Philokalia Ministries

As we pour through the sayings of Saint John Climacus about pride and overcoming pride, what we see in the Evergetinos and its teaching on humility we see now in the Ladder’s teaching on pride. We are circling around something greater than just an idea. We circle around pride and look at its many facets in order to see how subtle the temptations often are to embrace the illusion that this vice puts before us. The devil will use every means to pull us away from the truth and truthful living. Therefore, Saint John wants us to see every manifestation of the pride in order that we also might apply the remedies that the fathers put before us. What becomes clear is the need for constant vigilance. We must not allow ourselves to lose sight of God and his mercy and grace or our poverty and sin. Everything good comes to us from the hand of God, and there is nothing that we can attribute to ourselves that is enduring. Christ is truth and so we must strive throughout the course of our entire life to avoid all falsehood. We must not succumb to the father of lies and so find ourselves in his grip or being his plaything. May God be our strength and source of invincible peace. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:26:07 sharonfisher: Maybe a dumb question, but I think of deification as something we acquire (gifted) at the end times. Are we to strive for deification in this worldly life?   00:28:06 Victor: Some theologians speak of realized & future eschatology (now & future).   00:31:20 sharonfisher: Thank you!   00:42:18 Ashley Kaschl: Comment for paragraph #19: I think this can be really true if we aren’t discerning. For example, I’ll throw myself under the bus 😂    A priest and I were talking recently about how, before bed, I’ll sometimes get “carried away” by higher, theological thoughts and inspirations. And I’ll be drawn out of rest and end up awake for hours longer than I planned, which obviously makes me tired for the responsibilities the next day. This priest said, “it sounds like a distraction or a temptation.” And I hadn’t thought about that because I didn’t think about these beautiful things or contemplation of deeper truths I didn’t have time for during the day as devils in disguise to keep me from sleep.    So when I tested this, sure enough, they went away when I prayed for deliverance if these seemingly good things were actually temptations/distractions from the great good of getting enough sleep.   00:44:40 Art: The sacrifice of the mass is greater than the sacrifice of a martyr.   01:06:15 Daniel Allen: It’s kind of like Lot. He had to be dragged out of Sodom by God, and even then when told to flee to the hills he asked to flee instead to a smaller city.   01:07:20 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you. Have a good retreat again!🙂   01:07:56 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father!! 🙏   01:07:56 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You Blessing Father keep you in prayer I love the quotes on face book and instagram Thanks   01:08:07 sharonfisher: And with your spirit! I so appreciate your ability to bring clarity to the readings!   01:08:48 David Swiderski: Thank you father God bless you on the retreat!   01:09:03 David Swiderski: Thank you father God bless you on the retreat!   01:09:10 David Swiderski: Thank you father God bless you on the retreat!  

We were turn once again to the most important of virtues - humility. Despite the repeated sayings about humility and the many illustrative stories, one does not have a sense of the “same thing” being said over and over again. Rather, humility is like a precious gem. Through the writings and the sayings of the Fathers we revolve around it, allowing the light of Christ to illuminate every facet of this virtue. The Fathers want us to understand that even our virtue must be perfected by the grace of God. It is precisely this reality that we see manifest in the struggles of the Fathers to obtain it. It is so precious that one should be willing, as it were, to sell all to possess it. In this sense, humility is a willingness to let go of the self, the ego, in order that we might keep our minds and our hearts fixed upon Christ. It is by His grace alone that we are saved and it is by imitating His humility that the demons are overcome. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:39:05 Louise: Could you talk about the fear of God versus being in love with God?   00:49:39 Louise: Could we say that someone under a spell can be blinded by the spell of the demon so to have pride regarding how one is great in serving the demon without realizing it?   01:03:13 Louise: St. John says, "Do not love the world or anything in the world"? St. James seems to take it a step further when he writes, "Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God." St. John also says, "We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one."   01:13:59 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂   01:14:35 Adam Paige: Reacted to "Thank you🙂" with 👍   01:14:51 sharonfisher: And with your spirit! Thank you!  

