Philokalia Ministries

Continuing with Hypothesis VIII and considering the experience of those who die and come back to life, we are brought to a place of self-reflection that we often resist. The only thing that we take out of this world is either our virtue or our vice. Saint Ephraim tells us tonight that it is the it voice of these sins that will bear witness to the truth about our lives before God.  Again we must st...

St. Theophan continues to nourish the young Anastasia with solid food. He guides her deeper and deeper into the spiritual life and warfare.  We began this evening with Letter 61 where Theophan teaches Anastasia about guarding the senses of hearing and sight. Often the present generation neglects the constant state of receptivity that we find ourselves in as human beings; the intense amount stimuli...

There are times when reading the Fathers or the gospel when one walks away feeling as if the earth is shifting beneath one’s feet; or one begins to question their perception of who they are, their identity as a Christian, and whether or not they are living it fully or if it is an illusion. As difficult as it is to consider such things, and as hard as they strike at the heart, they are often the mo...

Tonight we began Letter 61. St. Theophan begins to teach Anastasia about the necessity of guarding the senses, in particular hearing and sight. This is especially challenging in modern times when there are so many sources of stimuli. Nonetheless, Theophan tells her they all hold their influence on the person and guide them either toward the good or toward the evil. Therefore, one must not give fre...

In Hypothesis VIII, we found ourselves considering something that is rather jarring to our sensibilities. We began listening to Saint Gregory the Great on the experience of those who die and come to life again and how this can happen by Divine Providence. We are presented with stories of those who are brought to deep repentance when they began to see that fearful state of Hell. We are also shown t...

Sometimes a great question can lead a group in exactly the right direction!  That was true this evening in our discussion of Letter 60 of Saint Theophan‘s correspondence with Anastasia. So often the spiritual life can seem amorphous. Yet, how is it lived practically? How is it that we direct anger at the passions and what does that look like? Sometimes the spiritual life and the warfare that Theop...

This evening we concluded Hypothesis VII of the first volume of The Evergetinos. Once again we considered the experience of death of two saintly figures, St. Daniel the Stylite and Abba Sisoes. We begin to see in these two men how their constant repentance and the embrace of God’s grace brought forth, in anticipation, the life of the kingdom. The presence of the saints and angels, the light of Chr...

When reading the Fathers, one has to be prepared to be challenged; and at in times in ways that are discomfiting. Letter 60 of Theophan’s  correspondence with Anastasia presents us with such a challenge. The title of the Letter is “Cleansing the Heart.”  Theophan focuses on the eruption of passions that come with great force; feelings, desires, thoughts come upon us like a wave or erupt like a vol...

Tonight we picked up with Hypothesis VII, continuing our reflection upon the experience of death by those righteous souls who sought to draw close to God in their life. God in His great mercy will often come to them to console and prepare them for their own passover; their passing over from death to eternal life. The unknown of this reality can be a fearful thing, and so in the stories we often he...

“Know that in this is the entire essence of the labor over the attainment of salvation.“ These are bold words from Saint Theophan at the end of Letter 59.  However, they do not arise simply from his own experience but from the entire spiritual tradition. Part of the problem in modern times is that we have lost the clarity that is necessary for those in the spiritual battle and the weapons that we...

Tonight we continued our reading of Hypothesis VII on the experience of death for those who have sought to live a virtuous life; how God often offers consolation or aids them by accompanying them through the experience of death. We are presented with one beautiful story after another. But, what becomes evident is that these are not simply to be read as pious stories, but rather something that spea...

Tonight, in Letter 59, St. Theophan continued to guide Anastasia through the writings of Saint Hesychius of Jerusalem. Again we see how deeply connected Theophan is to the spiritual tradition as a whole. The spiritual battle is very simple, albeit not easy. We must show great attentiveness to what is going on internally and with our thoughts. When we see the enemy advance a thought, we must strike...

