This evening we continued to discuss the path of a virtuous life. Saint Theophan begins to instruct the young Anastasia and us about how we are to prepare ourselves to receive the Holy Eucharist: the period of time set aside for fasting, the confession of our sins, and the reception of holy communion. It becomes very clear that Saint Theophan is speaking about something that shapes the whole of our life. We are not to fast haphazardly, allowing our thoughts to stray or to linger in daydreams. Ou...
Nov 12, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 203
Exceptional! This one word alone describes the essence of the section of homily 74 that we read this evening. Isaac begins to show us the subtle ways that our thoughts lead us astray. We often cannot recognize sin as it manifests itself and its many forms. Nor can we recognize the action of God and how He seeks to help us escape it and to escape our own pride. We are stiffnecked and we would rather look anywhere else than into our own hearts to understand the reason why we suffer so. Isaac shows...
Nov 10, 2020•1 hr 7 min•Season 4Ep. 148
Tonight we picked up halfway through letter 31. Saint Theophan begins to lay out more clearly how Anastasia is to give herself over to her yearning for God and to foster it. Above all she must to embrace life prayer. She is to focus on allowing her heart to grow warm in her love and devotion for God. If she is unable to do this by using the prayer books, in an unrestrained way, she is to use her own words and keep them simple. She is to express her basic need for God, thanksgiving for his gifts,...
Nov 05, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 201
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Nov 04, 2020•2 min•Ep. 200
Once again we are presented with a beauty untold; that is, until recently when it has become accessible to us in the writings of St. Isaac. We started this evening with Homily 73. Isaac, in a very brief and focused manner, speaks to us about the reason for embracing the exile of the desert. In doing so, one avoids close proximity to those things that could be a source of temptation and sin. Even being around worldly things can arouse the turbulence of warfare against a soul and allow her to volu...
Nov 03, 2020•1 hr 4 min•Season 4Ep. 147
Tonight we began reading letter 31. Theophan begins to speak to Anastasia about ways of increasing and encouraging her sense of desire for God and her urgency about the practice of the spiritual life. He could already see that there were those around her who were calling into question her practices. So he begins to speak with her about means of keeping herself focused upon God. She must take hold of the fact that we are not long for this world and we will have to give an account for our life. Al...
Oct 29, 2020•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 198
Tonight we concluded the final paragraphs of homily 72. It is as if Isaac is a bell, constantly ringing out to guide us through the darkness of this world and more importantly to draw us away from the wiles of the evil one. We are often oblivious to the subtle ways that the devil will hunt us down; in things concealed, or contingencies lying hidden in certain affairs, or in places. In the face of this Isaac, the voice in the desert, cries out that there should be no limit to our willingness to t...
Oct 27, 2020•59 min•Season 4Ep. 146
We continued our reading of letter 30. Once again St. Theophan seems to impress upon Anastasia the need for decisiveness in regard to her choice to live her life for God. Prayer and the pursuit of holiness must become for her an inviolable law. Despite the fact that she has been raised in a pious and faithful family, there are simply far too many things in this world that hold out the promise of comfort and false hope; let alone the temptation that comes to us daily to make ourselves the center ...
Oct 22, 2020•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 196
We continued our reading of homily 72. Isaac presents us with a vision of life and the action of grace that is fierce and beautiful at the same time. The grace of God is constantly present to us and she teaches us and allows us to gain experience through the temptations and trials that we face. She protects us and strengthens us in perfect measure while also letting us know and learn from our own weaknesses. Temptations and trials lead us to cling to God and seek his strength. Weakness comes upo...
Oct 20, 2020•1 hr 22 min•Season 4Ep. 145
Tonight we concluded letter 29 and began letter 30. St. Theophan continues to emphasize for Anastasia how one must prepare oneself to act in the embrace of God‘s grace. One must count the costs, as it were, and be decisive; making an irrevocable choice to pursue the divine flame that offers nothing less than transformation or, more specifically, deification. It is only after this long period of preparation and the casting off of the passions that one is prepared to step forward. But once one has...
Oct 15, 2020•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 194
After a long hiatus we returned to our reading of the Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian. We picked up on page 501, about halfway through Homily 72. Isaac has been speaking about the nature of faith and humility, and how, when they are perfected by the grace of God, they bring us to a place where we are prepared for the experience of contemplation. Let it be noted that it is preparation; it is only by the grace of God that one is elevated to contemplate God as He is in Himself. As we m...