“An arrogant man yearns for authority; he cannot, or rather, does not wish to perish utterly.“ In many ways, this one saying sums up our reflection this evening. When pride takes hold of an individual soul, one begins to move further and further away from God. Rather than “perish utterly” - that is, die to self and sin - one drives God from the mind and heart. The capacity to love diminishes, the desire to humiliate others increases, and, finally, our perception of reality is distorted beyond measure. It is for this reason that Saint John entitles this step “On Mad Pride“.  The more that we turn away from He who is the Way, the Truth and the Life, the more that we turn away from He who is Meaning, the more we lose touch with reality. We become like the one who fell from heaven, the father of lies. We are drawn into the same darkness and inability to see not only the truth about our souls but also to see the depths of God’s love and compassion. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:02:44 FrDavid Abernethy: page 170 para number 2   00:15:21 TFredman: Have you heard from Ren? How is she doing?   00:16:21 Lee Graham: You will be greatly missed next week, you will be in my prayers.   00:43:33 David Swiderski: John mentions Gluttony is the prince of passions but also places Pride as a key passion are they both keys of all the passions? Is one more principal.   01:05:04 Louise: Therefore, how to understand one's desire to become competent, as competent as can be, to do things right?   01:14:05 Louise: So to become competent for Christ, to serve Christ in this world.   01:16:27 Victor: Thanks!   01:18:02 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father...will be praying...   01:18:13 Louise: Thanks, Fr. Abernethy!   01:18:13 Jeff O.: Thank you!!   01:18:18 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂Have a good retreat  

How beautiful is the path that the Lord sets before us to draw us to Himself. Its beauty is rooted in the fact that it is the path that He took toward us. God reveals himself, He draws back to the veil, and shows us the depth of his humility, love and compassion. What we find in the desert fathers and in their sayings is a portrait of the gospels; more specifically a portrait of Christ himself - the humble crucified One. We should never fear humility but rather gravitate towards it. It is something that we should love and cultivate precisely, because we know that it is part of the nature of God and His love, and that it unites us to Him. Whatever truth we acknowledge about ourselves, no matter how dark, it unites us to He who is Truth. This is the pearl of great price! It is the virtue that we should desire above all things and guard and protect as most precious.   ---   Text of chat during the group:   00:11:11 sue and mark: car caravan   00:12:21 FrDavid Abernethy: page 391 para 31   00:28:48 Fr Marty, ND, 480-292-3381: 34 reminded me of a statement that often strikes me:   00:28:59 Fr Marty, ND, 480-292-3381: It was said of Abba Macarius the Great that he became, according to the writings, a god on earth, because in the way God protects the world, so Abba Macarius would hide the faults he saw as though he had not seen them, and the faults he heard about as though he had not heard of them. Sayings of the Desert Fathers   00:36:59 Maureen Cunningham: Tree in Garden , once they ate they knew and then hid from God.   01:06:08 Fr Marty, ND, 480-292-3381: Listening to this talk of humility, I wonder. I can at times act humbly on the outside, but I don't know what humility feels like. I'm not sure how one acquires humility on the inside, or lives consistently this way. Is becoming humble becoming like God? The only thought that comes to me is to be still and stare at God until He Himself ignites or consumes me. I don't think I know how to be humble   01:12:19 sue and mark: thank you Fr. abernethy.   01:12:20 Rachel: Thank you!   01:12:30 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂  

