
 
00:10:41 David Fraley: Hello everyone! Thank you!
 
00:11:08 David Fraley: Thank you!
 
00:11:29 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 154 A
 
00:16:00 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 154 A
 
00:21:40 Anthony: Yeah, I multiplied devotion. It wasn't so great for me.
 
00:28:34 Joseph Muir: What page are we on?
 
00:29:11 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 156 C
 
00:33:21 Anthony: That bread isn't going to rise well like french bread.  It's either flatbread or pancakes. That's a basic sacrifice.
 
00:33:48 Vanessa: Replying to "That bread isn't goi..."
 
no yeast.
 
00:38:04 Sandra Whatley: "Silence is a place where the serpent can not go. It is a place as toxic to him as his environment is to us"
Father 7/23
 
00:39:09 Sandra Whatley: This is what Father told me in prayer
 
00:45:30 Nikki: The desert fathers approach fasting in different ways. How do we find out what we should do personally regarding approaching a limitation of food (choices & amount) along with heightened self-discipline, when over time the difficulties of continuing that level of intensity may have one think with all seriousness that they should start eating more/fast less? Concerned perhaps they are not eating enough and maybe
their bodies showing signs of this.
 
00:54:26 Nikki: Thank you
 
00:54:46 Kevin Burke: https://archive.org/details/tolovefasting/mode/2up
 
00:55:19 Kevin Burke: On-line version of the Book To Love Fasting
 
00:58:39 Nypaver Clan: Would it have made more sense to leave it for someone else than to waste it?
 
01:06:48 Nypaver Clan: There’s a reason the computer is “Apple.”
 
01:07:18 Bob Cihak, AZ: Reacted to "There’s a reason the..." with 😯
 
01:07:20 Nypaver Clan: The symbol is very telling….
 
01:09:41 Sheila: A large amount of tv shows out there are straight up porn but it's easy to make excuses that it's ok to watch...but let's be real...is it? Single, in a relationship or married, the toll it takes on yourself or the person you care about is so subtle..but it erodes away at real intimacy.
 
01:11:07 Sheila: Truth.
 
01:12:14 Una: I used to write Christian romances (clean romances, no sex scenes) but i gave it up because I felt it did harm to people's imaginations and spiritual life, setting up unreality. I think the Desert Fathers would have something to say about this!
 
01:13:10 Una: Movement toward Reality. Well said!
 
01:14:53 Anthony: Isaac came to my home today!
 
01:15:25 David Fraley: Thanks, Father! Have a great night!
 
01:15:26 Sandra Whatley: Thank you so very much.
 
01:15:36 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:15:53 Troy Amaro: Thank You Father.
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVIII, Part V

What is prayer and, more importantly, what do we become by engaging in prayer? So often we take a reductive view of the realities in our life, including the reality of our relationship with God. We reduce our converse with God to a discipline or an afterthought or worse and obligation. And yet as we read the fathers, we begin to see with greater clarity that prayer involves a kind of mutual vulnerability. We stand before the Other, God, withholding nothing of ourselves from him. In this, we imitate Him who has revealed himself to us in the most vulnerable fashion. He has drawn back the veil and revealed his heart to us and the depth of his love and compassion. 
Such a vision of prayer precludes are treating it in a common fashion; approaching it like we would any other interaction. However, what we are drawn into from the moment of our baptism is the very life of God, a participation in the life of the most holy Trinity. Prayer, then, becomes an expression of identity, of who we are as human beings and what we’ve become in Christ. Seen in such a manner, an unquenchable thirst should arise within the human heart to remain in prayer and prolong it. One desires to linger long with the Beloved. It is to choose the better part. So much of what we learn, and our taught leads only to the fragmentation of the self. The frenetic pace of life and the desperate pursuit to satisfy expectations that we have for ourselves or that others place upon us distorts who we really are. We are sons and daughters of God, heir to the kingdom of heaven, and the Spirit that dwells within the heart alone gives us the capacity to express the love God Himself has for us.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:14:45 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 237, #34
 
00:38:13 Callie Eisenbrandt: Father how do we learn something everyday in prayer in times of spiritual dryness? Sometimes it feels like its difficult to see what you are to learn until you look back on prayers from the past but how do you do that on a daily basis?
 
00:39:51 Wayne: late what page are we on?
 
00:41:07 Bob Cihak, AZ: p. 238, #38 or so.
 
00:41:35 Wayne: thnx
 
00:42:41 Christian Corulli: I think it would ruin the prayer if we did understand the points of dryness
 
00:53:39 Victor: Parental bragging rights enhanced by need for non-ending FB posts. Good points. Let kids play. “Leisure, the basis of culture”.
 
00:53:44 Alan Henderson: Father, on this point about children, what are your thoughts about finding a balance between - letting children have the play time as you mention, and finding them hobbies/activities that they can enjoy (and spend time with friends).  I agree with you that this is a major concern in how we are shaping our kids.
 
00:55:50 Leilani Nemeroff: If I had it to do over, as a parent, I wouldn’t have felt obligated to run to so many activities.
 
00:56:06 Wayne: Reacted to "If I had it to do ov..." with 👍
 
00:58:07 Leilani Nemeroff: There needs to be time for more free play.
 
00:58:56 Victor: Playing cops & robbers as a kid helped me to warn community when gunman was outside our liturgy back in 70s. Also to help generate strategy when a priest & I were chased by robbers in Africa once.
 
00:59:55 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "Playing cops & robbe..." with 😮
 
01:00:10 Ashley Kaschl: Reacted to "Playing cops & robbe…" with 😮
 
01:02:03 Ashley Kaschl: Father, I don’t want to totally change the topic away from
good leisure and play, which is so good, but I was thinking about what you said in regards to busying ourselves or adding to our lives when we don’t need to add, and it brought to mind two quotes:

the first is a monk’s reflection on his need to leave his cell for begging. He said, “Every time I leave my cell, I return less myself.” 

And the second is from St. Francis of Assisi, when he would daily pray, “who are You, Lord, and who am I?” 


I think work properly related to our state in life is meant to be shaped around our prayer time, not our prayer time shaped around our extracurricular activities. I know I fail in this all the time but I find that I have to often reorient myself when I approach prayer because I have to shed burdens I did not know I picked up to carry before I can be with the Lord in a deeper intimacy.
 
01:03:42 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "Father, I don’t want..." with 🥰
 
01:05:47 Sr Barbara Jean Mihalchick: I have come to realize that sane and holy life requires quiet time for prayer but also quiet time for psychological wholeness.  Time to sort things out...
 
01:13:07 susan: learned so much!!
 
01:13:13 Victor: Thanks, Father & everyone.
 
01:13:17 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:13:29 Jeff O.: Thank you!
 

The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XIX, and XX

We continued our reading of the Evergetinos this evening with hypotheses 19 and 20. Once again we find ourselves considering the fathers’ teaching on eating and our use of food. Part of the reason they spend so much time on this subject is because they understand the meaning that food has for us as human beings and that it often goes well beyond that of nourishment. We come into this world and our first and earliest experience is that of being suckled; fed at the breast of our mother and thereby comforted. On a psychological level, food can continue to have this meaning. That is not necessarily something bad. There is a form of communion that we have with each other when we have a common meal. Indeed, this is why Christ gives himself to us as Eucharist. However, in our sin, the desire for food can be driven more by the emotional needs that we have in our day-to-day struggles. The fathers understood that the psychological reality affects us spiritually. 
Over and over again, we can turn to the things of this world to satisfy the longing of the human heart that God alone can fill. Christ is the Bread of Life and he alone can nourish us upon his love. Thus the fathers, especially those who entered into the desert, became acutely aware of the need to be watchful of this bodily hunger. When we lose our watchfulness or when we relax our disciplines, once again we can move towards satisfying ourselves through the things of this world. 
Food can become an idol. The monks understood that even in our religiosity we can be tempted to celebrate feasts in such a way that we cast aside all that was gained through fasting. What worth is it to fast 40 days of Lent then only to turn around and eat excessively for 50 days until Pentecost?
The fathers also identified another danger. Our religious sensibilities and identity can be just strong enough that they lead us to want to maintain the illusion of holiness and discipline. The fathers warn us about the temptation to secret eating. Hiding the truth from others as well as from oneself only prevents repentance. In order to hold on to the illusion and false image of the self, we can destroy ourselves spiritually.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:16:18 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 150
 
00:16:49 Lilly: Reacted to "P. 150" with ❤️
 
00:35:32 Forrest Cavalier: That earlier story was Evergetinos 11 in Volume 2.
 
00:39:02 iPhone: The YouTube channel is Athonite Audio. Audio books from the monks on Mount Athos
 
00:50:20 Forrest Cavalier: To know, love, serve in this life, and to be with him in the next
 
00:55:45 Ambrose Little, OP: Only the flamin hot ones, tho
 
01:07:16 Rebecca Thérèse: Is the real issue that the monk out of pride allowed people to think he was better than he was.
 
01:09:46 Fr Marty, AZ, 480-292-3381: I too often judge myself based on some preconceived results or image of what I or someone else should look like. Whereas, it sounds like the fruit of the soil that are my circumstances and weakness and gifts. God told Paul, where you're weak I'm strong. God can hide me in his own way that bears fruits that aren't necessarily visible results.
 
01:12:43 Nypaver Clan: Thank you, Father!
 
01:12:51 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You
 
01:13:22 Andrew Adams: Thank you, Father!
 
01:13:30 Cameron Jackson: Thank you Father.
 
01:13:33 Troy Amaro: Thank You Father
 
01:13:34 Rebecca Thérèse: thank you🙂
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVIII, Part IV

The very words of St. John Climacus seem to carry us up to heights hitherto unknown and unexpected. The experience of this ascent takes place as we feel our hearts begin to burn for love of God and the desire for him in prayer. 
St. John quickly moves us away from looking at prayer as a mere discipline and rather our being drawn into the depths of Mystery, the very Mystery of the Triune God.  The act of praying is a blessing in and of itself. To enter into this converse with God is also to experience the action of the Spirit within our hearts, the groans of Love that are beyond words.  
In all of this, St. John reshapes are understanding of the nature of prayer. It is not a discipline but an expression of our true nature in Christ. We are to become prayer, consumed by love for the Lord; anxious to show that love and treat it cheaply. 
Faith, St. John tells us, gives wings to prayer. Through it we see with clarity our hearts’ desire. An urgent longing takes hold of the heart that seeks quick satisfaction; that is, seeks to take hold of the Beloved without delay.
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Text of chat during the group:
 
00:08:23 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 237, #26
 
00:12:17 iPhone: Thank you, Bob
 
00:12:37 Myles Davidson: Hi Father. Which edition of Isaac the Syrian’s AH will you be using?
 
00:13:38 iPhone: Beautiful book
 
00:13:51 Bob Cihak, AZ: Previous posts don't show for newcomers, so I repeat: P. 237, #26
 
00:14:02 Bob Cihak, AZ: Yes! “The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian, revised 2nd Edition” published by Holy Transfiguration Monastery, https://www.bostonmonks.com/product_info.php/products_id/635 .
 
00:14:16 Cindy Moran: I just got mine in the mail---loving the glossary.
 
00:14:43 Cindy Moran: Excellent...yes!
 
00:26:15 Anthony: I think the focus on law and duty that we see in some Catholic subcultures damages our understanding of prayer in this mystical way. At least, I think it was not healthy for me, with efforts like "storm heaven with this novena."
 
00:27:53 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "Yes! “The Ascetical ..." with ❤️
 
00:30:43 Anthony: Another thing about legalism is that it chokes faith.
 
00:34:13 Anthony: Like how God said His name was blasphemy among the nation's by bad behavior of the Chosen people.
 
00:35:35 Kate : I have had to undo a lot of this strict legalistic teaching over the years.  Sometimes I fall back into it, and I think it is actually easier for my mind to grasp this legalism rather than open myself and surrender myself to the Love of God.  His Love is almost incomprehensible sometimes, but wonderfully so!
 
