PHILOKALIA MINISTRIES

Amma Syncletica and the Disciple Who Could No Longer Do What She Once Did A sister came to Amma Syncletica and said: “Mother, my body has become my prison. I cannot walk as I once did. I tire quickly. Pain accompanies me day and night. My memory fails me. I cannot pray with the fervor I had in my youth. I have become useless, and a great sadness has come upon me.” The Amma looked at her for a long while and said: “Who told you that your value was in your strength?” The sister

Job, Weariness, and the Prayer That Rises From the Edge of Despair “No wonder then if I cannot keep silence; in the anguish of my spirit I must speak, lament in the bitterness of my soul.” — Job 7:11 There are moments in the spiritual life when the soul becomes too exhausted to continue speaking piously. The prayers become stripped. The religious phrases collapse. The explanations no longer work. One no longer says, “I am blessed,” or “God is good,” with easy certainty becaus