Rarely do we acknowledge the extraordinary gift that God gave to his Church in the Desert fathers. It is precisely through their “living martyrdom” - their dying to self, to sin, and to the world, that they are able to guide us through the trials and tribulations of spiritual warfare. Their perception of our vulnerabilities as human beings was very acute. Humbled over and over again and acknowledging their sin and poverty before God, they came to see the many ways that the vices manifest themselves as well as the remedies to bring healing. The spirituality that arises out of desert monasticism is not one among many. It is “the spirituality” of the church. It is a manifestation of the deepest exercise of faith. In this the desert fathers became living icons of the gospel. For this reason, it is often acknowledged that “wherever we see renewal within the life of the church, there are the desert fathers.”  Saint John Climacus draws us into where the fiercest warfare takes place – the human ego. We often seek to place the self at the center of existence and so open ourselves up to the spirit of vainglory and pride. When these take hold of us they close the door to repentance and healing. Furthermore, St. John tells us, they lead to a kind of “madness”. They distort our perception of reality. We can no longer see God or the truth about ourselves. And we see others not as the object of our love and compassion. Rather we become pitiless inquisitors and inhuman judges. Thus, it has often been said that a prideful monk has no need to be attacked by the demons because he has become a demon himself. This is true for all of us. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:05:03 FrDavid Abernethy: page 169 paragraph 40   00:25:10 Louise: Could we say that pride usually prevents people to acknowledge that they are under a spell or diabolically influenced, while it is obvious to others given the incongruence of their behaviors?   00:37:06 Anthony: It sounds then that the bad things attributed to Vatican 2 is an example of poor formation.   00:44:53 Louise: Affirmation ''therapy'' is not psychotherapy, but an obligation from the psychological boards. Otherwise, a psychologist looses his or her license.   00:45:37 Louise: This affirmation therapy applies to transgenderism.   00:46:36 sue and mark: louise, interesting.  I had not heard that.  thank you   00:48:31 David Swiderski: The book Orthodox Psychotherapy the science of the Fathers is very interesting on thsi subject.   01:04:12 David Swiderski: I loved that about Mother Teresa . A penicl in the hand of God. Not the hand not the author of what flowed through her.   01:10:07 Michael Hinckley: I always saw San Filippo as a precursor to Padre Pio   01:11:09 Anthony: When we crave entertainment like novels or movies - orvevrn news and talk radio - we open the door to the thoughts of others, to tell a story, and often the storytelling and acting makes vices into virtues. Even if it's not overt, the presentation undermines right thinking and behavior and causes future problems.   01:11:52 sue and mark: Reacted to "When we crave entert..." with 👍   01:12:22 Lee Graham: Reacted to "When we crave entert…" with 👍   01:13:07 Lee Graham: Reacted to "I loved that about M…" with ❤️   01:22:17 Rachel: That is so true!!   01:22:36 Rachel: Haha   01:23:39 Rachel: Thank you!   01:23:41 David Swiderski: Thank you Father   01:23:48 sharonfisher: And with your spirit!   01:23:50 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂   01:23:52 sue and mark: good night.  thank you   01:23:53 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father   01:23:55 Michael Hinckley: Santa Notte    

The podcast explores the indescribable virtues of humility and how it embodies the divine life. They discuss the significance of religious symbols, the joy of Saint Philip Near, and the illusion of perfection. Abba Matos talks about loving enemies and the unconditional love and forgiveness we can learn from dogs.

One of the prophets writes: “the human heart is a treacherous thing, who can endure it!“ We begin to see the truth of this statement or more accurately the truth that is behind it. The spiritual battle that we engage in with our passions and our thoughts is often dogged by a kind of diabolical intrigue. The devil is relentless and unresting. He can manipulate us in such a way that he makes us desire to put ourselves forward, to put ourselves into the light; convincing us that to do so will draw people to greater faith.    The evil one acts with a kind of patience; he will begin to work on us slowly. He begins by making us enamored with our own natural gifts and abilities. In this way he makes us unfaithful in small things; we attribute natural gifts to ourselves rather than simply being grateful for the things of God has given to us. Such infidelity grows over the course of time as well as the complexity of the evil one’s manipulation. He can begin to work on us from multiple angles, if you will. He can place scripture in our mind to do battle with the temptation of one demon, but then make us feel proud of our ability to do so.    Therefore, St. John tells us that we must begin the road to freedom from vainglory by remaining silent about ourselves and our accomplishments. We must learn to love to be dishonored. To be a Christian in this world is to be mocked and held in contempt. We must set aside our tendency to wear a mask that makes us more acceptable in the eyes of the world. We may put on the appearance of virtue yet always within the limits of what our world finds acceptable. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:24:24 susan: seeing yourself as a debtor is truth   00:24:35 Rachel: John 4"34   00:30:18 Art: I recently heard in a homily: The Gospel teaches us not to be like the Pharisee who says, ‘thank you God that I’m not like the Publican’.  But we must be careful that in our heart of hearts we’re not also saying, “Thank you God, I’m not like that Pharisee.” Vainglory can strike from any side.   00:31:02 Rachel: Reacted to "I recently heard i..." with ❤️   00:31:42 Eric Ewanco: One method of evangelization is to share from our own experience instead of preaching what one should and should not do, since no one can argue with our experience and it's a more non-threatening way to share   00:31:59 Eric Ewanco: How would we evangelize with what you said in mind?   00:44:58 Ambrose Little, OP: The text here (#34) specifically speaks of displaying virtues. It’s akin to Christ’s exhortation to not be showy when fasting, or not be showy when giving—do not let the right hand know what the left is doing. I don’t see it speaking against witnessing what God has done for us.   00:47:39 Lawrence Martone: Regarding self-revelation, there’s the point that the focus should be on God and not ourselves, when it is expressed.   00:50:00 sharonfisher: Purity in motivations.   00:51:46 Anthony: There might be another vainglory....to magnify to yourself evil mental motions and temptations and fixate on What have I done? This is also pharisaical.   00:53:51 Lawrence Martone: “Our real business is to allow God to shed His light through us, and since the light belongs to Him, He will know where to focus it and to what extent.  Our endeavor should be to make ourselves transparent so as not to eclipse His brilliance.”                                                                            Erasmo Leiva-Merikais on Matthew 5:14 ff.     It seems to me that humility, as was mentioned earlier in Step 22, is essential to this endeavor of making ourselves transparent.   01:05:17 Cindy Moran: How does what John tells us apply to being a fool for Christ...   01:07:09 Cindy Moran: You just answered me.   01:07:11 David Swiderski: The Island is a movie from 2006 that demonstrates a fool for christ   01:07:25 Rachel: I wonder if this movement towards simplifying is somewhere where we have to be led by our Lord. Since it is an abyss we cant know how to navigate our way through. We can ' think" we know what kinds of dishonor we can profit by but it seems we have to wait to be led by only seeking God's will and what He reveals to us   01:10:33 Maureen Cunningham: ThankYou   01:10:35 Lorraine Green: Thank you Father!   01:10:48 Eric Ewanco: One year anniversary of your appointment!   01:11:21 sharonfisher: And with your spirit!   01:11:22 Rachel: Thank you   01:11:24 Louise: Thank you!   01:11:25 Jeff O.: Thank you!   01:11:29 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father!!   01:11:32 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂   01:11:33 Bonnie Lewis: Thanks be to God!  Thank you Father.   01:11:39 sue and mark: Thank you Fr. Abernethy!  God bless  

