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The Grammar of the Heart - Reflection I
When Mercy Becomes the Way We See The heart is changed when mercy ceases to be something we believe about God and becomes the light by which we see everything. “As a grain of sand cannot counterbalance a great quantity of gold, so in comparison God’s use of justice cannot counterbalance His mercy.” — St. Isaac the Syrian ______ The Grammar of the Heart is a nine-part series exploring how prayer, repentance, suffering, and the ascetical tradition gradually form not only what w
Father Charbel Abernethy
Oct 157 min read
The Grammar of the Heart - Introduction
How Prayer, Repentance, and Grace Teach Us to See “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” — Matthew 5:8 The Grammar of the Heart is a nine-part series exploring how prayer, repentance, suffering, and the ascetical tradition gradually form not only what we believe about God, but the way the heart learns to see Him. This is the Introduction. _______ There comes a point in the spiritual life when the question is no longer simply what we believe. The question bec
Father Charbel Abernethy
Oct 159 min read
The Breath That Prays Within Us
On St. Gregory of Sinai and the Hidden Work of the Spirit “The Spirit Himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words.” Romans 8:26 There is a way of speaking about prayer that leaves a man untouched. He can speak of methods, stillness, repetition, discipline, attention, and yet remain entirely outside the reality itself. He can learn the language of the Fathers and never once fall broken before God. He can speak of the heart while living entirely in the head. He can
Father Charbel Abernethy
Apr 65 min read
The Heart That Becomes a Book of Fire
St. Isaac the Syrian on Asceticism, the Death of the Ego, and the Spirit Who Teaches from Within Synopsis of Tonight’s Group on The Ascetical Homilies of St. Isaac the Syrian Homily 6: 19-20 Here Isaac is not giving us a technique for moral improvement. He is unveiling an icon. Behind his austere language of toil and Scripture and withdrawal stands a single, luminous vision: the human heart being slowly remade into the dwelling place of God. Asceticism is not a set of behavio
Father Charbel Abernethy
Jan 284 min read
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