Philokalia Ministries

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,...

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 subjec...

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 ou...

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 th...

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 stroke...

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 masochi...

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 o...

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, concer...

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...

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 de...

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 th...

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 i...

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...

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 di...

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 di...

“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 f...

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...

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 vigoro...

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...

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 n...

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 spiri...

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 provocati...

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 f...

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 particu...

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 com...