Tonight we began our discussion of Hypothesis VII on the many times that the souls of virtuous people are made cheerful at the time of death by some divine overshadowing. What we find in these paragraphs and the stories that they tell of the experience of those dying being consoled by God, by a vision of angels, or by saints is a portrait of how God has transformed for us the experience of death....

Tonight we concluded Letter 58 with another wonderful story from Abba John the Dwarf. We are reminded through it that no matter how far we distance ourselves from the passions, they will always seek us out. They will try to lure us back to a position where we will welcome them into our hearts. At that moment, it is most important to run to the inner chamber, the depths of the heart, and embrace th...

We read the Fathers in the way that we read the Scriptures; with a profound humility and knowledge that we lack perfect understanding. There are no experts in the desert Fathers any more than there are experts in the Faith or the Scriptures. When confronted with eternal realities, whether that reality be the eternal love of God or that of Hell one is compelled to sit in silence. When reading the E...

Our thoughts this evening and discussion revolved around a mere two paragraphs of Letter 58.  Yet it is here that Saint Theophan draws Anastasia into the heart of the spiritual life; he teaches her about spiritual warfare and the prayer that is needed to engage in the battle. Through the attention of the mind moving into the heart through unceasing prayer one is not only united to God but protecte...

“What will become of me?“ Such a simple question but one that clarifies the importance of the moment for us as men and women of faith. Where do we live our lives? What do we seek, what do we love and desire? These simple questions turn out to be the most important for us because in the end they shape our identity and the path that we take. Moving on to Hypothesis VI, we began to consider the end o...

Tonight we began Letter 58.  St. Theophan begins to teach Anastasia about importance of prayer in the spiritual battle. He has already shown her the various stages of temptation that lead to the development of a passion. However, he acknowledges that such understanding serves little use when one is in the midst of warfare. What is most important is rejecting the thoughts, feelings, and desires tha...

Such power in a few words. Perhaps this is what makes the writings of the Fathers so compelling. In a few brief sentences or in the short story they capture for us the very essence of the life of faith. We begin to see with a kind of radical simplicity, a simplicity perhaps with which we are uncomfortable, the clear focus that we are to have in our pursuit of God. We must allow nothing to prevent...

Tonight St. Theophan continues to take Anastasia through the various stages where one gradually gives  oneself over to the passion. There is no obligation to commit a sin; there is only a kind of inner self-delusion taking place. We might not commit a sin but nonetheless we are giving ourselves over to the inclination and by considering the thoughts that lead to the passion they become written upo...

We continue this evening with our study of Hypothesis V - on the remembrance of death and final judgment. While this might fill the minds and the hearts of many with trepidation, many of the fathers see the remembrance of death as the essential work in the spiritual life. The reason for this and the intention behind it is not to fill the heart with anxiety but rather to turn the heart toward God W...

Tonight we picked up with Letter 57 where St. Theophan is discussing with Anastasia the various stages of the development of the passions; the movement from feelings, the provocation of desire, aided by a multitude of thoughts, that then gives over to concrete resolution to commit to sin. There is a kind of premeditation that is fostered by giving ourselves over to these realities and stages that...

We continued tonight our study of Hypothesis V where the Fathers speak to us of the importance of the remembrance of death and the remembrance of judgment. We began with the thoughts of Abba Isaiah the seeks to teach us about the three things that preserve virtue; sorrow for sin, tears for our sins, and the ceaseless recollection of death. These three hold before our minds the significance of the...

We began this evening with Letter 56.  St. Theophan again takes up the subject of the passions. If we can capture in one word what he is trying to foster within Anastasia it is this: “fierceness”. The spiritual battle is something that takes place at every single moment and we have to learn to act swiftly in acknowledging who the enemy is and where he is seeking to lead us. We cannot ignore the fa...

We continued this evening with our study of Hypothesis V and the writings of Saint Ephraim on the subject of the importance of remembering death and judgment. Like so many of the Fathers, Ephraim stresses the need to prepare ourselves for that final journey that inevitably comes to us all – the moment of death. He also speaks to us about how the enemy will try to make us delay or put aside our att...