PHILOKALIA MINISTRIES

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

St. Nilus of Sora, Interior Struggle, and the Refusal of Excuses "If it is by God's will that we are gathered together, then we should be faithful to the traditions of the saints and the holy fathers and to our Lord's commandments, instead of seeking to exempt ourselves by saying that nowadays it is impossible to live according to the Scriptures and the precepts of the fathers." St. Nilus of Sora There is a temptation that does not arrive as open rebellion. It comes quietly,