00:35:42 iPhone: Glad you mentioned corporal punishment. When I was five or six, I realized how unjust this violence was and I saw that the nun hit us hard enough to make us cry. In my desire for Justice, I resolved not to cry and I didn’t. After that I was marked as a problem child and never got a break. So, yeah, learning to trust is big
 
00:36:49 iPhone: The nuns meant our best, I’m sure. But something was really off with Irish Catholicism at that time (early 60s)
 
00:37:13 Anthony: Replying to "The nuns meant our b..." 
 
 It's Jansenism
 
00:38:19 iPhone: I think Jansenism is applicable but not the whole story
 
00:39:21 iPhone: Oh this is Una. Forget to put in my name
 
00:55:33 Cindy Moran: It's a sort of Divine healing radiation
 
01:04:21 Erick Chastain: Sorry about that got in car mode
 
01:04:27 iPhone: Ignatius and remote preparation
 
01:06:53 Jeff O.: So it all starts with obedience….is this the general
movement…recognizing that it’s not quite so linear? obedience —> humility —> discernment —> dispassion —> true prayer
 
01:12:22 Jacqulyn: Reacted to "Sorry about that got..." with 👍
 
01:13:34 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You Blessing
 
01:13:50 Andrew Adams: Thank you, Father!
 
01:13:57 Cindy Moran: Thank you, Father! Will be in prayer for you!
 
01:13:58 Jacqulyn: God bless!
 
01:14:03 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂Have a good retreat!
 
01:14:05 Nypaver Clan: Is there a particular website we should check to get the next book?
 
01:14:06 Jeff O.: Thank you!
 
01:14:10 Art iPhone: Thank you, Father!
 
01:14:22 Joseph: Thank you, Father.
 
01:14:40 Nypaver Clan: Is the next book cheaper than $70 anywhere?
 
01:14:59 Maureen Cunningham: On line
 

The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XVIII, Part III

Synopsis of tonight’s group on the Evergetinos- Hypothesis 18 Sections H and I:
 
This evening we concluded hypothesis 18 with the clarity that only St. John Cassian can bring. Cassian, though as western monk, spent many years in Egypt among the desert fathers and was able to distill their thought with great clarity for the western mind as well as the western monk. He shows us what the practice, or as he says, the vast experience of the monks over the course of time offers us. They show us that we are to avoid extremes. Fasting is not to be extended over the course of many days because the immoderate practice of fasting leads to the immoderate break of the fast and over-eating. Fasting is to be embraced, not as an end in itself, but as a means to bringing about both internal and external stability to a confused and unruly life. There is only one hard and fast rule and that is not to eat to the point of satiation. In fact, we must understand the uniqueness of each individual in regard to their experience in the ascetic life and the strength of their constitution. Not everybody can restrain the amount of food they eat to the same extent. Nor can everyone live a strictly vegan diet.
 
Cassian also notes that illness does not come into conflict with purity of heart. It may demand that we lighten our discipline for the sake of the health of the body. But even here we should eat in moderation and whatever the illness demands without making ourselves slaves to the assaults of evil desires. “The moderate and logical use of food ensures the health of the body; it does not detract from holiness.” Once again the fathers prove themselves to be both spiritually and psychologically astute as well as having a clear understanding of the physiological needs that we have as human beings.
 
Fasting in many way is starting point for us and not only serves us in the struggle for purity of heart by humbling the mind and the body, but it also reveals to us that the spiritual life must involve the whole person. We begin with the basics and our most fundamental need – the need for sustenance. A confused mind is born out of disorder, and this brings confusion to the soul, and from that purity slowly disappears. Much of the turmoil that we experience in our life arises out of the loss of peace that comes from a disordered life. However, when this order emerges within us and we begin to taste something of the peace of Christ, then something is born within the human heart. The Fathers tells us that from the light of peace a pure wind blows through the mind. To the extent that the heart can draw near to wisdom, it receives grace from God. Thus fasting may not seem to be necessary or important in our generation, but for the fathers it lays the very foundation of a life that is caught up in Christ and transformed by his grace.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:09:53 Nicole Dillon: Hello everyone. Happy to be able to join tonite. Thank you 🙏🏼 🥰🕊️
 
00:10:46 Ambrose Little, OP: St. John’s Conferences were one of the few books
that St. Dominic kept and carried with him.
 
00:24:57 Wayne: Some may be Vegan?
 
00:25:26 Laura: Vegan - no animal products
 
00:25:34 Lilly (Toronto, CA): No animal products at all
 
00:25:50 Forrest Cavalier: There are also fruitarians.
 
00:25:57 Rebecca Thérèse: Vegans won't even eat honey
 
00:26:17 Lilly (Toronto, CA): I've been a nut for 12 years 😅
 
00:26:23 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "Vegans won't even ea..." with 🙄
 
00:26:43 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "There are also fruit..." with 🙄
 
00:29:14 Anthony: When the Mongols became Christian,  they had a meat and milk diet.  They were advised by the "nestorian" bishop to abstain from fermented mare's milk.
 
00:36:04 Lilly (Toronto, CA): I've always wondered if God's plan for Adam and Eve was for humanity to be vegan? Did original sin bring about the killing of animals and need for such products?
 
00:36:50 Anthony: Reacted to I've always wondered... with "👍"
 
00:41:43 Nypaver Clan: Can a disordered life cause mental disorder or does the mental disorder usually come first, then the disordered life?
 
00:51:42 Wayne: Replying to "I've always wondered..."
 
I don't have the  scriptural verse in Genuis that suggest we should not be eating animal products
 
00:56:29 Rebecca Thérèse: When I worked in mental health over a decade ago, professionals completely adopted the secularist notions towards sexuality and sexual behaviour without even any understanding of different values in this area. For example, stating that a Muslim man would have hang ups around sex because of his religion. Also, a colleague was refused a job because in an interview he said he would advise a Muslim with same sex attraction to speak to a Muslim religious leader. He was told he failed the diversity question as this was the wrong answer since religious leaders are the most conservative of people. It's considered bad for mental health to observe traditional sexual morality.
 
00:58:36 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "When I worked in men..." with 😢
 
00:58:55 Lilly (Toronto, CA): Is there an actual scriptural verse in Genesis that can clarify my previous question?
 
00:59:25 Forrest Cavalier: Replying to "Is there an actual s..."
 
Gen 9:3
 
01:02:44 iPhone: I’ve been called a bigot for believing that homosexuality activity is a sin and that the attraction is disordered, although I do not reject or condemn this man
 
01:05:36 Wayne: Replying to "Is there an actual s..."
 
yes that's it
 
01:06:41 Wayne: Replying to "Is there an actual s..."
 
I checked the foot notes on this verse and did not get clarity on it
 
01:07:27 Nicole Dillon: Thank you Father!
 
01:07:53 Laura: Reacted to "Thank you Father!" with 👍🏼
 
01:08:05 Maureen Cunningham: Thank you, FatherI keep you in  prayer for your retreat Blessing
 
01:08:13 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:08:17 Forrest Cavalier: So grateful!
 
01:08:21 iPhone: Thank you, Father
 
01:08:29 Troy Amaro: Thank You Father.
 
01:08:33 Cameron Jackson: Thank you.
 
01:08:38 iPhone: Bye bye
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVIII, Part III

Joy! Suddenly, as we read through the Ladder of Dive Ascent every cross, every struggle in the spiritual life, while still present, begins to fade into the background. The costs involved in this struggle pales in comparison to the blessings and the fruits that God bestows upon us, especially prayer .
St. John places before us the essentials of prayer - as well as what can undermine it. We continue to struggle to confine our thoughts and then to completely still the mind and the heart. When this takes place, prayer becomes perfection and rapture in the Lord. 
This joy, however, especially among the anchorites is marked by humility. One does not expose the deepest elements of the most intimate relationship indiscriminately with others. In any case, it would be impossible to do so. As we are drawn along in faith, as we begin to encounter and experience God as he is in himself, words fail us.
What we must do is hold on to what is precious. Imperfections and anxieties can pull us away from God and our trust in his love. Furthermore the evil one is ever set on disrupting that relationship. Plotting and conniving as he is, he will stir an emotion within our heart; or influence another to engage us in such a way so as to agitate or distract. But we must keep our eyes upon the Beloved. 
St. John asks, “For what have I in heaven? Nothing. And what have I desired on earth beside Thee? Nothing, but to cling continually to Thee in prayer without distraction.”  Hearing these words, one can never look upon prayer simply as an activity or discipline. It is life. It is love. We are to become prayer.
---
Text of chat during the group: 
00:06:52 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 235, # 19
 
00:11:46 Myles Davidson: Greetings from New Zealand! (my apologies for turning up at the end of the last session… got the time zone conversion wrong). Anyway, delighted to be here. These discussions have been an immeasurable blessing to this baby Catholic. Thanking you profusely Father, and God bless you and your ministry!!
 
00:20:15 Myles Davidson: Do you have any tips for developing watchfulness of thoughts. Is this just a constant practice of mindfulness of thought?
 
00:29:37 Kate : What about the publication of saints’ diaries or journals?  What would the Fathers say about this?
 
00:30:01 Anthony: Replying to "What about the publi..." 
 
 I love this question
 
00:30:36 iPhone: Can you explain vigils? Is it vespers and compline?
 
00:31:17 Rod Castillo: My Life in Christ by John of Kronstadt ????
 
00:32:42 Anthony: So the idea popular in "evangelicalism" (and now with Catholics and Orthodox) of a tell-all conversion story is not appropriate.
 
00:33:02 Jeff O.: Reacted to "So the idea popular ..." with 🎯
 
00:34:59 iPhone: This is a fascinating topic, this saying too much   Thank you
 
00:35:31 Rebecca Thérèse: Is there any evidence of changes in attitudes towards publishing personal spiritual journals since the advent of the printing press?
 
00:37:00 iPhone: Why is this tell-all trend happening? Because so many people have not read the Fathers?
 
00:37:23 iPhone: Blogs! Immodesty personified!
 
00:37:30 Myles Davidson: People aren’y going to confession perhaps?
 
00:56:33 Anthony: Wow.  So excessive chasing after goods and the obsession with trans- stuff us a war on prayer.
 
01:03:27 Rebecca Thérèse: There was a real antipathy towards ancestral religions by many of the founders of modern psychology and psychiatry including Freud. There are also nefarious financial and political interests in these areas
 
01:06:37 Bob Cihak, AZ: Too true. Too often, it's the easy way out, just prescribing drugs.
 
01:07:48 Nypaver Clan: An instructor I had at Duquesne U.  who was a therapist, often said that the majority of her clients would have best been served in the confessional.
 
01:13:01 Cameron Jackson: Thank you Father. A great blessing.
 
01:13:05 Leilani Nemeroff: Thank you, Father! This is a Blessing!
 
01:13:42 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father!
 
01:13:43 Andrew Adams: Thank you, Father!
 
01:13:45 David: Thank you father!
 
01:13:47 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:13:51 Jeff O.: Thank you! Great to be with you all.
 

The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XVIII, Part II

No one is going to take up the practice of fasting or come to “love fasting” as we have often spoken of unless they are taught by those who have deep and long experience in the practice. As we have seen the desert was very much laboratory. Those who entered into it were driven by the desire for the Lord and to remove any impediment to that desire. 
Yet, we see in the writings of the Evergetinos a natural progression, an organic progression, in the practice. Their zeal for the Lord often led the monks to engage in the practice of fasting with great strictness and to radically humble the body. However, they quickly learned that to practice even that which is good in an imprudent and unmeasured fashion was dangerous. To fall into exhaustion from fasting too long could make it impossible for a person to remain awake to engage in the practice of prayer or, similarly, weaken their watchfulness of mind such that they become vulnerable to the provocation of sinful thoughts. 
The desert fathers also had to learn that fasting was but an implement. It is necessary for the cultivation of the heart, but it must be accompanied by constant prayer and bear the fruit of love for God and virtue. Therefore, the Evergetinos places us in a privileged position. We are able to sit at the feet of the great elders of old and to learn from the errors and the pitfalls that can cripple us in the spiritual life as well as to be inspired by the fathers’ great sanctity. The spiritual struggle is rarely neat and the path ahead is often hidden to us. The desert fathers are shining light in an age of spiritual darkness and lack of guidance. Thanks be to God for such a precious gift.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:30:18 Anthony: I feel targeted.... 😉
 
00:36:50 Una: Does that include Irish Coffees?
 