Oct 13, 2020•1 hr•Season 4Ep. 144
In our discussion of letter 28 and 29 with St. Theophan, we learn that the embrace of the life of Grace is not something that is done by impulse or passively but involves an unyielding decision to give oneself over to the pursuit of it, enkindling the desire for it, laboring to maintain it and helping it bear fruit. We must see Grace as the most treasured thing and most valuable thing we could possibly possess. This involves acknowledging its presence within us, comprehending the value of grace,...
Oct 08, 2020•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 192
Tonight we began by reading the remainder of letter 27. St. Theophan continues to describe the effects of God’s grace upon a person both spiritually and materially. One is transfigured by the grace of God much as Christ was transfigured on Mount Tabor. Theophan gives examples of saints whose visage was transformed when speaking about God or when praying. At the end of the letter and in letter 28 Theophan moves to consider the effects of our negligence. Our failure to embrace the gift of God cann...
Oct 05, 2020•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 191
Tonight we began reading letter 27. It has already proven to be thrilling in the sense that we begin to see the promise and the action of God’s grace in our life. St. Theophan makes it clear that we must make a conscious and deliberate choice to embrace this grace of God fully in our lives. There is no static position. We embrace grace in its fullness or we fall into lukewarmness and lose this great gift. What grace promises is truly beautiful - perfect harmony and a share in the invincible peac...
Sep 24, 2020•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 190
Tonight we concluded letter 26. St. Theophan continues to drive home for Anastasia the importance of actively embracing the grace of God. The more independent she becomes from the pious setting in which she was raised, Anastasia must be ever more cognizant of the need to embrace the grace of God fully. Our tendency is to live with one foot in the world and one foot in the spiritual life; that is, to be neither pagan and Christian. Our desire for God and for the grace that He gives us can grow co...
Sep 17, 2020•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 189
Tonight we finished letter 25 and began letter 26. Both begin to describe for us the gift of Baptism and the action of God’s grace in our life. At our baptism the action of that Grace remains hidden. But nonetheless God in His providence acts within us to form and shape the mind and heart according to His will. We are strengthened by the support and prayers of our parents and godparents who continue to form and educate us as we grow. However, St. Theophan warns Anastasia not to become conceited....
Sep 10, 2020•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 188
I think most would agree that tonight‘s reading was both beautiful and jarring. St. Theophan makes it very clear to the young Anastasia that to put on the new life that Christ won for us means to engage in a spiritual battle. Our zeal for the Lord and our desire to overcome vanity and the passions will mean that we must be ruthless in cutting those things out of our life that lessen our zeal for God or potentially lead us into sin. From this Anastasia is meant to understand that there is nothing...
Sep 10, 2020•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 187
What a beautiful group it was tonight. We finished letter 23 and began letter 24. St. Theophan continues to discuss with Anastasia the nature of spiritual zeal and its impact upon our souls. It is the fire that purifies us and it also gives us perseverance and diligence in the pursuit of the things of God. This zeal leads to a renewal of the mind and a renewal of the spirit by grace. It leads us to renounce our sins and the affairs of the world; encouraging us to seek to make our lives a living ...
Aug 27, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 186
Tonight we started letter 23. Saint Theophan had just spoken to Anastasia about what it is to rise from the fallen state of sin and what has been revealed to us in Christ. It is for this that we must have a strong zeal and embrace it with true joy. In this letter St. Theophan maps out for Anastasia the different kinds of zeal. Spiritual zeal is focused on pleasing God and the pursuit of salvation. Intellectual zeal is the pursuit of any number of temporal goods and works. These are not evil but ...
Aug 20, 2020•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 185
Tonight we concluded letter 22 of Saint Theophan to the young Anastasia. Theophan focuses, in this final section of the letter, on zeal for the Lord. God has acted for our salvation and offers us the fullness of His life and love - His grace. He has given us His Spirit to create within us the right disposition to receive His grace. That disposition is repentance. We see something of the hopelessness of our sin and in that moment we also become able to see and grasp the depth of God‘s love and me...
