PHILOKALIA MINISTRIES

A Dialogue with St. Arsenius on Fear, Longing, and the Courage to Be Held by God Alone A Disciple:  Father Arsenius, I feel torn in two. I long for hiddenness, and yet I fear it. I want the silence, and I dread the silence. How can the same thing draw me and terrify me at once? St. Arsenius:  Because you are standing between two loves. One is old and loud. The other is new and quiet. A Disciple:  The old one feels like being held. By the world. By voices. By usefulness. St. A

On Obedience, Mercy, and the Freedom of Letting Go “Do not abandon what has been entrusted to you, and do not seize what has not.” — Saying in the spirit of the Desert Fathers Disciple: Father, when I loosen my grip, I fear things will fall into disorder. Arsenius: What God commands does not depend on your grip. Disciple: But there are people and works that seem to rest on me. Arsenius: If they were given to you in obedience or in mercy, you must not abandon them. What is com

A Continued Dialogue with  St. Arsenius the Great “Why have you come here? If you would be saved, remain where you are.” — St. Arsenius the Great The Disciple: Father, when last we spoke, you told me to remain. I have done so. Yet the longer I remain, the less shape my life seems to have. What once gave coherence has fallen away. I am still here, but I no longer recognize the form of my own life. Abba Arsenius: Good. The old forms were not life. The Disciple: At first I feare