Humility is above all the other virtues.” Living in the truth allows for the most important thing to emerge in a person’s life – repentance. When we see and acknowledge the nature of our actions and our thoughts and we bring them before God, it is then that He can heal us and make us whole.  The struggle to do this, however, can be great. There’s always part of us that wants to hold on to the illusion of creating our own dignity and identity. Humility compels us to acknowledge that all things begin and end with God. We certainly have our role to play in the Divine drama; however, one can have all the virtues and appear to be saintly, yet if they are lacking the virtue of humility, none of these virtues will bear fruit. If an individual is like the publican coming to the temple beating his breast and realizing that there is no virtue in him at all immediately he is justified in the eyes of God. He’s let go of the lie of the Evil One.  We cannot take for ourselves what belongs to God alone. He is life and love and truth, and it is his mercy that allows us to participate in this reality. To be humble, to see ourselves as nothing of note, cost very little but promises everything in return. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:08:27 FrDavid Abernethy: page 387   00:08:31 FrDavid Abernethy: no. 7   00:12:07 Jason: Good evening Fr and everyone   00:34:42 sharonfisher: But doesn’t opening with “How’s your prayer life?” seem like a pre-judgment that they aren’t attentive enough? “How are you doing?” can be sincere, but also allow individuals to share at their own comfort level. (Not trying to be contrary, but I maintain my own faith and am wary of coming across as holier-than-thou. Sorry, late comment to last segment.)   00:36:14 sharonfisher: I see - thank you!   01:03:43 alexandramucerino: We cannot forgive we do not first accept the injustice   01:05:26 Fr Marty, ND, 480-292-3381: Sometimes I'm quick to jump into problem-solving or project management in my life or ministry or others' lives. I'm wondering if the practice of humility would recommend that I stop and ask first, is this where God is working? It seems that I've been noticing God at work in subtle ways in my or others' lives, but not necessarily in what I think is more important or expedient. I'm wondering about humility here.   01:15:41 Lorraine Green: Thank you   01:15:46 sharonfisher: And to your spirit! Thank you !   01:15:50 Fr Marty, ND, 480-292-3381: thank you   01:15:52 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂   01:15:56 sue and mark: thank you God bless.  

