PHILOKALIA MINISTRIES

Why I Wish I Had Begun Here “One thing is necessary.” Luke 10:42 I recently reread The Monastic Heart. It is a curious experience to revisit something written over many years. One notices sentences that could have been improved or thoughts that might have been expressed more clearly. Every author does. Yet what remained with me was something altogether different. As I turned the pages, I found myself thinking, I wish this had been the foundation of my own formation over for

Why the Desert Fathers Continue to Speak to Every Generation “Wherever there is a renewal of Christian life, there one finds a return to the Desert Fathers.” — Fr. Irénée Hausherr, S.J. Fr. Irénée Hausherr’s observation has remained with me for many years: “Wherever there is a renewal of Christian life, there one finds a return to the Desert Fathers.” The older I become, the more I believe he was describing something far deeper than a historical pattern. He was pointing to a

The Monastic Heart and the Future of the Church: Recovering the Inner Kingdom in an Age of Fragmentation is now available in hardcover, paperback, and ebook through Amazon and booksellers around the world. One unexpected delight has been learning that the monks at Holy Transfiguration Monastery have begun reading it aloud in the refectory. I have also received a completely unverified report that it has significantly improved the quality of everyone’s post-lunch nap. While I c