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When Faith Becomes Bare Existence - Faith Without Consolation V
When nothing remains but the fact that you are still standing before God “I believed, and so I spoke: I am deeply afflicted.” Psalm 115 (116):10, Grail Translation ⸻ There comes a point where faith no longer feels like belief. It no longer feels like trust. It no longer feels like anything at all. It becomes something quieter. Something harder to recognize. Something stripped of every emotion that once made it visible. It becomes existence. The man still breathes. He still wa
Father Charbel Abernethy
7 days ago3 min read
The Anger No One Wants to Admit - Faith Without Consolation IV
When prayer becomes accusation and love becomes protest “How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?” Psalm 12 (13):2, Grail Translation ⸻ There is an anger that feels forbidden. Not the anger that flares and passes. But the anger that settles into the bones. The anger that grows slowly in the shadow of unanswered prayer. It is the anger no one wants to confess because it feels like betrayal. Because it feels blasphemous. Because it
Father Charbel Abernethy
Feb 174 min read
The Temptation to Stop Praying - Faith Without Consolation III
When the last thread of relationship feels like a lie “Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered unto Him.” Matthew 4:11 ⸻ Series Introduction — Faith Without Consolation There are seasons in the spiritual life when prayer brings no comfort, when God seems silent, and when faith no longer feels like faith. The fathers and modern elders did not hide this reality. They lived it. They wrote of the darkness that strips the soul of every support, not to destr
Father Charbel Abernethy
Feb 164 min read
When Prayer Feels Like Betrayal - Faith Without Consolation I
On standing before God when the heart cannot follow “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” Psalm 21 (22):2, Grail Translation ⸻ Series Introduction — Faith Without Consolation There are seasons in the spiritual life when prayer brings no comfort, when God seems silent, and when faith no longer feels like faith. The fathers and modern elders did not hide this reality. They lived it. They wrote of the darkness that strips the soul of every support, not to destroy it, but t
Father Charbel Abernethy
Feb 146 min read
The Earthquake That Breaks the Last Idol
When God Destroys the Will That Survived Conversion “Not my will, but Yours, be done.” Luke 22:42 There comes a point in the Christian life when repentance is no longer about sin. It is about the will. Not the obvious will that chooses evil. That is the beginning. That is crude. That is visible. Even the world understands that struggle. But there is a deeper will that survives repentance. A hidden sovereignty. A silent insistence on remaining the center of one’s own existence
Father Charbel Abernethy
Feb 84 min read
When the Church Forgets How to Die
The most dangerous thing happening in Western Christianity is not heresy or secularism. It is the quiet loss of the sense that Christianity is an ascetical way of being human. We have forgotten that the Gospel is not first of all something we believe but something that kills us and makes us new. When the ascetical life disappears the ego survives. And when the ego survives it uses religion to protect itself. Faith becomes moralism. Doctrine becomes ideology. The Church become
Father Charbel Abernethy
Jan 293 min read
When the Knife Finds the Heart
Slander and the scandal of the Cross ⸻ Synopsis of Tonight’s Group on The Evergetinos Volume II Hypothesis XLVI D2-G The Evergetinos does not offer us inspiring stories. It offers us a blade. These elders do not behave reasonably. They do not protect their reputations. They do not appeal to due process. They do not defend themselves. They kneel. They ask forgiveness for crimes they did not commit. They accept punishment. They allow their names to be dragged through the dust.
Father Charbel Abernethy
Jan 263 min read
When Christ Is Not a Viable Candidate
Why the Poor in Spirit Are the True Vocation of the Monastery “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” Luke 5:31 ⸻ There are monasteries that look strong. They have clear entrance requirements, stable finances, orderly choirs, well formed candidates, and well guarded traditions. They appear healthy. They are often admired. They can point to visible signs of success. They seem safe. But Christ did not call the strong. He called the poor. He did
Father Charbel Abernethy
Jan 244 min read
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