Humility often eludes us not only in practice but in our ability to understand it. As always, we have to look to Christ as the standard. What we see revealed in him through the incarnation and in the Paschal mystery opens the door for us to begin to walk this same path.  Understanding comes through experience. We must be shown what humility is and be made humble through experience. So often the self seeks to place itself at the center of existence; and in our spiritual life we begin to lose sight of God. Even in the pursuit of sanctity, we can fail to see the ways that we are lacking purity of heart. We often do not desire God above all things, or make him the beginning and end of all that we do. We may toil but to no end.  Having said this, the stories from the fathers begin to reveal to us the distinctive marks of humility in a man. These stories show us why it is not only the most important virtue but also the most powerful. It overcomes all that is demonic. The more we trust solely in the grace of God, the more we abandon ourselves to his mercy and acknowledge the poverty due to our sin, the more his grace transforms us and acts through us and touches the lives of others. Humility and its perfection goes beyond truthful living or acknowledging the truth about ourselves. It is having eyes only for God. It is living in him and for him in every measure. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:06:23 FrDavid Abernethy: page 385 paragraph 6   00:06:31 FrDavid Abernethy: page 384 para 6   00:25:02 Anthony: Emphasis on kindness....sounds like something St Gabriel of Georgia said.   00:38:56 Anthony: Yes   00:38:56 Jacqulyn: Yes   00:46:31 Louise: Would the Desert Fathers agree or disagree with the following. Hating sins makes us ''relate'' to sins and instills hatred inside of us. I prefer to practice detachment from sins, as much as possible, and feel sorrow at having turned my back to God.   00:54:48 Lee Graham: As I forgive someone who hurts me, I see my sin disappear.   01:13:17 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂  

With stunning clarity, St. John Climacus begins to show us the subtlety of vainglory; how easily it draws us to focus upon the self in one fashion or another. It suggests thoughts that elevate us in our own eyes and diminishes others in our judgment.  Through vainglory we begin the movement of placing ourselves in the position of God; placing the self at the center of the spiritual life. The battle becomes ever so fierce and dangerous because at this point the focus of the demons’ attention is on our virtues. The demons make them the object of our attention. In doing so they turn us away from God who is the beginning and end of all things.  And with the self firmly planted at the center, we are easily driven to rage and wrath towards anyone who gets in our way.  In the end, St John will show us how this gives birth to pride and how it draws us into the very darkness of hell itself. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:31:16 Lawrence Martone: Fr. Abernethy,   Perhaps the opposite of this vice of vainglory and seeking prestige is the beautiful story about St. John Vianney who added his own signature to a letter of protest to the bishop from leading clerics and parishioners against his (Fr. Vianney’s) way of being a pastor.   00:38:42 Fr Marty, ND, 480-292-3381: St. John Chrysostom and St. Gregory the Theologian, also, fled the priesthood, but eventually offered the Church an extraordinary legacy. Vainglory, would you say, attacks or tries to undermine our authentic vocations?   00:52:05 Anthony: Living the spiritual life is not the same as conversations in a "salon" or on a college campus.   00:52:06 Ren Witter: 🤣🤣🤣 My favorite Philip story   00:55:35 Louise: Could we say that vainglory corresponds to the ongoing self-validation or self-degradation of the ego, the ego focusing on the ego? If I were to let myself, I could become quite exasperated at this pervasive phenomenon inside my psyche. Any thoughts, Fr.?   00:59:35 Louise: So, we ought to not fight with our vainglory, but gently turn back to loving Jesus Christ.   01:02:14 Louise: Thank you, Fr.   01:08:30 Rachel: I think vainglory can be ever so subtle. I know someone who was told by a priest they were being scrupulous in a certain matter when they tried to confess. This brought much confusion because the person knew that the sins they attempted to confess were not " serious matter" and did not need to be confessed but in their desire to fight pride and vainglory, which was the cause of their sins. The person then had to fight vainglory in another way and thatg was not to tell the priest they knew that they were not serious sins. It was more painful to be seen as scrupulous and weak minded for the person.   01:09:55 Louise: I feel compassionate with people with a narcissistic disorder of the self, an arrested psychological development, who are so often stuck in vainglory and pride. What a prison!   01:14:15 Kevin Burke: The deeper we go into John’s Vainglory examples the more it seems the same as pride to me.  Can we recap the distinction between Vainglory and pride?   01:18:13 David Swiderski: Aren't a lot of the theologians presenting vainglory by arguing about angels on a pin, filoque, how one makes the sign of the cross etc. etc.  Only I can see the truth ..... all others that don't agree with me are wrong.   01:20:22 Anthony: That's Dante 's penultimate circle of hell if memory is correct - persons who appear alive on earth but they have confirmed themselves in hell.   01:23:50 Maureen Cunningham: Thank you ,  Blessing in my prayers   01:24:30 Rachel: Thank you   01:24:32 Cindy Moran: Thank you Father!!   01:24:39 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you🙂   01:24:43 David Swiderski: Thank you father!