Philokalia Ministries

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. --- 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  

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  

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.  

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.  

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!  

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  

Explore the intriguing transition from stillness to prayer, highlighting its role not as mere discipline, but as a divine response to God’s love. Delve into the concept of night prayer and how it nurtures spiritual growth. Discover the essence of silence and intentional listening in cultivating deep spiritual truths. Understand the transformative power of prayer, which fosters a profound bond with the divine, offering healing and hope amid life's challenges. Prayer is portrayed as the ultimate treasure in our quest for meaning.

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 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!  

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. --- 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?