PHILOKALIA MINISTRIES

Discerning the Counsel of God When the Soul Wakes from a Dream Epigraph “Yet I was always in your presence; you were holding me by my right hand. You will guide me by your counsel, and so you will lead me to glory.” — Psalm 73 (Grail Translation) The disciple returned after some days. Not at the hour he usually came. Earlier. When the light was thin and the air still cool. He stood again without speaking. The elder did not look up. After a long while the elder said, St. Arsen

A Dialogue with St. Arsenius on Withdrawal, Discernment, and the Mercy That Saves the Heart The disciple came and stood for a long while without speaking. The elder did not look up. At last the elder said, St. Arsenius: Why do you come as one who has already been standing too long? Disciple: Because my heart is tired, father. Not of prayer, but of the noise that follows it. I have tried to remain faithful to what has been entrusted to me, yet I feel myself growing thin. St. A

Patience, Silence, and the Slow Work of Truth “Sit in your cell, and your cell will teach you everything.” — Abba Moses the Ethiopian It is easy to assume that clarity is always a virtue. That the quicker a question is answered, the safer the soul will be. That uncertainty is a weakness to be eliminated rather than a condition to be endured. Yet the Fathers repeatedly challenge this assumption, not because they despise truth, but because they understand how the human heart re

Silence, Attention, and the Word That Is Equal to God Silence is not an aesthetic preference or a psychological technique. It is the condition in which God speaks Himself. Not information about God, not consolation, not even illumination in the ordinary sense, but a Word that is equal to Himself. Scripture is uncompromising here. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  When God speaks, He does not offer commentary. He gives being. To

St. Arsenius and the Freedom of a Life Hidden in God St. Arsenius stands before every generation as a quiet contradiction. He contradicts our confidence in words, our trust in visibility, and our hunger to be recognized as useful or influential. He reminds us that holiness is not proven by being heard, but by being emptied. In a world where speech is constant and opinion is mistaken for wisdom, Arsenius teaches the holiness of restraint. His raised hand in blessing was not a

On the Spiritual and Human Fruit of Removing Television from the Home There is a particular kind of silence that returns to a home when a television is removed. It is not merely the absence of sound. It is the reappearance of space. Something long occupied steps aside, and the heart becomes aware of itself again. Television does not simply provide entertainment. It forms the inner atmosphere of a household. Even when it is not turned on, it stands ready to speak, to fill paus

Hidden Asceticism in an Age of Noise Disciple:  Abba, my heart is troubled. I hear so much about changing the world, about doing something visible for God. Yet when I look at Christ, I see Him hidden. Silent. Unnoticed. Why did God save the world this way? St. Arsenius:  Because the world was not healed by being impressed. It was healed by being entered. Disciple:  Entered where, Abba? St. Arsenius:  Where there was no room. Where nothing shone. Where no one was watching. He

"Infans", the God Who Does Not Speak The One through whom all things were made enters the world without words. The Gospel of John tells us that “In the beginning was the Word”  (Jn 1:1), and in the same breath confesses that this Word “became flesh and dwelt among us”  (Jn 1:14). What it does not say, yet what the Church dares to contemplate, is that when the Word became flesh, He became infans : the One who does not speak. The Creator of language chooses silence. The Logos e

Bethlehem, the Altar, and the Birth That Continues There is a silence that precedes God, and a silence that follows Him. Bethlehem belongs to the first. The Eucharist to the second. The Gospel does not describe the cave as peaceful. It tells us only that there was no room. No explanation, no protest, no commentary. God enters the world not amid arguments or clarifications, but in silence. The Word becomes flesh without explanation. Heaven does not announce itself to the inn,

An Invitation to Make Space for the God Who Comes Quietly Dear friends, If your heart feels crowded these days, you are not far from Bethlehem. We often imagine that the inn was full because of the census, because of history, because of forces beyond anyone’s control. But the Gospel does not linger on the reason. It simply tells us the truth. There was no room. And so God went elsewhere. I write to you because I know that feeling. Not only as a monk or a hermit, but as a Chri

