PHILOKALIA MINISTRIES

A dialogue between St. John Climacus and a disciple who would not surrender his understanding “Cast out from yourself your own understanding, and you will see the glory of God.” St. John Climacus, Ladder of Divine Ascent , Step 26 ⸻ A brother came to Abba John on Sinai, but he came armed. He had fasted. He had kept vigil. He had renounced possessions. But he had not renounced himself. He said, “Father, I have come to learn the way of truth.” The Elder said, “Then you must fir

Standing Before the Image “If you wish to be saved, become as one who is dead. For a dead man does not judge, is not judged, is not honored, and is not dishonored.” Abba Makarios the Great There is something in this story* of Abba Makarios that presses more deeply than its ending. Not the vindication. Not the confession. Not even the humility of the saint. It is the image itself that remains, severe and unforgettable. A man led through the streets with blackened pots and wood

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

The final illusions of control in the life of prayer There comes a stage in the spiritual life where surrender no longer looks heroic. The obvious rebellions have quieted. The loud negotiations with God have faded. One has learned the language of obedience, discernment, and trust. And yet, beneath all of this, something remains: a thin filament of control. A hidden need to shape the meaning of one’s life, to interpret the stripping, to preserve some intelligible sense of iden

Learning to Stand Before God Without Claims Presumption is a quiet violence of the heart. It does not always speak loudly or boast openly. Often it kneels, prays, fasts, teaches, decides. It assumes it knows where it stands before God. It measures its purity, weighs its obedience, names its humility. The fathers warn that this is the most dangerous ground of all, because it feels religious while it places the self at the center. The psalmist prays not for exaltation but for r

When Silence Becomes the Most Honest Sermon There comes a moment, if grace is merciful and the heart finally yields, when a man sees that much of what he called ministry has been noise, and much of what he called service has been the ego dressed in liturgical fabric. He sees the delusion not in others but lodged in his own marrow. And in that moment he knows that the most loving thing he can do for the Church, for the world, for the souls entrusted to him, is to step back fro

The most dangerous idols are never carved. They breathe. They speak Scripture fluently. They wear vestments and titles and identities we cherish with trembling hands. I have learned this: There is no instinct more subtle or more deadly than the desire to build a name for God that is really a monument to myself. The Fathers speak without flattery. Abba Poemen once said, “A man may seem to be silent, but if his heart condemns others, he is speaking continually.” Silence can be

O Lord, when I stand before You I am stripped of every illusion. There is no incense to veil the truth no gentle choir to drown out the rebellions of my heart. I see the wilderness within me and the barren stones that once I imagined were altars. It has been forty years and I still complain about the manna as though the work of Your hands should conform to the cravings of my tongue. I read of Meribah and Massah and I wince not because they seem distant but because they feel l