00:48:47 Anthony: It's a gift to be simple, it's a gift to be free
 
00:48:54 Forrest Cavalier: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Gifts
 
00:49:21 Forrest Cavalier: Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gained,
To bow and to bend we shan’t be ashamed,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come 'round right.[5]
 
00:56:47 Anthony: Excessive sorrow also brings exhaustion.
 
01:07:30 Anthony: History also shows fixation on pornography is almost always present
 
01:17:26 Maureen Cunningham: Thank you
 
01:17:40 Andrew Adams: Thank you, Father!
 
01:17:46 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:17:50 Kevin Burke: Thank you !
 
01:18:03 Troy Amaro: Thank You Father.
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVIII, Part II

There are some things that cannot be learned from books – prayer most of all! However, St. John, as so many of the Saints speaks to us from long experience as one who truly has seen Christ, knows Christ and has conversed with him deeply. Whatever might be lacking in his thought it still stokes the fire of desire within any heart that longs for God. 
The desert fathers understood that God looks upon us as his sons and daughters his children, and the simplest word or groan from the heart is sufficient to express our need and love. Above all, we are to have gratitude and a spirit of compunction. With these then we approach the Lord with the intentions of our hearts. 
We should not fear our own weakness or the multiplicity of our thoughts that seem to overwhelm us. St. John reminds us that He who “sets the bounds to the sea of the mind will visit us, and during our prayer will say to the waves thus far shall you come and no further.” 
Prayer should be the simplest of things, but also what we hold to be most precious. We should come to see it as necessary as breathing but even more essential. The fathers tell us that we are to become prayer - our life is to be a sacrifice of praise. We are to be the very reflection of Christ. The kingdom is now, heaven is now and dwells within us. May our foolish hearts take hold of the gift that the Beloved offers us so freely.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:01:29 Bob Cihak, AZ: p. 234, # 1.5
 
00:05:18 Bob Cihak, AZ: We were half way thru #1.
 
00:05:53 Gregory Chura: Which step?
 
00:06:03 Gregory Chura: Thank you!
 
00:39:40 Anthony: So how to ignore the rational and irrational mind when praying? Just pray and eventually it happens?  Because my mind gets in the way.  
 
00:40:42 susan: Jesus [rayer
 
00:45:37 David: Sometimes something tactile like a chotki, rosary or stone ( have one that fits my hand from a retreat center) can help one become grounded. Others a icon or image can help set the mind and still others a candle or breathing technique can quickly return us to a calm state.
 
00:51:37 Wayne: Doing some active physical activity can settle the mind down before prayer.
 
01:03:05 Jeff O.: proverbs 24
 
01:03:22 Jeff O.: verse 16
 
01:03:24 Nypaver Clan: Verse 16
 
01:14:56 Andrew Adams: Thank you, Father!
 
01:14:59 Jeff O.: Thank you!
 
01:15:02 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:15:05 David: Thanks Father!
 
01:15:06 Gregory Chura: Thank you, Father!
 
01:15:11 Kevin Burke: Thank you Father!
 

The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XVIII, Part I

We picked up this evening with the beginning of hypothesis 18. For weeks now we have been reading about the essential practice of fasting. The cultivation of virtue and the overcoming of the passions is impossible without it. Making use of the body to strengthen the soul is a necessity. But we quickly realize from the stories that this practice can become imbalanced; monks could fall into extremes and be tempted to engage in disciplines in ways that feed the ego – ways that make them feel holy or religious. 
Yet the desert was a great teacher. The monks learned in this laboratory the subtle movements not only of the mind and the heart, but the way the demons tempt us to extremes. To fast for three or four days serves only to weaken the body and this can disrupt one’s spiritual practices as well as one make one ill. It can also, fill the heart with pride. In this, the gains made in the life of virtue can be lost in an instant. 
Therefore, the fathers begin to understand that fasting must be practiced with restraint, measure, and good wisdom. We must never lose sight of the fact that our fasting is tied to Christ and who he is for us. He is the beloved, the heavenly bridegroom, and our fasting and the hunger it produces must be tied in our minds and our hearts to our desire for Christ, the bread of life. He alone satisfies the deepest longings of the human heart. Therefore fasting is not meant to kill the body, but rather re-order our desires toward their true end. Fasting then is to be done with regularity, extending no more than one day. We begin simply by not eating to the point of satiation. We give the body what is necessary, but no more. In all of this we are taught that the royal path to purity of heart is fasting and that light burdens are also profitable.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:07:34 Una: Could someone tell me what book we're using?
 
00:08:20 Andrew Adams: Replying to "Could someone tell m..."
 
https://www.ctosonline.org/patristic/EvCT.html
 
00:08:44 Una: Thank you!
 
00:44:43 Anonymous Sinner: What page?
 
00:47:02 Una: I grew up in Ireland at the time when doctors were doctors and not pill pushers. Our Dr. O'Dolan's best health advice was to always leave the table a little hungry. He was a good Irish Catholic too. I've found following this advice more difficult that doing "heroic" fasts of ten days or so.
 
01:01:44 Anonymous Sinner: I thought that it was Mother Teresa who said this, about praying for 2 hours when one is busy?
 
01:07:41 Maureen Cunningham: Moderation in everything even in moderation
 
01:08:48 Anonymous Sinner: CS Lewis’s chapter on gluttony in the Screwtape Letters comes to mind
 
01:16:27 Maureen Cunningham: Thank you Blessing
 
01:16:37 Andrew Adams: Thank you, Father!
 
01:16:39 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:16:53 Troy Amaro: Thank You Father
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVII, Part IX, and XXVIII, Part I

As St. John Climacus comes to the end of the step on stillness and segues into the step on prayer, it is as if he is beckoning us with every word to enter into silence and to give ourselves over to prayer; not as a discipline but rather as a response to the gift of God’s love. We are so often filled with a hunger that is inexplicable to us. We seek to nourish ourselves upon the things of this world indiscriminately - only to find them sadly insufficient. We pathetically move on to something else that captures our attention. The world constantly tells us that it has “some thing” that will fill that void within our hearts. 
Therefore, St. John begins to define for us the mother of virtues – prayer. Not once does John describe prayer as a discipline but rather lays out before us all that it promises. The world sees it perhaps as a waste of time or an escape from reality. However, John makes it clear that the union prayer establishes with God upholds the very fabric of the world and opens the door to reconciliation with God. It becomes the cure and the healing balm for the deepest sorrows of human existence. 
Those realities that we experience during our life that are most painful are healed by being drawn into the eternal life and love of God - a God who has taken every bit of this suffering upon himself and permeates it. Prayer is our greatest treasure! May God give us the grace in the coming weeks to see and understand this.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:15:43 Bob Cihak, AZ: P.232, #77
 
00:17:02 Bob Cihak, AZ: As best I know, the next book, we’ll be doing is “The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian, revised 2nd Edition” published by Holy Transfiguration Monastery, https://www.bostonmonks.com/product_info.php/products_id/635 .
 
00:17:13 Jeff O.: Reacted to "As best I know, the ..." with 👍
 
00:22:47 Jeff O.: I find that the 3 o’clock hour is the hour I most regularly awake to spiritual battle…fear, attacks in dreams, etc. There have been many nights I awake during that hour feeling an overwhelming need to pray and sings hymns… I have increasingly seen the value of praying at some time during that hour.
 
00:38:44 Anthony: This curiousity is a misdirected "eros"
 
00:39:42 Ambrose Little, OP: You triggered mine, too.
 
00:39:47 Ambrose Little, OP: Twice
 
00:39:53 Andrew Adams: Mine too!
 
00:40:57 Kathy Locher: How can you break its hold? Internet etc
 
00:42:37 Anthony: Makes us nervous and anxious too
 
00:59:42 Lori Hatala: there yourlies also
 
00:59:47 Rebecca Thérèse: Where your treasure is there will be your heart also
 
01:20:02 Anthony: If chronological time is a creature, prayer brings us to kairos time which like the shekinah or tabor light, is untreated. Thus things in chronological past can be healed.
 
01:23:09 Andrew Adams: Thank you, Father!
 
01:23:10 Cindy Moran: Thank you, Father!
 
01:23:11 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:23:12 Jeff O.: Thank you!
 
01:23:32 Kevin Burke: Thank you Father!
 
01:23:35 Cameron Jackson: Thank you!
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVII: On Stillness of Mind and Body, Part VIII

One of the most wonderful things that someone said in the group tonight was: “I am amazed at how simple it all is!”  And they are absolutely right in their observation. All that the fathers tell us - about the struggle for purity of heart and overcoming the passions, seeking stillness and constancy in prayer - comes down to one simple reality. 
God is love and that all run but “one receives the prize without effort!” He who humbles himself will be exalted. The moment we turn the mind and the heart to God and - even prior to that - the mere existence of humility in our hearts leads God to lift us up to gaze upon him face-to-face. It is like a child who has no illusions about his self-worth or identity, but simply reaches out for the parent and is lifted up immediately in love!
It is this love that the hesychast seeks above all things; the eye of the heart is constantly turned toward and seeking the Belived. What is the one thing necessary that our Lord speaks about in the gospel? Mary sat at his feet being nourished upon his words of love and his presence. This is the better part. We so often complicate our lives and spend years and decades pursuing what the false self tells us that we need or where we will find dignity and the fullness of life. In the end, there is no ladder! There is only love and the urgent longing that makes us strive for it.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:22:52 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 230, #68
 
00:30:26 Anthony: There is a tension though, between a situation that is wrong which should be made right, and waiting in patience
 
00:33:32 Anthony: Ok, so like Abraham had a promise that took a long timevtivrealize
 
00:33:41 Anthony: Long time to realize
 
00:34:58 Anthony: Thank you
 
00:37:15 Fr Marty AZ 480-292-3381: be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 1Peter 4:7
 
00:39:41 Julie’s iPad: It’s hard when you’re accused of something you didn’t do or say not to defend yourself.
 
00:51:14 Anthony: Ego is the false self. Is Despondency a false remorse?
 
00:53:58 Nypaver Clan: Without effort?
 
00:55:09 Kate : I am really blown away by the simplicity of this.  How many times I have complicated the spiritual life!
 
00:58:02 David: I wasted years reading books and talking to people on discernment which always was a labyrinth of paths. On a retreat a old Jesuit Priest made it easy in 1 minute: Does this lead me closer to God or away from God. Our intellect often gets us lost and like a rocking chair giving us something to do but going nowhere.
 
00:59:41 Jeff O.: Reacted to "I wasted years readi..." with 🎯
 
01:02:25 Susanna Joy: There is a proverb in Islam: There are as many ways to God as there are breaths of His creatures.
 
01:02:34 Anthony: FYI it was college professors and lawyers who, from late scholasticism
through "reformation " and spirit of vatican 2 caused us so many problems. 
 
01:03:04 Susanna Joy: It is as simple as the next breath, to turn back to God.
 
01:12:57 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:13:40 Bob Cihak, AZ: The next book, we’ll be doing is “The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian, revised 2nd Edition” published by Holy Transfiguration Monastery, https://www.bostonmonks.com/product_info.php/products_id/635 .
 
01:14:24 Andrew Adams: Thank you, Father!
 
01:14:25 David: Thank you Father David!
 
01:14:28 Jeff O.: Thank you!! Good to be with you all.
 
01:14:50 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father!
 

The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XVII, Part I

The desert was a laboratory. The monks went into its depths precisely to push the limits of what they needed in order to sustain themselves; whether it be food, water or sleep. Therefore, we must not find ourselves put off by the stories that seem so extreme. Quite simply, they were extreme!
The desert being a laboratory, compelled the monks not only to evaluate their motives but also the restraint and measure that was necessary in order not to fall into extremes where they would hurt themselves physically or spiritually. Wisdom is hard won. The generations of monks who lived in the desert offer us a profoundly astute understanding of the human person, our needs, our motivations, and what strengthens or harm us in the spiritual life. 
They often learned through error. Sometimes their judgment or lack thereof was a source of profound humility. In the coming weeks, we will be presented with the greater wisdom and balance that began to emerge out of this lengthy experience.
---
Text of chat during the group:
00:17:27 Jacqulyn: I'm from Oklahoma!
 
