Philokalia Ministries

• Phronema: Having the Mind of Christ

  Links provided to the group:  Outline: https://mcusercontent.com/c38acab568d650f7ef65f39df/files/250d23a5-4286-ca11-aa97-511cb2db99e7/Phronema_Outline_2025.pdf Phronema in the Teachings of Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou: https://mcusercontent.com/c38acab568d650f7ef65f39df/files/bcb1bdd1-e77a-1f58-b90d-8070e0f7f9d5/Phronema_in_Teachings_of_Zacharias_Zacharou.pdf Quotes: https://mcusercontent.com/c38acab568d650f7ef65f39df/files/e2d2937f-cb54-e3d1-e164-4fffc0d409da/Collection_of_Quotes_on_Phronema_2025.pdf  

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• The Ascetical Homilies of St. Isaac the Syrian - Homily III, Part VII

  Perhaps there has been no greater or more beautiful exhortation written than Saint Isaac the Syrian’s homily on temptation. This may seem to be a rather bold statement, but Isaac’s words draw us into the very heart of a reality that even many men and women of faith do not see; that is, we are engaged in a spiritual warfare against the Evil One. Evil is not an abstraction or a story meant to instill fear as a means of control. Isaac speaks of it from the perspective of experience and like the other desert fathers, he stands before us as a living and breathing icon, encouraging us to run the course with courage and fidelity. In the spiritual battle, there is no Sabbath day rest; in other words, we must be ever vigilant in regards to temptation that comes to us in many forms. The only one that we must be concerned about is the temptation to which we freely give ourselves over through neglect or laziness or our attachment to particular sins. Rather, we are to take heart from and acquire zeal in our soul against the devil through the example and the histories of those who proved “allies of the divine laws and commandments of the Spirit in fearful places, and amid most grievous tribulation.”  The one in essential thing that this requires of us is that we have in our mind God‘s providence, and always to remember that he is ever faithful, and will not abandon those who trust him. This is our hope - that God is ever present to us in the spiritual battle, strengthening us, and surrounding us with a host of angels and Saints. We have a God who is set upon our salvation and who provides everything that is needed in order that we might be raised even above the ranks of angels. Our Lord has humbled himself, taken our poor humanity and its poverty, embraced it in all of its fullness and weakness in order to raise us up to share in the fullness of the life of God.  Deification is the fruit of the spiritual battle and the promise of our loving Lord! --- Text of chat during the group: 00:03:18 Fr. Charbel Abernethy: Page 138 paragraph number 33 00:12:58 Bob Čihák, AZ: P. 138, first full paragraph 00:14:35 Janine: Happy birthday Fr. Charbel…60 is nothing…just wait til 70! You are still very young! 00:15:18 Bob Čihák, AZ: ..or 84... 00:19:24 Catherine Opie: Happy Birthday Fr. May your next circle around the sun be full of Gods graces and blessings🎂 00:21:17 Rebecca Thérèse: Happy birthday it's the 10th already in the UK as well🎂☺️ 00:22:22 Gwen’s iPhone: Smile you could be turning 79 00:32:42 Erick Chastain: It is interesting that he emphasizes the role of the guardian angel in defending against the temptations. My oblate master says one should pray to the guardian angel to prevent sins. \ 00:36:12 Ryan Ngeve: Father it is easy for us who live in the world to tend to forget of spiritual realities in our daily life. How does one change this  ? 00:36:27 David: St. Moses the Black/Strong episode of 'Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints' is streaming now on Fox Nation. I believe this is also on youtube but likely violating copyright. 00:42:15 Anthony: To become prayer is like the lesson on computation on Monday. 00:43:38 paul g.: Reacted to " St. Moses the Black…" with ✔️ 00:59:15 Anthony: I think it's important to note they recognized perils, even perils of devils, but did not seek to indulge curiosity about the demons.  The focus was God, without craven feeling toward devils or to God. They shone like simple, confident icons. 00:59:37 Ryan Ngeve: Father, could the very realization of one’s own wretchedness/ poverty/ powerlessness or need for some external mercy lead to tears or even despair? 01:02:11 Elizabeth Richards: Yes! 01:17:13 Catherine Opie: ❤️ 01:19:03 David: I heard an interesting podcast with Fr. Josh Johnson who said if the Devil can't make you bad he will make you busy. Apparently a parishioner doubted the devil existed he told her to set a time to sit in adoration or prayer and you will see tons of things will come up to interfere and often not bad things. 2 weeks later she came back and said- ok I believe in the devil. This also has been my experience. 01:21:44 Eleana: And temptations. I usually tell my patients you are often desperate for a "fix" and miserable but when you are trying to be sober and clean, you encounter friends that will invite you and even FIND everywhere what you avoid the most. 01:26:11 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You Father Blessing 01:26:49 Elizabeth Richards: 🥳 Happy Birthday! 🎉   Looking forward to Saturday! 01:26:53 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you☺️ 01:26:53 Bob Čihák, AZ: Thank you and Bless you, Father. 01:26:54 Art: Have a happy birthday!! 01:26:59 Jeffrey Ott: Thank you! Happy Birthday! 01:27:10 David: Thank you father and may you have a joyful Birthday. I turn 60 next year tell me how it goes

