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Synopsis of Session I of the Fall Retreat: To Become All Flame
When Desire Is Purified into Love A Reflection on the First Evening of Our Retreat “If you will, you can become all flame.” — Abba Joseph We began our retreat with one of the most familiar sayings of the Desert Fathers, and yet perhaps one of the most inexhaustible. Abba Lot came to Abba Joseph and described what had become the pattern of his spiritual life. He kept his little rule. He fasted according to his strength. He prayed and meditated. He tried to maintain interior pe
Father Charbel Abernethy
3 days ago9 min read
City a Desert Press: An Update on Two New Works
Dear Friends of Philokalia Ministries, I wanted to share with you a brief update on two works that have taken shape over these past months, somewhat unexpectedly. To Become All Flame is now with the typesetter and cover designer and is moving toward publication. Many of you will recognize its origins. Much of the book grew out of the retreats, reading groups, conversations, and years we have spent together with the Fathers—especially their understanding of prayer as the gradu
Father Charbel Abernethy
Oct 73 min read
A Heart That Can Be Wounded
The Desert and the Mercy of Becoming Flesh Again “I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” — Ezekiel 36:26 There is something almost frightening in the promise God makes through Ezekiel. He does not promise merely to forgive us. He does not promise to make our circumstances easier, to resolve the uncertainties of our lives, or even to make us more religious. He promises something far more radical: I will give you another heart. The Fath
Father Charbel Abernethy
Aug 306 min read
Where Does the Soul Live?
The Desire That Already Belongs to Eternity “The soul from love of the Lord has lost her wits, as it were.” — St. Silouan the Athonite Where do we live our lives? The question seems simple until we allow it to expose us. We can live in the world without the world being the place where our heart dwells. We can inhabit a house, fulfill our responsibilities, care for those entrusted to us, endure uncertainty, carry grief, answer the demands of each day, and yet inwardly live som
Father Charbel Abernethy
Aug 167 min read
When Eternity Breaks into the Present
The Second Coming, the Desert, and the Healing of a Fragmented Heart “The Lord is He Who has come, Who will come again, and Who is continually coming.” — Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou, The Dawn of the Eternal There is a subtle tragedy that can enter even deeply religious lives: we can believe everything the Church teaches about God and yet live as though He were somewhere else. We believe that Christ came two thousand years ago. We believe that He will come again at the en
Father Charbel Abernethy
Aug 108 min read
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