00:18:23 Anthony: Replying to "I'm from Oklahoma!" 
 
 Nice. I'm from Virginia
 
00:20:47 Jacqulyn: Reacted to "Nice. I'm from Virgi..." with 👍
 
01:16:46 Anthony: His weeping sounds like DaVinci who lamented not using God's gifts more, or like Cyrano de Bergerac who struggled to maintain honor.
 
01:17:11 Una McManus: What edition of the book are we using?
 
01:17:28 Una McManus: Can someone write it here? Thanks
 
01:17:42 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:18:57 Andrew Adams: Thank you, Father!
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVII: On Stillness of Mind and Body, Part VII

St. John draws us into the experience of stillness and its many fruits. It is a precious gift that comes to us by the grace of God and takes root in a heart prepared through years of asceticism and watchfulness. It is our waiting upon God. 
In many ways this sums up the vocation of the hermit/monk. But it also captures the essence of our life and the life of prayer. We are ever waiting upon God to act in our life and we seek to cultivate in our hearts a receptivity to his will and grace. This is the active life, the fulfillment of the vocation for the Hesychast and of all Christians. 
The temptations that come are always going to be things that draw one out of that stillness; loneliness, despondency, etc.  Whether monk or Christians in the world we must allow ourselves to remain within the crucible of stillness. When we feel lonely and isolated, when we are agitated, our tendency is to run to others or to things within the world. This crucible purifies the desire of our hearts and our faith. 
Are we able to give our will over to God? Can we trust that he will make of our lives that which endures to eternity? So often we are set upon fixing, undoing or changing the circumstances of our life that seem inconsistent with what is good or what will lead to a sense of fulfillment. However, when we long for God and when we turn to his love, we become free from being tossed about by the chaos of life. Our hearts find rest only in the Lord - He who is an eternal rock.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:03:46 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 229, #57
 
00:16:25 Ambrose Little, OP: Happy feast day, Fr. Charbel!
 
00:27:38 Erick Chastain: The rule of St Benedict even says that there is no eating outside of the communal mealtime. So those who follow the rule outside of the monastery can follow this too.
 
00:32:22 Anthony: Maybe it could be a person who entered this kind of life is not called to
it?
 
00:34:13 Art: My family has been out of the country for 2.5 weeks.  I’ve been trying to give myself a little taste of the solitary life from the little I know. I’m sure my attempt is laughable compared to monks, but I still found it hard!
 
00:34:14 Callie Eisenbrandt: Can this be related to like normal life? Separating yourself from the world work on your relationship with the Lord - It is difficult to find a "good" community with support - so how is one supposed to mimic this when they are in society
 
00:43:01 Una: Blessed name day, Fr. Charbel. Any books or sources of his teachings you can recommend?
 
00:45:11 Cindy Moran: This might seem nuts but I waited until God sent me a mate who loves Jesus more than me
 
00:45:51 Anthony: "Love is a Radiant Light" is, I believe,  a collection of St Charbel homilies
 
00:46:15 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "This might seem nuts..." with 🥰
 
00:47:15 Callie Eisenbrandt: Connect me Father! lol
 
00:49:11 Callie Eisenbrandt: haha thank you
 
00:51:00 Susanna Joy: A cruise / retreat would be good...count me in!
 
00:52:25 Anthony: In my experience, the torrents of unwelcome thoughts are a military maneuver to draw one's attention to the head and away from a still heart.
 
00:53:23 susan: for the sake of the 10 good men   God saved the city
 
00:54:22 Susanna Joy: Ok!
 
00:54:59 Susanna Joy: Mountains in Maine and prayerful company😊
 
00:55:08 Leilani Nemeroff: Agree about being trapped on a boat!
 
01:03:45 Susanna Joy: Crucible
 
01:12:44 Una: What chapter are we in?
 
01:13:10 Una: Thanks. I'm new
 
01:13:32 Nypaver Clan: Replying to "Thanks. I'm new"
 
P. 230
 
01:13:44 Nypaver Clan: Replying to "Thanks. I'm new"
 
#67
 
01:14:11 Nypaver Clan: Replying to "Thanks. I'm new"
 
😇
 
01:18:33 Nypaver Clan: God bless you on your Feast Day, Fr. Charbel!  🙏🏼
 
01:18:41 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:19:29 Andrew Adams: Thank you, Father!
 
01:19:30 Jeff O.: Thank you Father, great to be with you all.
 
01:19:47 Cindy Moran: Thank you, Father, wonderful session.
 
01:19:49 Ann’s iPad: God Bless you Father
 
01:19:56 Leilani Nemeroff: Thank you! Happy name day!
 
01:20:03 Lilly (Toronto, CA): Book title?
 

The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XVI, Part II

We picked up once again with the theme of “loving fasting.” The severity of the desert father’s practice of this discipline reveals that love. They discovered not only how essential the body is in the spiritual struggle to overcome attachment and the order of one’s desires towards God, but also that fasting brings a simplicity to one’s life.
We begin to realize that we need much less than we imagine. We are often tempted to think that we need to pamper the body so as not to become sick or weak. It is the regular practice of fasting, we must keep in mind, that teaches us to see the intimate connection between eating and Christ. He is the bread of life and also he who gives us living water to drink in abundance. Therefore, we are to eat in a thoughtful and contemplative fashion, and to make an explicit connection between eating and the Eucharist. In fact fasting and the Eucharist shape the way that we eat. We must attend to the body, but we must also allow the body to serve us spiritually. We discipline ourselves not to punish the body as something evil but to allow everything to be directed toward what satisfies the deepest longing of the human heart.
We are not promised happiness in this world, but rather the invincible, peace, joy, and love of the kingdom. Fasting is one element that helped the monks learn to hunger for what endures.
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Text of chat during the group:
 
00:07:29 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 127, # 8
 
00:43:17 Bob Cihak, AZ: Is the Elder hastening his own death excessively?
 
00:48:25 Susanna Joy: When I was a girl, we fasted on bread and water on Fridays, but after awhile stopped bc virtue is harder to practice ...making it pointless if no charity is left
 
00:48:53 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "When I was a girl, w..." with 😩
 
00:51:15 Susanna Joy: Right! The regular habit is important and the combination with prayer
 
00:51:57 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "Right! The regular h..." with 👍🏼
 
00:51:59 Maureen Cunningham: Holy Spirit will help
 
00:52:54 Forrest Cavalier: Is there a #16 that was skipped?
 
00:53:21 Cameron Jackson: Despondency. I can get how one can transcend Judas like despair. God is so good He can forgive all our sin but despair of life itself is another thing. I’m old, my money is running out, I can’t protect my family from ever present evil, etc. God doesn’t guarantee quality of life. How do you think this through? Life is suffering get used to it?!
 
00:56:40 Susanna Joy: Emerson
 
00:56:56 Susanna Joy: Most men lead lives of quiet desperation
 
00:58:33 David Fraley: I think that was Thoreau.
 
00:59:15 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "I think that was Tho..." with 👍🏼
 
01:01:28 Susanna Joy: Reacted to I think that was Tho... with "👍🏼"
 
01:08:10 Maureen Cunningham: How long did he live
 
01:14:54 Steve Yu: As a beginner, would one 16 hr fast a week be excessive?
 
01:15:00 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You , Blessing
 
01:15:31 Andrew Adams: Thank you, Father!
 
01:15:35 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:15:35 Forrest Cavalier: Steve, start by skipping breakfast.
 
01:15:36 Lorraine Green: Thank you Father!
 
01:15:43 David Fraley: Thank you, Father.
 

The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XV, Part IV and XVI, Part I

We continued our discussion of the fathers’ love for abstinence and fasting. While their feats seem amazing to us as well as how little food they needed to sustain themselves, the importance is what this love of these disciplines show us. They were not embraced simply as forms of discipline or endurance, but rather that which humbled the mind and the body. It is counterintuitive for all of those who live in times of great abundance to imagine that radically limiting both the amount and type of food that we eat could have such great significance for the spiritual life. At one point, the practices are compared to David slaying a lion in the protection of his flock. Fasting allows us to put our trust in God, and so becomes a weapon capable of slaying a far more fierce enemy. Similarly, David rushed out to do battle with Goliath with nothing but a sling and a few stones. Likewise, we rush out in battle, unencumbered by the things of this world caring with us the humble weapons of fasting and constant prayer.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:09:22 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 124, #5
 
00:12:09 David Fraley: Hello Father!
 
00:22:14 Maureen Cunningham: What  page
 
00:22:33 Lilly: Pg 125 #8
 
00:23:01 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You
 
00:32:04 Adam Paige: gyrovagues
 
00:38:26 Bob Cihak, AZ: Waste not, Want not, Skinny not.
 
00:44:24 Adam Paige: "Prayer, mercy and fasting: these three are one, and they give life to each other. Fasting is the soul of prayer, almsgiving is the lifeblood of fasting. Let no one try to separate them; they cannot be separated." - St. Peter Chrysologus Sermo 43 (Office of Readings for Tuesday of the 3rd week of Lent)
 
00:47:54 Forrest Cavalier: In Hypothesis 16 there are stories of extreme fasting, some of which must be miraculous, but not without other imitations that are attested. There are several saints who lived multiple years only consuming Eucharist, including St. Catherine of Sienna and St. Joseph of Cupertino.
 
01:03:59 Rebecca Thérèse: Yes
 
01:14:53 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:14:57 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You
 
01:15:33 Andrew Adams: Thank you, Father!
 
01:15:55 Troy Amaro: Thank You Father.
 
01:15:56 David Fraley: Thank you, Father!
 
01:16:01 Jennifer Ahearn: 🙏 thank you.
 
01:16:08 Mark: thank you father
 

The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XV, Part III

The fathers often draw us along this mysterious path, the narrow path, that leads to the kingdom. They lead us, as it were, “where angels fear to tread.”  They show us in an unvarnished fashion how the path to Godly love and virtue passes through affliction. 
Yet, even that is too simplistic. It is the suffering heart, the heart crushed by prayer and the desire for God, that gives birth to virtue. One cannot have God sorrow and suffering if he does not first cherish the causes of these. 
It is here that we must pray for the illumination that comes through faith. For we are told fear of God and the reproof of one’s conscience give birth to this godly sorrow. Abstinence and vigil keep company with a suffering heart and strengthen it to remain upon this path. Gluttony in all of its forms gives rise to the bad blood of the passions, and drives out the influx of the Spirit. 
Thus, while we are young, we must learn to delight in what comes from the labor of compunction. If we do not, we will simply provoke confusion and callousness in the heart. We will be frustrated and lose our desire for God. Knowledge of God and the things of God do not reside in the hedonist; and the one who loves his body will not acquire the grace of God. 
There is a plethora of ways that we idolize the body and its needs. It is for this reason that we are given multiple stories of elders crushing the demons by their asceticism. They starve the demons by not allowing them to feed upon the disordered and the unholy desires that often dwell within our hearts. If a man spends his life in fasting, then his adversaries, the passions and the demons flee, enfeebled, from his soul.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:37:43 Kate : I think sometimes we can hesitate in the ascetical life due to an exaggerated fear of suffering.  I know I have felt this myself.  But when we begin to engage in ascetical practices there is a sweetness and joy and peace in making our way towards God.  It is not a sensible sweetness, but a deep interior sweetness.
 
00:38:51 Adam Paige: At church and Catholic home meetings, I'm constantly being offered food.. it's not always clear whether to accept hospitality or decline sometimes large amounts of food
 
00:44:25 Fr Marty, AZ, 480-292-3381: Besides wine, it sounds like that satiating our longing for God or restlessness to do God's will by overdoing anything: food, lust, entertainment, news, even complaining, can numb our sensitivity to not just the Holy Spirit's guidance, but even our ability to just be at rest with life we've been given and be
content during prayer.
 