Aug 13, 2020•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 184
Tonight we began reading letter 22 of St. Theophan to Anastasia. He begins to speak to her about the redemptive uplifting a fallen man. Yet once again the Saint works very hard to help her understand the fundamental truths behind the life that she has been called to live. Without understanding these things all else will be wanting. In particular he wants her to understand that it is the Holy Trinity that is active in the restoration of man. God has revealed Himself fully to us; He has drawn back...
Aug 10, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 183
Tonight we read the 21st letter of the Saint to the young Anastasia. In many ways this is the most touching and beautiful of letters and yet also the most simple in its content. St. Theophan lays out for Anastasia the path that God has opened for us to reunion. He want her to understand that everything has already been set before us. We do not, and must not, seek to fashion a path for ourselves or devise a plan of our own hands. It is His yoke and burden that we must take upon ourselves because ...
Jul 23, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 182
Tonight we concluded letter 20, where the Saint leads the young Anastasia to a deeper understanding of the nature of the Fall and the illness that arises from it. Again St. Theophan reflects with her on the experience of Adam and Eve. They turn away from God in a way that is blasphemous and hostile. They deny His benevolence and seek for themselves self-rule; embracing the illusion that they can become gods. St Theophan tells Anastasia that God will not violate their self-rule but rather allow t...
Jul 16, 2020•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 181
Tonight we read the 19th letter of the Saint to the young Anastasia and the beginning of the 20th. Theophan finally comes to the point of describing for her the seed of inner confusion that we experience as human beings, our ancestral sin. We struggle with a disordered state, a disease, that has become deeply rooted within us and given rise to the worst of destructive forces - the passions. It is not natural! In other words, God has not created us in this fashion. Our forebearers took a path tha...
Jul 09, 2020•1 hr•Ep. 180
Tonight we concluded letter 18 to the young Anastasia. The Saint works very hard to help her understand what the “one thing needful” for us is as Christian men and women. We must subordinate all things to the spiritual and in doing so this brings about a kind of harmony within the person; a harmony of thoughts, feelings, desires, undertakings, relationships, and pleasures. Simply put the St. Theophan tells us, this is “Paradise”. It is to live in the peace and the love of the kingdom. It is this...
Jul 02, 2020•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 179
Tonight we completed letter 17 and began letter 18 of the Saint to the young Anastasia. Once again St. Theophan works very hard to keep the young woman focused, so that she does not lose sight of the simple yet comprehensive view of the Christian life and fidelity to the gospel. God is served and loved in what is right before us and in those that He has put along our path. There is no station in life, no set of circumstances where God is absent. We must not think in an abstract way about our fai...
Jun 25, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 178
More than anything, letters 16 and 17 reveal to us the heart of St. Theophan. He wants the young Anastasia to be free and her heart to be filled with the peace, the complete peace of the kingdom. Before he teaches her anything about the life of prayer or establishes any rule for her to follow, he wants her to grasp the fact that God is part of her life at every single moment and everything that she does, no matter how small, so long as it is done in love, is pleasing in the eyes of God. How diff...
Jun 18, 2020•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 177
Tonight we started reading letter 16 to the young Anastasia. The Saint works very hard to bring this young woman to clarity about the true goal of life. One might even say that he is stern or sarcastic with her and in his humor. But he wants her to know the precious gift and the freedom of living for God completely and understanding that we do not have to torture ourselves by asking what we should do in this life. It is perfectly clear, our goal is God and living in accord with His will and comi...
Jun 11, 2020•58 min•Ep. 176
Tonight we read St Theophan’s 15th letter to the young Anastasia. He encourages her to plant the things that he has taught her deep within her heart. She will not only find comfort in these things but encouragement and support for what lies ahead. St. Theophan begins to introduce Anastasia to the life of prayer. But he does not begin with the discipline itself or specific practices. Rather, he speaks to her of the radical and instantaneous connection that one has with the Angels and the Saints. ...
Jun 04, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 175
Tonight we concluded letter 14. What a beautiful experience and privileged experience to share in the intimate correspondence between a saint and a young woman who desires to be a saint. St. Theophan opens up for her the reality of life in God, what it means to be transformed from glory to glory. Tonight he began to speak with her about the primacy of conscience, the incorruptible judge that God has given to us, the divine voice in the human spirit. There is nothing more beautiful than a soul wi...
Jun 01, 2020•59 min•Ep. 174
