PHILOKALIA MINISTRIES

When Love Becomes Participation in the Wounded Heart of Christ “To pray for people is to shed blood!” — St. Silouan the Athonite, quoted by Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou, The Dawn of the Eternal There are words that we understand when we first read them, and there are words that wait for us. They remain somewhere within the heart, perhaps for years, until life itself becomes their interpreter. “To pray for people is to shed blood.” I have known these words of Saint Silouan

The Ministry of Presence Among Those Who Can No Longer Be Consoled “Weep with those who weep.” — Romans 12:15 The desert fathers had little patience for sentimentality, especially in the face of suffering. They knew that grief could break a person’s heart open to God or leave him standing in darkness for many years. They also knew that there are sorrows for which there is no immediate remedy. There are losses that do not heal quickly. The death of a child. The slow fading of