00:44:45 Adam Paige: Reacted to "Besides wine, it sou..." with ❤️‍🔥
 
00:48:56 Forrest Cavalier: καὶ αὐτὸς. ποὺ ἀγαπᾷ τὸ σῶπα του
 
00:49:06 Forrest Cavalier: Agape love
 
00:53:21 Forrest Cavalier: It is the greek original of "he who loves his own body"
 
00:55:36 Anthony: I went to Italy and got some prayer cards from Naples and Calabria.  Some of them do not end prayer in "Amen" but "Cosi sià," which I take to mean "As He (the Lord) wills."
 
01:02:07 Fr Marty, AZ, 480-292-3381: Just as God wants us well fed in those things that keep us healthy, could it be that the devils have the strategy to starve us spiritually by glutting our appetites, and keep us from feeding on the Word of God or Body of Christ. It seems at times I've been starving on a full stomach. That even in great pleasure, I felt no love or joy..
 
01:05:52 Jennifer Ahearn: There is a term I just learned ‘simping’, in romantic relationships a male who is over attentive and submissive to a woman’s desire.  Only the blessings and God’s good pleasure to see his children fulfilled really satisfy the soul and strengthen the Sacrament.
 
01:06:14 Anthony: I'm preparing to move, and trying to follow St Charbel's advice, cutting out of my life books that I bought to be a somebody, a scholar, but really are so much extra weight - other than the one "jar" I should carry or am called to carry in life, for my vocation.
 
01:08:44 Ambrose Little, OP: Jim Gaffigan
 
01:08:51 Nypaver Clan: Jim Gaffigan?
 
01:09:12 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "Jim Gaffigan" with 👍🏼
 
01:14:08 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you 🙂Happy birthday🎂
 
01:14:14 Anthony: Auguri, Padre!
 
01:14:23 Adam Paige: Ad multos annos !
 
01:14:23 Steve Yu: Happy Birthday, Father!
 
01:14:24 Nypaver Clan: Birthday blessings
 
01:15:03 Andrew Adams: Thank you, Father! Happy Birthday!
 
01:15:23 Troy Amaro: Thank You Father. Happy Birthday.
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVII: On Stillness of Mind and Body, Part VI

St. John Climacus once again gives us powerful images to help us understand the meaning of stillness and how it is to be protected. One such image is that of an eyelash that falls into the eye and creates irritation. The enemy of stillness is agitation; we are often driven to distraction by a concern for our physical and emotional well-being. Fear can create within us a kind of hypochondria. We become hypersensitive to our health and well-being. Unchecked, this fear can be become so excessive that it creates a massive neurosis that prevent us from trusting in the providence and promises of God. We no longer feel ourselves being drawn along by love or seeking to remain in that stillness in order that we might know intimacy with the beloved. Rather, we desperately push forward, driving ourselves to the point of exhaustion, seeking a worldly peace and security. 
However, in this we deprive ourselves of a childlike sense of wonder at the life and love the God has made possible for us. Therefore, as Christ tells us, we may not experience the kingdom even though it dwells within us because we are focused upon controlling our life and shaping our own identity. Once the simplicity is lost, it can lead to a kind of quiet desperation. Our hearts long for love from others and from God, but in the complexity that we have created and the thick hedge of responsibilities with which we surround ourselves, we lose faith and hope that such freedom can ever be ours again.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:03:18 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 228, #48
 
00:26:14 Anthony: Another issue is for one in involuntary solitude, having a desire for companionship goes out to fill the void
 
00:27:33 Anthony: This is a reason for excessive social media or tv or radio, and God's gifts are dissipated
 
00:30:57 Bob Cihak, AZ: The stutters are because you're reflecting as we go.
 
00:36:19 Anthony: Not to analyze the thoughts.  I've been surprised by horrid thoughts, and thereafter been so concerned about them, that concern brings them to mind.
 
00:47:15 Kate : It’s almost as if we don’t trust the grace of God.  We don’t trust the Providence of God and His Presence within the soul.
 
00:55:09 Susanna Joy: So true...believing the promise of God's everlasting goodness is key. Elizabeth said to Mary: Blessed is she who believed that the promise made by God would be fulfilled.
And it is true for all of us.
 
00:57:32 Lilly (Toronto, CA): Covid was a curse *and* a blessing, it brought Fr Abernethy to my life...I am so grateful 🙏
 
00:57:51 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "Covid was a curse *a..." with 🥰
 
00:57:57 Lilly (Toronto, CA): Reacted to "Covid was a curse *a…" with 🥰
 
00:58:40 Kevin Burke: Reacted to "Covid was a curse *a…" with 👌
 
01:03:55 Susanna Joy: Yes...wonder!
 
01:04:13 Greg C: It was a blessing to me as I began to read scripture much more deeply, and understand the Divine Liturgy with so much more love.
 
01:04:26 Susanna Joy: Reacted to It was a blessing to... with "❤️"
 
01:04:36 Susanna Joy: Reacted to Covid was a curse *a... with "❤️"
 
01:04:46 Greg C: Reacted to "Covid was a curse *a..." with ❤️
 
01:16:49 Susanna Joy: Jesus did say, unless you become like little children you cannot enter the kingdom of God.
 
01:19:21 Susanna Joy: Trust and Wonder.💗
 
01:19:58 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father!
 
01:20:08 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:21:08 Cindy Moran: My birthday is July 8...I will be thinking of you!
 
01:21:18 Sharon: Thank you!
 

The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XV, Part II

What is it that we are hungry for in this world? So many of the writings of the fathers can be reduced to this very question. What is the deepest desire of our hearts? What have we been created for and what satisfies the sense of incompleteness or the strange feeling of nostalgia within us? 
Because we have been created for God and find in Him our truest identity, we are going to experience ourselves as strangers in a strange world. We are made like everyone else and experience internal and external pressures to pursue what the world deems legitimate and of value. In the process, any thought of the future or the remembrance of God slips out of our minds. We become slaves not only to our bellies but to everything that we consume in an unthinking fashion. 
Abstemiousness and simplicity are not about lack but rather fullness. We must attend to the very real needs of the flesh but only as much as is required - and sometimes less. When we lose sight of God, our internal world is driven by anxiety and fear. We seek for security and to protect ourselves from want. What we find in the fathers, however, is not a starving of themselves, but rather the starving of the demons and what they nourish themselves upon. We engage in the ascetic life in order not to keep feeding the appetites and the passions that tie us to the world. 
This is no easy task. Rationalization and the illusion of joy and freedom keep us moving forward. However, these things (very much like rights and happiness) are very fragile. We think they are the norm but this is perhaps the great deception of our times. 
Our life has been given to us for repentance and we must not waste it. Life is a relationship; a constant turning towards God and who is constantly seeking us. Let us not grieve the Holy Spirit by seeking to quench our thirst for life and hunger for love other than in God.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:11:09 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 118, para 2
 
00:17:20 Bob Cihak, AZ: Oops. P. 119, para 2
 
00:31:47 Cindy Moran: Usury
 
00:34:45 Cindy Moran: No cash allowed at Pirate game concessions
 
01:08:03 Jennifer Ahearn: Constant prayer, unceasing.  There is a Freedom for Excellence between deficit and excess
 
01:08:47 Jennifer Ahearn: FOMO😃
 
01:09:26 Jennifer Ahearn: Stay in the rhythm of The Church
 
01:10:56 Jennifer Ahearn: St. Philip Nero ‘if it is not leading to Christ, cut it out’.  Holy leisure is important.
 
01:11:24 Janine: You are 100% correct
 
01:12:01 Jennifer Ahearn: Neri
 
01:12:09 Paul G.: WE experience your teachings and get ntold blessings Father
 
01:12:24 Paul G.: Untold
 
01:12:39 Susanna Joy: Reacted to WE experience your t... with "❤️"
 
01:14:55 Lori Hatala: the things you share are shared with others and create a ripple effect of gratitude and thought provoking prayer.
 
01:15:00 Jennifer Ahearn: Constant prayer, unceasing.  There is a Freedom for Excellence between deficit and excess
 
01:16:40 Jennifer Ahearn: St Louis DeMontfort Consecration five years in a row in October changed my interior life and mind.
 
01:18:31 Forrest Cavalier: For me, reading https://archive.org/details/tolovefasting/ has been very eye opening that the practices noted in Evergetinos are not fantastical. He does write that those who live with others will need more nourishment. Monks less, Hermits even less.
 
01:19:51 Jennifer Ahearn: Yes!  Thank you so much, Fr. Charbel.  It is a constant reality ♥️🙏
 
01:20:13 Jennifer Ahearn: It is exciting ♥️🙏
 
01:21:14 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:21:16 Cameron Jackson: Thank you.
 
01:21:17 Andrew Adams: Thank you, Father!
 
01:21:26 Kevin Burke: Thank You Father!
 
01:21:34 Troy Amaro: Thank You Father.
 
01:22:22 Lorraine Green: !Thank you Fr., good luck with the move
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVII: On Stillness of Mind and Body, Part V

There is a beautiful movement created in the heart by St. John’s writing; it is almost a dance. We move back-and-forth with St. John by simultaneously reflecting upon the beauty of silence and stillness and the intimacy that we experience with God through it - while also being shown what the loss of the silence does to us.
The silence of which St. John speaks is not just the absence of noise, but rather the presence of a love and life that transcends our understanding. It can only be experienced. Therefore, St. John holds out before us the intimacy for which our our hearts long and that can be found in the silence while also warning us of the dangers and the pitfalls that allow this great gift to slip through our fingers.
The more we become attentive to the interior life, the more we realize how easily we can be distracted; how our thoughts and feelings can be manipulated either by our own appetites or by demonic provocation. It has been said that “Hurry destroys both poets and Saints“. The frenetic activity that surrounds us agitates and fragments the mind and the heart. To live in such a state for a long period of time dulls one’s sensibilities not only to the finer things of life but to God himself. 
Thus, the preliminary task John tell us is disengagement from all affairs, whether reasonable or senseless. Both can be equally distracting to us. In fact, it’s often easier for us to recognize the inane things to which we direct our attention then it is to see how the responsibilities and demands that we have set for ourselves places us on a never-ending treadmill of activity of mind and body. 
And so let us simplify our lives. It does not take long for us to realize the gains of doing so. We begin to taste, perhaps for the first time, the sweetness of those things that endure.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:04:54 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 227, #41
 
00:37:54 David: OBS software?
 
00:40:41 Leilani Nemeroff: True, I stopped watching tv. It’s amazing how annoying it is when you’re exposed.
 
00:41:22 Cindy Moran: Most major movie trailers will have a cut every second.
 
00:43:15 Callie Eisenbrandt: Father- sometimes I feel guilty turning to the Jesus prayer when I'm feeling distracted or off track, like my mind isn't where it needs to be to be saying the prayer
 
00:44:16 Leilani Nemeroff: Yes, pronounced correctly!
 
00:44:26 Cindy Moran: The term for what you describe is called "jump cut"
 
00:44:41 Dave Warner (AL): Reacted to "The term for what yo..." with 👍
 
00:45:28 David: Something interest on OBS. We do educational conferences and if more than 15 seconds of silence passes we loose 15-20% of attendants. AHAD apparently has become a norm
 
00:45:32 Rebecca Thérèse: People are advised that their film clips should be no longer than 3 seconds otherwise people lose attention
 
00:50:11 Anthony: There's an Orthodox priest, Fr. Barnabas Powell, who says "you are not your thoughts." That really good when thoughts waylay a person like hoodlums.
 
00:50:38 David: I was taught to see it as waves coming in from the shore for the Jesus Prayer which really helps. It does have a soothing repetition that is similiar.
 
00:55:35 Maureen Cunningham: Human doing not being
 
00:55:37 Lori Hatala: Sometimes when saying the Jesus prayer I must say it slowly and loudly when having distracting thoughts until they subside.
 
00:57:31 Dave Warner (AL): Silence is also the domain of software programmers.
 
00:58:23 Anthony: In Lercara Friddi, Sicily the town was so silent in siesta that I could hear the pigeons cooing.
 
01:05:34 Jennifer Ahearn: Ineffable ‘internal journey’
 
01:07:34 David: God calls us by name the devil by our sin. We are not defined by our faults
 
01:08:43 Cindy Moran: I wrote in my Bible when I was 15 yrs old: "Even in my biggest mistake, I am not a mistake"
 
01:12:28 Kate : I find that the time I am most vulnerable to distraction is after receiving Holy Communion.  Sometimes the Jesus Prayer is the only thing I can grasp hold of, so as not to be swept away by the distractions.  It is quite a battle sometimes.
 