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• The Evergetinos: Book Two - XXXII, Part VIII

  The beauty of the writings of the fathers and in particular the lived experiences of the monks as described in the Evergetinos brings to life the spiritual life in an unparalleled fashion. They show us that there is no part of the spiritual life that can be seen outside the context of our relationship with God. In other words, there is no spiritual practice or discipline, no spiritual fruit or experience that does not begin and end with God and his grace.  Contrition is love! It is rooted in the growing experience of loss that one has by turning away from God because of one’s attachment to the things of this world or to one’s own judgment. When contrition emerges within the human heart, when the  sword of sorrow that pierced through our Lord‘s heart allows us to taste its metal, and when tears begin to flow without measure, one does not distract oneself from the experience. To do so would be to turn away from God.  So often we want to control or manage, not only circumstances, but our experience of what is going on internally and in our relationship with God.  It is difficult for us to allow ourselves to be taken by the hand and guided by Christ along the path that leads to our sanctification and intimacy with him. Strangely enough, we often become the focus of our own spiritual life; how well we are doing things, the disciplines that we keep, the sins that we avoid, the regularity of our prayer. However, we are shown that God can bestow upon a soul the gift of contrition and tears in a moment of domestic work. God does this in order that we might have no illusion about where this gift comes from. Whenever we tie contrition to what it is that we are doing, we either take hold of it as if it were our own or we seek to distract ourselves from it. Often it is emotionally hard for us to linger long in such sorrow and humility. Yet the fathers show us that this gift is precious, not to be turned away from quickly, but rather fostered.  Such teaching becomes a stark reminder that our faith is rooted in a relationship with a God who has come to us to heal us; that humble sorrow and that flood of tears become the very means by which He lifts us up. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:10:54 Bob Čihák, AZ: P. 254, 2nd paragraph of # 18 00:11:15 Adam Paige: Reacted to "515714551_18143336329396209_7085918453142515818_n.jpg" with ☦️ 00:15:36 Bob Čihák, AZ: P. 254, 2nd paragraph of # 18 00:26:16 Una: So don't stop weaving the baskets? 00:31:18 Kathleen: God have mercy on our lack of awareness. 00:38:57 Anthony: When I try to pray the "right" way, my mind usually trips me up.  Prayer is easier when walking, not paying attention to "I have to do this right....oh no, bad thought, distraction.....I have to do this right.....pay attention,  why did you have that distraction....." etc. 00:40:17 Forrest Cavalier: Reacted to "When I try to pray t..." with 👍 00:45:40 Anthony: Legalism can turn into "magic." 00:46:00 Myles Davidson: Reacted to "Legalism can turn in..." with 👍 00:46:34 Myles Davidson: Replying to "Legalism can turn in..." Magical thinking yes 00:48:00 Forrest Cavalier: My dad got back in the church 2 years before he died. He wondered why it was so much easier for him to cry. I wondered too. From these paragraphs, now I know. 00:56:54 Andrew Zakhari: Psalm 56:8 "You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle."  God lingers over our tears long enough to collect them. I don't think we sit with them long enough to even recognize what they are about. 01:03:41 Anthony: India ink or Chinese ink 01:04:55 Forrest Cavalier: Greek is "hot iron" 01:05:09 Forrest Cavalier: πυρωμένον σίδηρον 01:06:30 Anthony: Replying to "πυρωμένον σίδηρον"   I apologize for interrupting you Forrest 01:11:23 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You Father Blessing 01:11:33 Forrest Cavalier: Replying to "πυρωμένον σίδηρον" My fault. 01:11:35 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you☺️ 01:11:46 Troy Amaro: Thank You Father 01:11:49 Catherine Opie: Thank you Fr. God bless

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• The Ascetical Homilies of St. Isaac the Syrian - Homily III, Part VI

