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City a Desert Press: An Update on Two New Works
Dear Friends of Philokalia Ministries, I wanted to share with you a brief update on two works that have taken shape over these past months, somewhat unexpectedly. To Become All Flame is now with the typesetter and cover designer and is moving toward publication. Many of you will recognize its origins. Much of the book grew out of the retreats, reading groups, conversations, and years we have spent together with the Fathers—especially their understanding of prayer as the gradu
Father Charbel Abernethy
Oct 73 min read
Do Not Name What God Is Doing Yet
On the Holy Poverty of a Life That Has Not Taken Shape “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place which he was to receive as an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was to go.” — Hebrews 11:8 There is a peculiar temptation that comes when a life begins to fall apart. We immediately begin trying to understand what God is building from the ruins. Something has ended, and almost before we have allowed ourselves to grieve it, we ask what is beg
Father Charbel Abernethy
Oct 48 min read
When Only the Name Remains
Abiding in Christ when there is nothing left to hold “Trust in the Lord for ever, for the Lord is an everlasting rock.” — Isaiah 26:4 There comes a time when prayer is no longer chiefly something we say. It becomes where we stand. The Name of Jesus ceases to be one devotion among others, one practice among many, and becomes the place where the heart abides when it no longer knows where else to go. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me. Perhaps this is why the Name m
Father Charbel Abernethy
Sep 224 min read
I Am the Lord’s
Memento Mori and the Freedom of No Longer Needing to Solve One’s Life “If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.” — Romans 14:8 There comes a point when even the desire to understand one’s life must be surrendered. We spend so much of our existence trying to solve it. We turn circumstances into problems. We turn other people into problems. Eventually, and perhaps most cruelly, we turn our
Father Charbel Abernethy
Sep 145 min read
What Has Already Been Given Cannot Be Taken
The Freedom of the Cross “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.” — John 10:18 There is a freedom that comes only when we have ceased trying to keep our life. Christ reveals it from the Cross. “No one takes it from me. I lay it down of my own accord.” Those words change everything. From the outside, His life appears to be taken from Him. He is betrayed, arrested, falsely accused, stripped, mocked, condemned, and nailed to the wood. Others seem to possess
Father Charbel Abernethy
Sep 145 min read
Restore Us to Yourself
When every other way of being restored has been taken from our hands “Restore us to thyself, O LORD, that we may be restored.” — Lamentations 5:21 There are sorrows that still contain within them the hope of repair. We suffer, but somewhere in the heart we are already imagining how things might be put right. A door might open. Someone might understand. An explanation might finally be accepted. What has been confused might become clear. What has been lost might somehow be retu
Father Charbel Abernethy
Sep 124 min read
Where There Is No Way Out
The terrible freedom of remaining with Christ when nothing changes “Keep thy mind in hell and despair not.” — St. Silouan the Athonite There are moments when the spiritual life ceases to offer consolation. Not because God has withdrawn His mercy, but because He permits every lesser thing upon which we have secretly depended to be taken from our hands. The Fathers knew this place. It is the place where prayer does not change circumstances. Where obedience does not immediately
Father Charbel Abernethy
Sep 25 min read
When God Alone Is Enough
On the quiet passage from doing for God to remaining with Him “One thing is needful.” — Luke 10:42 There comes a time when a question begins to form in the heart that one could not have asked honestly before. It does not arise from contempt for the world, nor necessarily from disappointment with one’s work. It may come after many years of labor, after responsibilities faithfully carried, after words spoken and written, after friendships and communities, after building things
Father Charbel Abernethy
Sep 16 min read
The Place You Have Been Given
A Dialogue with Abba Arsenius on Formation, Silence, and Freedom The disciple came to the old man late in the afternoon. Arsenius was sitting outside his cell, mending a worn basket. The disciple bowed and waited. The old man did not look up. At last the disciple spoke. Disciple: Father, I have been waiting for my life to begin. Arsenius stopped working. Arsenius: Where have you been living? Disciple: That is not what I mean. I have sought God for many years. I thought by now
Father Charbel Abernethy
Aug 314 min read
I Am Not Providence
The Violence of Trying to Arrange What Belongs to God “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” — Isaiah 30:15 There comes a moment in the spiritual life when one discovers that surrender to God is far more demanding than sacrifice for God. We may give Him our time. We may give Him our possessions. We may embrace asceticism, prayer, solitude, obedience, service. We may endure losses we never imagined we could bear. And yet b
Father Charbel Abernethy
Aug 266 min read
The Sanctity of Nazareth
A Dialogue with St. Arsenius on Silence, Hiddenness, and the Fear of Being Forgotten “Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and grace before God and men.” — The Gospel of Luke 2:52 The disciple came to the cell of St. Arsenius the Great near sunset. He bowed low and remained kneeling for a long while before speaking. “Father, my heart is restless.” Arsenius did not answer immediately. He continued weaving palm branches with long thin fingers worn smooth by prayer. Finally he asked
Father Charbel Abernethy
May 84 min read
Held and Cast Down
The man who lives in God walks without fear “I am with him in affliction, and I will rescue him.” There is a way of living that still calculates, still guards, still arranges life as though everything depends on vigilance and control. It calls this prudence. It calls this responsibility. But beneath it there is fear. A quiet trembling that believes the world rests on its own fragile management. Isaac tears this away. He shows a world that does not stand by our care, but by th
Father Charbel Abernethy
Mar 183 min read
The Name
A Word That Burns the Heart “The Name of the Son of God is great and boundless, and it upholds the whole universe.” — Hermas A brother came to the cell of the elder and said: “Abba, teach me how to pray.” The elder said: “Say: Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.” The brother said, “Only this?” The elder replied: “Only this.” The brother said, “But my mind runs everywhere.” The elder said: “Then let it run. You remain with the Name.” The brother said, “Sometimes the words fee
Father Charbel Abernethy
Mar 162 min read
Hope That Burns Away the World
On the hope that is born when a man finally believes the Gospel “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33 St. Isaac places hope after the first labor of virtue for a reason. A man must first discover that his virtues cannot save him. He fasts. He keeps vigil. He disciplines the body. He restrains the passions. He learns obedience to the commandments. Yet even after these labors something remains uncertain
Father Charbel Abernethy
Mar 42 min read
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