01:18:59 Rebecca Thérèse: Sometimes the parking lot is more conducive to prayer after communion than the church
 
01:19:09 Jacqulyn: Wow! 15 minutes... bring it on! :-)
 
01:19:23 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You Blessing keep you in prayer Amen
 
01:19:37 Andrew Adams: Thank you, Father!
 
01:19:38 Jennifer Ahearn: Thank you
 
01:19:38 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father very inspiring session!
 
01:19:41 David: Thank you father!
 
01:19:51 Leilani Nemeroff: Thank you
 
01:19:51 Dave Warner (AL): Thank you Father - what a Blessing!
 
01:19:54 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 

The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XIV, and XV, Part I

Humility and affliction: Two words that often evoke within us intense fear and anxiety. We are formed by a kind of pathological self-love. The fathers understood our focus upon worldly things as a need to create a sense of security and identity. We desperately want to protect ourselves from hardship and from pain and so we surround ourselves as much as we can to distract ourselves from the reality of death or the presence of suffering in our lives and in the world.
 
It is not only external realities the drive us to this but also vainglory. In some sense our desperate need to protect our dignity and self-esteem can be greater than our bodily desires. We will fight desperately to keep ourselves from the experience of humiliation or to hold on to a position of emotional power in relationships. However, in all these things, we sacrifice true freedom, joy, and peace. For when we embrace our identity in Christ as sons and daughters of God, when we let go of our attachment to the things of this world, then we begin to experience a kind of invincible freedom and joy.
 
He who belongs to Christ has all; and whatever he loses within this world for the sake of Christ will be returned a hundredfold. What the fathers are trying to teach us is that while we suffer within this world we never suffer alone or in isolation. Our communion with Christ means that he is always present to us and that the crosses we bear only draw closer to him. The love of the kingdom is cruciform. Thus, to allow ourselves to be broken and poured out is to manifest that love in its perfection
 
---
 
Text of chat during the group:
 
00:08:55 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 115, "F"
 
00:10:08 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: Good evening everyone
 
00:11:53 Jessica Michel: Hello Father Charbel. Good Morning
 
01:10:05 Forrest Cavalier: I have read to 74 of “To Love Fasting” the point is very clear that gradually accepting discipline makes it easier to accept harder discipline. This can take years.
 
01:10:05 Lorraine Green: Thank you Father!
 
01:10:23 Forrest Cavalier: I meant page 74
 
01:14:40 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You
 
01:15:10 Susanna Joy: Thank you, Father Charbel.
 
01:15:20 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:15:27 Erick Chastain: thank you father charbel
 
01:15:27 Jessica Michel: Thank you
 
01:15:31 Cameron Jackson: Thank you.
 
01:15:33 Troy Amaro: Thank You Father.
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVII: On Stillness of Mind and Body, Part IV

In pursuing life in Christ, the experience of reality is often turned on its head. Our perception of the world around us and the interior world is shaped and formed by so many forces and influences. In a counterintuitive fashion, we have to move in opposing directions to the things that satisfy our ego or the desires of the flesh. 
Needless to say this can be disconcerting. We may see ourselves as understanding the faith or as having grown in certain virtues only to have it dispersed in an instant by the light of God’s truth. Whether it is something small or great, we can see how far we are from the stillness of mind and body of which Saint John speaks. Indeed, St. John tells us that many of these things the common run of men will find quite alien to themselves.
We are often cast about on the sea of our emotions or blown like a reed in the wind. We struggle with a certain aberration of mind; that is, we are ever so inconstant and changeable in the way that we live our lives. If one does not acknowledge this and struggle throughout the years to purify the heart, then to enter into the life of solitude and stillness can only lead to derangement. 
If what guides us is not the humble love and desire to give ourselves over completely to Christ then we are going to be fragmented internally by the most fierce passions. Anger will increase and even the memories of past wounds within the mind can fuel our resentment and drive us to the brink of madness. The person who enters into stillness well is completely unruffled by the chaos that exist in our world and becomes abstracted from the things that take hold of other peoples imagination as having great value. For the hesychast, however, there is only Christ!
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Text of chat during the group:
00:06:08 Greg C: Father, is that still Step 27?  I missed last week.
 
00:06:16 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: page 226 paragraph 32
 
00:06:24 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: yes.  Step 27
 
00:06:33 Greg C: Thank you!
 
00:09:50 Bob Cihak, AZ: Will our next book be Ascetical Homilies of St. Isaac the Syrian, by Holy Transfiguration Monastery?
 
00:10:14 Adam Paige: Reacted to "                    …" with ☦️
 
00:25:08 Art: Where can a lay person obtain a basic rule to follow, to grow with, and progress in?
 
00:27:19 Adam Paige: https://store.melkite.org/product/publicans-prayer-book/
 
00:27:49 Art: Reacted to "https://store.melkit..." with 👍
 
00:40:04 Cindy Moran: also " to make sublime "
 
00:56:28 Fr Marty, AZ: Being with people who push my buttons, seems to me, to be one of God’s most common ways of showing me what He wants to heal in me. Metropolitan Vlachos, with his priests in mind, once wrote a book on the healing found in the Desert Fathers. He admitted that they had a good academic study of theology, but he lamented that they did not know how to lead their flocks into healing because they had not gone down the path to their own healing. His remark in the book was, “Theology…is the fruit of a man’s healing.”
 
01:01:20 Ren Witter: That day, I might have gotten a message from Fr. Charbel saying he was going into permanent seclusion 😂
 
01:01:57 Julie’s iPad: St Diadochos taught:  “ Just as, when the doors of the baths are left continually open,the heat inside is quickly driven out,so also the soul, when it wishes to say many things, even though everything that it says may be good, disperses its concentration through the door of the voice”.
 
01:12:45 David: 😀
 
01:13:00 Greg C: 😁
 
01:13:13 Fr Marty, AZ: :)
 
01:13:26 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father...excellent session.
 
01:13:27 Jeff O.: Thank you!
 
01:13:32 David: Thank you father!
 
01:13:33 Lorraine Green: Thank you
 
01:13:40 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 

The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XIII, Part II

Only the most stalwart and patient of souls can follow along with this evening’s readings without being troubled. Once again it is repeated for us that our life is to be one of constant repentance; that is, turning toward God. Systematically the fathers break down every illusion that we might have about ourselves as having no need of such repentance. Even if we fulfill the work of the day, our response must be like the servants in the gospel: “we are unworthy and have only fulfilled what is our duty.” 
Our state of mind can only be that of gratitude for the gift of God’s mercy and grace. He has bestowed upon us an abundance of love despite the fact that we have often, as the scriptures tell us, treated him as “enemies”. Indeed our infidelity and the depths to which it reaches eludes are perception. 
Even our growth in virtue should instill within us a greater urgency for this repentance.  Growth shows previous inadequacy and negligence. We cannot be prideful or glorious about what we achieve; acknowledging that it is but a pale shadow of the love that God has bestowed upon us. 
Such an attitude also leads us to a deeper understanding of the need to embrace affliction. The gospel does not promise the security of this world or its comforts. In fact, just the opposite. To live for God, to embody the beatitudes is to find ourselves scorned and mocked by the world. The narrow way that leads to the kingdom passes inevitably through Calvary.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:06:45 Bob Cihak, AZ: P. 112, 3rd paragraph
 
00:25:55 Lilly: What page are we on?
 
00:26:11 Lilly: Thank you
 
00:58:49 Kate : Father,
I am thinking about the Sacrament of Penance.  My experience has been very legalistic and not really focused on this repentance, this turning towards of God that you are speaking about.  Do you have any recommendations on how to prepare for Confession that would be focused on this kind of repentance?
 
01:02:47 Lilly: I personally found the Eastern sacrament of penance humiliating-in a good way-as we are face to face with the priest, and depending on the father has us under his mantle and full body prostration
 
01:07:39 Forrest Cavalier: O Lord, I believe and profess that you are truly Christ, the Son of the living God, who came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the first.
 
Accept me today as a partaker of your mystical supper, O Son of God, for I will not reveal your mystery to your enemies, nor will I give you a kiss as did Judas, but like the thief I profess you:
 
          Remember me, O Lord, when you come in your kingdom.
          Remember me, O Master, when you come in your kingdom.
          Remember me, O Holy One, when you come in your kingdom.
 
01:07:50 Forrest Cavalier: May the partaking of your holy mysteries, O Lord, be not for my judgment or condemnation but for the healing of soul and body.  
 
O Lord, I also believe and profess that this, which I am about to receive, is truly your most precious body and your life-giving blood, which, I pray, make me worthy to receive for the remission of all my sins and for life everlasting.  Amen.
 
          O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
          O God, cleanse me of my sins and have mercy on me.
          O Lord, forgive me for I have sinned without number.
 
01:08:25 Forrest Cavalier: From https://parma.org/prayer
 
01:15:32 Maureen Cunningham: Thank you Father Blessing
 
01:15:44 Troy Amaro: Thank You Father
 
01:15:48 Cameron Jackson: Thank you
 
01:16:02 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVII: On Stillness of Mind and Body, Part III

What possibly could hesychasm or the life of hesychasts - those who live in perpetual stillness and prayer -  mean for those who living in the world; for all of those surrounded by a constant stream of noise and distraction?The answer is everything! Though few are called to this manner of life, all are destined to experience the fullness of its joy and sweetness in Christ in the kingdom. We have been made sons and daughters of God and the very Spirit of Love dwells within our hearts. 
What moves us to emulate the fathers in their discipline, to seek what they seek, must be the same desire. Our experience of Christ, our drawing close to him through prayer, the sacraments, and the scriptures must kindle within us an urgent longing for what He alone can provide. 
Those who love the things of the world do not see the pursuit of them as being extreme. Why is it when it comes to seeking the One who offers us perfect Life and Love that we become self-conscious; that we begin to worry about what others may think of us or how they might treat us? Why is this true even though Christ tells us that we should expect to be hated all by all because of His name? The Hesychast becomes the image of one who adds fire to fire. Having tasted the sweetness of Divine Love, he is willing to sell all to possess it. Gradually he becomes prayer and his life - a sacrifice of praise. In this he becomes like unto the angels.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:29:15 Michael Hinckley: what you are talking about reminds me of St Thomas' straw comment.
 
00:32:04 Nick Bodmer: I believe it was Sartre
 
00:32:20 Michael Hinckley: "other people" came from that play no exxt?
 
00:32:25 Michael Hinckley: exit
 
00:32:32 Nick Bodmer: Yes, No Exit
 
00:32:47 Susan M: YES IT WAS SARTRE
 
00:32:56 Michael Hinckley: On the feast of St. Nicholas [in 1273, Aquinas] was celebrating Mass when he received a revelation that so affected him that he wrote and dictated no more, leaving his great work the Summa Theologiae unfinished. To Brother Reginald’s (his secretary and friend) expostulations he replied, “The end of my labors has come. All that I have written appears to be as so much straw after the things that have been revealed to me.” When later asked by Reginald to return to writing, Aquinas said, “I can write no more. I have seen things that make my writings like straw.”
 
00:55:18 Rebecca Thérèse: It made a big difference to me when I was talking to a Catholic priest and I realised that he really believed what he was saying. That was one of the main things that informed my decision to become Catholic having previously been Anglican.
 
00:57:13 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "It made a big differ..." with 🥰
 
01:01:20 Michael Hinckley: need to drop This Holy Priest is living much of what is mentioned here. He is part time hermit and fun to watch https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIcePO_eJb28EWIw68kBQMew0vMZydwj1
 
01:07:28 Kate : It seems like he is giving us an examination of conscience when he lists the different places on the ladder.
 
01:08:11 Nypaver Clan: Reacted to "It seems like he is ..." with 👍🏼
 
01:11:41 Andres Oropeza: What if you suffer from despondency but the common life isn’t an
option and yet the battle rages around you, or even if you aren’t alone but the people with you can’t offer what’s needed? Should we not pursue stillness by cutting out distractions, focus on prayer and fasting etc. or temper it in some way?
 