  Knowledge of God comes through the experience of God. When faith remains an abstraction, an idea, it is destined to remain lifeless and loses its capacity to transform and heal. It is the Lord Himself - He who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life - who must teach us.  Outside this path, we will lack all understanding. What we are called to contemplate is not simply what we can see with our eyes, perceive through our senses or conceive through our intellect. It is the mind of God, the mind of Christ, that we are called to put on. Furthermore, what we are given to understand is not worldly realities but the very mysteries of the Kingdom and the nature of divine Love.  Such is true in our understanding of the presence of temptation and affliction in our lives. We are told to pray not to enter in the temptation and yet the path the Christ calls us to walk leads us directly into them. The temptations that we are not to give ourselves over to are the ones that come through our own negligence and attachment to the things of this world and the self. We are not to put ourselves to the test by exposing ourselves to things that enliven the passions. Yet, in the gospel we are called by Christ to enter into the tribulation and the trials that we experience in this world and to do so with patience and hope in Him. The temptation that we are to fear is the one that comes through the mind’s self-esteem which opens us up to the demon of blasphemy and pride. It is then that we make ourselves judge of God and become blind to the poverty of our own sin.   The temptation, the trial we are called to enter into and embrace is the cross. With firm hope we are to take it up daily and in doing so God will reveal the truth to us. Isaac writes: “For without trials, God‘s Providence is not seen and you cannot obtain boldness before God, nor learn the wisdom of the spirit, nor can divine longing be established within you.” Knowledge of the cross, only comes through the experience of the cross, and our willingness to embrace it. This reality allows us to become bold in our hope and trust in the Lord‘s love. Unless we enter into hell, we will never know through experience that that we need not fear it – for Christ has already descended there. Our virtue, our strength is to be the virtue and strength of Christ. This comes only through living in Him and embodying that same love and hope that was made present on Calvary.   These mysteries even made Saint Isaac cry out: “O the subtlety of the path of the Thy teachings, O Lord!“  We must humbly allow Him to take us by the hand and guide us to the truth. --- Text of chat during the group:  00:09:50 Bob Čihák, AZ: P. 136, last paragraph, last line, bottom of page 00:12:16 Bob Čihák, AZ: We started on p. 113 00:17:23 Bob Čihák, AZ: P. 136, last paragraph, last line, bottom of page 00:19:22 Thomas: Where do I find the raise hand button 00:20:03 Myles Davidson: Replying to "Where do I find the ..." At the React button 00:20:54 Thomas: Replying to "Where do I find the …" Thanks 00:27:21 Anthony: We also need to be perceptive while simple so we don't let liars beguile us. 00:29:33 Myles Davidson: Replying to "We also need to be p..." Wise as serpents while innocent as doves 00:31:56 Thomas: Would it be imprudent or untrusting, or something like that to want to suffer more? 00:39:00 Ryan N: Father how does one endure when the pains of the cross become overwhelming 00:39:06 Ryan N: Or even less to a loss of faith 00:39:11 Ryan N: Lead* 01:02:44 Eleana: The father of lies with the daily illusion that freedom is instant gratification is in itself the battle that leads to sanctity. Where sin is abundant so is grace. 01:07:36 Ryan N: Father how do temptations of lusts differ from temptations of affliction 01:14:24 Anthony: That's the spirit of Enlightenment so-called. We are told by our government even, that doubt and blasphemy are freedom. 01:20:53 Jeffrey Ott: I was just there two weeks ago. It was hot then 😆 01:23:49 Catherine Opie: Thank you Fr. once again. God bless. 01:23:52 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you☺️ 01:23:57 Jeffrey Ott: Thank you Father!

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• The Evergetinos: Book Two - XXXII, Part VII

  When reading the fathers, it is as if we are swimming in the living waters of their faith and love for God.  In this sense we are in a privileged position: we are able to catch a glimpse of what might otherwise be completely incomprehensible to us. Yet the warmth of the light of their faith is undeniable; for contrition is often understood and experienced as the coldest of realities, expressing only the poverty of our sin and the distance from God that it creates. When reading the fathers, however, we begin to see that contrition is love and rooted, most importantly, in a relationship of love with merciful God.  God has come among us and take our flesh upon himself and so there is nothing foreign to Him about our experience or the poverty of our sin. He has entered into it all, embracing it, carrying it, and experiencing every subtle impact that it has upon our hearts. Contrition and the tears that often flow because of it is part of God‘s providential care for us. There are many reasons why we might have a punitive vision of God and how he engages us. If we focus only on our sin or if we simply over analyze on an intellectual level who God is and the nature of sin then we are destined for despondency. A faith that is solely moralistic and legalistic can crush the spirit, sometimes permanently. Once we experienced true contrition, we must allow it to reveal the meaning and the purpose of our tears; or better yet, we must simply allow ourselves to experience the impact of this reality on our hearts and how it can open us up to an unparalleled experience of the love and mercy of God. One period of tears shed for love can preserve virtues that have been hard won over the course of years. These tears are shaped not only by emotion or sorrow but by the grace of God. --- Text of chat during the group:  00:15:15 Bob Čihák, AZ: P. 253, # 12 00:32:45 Kate : If someone has had a very legalistic experience within the Church, does it take a leap of faith to make the shift to even believe in the love of God?  In other words, does one have to bow down in humility and accept the love of God as a matter of faith? 00:52:15 Myles Davidson: More than one Catholic exorcist have said that Nefarious is the best portrayal of demonic possession on film they’ve seen. Great film! 01:05:58 Myles Davidson: That’s just about my favourite desert father teaching thus far. Beautiful image! 01:06:17 Vanessa: Love it too. 01:06:26 Vanessa: Reacted to "That’s just about my..." with ❤️ 01:17:09 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You Blessing 01:17:37 Andrew Adams: Thanks be to God! Thank you, Father! 01:17:40 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you☺️ 01:18:00 Bob Čihák, AZ: Bless you!!

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