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Not to Clarity, Not to Peace - but to Presence
Faith in a Fallen World There comes a moment when the mind can no longer carry what the heart is being asked to bear. The news of the world presses in from every side, violence without meaning, corruption without shame, suffering that seems to multiply rather than heal. Even prayer can begin to feel unreal, like speaking a language that no longer touches the ground of lived experience. The soul asks quietly, sometimes with fear, sometimes with anger, Is any of this real? Is G
Father Charbel Abernethy
Dec 12, 20253 min read
Dialogue with St. Sophrony: When Despair Becomes Resurrection
Morning had not yet broken, but something in the darkness felt thinner, as if the night had been stretched to its limit. I sat where I always do, half-in shadow, half-in longing, waiting for God and not knowing why. St. Sophrony stood near, as though he had never left. ⸻ Disciple: Father, you spoke of despair as a threshold. If that is so, then what stands beyond it? What comes after the breaking of the heart? Where is resurrection found? St. Sophrony: Resurrection is never
Father Charbel Abernethy
Dec 1, 20253 min read
Dialogue with St. Sophrony: On Despair and the Shadowed Heart
It was one of those nights when the soul falls through itself. No ground beneath the feet, no prayer strong enough to lift, only the dull weight of meaninglessness pressing the lungs. I sat in it, not fighting, just sinking. In the silence, something stirred, like an old lamp being lit. St. Sophrony came again, not as comfort, but as truth. ⸻ Disciple: Father, tonight I do not hurt, I simply feel nothing. No hope. No movement. Just an inner collapse. This is worse than pain.
Father Charbel Abernethy
Nov 30, 20253 min read
A Meditation on Love, Suffering, and the Folly of the Cross
To love is to suffer. Everyone says this, yet no one really believes it until the truth begins to bruise the heart. To love the Church, to give yourself over to her with the simplicity of a child and the seriousness of a vow, is to suffer at her hands. They never tell you this in seminary. There are no courses on how to bear praise without pride or how to endure humiliation without despair. They speak of kenosis and self emptying love. They teach the vocabulary. But no format
Father Charbel Abernethy
Nov 13, 20253 min read
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