01:19:58 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father!
 
01:20:05 Jeff O.: Thank you!! Great to be with you all.
 
01:20:09 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you
 

The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XIII, Part I

We picked up this evening with Hypothesis 13 on the subject of keeping Vigil and not giving oneself over to excessive sleep. However, as we immersed ourselves in the reading, we began to see the father guiding us into something much deeper.  The teaching on keeping vigil is a bridge to talking about Repentance. 
We were presented with the most beautiful understanding of the path the Christ guide us upon. There is a radical simplicity about it that is meant to cut through our tendency to turn the faith into something that is complex and impossible to understand. Repentance is not confined to particular times and deeds, but is put into practice to the extent that the commandments of Christ are fulfilled. The struggle for it is continuous until death. 
The kingdom of Heaven is at hand!  This is our path! It is the constant turning toward God that draws us forward, transforms us, and allows us to comprehend the things of the kingdom. This forsaking of self and sin is the oil of our lamps and each person will reveal who he is from this lamp. His own, not another’s!  It is filled and the light kindled by the practice of virtue. 
In fact, we are told that if we fail to live this and proclaim it to the world both in word and deed, we annul all that we do because we forget and do not take into account death. Our entire life is to be a striving to enter by the narrow gate, to walk the path of repentance - the dying to self and the rising to new life in Christ
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Text of chat during the group:
00:07:23 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: Hypothesis XIII page 108
 
00:23:19 Lori Hatala: Like a soldier.
 
00:25:31 Adam Paige: To Love Fasting (pdf) https://archive.org/details/tolovefasting
 
00:26:22 Dave Warner (AL): Reacted to "To Love Fasting (pdf..." with 👍
 
00:30:55 Steve Yu: Reacted to "To Love Fasting (pdf…" with 👍
 
01:12:51 Lorraine Green: Thank you Fr.!
 
01:12:56 Troy Amaro: Thank You Father
 
01:13:02 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:13:04 Steve Yu: Thank you, Father!
 
01:13:25 Jessica Michel: Thank you Father
 
01:13:46 Lori Hatala: or a date
 
01:14:11 Rebecca Thérèse: Can you set it up so you have a choice of oldest first or most recent first? YouTube channels have this option for example
 
01:14:30 Cameron Jackson: Thank you. 
Very grateful.
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVII: On Stillness of Mind and Body, Part II

It’s hard to imagine ourselves as being nourished upon stillness and silence. Yet, this is exactly what the fathers and St. John Climacus seek to teach us. Stillness allows us to have an experiential knowledge of intimacy with God - an encounter with Mystery.  When we have shut the door to the senses, when we stilled our mouth from constant chatter and when we have shut the gate of the heart to demonic powers, it is then that we become prayer and gaze upon the Lord face-to-face. Our petitions, our needs and sorrows are written with love and zeal. 
We are to become an earthly image of an angel, whose prayer has not only been freed from sloth and negligence, but even from a kind of self-consciousness. The heart is ever ready for the Lord and His approach; and even if the body should sleep, the heart is awake and awaiting the beloved. 
Therefore, stillness is not only about being quiet, but rather it is a path to intimacy. The greater one’s love grows, the more passionate one becomes in their desire for God - everything on the periphery fades away and we see only our Lord.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:09:13 Fr. Charbel: page 223 no 11
 
00:24:18 Kate : “What more do you want, 0 soul! And what else do you search for outside, when within yourself you possess your riches, delights, satisfactions, fullness, and kingdom - your Beloved whom you desire and seek? Be joyful and gladdened in your interior recollection with Him, for you have Him so close to you. Desire Him there, adore Him there. Do not go in pursuit of Him outside yourself. You will only become distracted and wearied thereby, and you shall not find Him, nor enjoy Him more securely, nor sooner, nor more intimately than by seeking Him within you.” St John of the Cross
 
00:30:42 Rebecca Thérèse: Can the Holy Spirit shine light on the soul directly, for example if there is no suitable spiritual director or if there are people actively trying to corrupt and mislead the soul?
 
00:39:08 Nypaver Clan: Is it healthy to have a spiritual director who becomes ones “best friend”?  Where are the boundaries to be set for a spiritual director?
 
00:41:54 Rachel: Yes, it jeopardizes their capacity to love, purely. As we cannot love purely with a gaze directed towards self or creatures
 
00:43:40 Rachel: it reduces the capacity to see God in the other and the only way a priest can help another or lay people help another is to first know God, to seek God and the ultimatele friendship in God, " I call you friends"
 
01:08:00 Fr Marty, AZ: I wanted to add to spiritual direction discussion. Everything that was said about spiritual directors is important. Boundaries and confidentiality are needful and we’re also meant to grow in detachment; that’s part of hesychasm. Nonetheless, this doesn’t mean without care and affection. I’ve been close to spiritual directors, especially after ten or fifteen years of direction. And I’ve also became good friends of their other spiritual children. In a detached way, we had joy, love, and openness, but still my spiritual directors were not friends.  And boundaries were still maintained. And when we’ve buried them, the other spiritual children fondly remembered their care for us. On the other hand, I once asked a friend who is an exceptional spiritual director to be mine but it didn’t work out.
 
01:10:09 Eric Ewanco: I observe that stillness and silence plays a central role in the desert fathers, but I don't recall it being discussed in Scripture. Is this based on experience and tradition, or is it rooted in something in Scripture?
 
01:13:31 Greg C: Thank you, Father!
 
01:13:38 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:13:44 Jennifer Ahearn: Thank you.
 
01:13:48 Lori Hatala: Happy Birthday
 
01:14:27 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father.
 
01:14:35 Jeff O.: Thank you! Great to be with you all.
 
01:14:38 Nypaver Clan: A blessed birthday, Mrs. A.!
 

The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XII, Part I

We picked up this evening with Hypothesis 12. The subtitle is on avoiding idle talk. However, this does not do justice to what we are given in the text. It is revealed to us how we are to kindle within our hearts the fire of love for God that then gives rise to a holy sacrifice of praise. 
Thus, the greatest thing that we can give God is to emulate the angels who praise Him without ceasing. Our love for the Lord should give rise to an urgent longing within the heart to call out to Him constantly and without distraction. 
Likewise, when we pray in common, we are to be attentive to the fact that we are responsible for the attentiveness of those around us and seek to preserve their focus. We do not pray or chant in an individualistic fashion but again imitate the angels in crying out to the Lord with one voice of love. 
What a blessing monks are for the church. The fathers tell us that Christ perfects the praise of infants; that is, he prefects the prayer of the monk in his innocence and childlike simplicity. It is through this humble prayer and sacrifice of praise that the demons are conquered. What makes this even more powerful is that it is often done hidden from the eyes of the world. Such prayer is offered without pride or self-consciousness. Rather it rises unimpeded to the very throne of God on behalf of all.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:46:55 Forrest Cavalier: Since you mentioned the comment of the monk, I was thinking that every vocation is "impossible". Hence the need for grace.
 
01:06:33 Lorraine Green: Thank you!
 
01:07:05 Lisa Smith: Thank you Fr. And God bless you.🙏
 
01:07:26 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVII: On Stillness of Mind and Body, Part I

St. John Climacus brings us now to discuss the fruits of the ascetic life. We picked up this evening with Step 27 on “stillness of mind and body”. John is very hesitant to approach such a subject. He does not want to distract the warrior from the task at hand; that is, those who are engaged in the spiritual warfare against the passions and the provocations of the evil one.  He only relents because he understands how important it is to see the goal of the spiritual life so that it might increase our desire for God and our detachment from the things of the world. 
Holy stillness emerges when the Nous, the eye of the heart, has become impenetrable and undistracted by the noise of the world. The disordered passions have now become a purified and single passion or desire for God. The love of and immersion in silence deepens because it is there that God speaks a Word that is equal to Himself. The language of Love, beyond words, begins to well up from within - united to the Spirit that cries out with groans that are beyond our understanding. 
St. John acknowledges that many will not perceive or grasp the holy violence of the Hesychast; that is, the radical turning away from the things of the world in order to turn completely toward God. This turning toward God, however, does not limit our vision or comprehension as those who are worldly often believe. Rather, it opens us up to an experience of infinite mystery of God himself; everlasting Life and Love.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:06:16 FrDavid Abernethy: page 221
 
00:06:30 FrDavid Abernethy: Sept 27 On Holy Stillness
 
00:36:18 Anthony: How do we relate, then to people like I have met, pagan Hindus and a Muslim, who also appeared to me to have this spirit of peace?
 
00:41:16 Rachel: Yes!!
 
00:41:32 Rachel: Saint Charles de Foucald
 
00:41:55 Rachel: Algeria
 
00:42:05 Rachel: same as St. Charles De Foucald
 
00:43:55 David: O Gods and Men is the movie
 
00:44:25 David: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1588337/
 
00:45:06 David: The original is French Des Hommes et des dieux
 
00:47:14 Jeff O.: When I was Nepal, the Christians would, instead of greeting with “namaste” greet with the phrase “J’amasee” - “I honor Christ (and his work) in you.” I thought that was a beautiful way to greet people with the honor and love of seeing Christ in the other…
 
00:49:17 Rachel: This happens in iconography as well/
 
00:49:31 Anthony: Reacted to This happens in icon... with "👍"
 
00:49:41 Rachel: Or I should say, sacred art as opposed to iconogrpahy
 
00:53:09 Rachel: I am not criticizing either but making a distinction when someone thinks that" abstraction" in iconography is simplified, yet, it is the overly realistic and naturalistic emphasis on every line that detracts from the mystery that is being revealed before us.
 
00:58:22 Rachel: Oh my goodness. That is so beautiful. Thank you for sharing.
 
01:00:03 Anthony: Reacted to When I was Nepal, th... with "👍"
 
01:01:09 Maureen Cunningham: Did Father Damion who lived among the leaders in Hawaii
 
01:01:27 Anthony: Replying to "I am not criticizing..." 
 
 Compare the "naive" ...
 
01:02:17 Maureen Cunningham: He would go on a boat to and yell his confessions. I was told
 
01:02:44 David: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0165196/
 
01:11:26 David: Theology without practice is the theology of demons- Maximus the Confessor
 
01:14:34 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You Father
 
01:15:02 David: Thank you father!
 
01:15:02 Jennifer Ahearn: Thank you
 
01:15:05 Rachel: Thank you
 
01:15:05 Jeff O.: thank you!
 
01:15:19 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank yu
 

The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XI, Part III

As we conclude Hypothesis 11, we are given very solid food to nourish our understanding of the nature of prayer and our demeanor. How is it that we are called to worship God, to pray the psalms, and what is our demeanor to be following that worship? 
A kind of liturgical asceticism must guide and direct our prayer and piety. Even the way that we pray and celebrate the liturgy, and one might say especially here, must allow the grace of God to guide and direct us. As always, Christ is the standard and the model. It is his humility, silence, obedience to God that must form and shape the way that we approach the altar and the manner in which we listen to the word of God. 
We must pray in a manner fosters patience and that allows us to listen with the spirit of contrition. We gather before God not to alter our emotional state or to create an experience that simply elevates the mind. We come before God to offer him a sacrifice of praise and that sacrifice is the fullness of our self. We are to be completely given over to him in such way that we withhold nothing from Him and are capable of receiving everything He desires to give us. 
Very few in our day think of worship in this fashion. May God give us the grace to offer him all that we have and are; for in seeking what He desires, God bestows upon us more than the mind in the heart can imagine.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:21:49 susan: after MASS i have to go to my car to pray!
 
00:48:07 Carol Roper: it seems that the caution is against performing, vanity, pleasure seeking, even in liturgy. one's motivation must be examined carefully i imagine
 
00:52:59 Anthony: Let Us Build the City of God.....they still sing it.  Sigh.  Are you TRYING to get me to change rites?
 
01:02:16 Rebecca Thérèse: a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly burning wick he will not quench
 
01:02:17 Carol Roper: oppressed and afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth, like a lamb led to the shearers
 
01:04:52 Dave Warner (AL): A bruised reed He will not break - Isa 42:3
 
01:05:17 Rebecca Thérèse: Isaiah 42:3 Matthew 12:20
 
01:16:22 Lisa Smith: Thank you & God Bless you.
 