On the Angelic Hunger for Silence, Solitude, and an Undivided Heart Disciple: Abba, my heart has become restless among men. Even when I am loved, even when I serve, something in me remains unsatisfied. Silence calls to me with a force I cannot explain. Is this pride? Am I fleeing love? Arsenius: If it were pride, you would feel enlarged by it. If it were escape, you would feel relieved. Tell me, do you feel either? Disciple: No, Abba. I feel exposed. As though something withi

The Alphabet the Desert Knows and Modern Christianity Has Forgotten We live in a time drunk on credentials. Degrees stacked like armor. Screens glowing with answers that arrive faster than desire can form a question. Artificial intelligence promising mastery without submission. Even theology is often treated this way now, a system to be analyzed, optimized, defended. God spoken about fluently, while remaining untouched. Abba Arsenius stands in the middle of this illusion and

“Often have I spoken and regretted it; but I have never regretted my silence.” — St. Arsenius the Great There comes a moment when the soul stops contending with itself. Not because every question has been answered, but because the heart recognizes the air it must breathe in order to live. Many have been faithful, obedient, and sincere, yet inwardly short of breath. They have learned the language of prayer and the forms of reverence. They have endured. But endurance is not the

A Dialogue with St. Arsenius Disciple: Father, I am not lost, but I am weary. Too many voices call my name. They tell me where to stand, how to walk, what to wear, what to become. My feet touch the ground, yet I have no place to rest them. St. Arsenius: If your feet touch the earth, you are already guided. Do not ask them to run while your heart is homeless. Disciple: They tell me to keep my eyes on my feet. Yet they also send me to many doors. I knock, I speak, I listen. I g

Peace Found at the Altar in a Time of Uncertainty How my heart longs for and rejoices in the simple and the silent. This morning I offered Mass in our humble home chapel, surrounded by the icons of the saints and the quiet warmth of the lampada’s light. In a season when my mother bears the weight of illness and I stand before real uncertainty about the future of my ministry, the silence of the chapel and the steady attentiveness required at the altar brought peace to the soul

Remaining Truthful When the Way Forward Is Hidden There comes a moment in the spiritual life when the soul is no longer permitted to advance by expansion, but only by truth. What once felt like calling now feels like silence. What once gave form to identity is gently taken away. This is not abandonment. It is a change of governance. Scripture does not call this failure. It calls it obedience. “Be still and know that I am God” is not spoken to beginners, but to those who have

Heaven, Desire, and the Fullness That Words Cannot Bear Many speak of heaven as though it were an extension of what already exhausts them. More time. More awareness. More feeling. More sound. More of the self endlessly reflecting upon itself. When heaven is imagined this way it is no surprise that it feels thin and undesirable. The heart knows instinctively that an eternity of noise even sacred noise would be unbearable. What troubles such conversations is not a failure of do

Disciple Abba Arsenius you fled from the company of men so that your mind and heart might belong to God alone. I seek your counsel because my path has not been chosen in the same way. I did not leave the company of men. God lifted me from among them. I do not receive this as a hardship but as a blessing and a call. Yet the silence that has come upon me is severe. It exposes me to battles I did not know when I was surrounded by voices. I desire to be stripped of ego and identi

A Colloquy on Remaining in Mercy When Strength Fails Soul God, what does it mean to remain standing in Your mercy. How do I know that I am loving You or that I am being loved. Not forgotten. Remembered. This feels like uncharted territory, not in thought but in living. I call Your Name in the Silence and nothing answers the way it once did. You say Remain. Yet I feel like a man dying. Strength draining. My eyes are closed. I am breathing, but shallowly. I feel my heart beatin

Perhaps the Last Time Christ Passes By A disciple came to Abba Arsenius in the evening and remained standing, unable to speak. Seeing his trembling, the Elder said, Why do you stand as one pursued. The disciple said, Father there is a fear in me that I do not recognize. It is not the fear that has followed me all my life. It is not fear of failure or of being unseen or of losing what little I have. It is the fear that the Lord is passing near and that I may let Him go by with