PHILOKALIA MINISTRIES

A Dialogue with St. Charbel on the Solitude Where Only God Remains “My heart and my flesh have rejoiced in the living God.” — Psalm 83:3 (LXX) The disciple found Charbel outside the hermitage before dawn. The saint was gathering fallen branches. Disciple: Father, may I ask you something? Charbel: Ask. Disciple: When the abbot permitted you to come here, he warned the brothers not to think of it as a reward. Charbel: Yes. Disciple: Why? Charbel picked up another branch. Charbe

A Dialogue Between St. Charbel and a Disciple on the Life of a Hermit “Go into your cell, and your cell will teach you everything.” — Apophthegmata Patrum The disciple approached the old hermit as evening settled over the mountains. The cedars stood motionless against the fading sky, and from within the little stone cell came only silence. “Father,” he said softly, “many speak of the beauty of the hermit’s life. They imagine peace, freedom, and an intimacy with God that canno