01:16:36 Cameron Jackson: Thank you
 
01:17:19 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:17:26 Dave Warner (AL): Thank you Father!
 
01:17:27 Troy Amaro: Thank You Father
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part IX

We come to the end of Step 26 on Discernment and in doing so we begin to see, or at least get a glimpse of, its importance for the spiritual life. So often sin distorts are perception of reality. It prevents us from seeing with clarity both the dignity and the blessings that come from being a son or daughter of God, baptized into Christ - as well as preventing us from seeing the darkness of sin. 
Christ tells us in the gospel that when the eye has been darkened completely, how great is the darkness! When the eye of the heart, the eye of the soul is darkened by sin then all that we see is the world before us in its most basic form. We see it as an object of consumption or we covet the things that we do not possess. 
In this we can become more like beasts who walk on all fours with their eyes cast down to the earth. It is discernment that allows us to see the glory of God in Christ Jesus. In the end, discernment gives rise to the acquisition of love - that is to say, the perfect dwelling of God.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:13:56 David: Father Mike Schmidt and neuroplasticity as well say with defects to right out the story or triggers. What leads to what and one often fines one needs to focus on the triggers and write a different story.
 
00:16:18 David: Like a dog returning to vomit. Can't get that out of my head now
 
00:27:38 Wayne: Very timely as suicide is being offered as an option if one finds their suffering overwhelming.
 
00:29:07 David: In one of my darkest times and despair I realized I had belief but no faith
which is tied with hope. Now I just think what am I to learn from this situation and it will pass.
 
00:34:33 Anthony: There is a particularly horrible thought: curse God and die
 
00:35:00 Anthony: That cuts at rather suffering soul's very hope
 
00:48:47 Anthony: Father, remember cooking and baking are arts, to be done well...like the Cathdral of Monreale.  😉  but yeah, I get you. 😀
 
00:52:27 Maureen Cunningham: Christ dwell with in us when we gather we bring  the body of Christ together
 
00:52:48 David: I think it got worse after COVID few shake hands and it seems there is little small talk.
 
00:57:58 Anthony: I've studied heresies and heretics for years. I observe that along with with religious differences  - maybe preceding them - is a break in communion or a lack of peace: nationalism or personal trauma
 
01:10:51 Susanna Joy: My heart is still back at the dog and the priest...
 
01:10:57 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:11:00 Andrew Adams: Great class tonight! Thank you, Father!
 
01:11:02 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You
 
01:11:46 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father...excellent session!
 
01:11:48 David: God Bless thank you Father David!
 
01:11:49 Art: Thank you
 
01:11:50 Jeff O.: Thank you!!
 
01:11:58 Sheila Applegate: Thanks Father!
 

The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XI, Part II

All that we do is to be touched by the grace of God, shaped by it, and perfected by it. This includes our virtues, and also the manner in which we pray. 
Psalmody has always been apart of the prayer tradition of the church and in particular of the monastics. The psalms capture within them both the adversities and the joys that we experience in this world. It is the most important thing that we can do as human beings; to seek to God and offer a sacrifice of praise. 
Therefore, the monks are very careful to allow their prayer to be guided by God. We can be willful even in the fashion that we pray and sing. This is also true in the times that we set for prayer for ourselves. For example, the monks prayed many times a day together; emphasizing that they are part of the body of Christ. We do not pray as individuals, but always aware of the radical communion that exists not only with God but with one another. 
Thus, we find among the fathers an emphasis upon praying and singing while remaining conscious of what is going on within their hearts. We do not want to fall into distraction or lead others into it. Simplicity and humility should be the mark of worship; that which guides us in order that what we sing and pray is reflective of the reality within our hearts and our desire for God. Once again, we are presented with a kind of liturgical asceticism. Liturgy shapes the interior life and the interior life shapes the way that we pray.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:42:45 Lori Hatala: I have heard psalms chanted in different melodies. Is the melody of the chant relevant?
 
00:54:21 Tracey Fredman: Agreed, even if you do not have the time for a whole weekend at a monastery, even a visit while monks are at prayer can be life-altering.
 
00:55:06 Tracey Fredman: It can alter our prayer life, is what I mean.
 
00:55:41 Susanna Joy: Beautifully said...discipline is a silent "word" back to God
 
01:11:07 Wayne: If you have the opportunity to attend Matins or Vespers in the Eastern churches, the changing can have a very positive affect on you.
 
01:13:40 Andrew Adams: Thank you Father!
 
01:13:48 Edgard Riba: Thank you!
 
01:13:50 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙏🙂
 
01:13:56 Troy Amaro: Thank You Father.
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part XIII

Every week it is as if we are diving into living waters that renew and refresh the soul. This is particularly true of step 26 on Discernment and St. John’s summary towards its conclusion. So often as is true with the Fathers, St. John makes use of concrete and colorful imagery to capture for us the nature of the spiritual life and in this case discernment. 
What one gathers in so many of the teachings is that Faith involves seeing; a pulling back of the veil that allows us to see with perfect clarity the love and the mercy of God. St. John describes the many things that hobble us in that regard: Avarice, pride, attachment to our appetites and desire for the things of this world. It also describes the things that sharpen that vision and open us up to receive the gift of faith. Our pursuit of the virtues, and of the truth in our life lays the foundation to receive the greater gift of eternal Truth. This kind of seeing is not passive but rather involves the whole self. The deepest part of ourselves, the Nous, must be purified by Grace and asceticism so no impediment prevents us from moving toward God. The Nous becomes the “helmsman” then to lead us through the rough waters of this world.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:12:54 FrDavid Abernethy: page 219 number 42
 
00:49:30 Lisa Smith: It reminds me of the verse where Christ asked if there would be faith in the end time.
 
00:51:43 Wayne: How do you respond to the remark I am spiritual but not religious?
 
00:58:48 Lisa Smith: Thoughts on church attendance? I'm struggling with this presently. I'm not Catholic, but I'm interested in this faith. Thank you Fr.
 
01:00:34 Lisa Smith: 🙏 Thank you
 
01:03:14 Cindy Moran: Teilhard de Chardin comes to my mind as an example.
 
01:03:40 Cindy Moran: Too complicated
 
01:15:07 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:15:10 sprou: did you see that a blind woman Dafne Gutierrez was healed by St
Charbel?
 
01:15:12 Lisa Smith: God bless you Fr. Thanks for sharing
 
01:15:51 Andrew Adams: Thank you Father!
 
01:16:02 Jeff O.: Thank you! Great to be with you all.
 

The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis X, Part III and Hypothesis XI, Part I

The focus of the Evergetinos this evening was on praying the psalms. However, as always with the writings of the fathers, the focus isn’t simply on the external actions, but the meaning of them. How do we pray as members of the body of Christ? Is there a kind of liturgical asceticism that must match our bodily asceticism?  What is the measure of our prayer? In other words, as those who live in a spirit of repentance and seek purity of heart, how do these realities shape the way we pray. 
The fathers this understood very well our tendency to focus on externals and that we can fall back into a modern day Pharisaism. We can be satisfied with the appearance of religiosity while giving scant attention to what God has revealed to us and the life that he has called us to embrace. Whenever this happens, it not only weakens our capacity to bear witness to Christ but it can undermine the life of the Church as a whole. If our hearts are fragmented by our sin this will manifest itself or be mirrored in liturgy. And when this takes place the entire culture around us - as well as within the church - can collapse. 
It’s a sobering presentation, but something that afflicts the Church in every generation. If the Evil One is going to attack the Church, he is going to attack it at its heart; that is, how we pray.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:25:00 Kate : There’s also the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary which is very suitable for the laity.
 
00:25:13 Vanessa: Reacted to "There’s also the Lit..." with ❤️
 
00:25:22 Adam Paige: Reacted to "There’s also the Lit..." with ❤️
 
00:39:40 iPad (2): That is a wonderful book and he also has a podcast series on the book
 
00:50:47 Rod Castillo: The Endarkenment
 
00:54:30 Bob Cihak: Reacted to "The Endarkenment" with 👍
 
00:57:03 Maureen Cunningham: Oh no
 
00:57:07 Vanessa: Lol
 
01:04:40 Kate : Our family has witnessed many a liturgical battle which seemed good and urgent at the time, only to realize that God has been lost in the battle.  The battle took center stage, and striving for holiness took back stage.
 
01:14:53 Maureen Cunningham: Thank you It is wonderful .
 
01:15:48 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:15:54 Troy Amaro: Thank You Father.
 
01:16:22 Andrew Adams: Thank you Father!
 
01:17:13 Maureen Cunningham: Wonderful choice I trust. The lord is leading you as the Captain of the ship in the studies
 
01:17:26 Vanessa: Reacted to "Wonderful choice I t..." with 👍
 
01:17:47 Maureen Cunningham: Where would we find the book
 
01:17:54 Lorraine Green: Thank you, Father, God bless!  The Divine Office talks sound very good too.
 

The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part XII

As St. John draws us forward with these simple sayings about discernment and its fruit, we begin to see the immeasurable beauty of the ascetic life and the action of God’s grace. The life that God calls us to is not one of frenetic activity but rather the cultivation of purity of heart and humility in order that He might act within us. We do not seek simply freedom from sin but rather the life of the kingdom. It is the love, the virtue, the goodness of Christ that transforms the world. It is our entrance into the Paschal Mystery, the dying and rising of the spiritual life (with and in Christ), that makes the love of the kingdom present to the world. 
The life of the hesychasts, the ascetics who set all aside for Christ, is at the very heart of the church. When we lose sight of their love and desire for God, the church grows cold.  It is in the spirituality of the desert that the church will find renewal; when the minds and the hearts of men and women are open to the beauty of the life that God has called us to by His Grace.
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Text of chat during the group:
00:37:24 Anthony: In a way, some of the response to church scandal has been like an ill- guided peasants crusade.
 
00:39:35 Anthony: The peasants crusade led to harm for thr peasants
 
00:54:23 sprou: does solitude equal spiritual warfare?
 
00:55:33 David: I liked what Bishop Barron said about love being willing the good of the other. (St. John Paul) but first one needs to know what the good is and what is truth.
 
00:56:03 Vanessa: Reacted to "I liked what Bishop ..." with 👍
 
00:56:58 Jeff O.: I’ve often wondered about the connection between the cultivation of
hesychia and Paul’s admonition to stand in Ephesians 6…it seems there’s some sort of relationship there as it relates to warfare
 
00:57:01 David: This was in response to a lot of virtue signaling and some of the strange things in our culture.
 
01:04:43 Kate : A priest told me that hesychia is a form of quietism.  His comment confused me, and I did not know how to reply.
 
01:06:47 Anthony: Uh oh, Palmas vs Barlaam again..... 😉
 
01:08:39 David: In Latin America it is common with quasi liberation theology priest and lay
people to call them navel gazers but this is just seeing the outside aspect not understanding what is being developed. I always call the fathers the intranauts boldly going to the root of our condition.
 
01:13:18 David: Holiness attracts and people seek what they feel and see in joy and peace of others. N
 
01:13:32 Vanessa: Reacted to "Holiness attracts an..." with ❤️
 
01:13:51 Vanessa: Really enjoying class tonight. Lots of good discussion.
 
01:14:25 Kate : Father, prior to listening to these classes and discovering the Fathers, my ladder was propped against the wrong wall for years…as you stated earlier.  These classes and the Fathers have so transformed my interior life.   I have only begun to understand the love of God.
 
01:15:04 Nick Bodmer: Jesus even rebuked Martha because she was discontent that Mary was not being "worldly enough" in her eyes.  The spiritual life was established even while Jesus was still with us.
 
01:21:40 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂
 
01:21:51 cmoran: Thank you, Father!
 
01:21:53 Lisa Smith: Thank you God bless you
 
01:22:29 Andrew Adams: Thank you, Father! Praying for you!
 
01:22:33 Jeff O.: Thank you! Blessing to be with you all.
 
01:22:41 David: Thank you father will pray for you!