Tonight we began our discussion of Hypothesis VII on the many times that the souls of virtuous people are made cheerful at the time of death by some divine overshadowing. What we find in these paragraphs and the stories that they tell of the experience of those dying being consoled by God, by a vision of angels, or by saints is a portrait of how God has transformed for us the experience of death. For those who draw close to Him in faith and have embraced his grace, the moment is transformed from...
Jul 13, 2021•1 hr 27 min•Season 6Ep. 22
Tonight we concluded Letter 58 with another wonderful story from Abba John the Dwarf. We are reminded through it that no matter how far we distance ourselves from the passions, they will always seek us out. They will try to lure us back to a position where we will welcome them into our hearts. At that moment, it is most important to run to the inner chamber, the depths of the heart, and embrace the “Ruler“, that is Christ and allow him to restore peace and calm. When we do this, we are told, it ...
Jul 08, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 263
We read the Fathers in the way that we read the Scriptures; with a profound humility and knowledge that we lack perfect understanding. There are no experts in the desert Fathers any more than there are experts in the Faith or the Scriptures. When confronted with eternal realities, whether that reality be the eternal love of God or that of Hell one is compelled to sit in silence. When reading the Evergetinos this silence must be that of one who has a docile heart, a heart that is teachable. The h...
Jul 06, 2021•1 hr 20 min•Season 6Ep. 21
Our thoughts this evening and discussion revolved around a mere two paragraphs of Letter 58. Yet it is here that Saint Theophan draws Anastasia into the heart of the spiritual life; he teaches her about spiritual warfare and the prayer that is needed to engage in the battle. Through the attention of the mind moving into the heart through unceasing prayer one is not only united to God but protected from passionate thoughts, feelings, or desires as they arise. This is an unending battle while we a...
Jul 01, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 261
“What will become of me?“ Such a simple question but one that clarifies the importance of the moment for us as men and women of faith. Where do we live our lives? What do we seek, what do we love and desire? These simple questions turn out to be the most important for us because in the end they shape our identity and the path that we take. Moving on to Hypothesis VI, we began to consider the end of that path which is the glory of Heaven and of the Saints. We must foster a longing and develop an ...
Jun 29, 2021•1 hr 9 min•Season 6Ep. 20
Tonight we began Letter 58. St. Theophan begins to teach Anastasia about importance of prayer in the spiritual battle. He has already shown her the various stages of temptation that lead to the development of a passion. However, he acknowledges that such understanding serves little use when one is in the midst of warfare. What is most important is rejecting the thoughts, feelings, and desires that lead to a passion and to do so with extreme prejudice. This is the one instance where wrath is allo...
Jun 24, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 259
Such power in a few words. Perhaps this is what makes the writings of the Fathers so compelling. In a few brief sentences or in the short story they capture for us the very essence of the life of faith. We begin to see with a kind of radical simplicity, a simplicity perhaps with which we are uncomfortable, the clear focus that we are to have in our pursuit of God. We must allow nothing to prevent our movement towards Him. We have been promised a share in life eternal; where the joy of life will ...
Jun 22, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Season 6Ep. 19
Tonight St. Theophan continues to take Anastasia through the various stages where one gradually gives oneself over to the passion. There is no obligation to commit a sin; there is only a kind of inner self-delusion taking place. We might not commit a sin but nonetheless we are giving ourselves over to the inclination and by considering the thoughts that lead to the passion they become written upon our hearts. This being so, we inevitably become more vulnerable to future attacks. It is for this r...
Jun 17, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 257
We continue this evening with our study of Hypothesis V - on the remembrance of death and final judgment. While this might fill the minds and the hearts of many with trepidation, many of the fathers see the remembrance of death as the essential work in the spiritual life. The reason for this and the intention behind it is not to fill the heart with anxiety but rather to turn the heart toward God Who alone promises us forgiveness and the fullness of life and love in Him. The Scriptures tell us th...
Jun 15, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Season 6Ep. 18
Tonight we picked up with Letter 57 where St. Theophan is discussing with Anastasia the various stages of the development of the passions; the movement from feelings, the provocation of desire, aided by a multitude of thoughts, that then gives over to concrete resolution to commit to sin. There is a kind of premeditation that is fostered by giving ourselves over to these realities and stages that Theophan describes. If unchecked we begin to plot even in a half-conscious way how we are going to a...
Jun 10, 2021•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 255
We continued tonight our study of Hypothesis V where the Fathers speak to us of the importance of the remembrance of death and the remembrance of judgment. We began with the thoughts of Abba Isaiah the seeks to teach us about the three things that preserve virtue; sorrow for sin, tears for our sins, and the ceaseless recollection of death. These three hold before our minds the significance of the present moment. Every moment for us is freighted with destiny because every moment is an opportunity...
Jun 08, 2021•1 hr 12 min•Season 6Ep. 17
We began this evening with Letter 56. St. Theophan again takes up the subject of the passions. If we can capture in one word what he is trying to foster within Anastasia it is this: “fierceness”. The spiritual battle is something that takes place at every single moment and we have to learn to act swiftly in acknowledging who the enemy is and where he is seeking to lead us. We cannot ignore the fact there is a kind of duplicity that exists within us. We can hate sin and love it at the same time. ...
Jun 03, 2021•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 253
We continued this evening with our study of Hypothesis V and the writings of Saint Ephraim on the subject of the importance of remembering death and judgment. Like so many of the Fathers, Ephraim stresses the need to prepare ourselves for that final journey that inevitably comes to us all – the moment of death. He also speaks to us about how the enemy will try to make us delay or put aside our attention to this reality. When it comes to life in this world death, in a sense, is the ultimate maste...
Jun 01, 2021•1 hr 13 min•Season 6Ep. 16
We began with Letter 55 about Warfare with the Passions. Once again Theophan shows himself to be a magnificent teacher. He knows Anastasia well; her strengths, her background, her desire for God and - - her weaknesses, which are few, namely inexperience. She desires above all to embrace the full dignity of the Christian. And it is this goal that Theophan wants to help her achieve. He begins to reveal to her the nature of the warfare with the passions. Often they are very attractive and so we can...
Jun 01, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 251
We continued with our reading of Hypothesis Five where the Fathers discuss with us the importance of remembering death as well as judgment. Such thoughts are not to elicit fear within the heart but rather magnify the significance of the moment and help us live in the moment as opposed to the past or the future. Every moment is freighted with destiny because every moment is an opportunity to love or not to love. The remembrance of death teaches us not to put off repentance and not to doubt the me...
May 26, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Season 6Ep. 15
It was an extremely powerful group this evening; as one might expect in a discussion about the passions. In letter 54, Saint Theophan begins to instruct Anastasia about the nature of the passions and where they spring from in our lives. Theophan tells her that they are not part of who we are as human beings. They can be removed without destroying the soul. In fact, he instructs her that unless we drive them out they will leave a person in ruins. When they control a human being - in many respects...
May 20, 2021•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 249
Tonight we picked up with Hypothesis IV. Its focus is that those afflicted by the passions should be guided slowly in the works of repentance. To help us understand this we are given a wonderful story of a young man who is sent into the fields to clear them. However upon seeing them filled with thorns and weeds he very quickly becomes depressed at the thought of the work that was ahead of him. He lays down in the grass and goes to sleep. His father on approaching him ask him why he has been so n...
May 18, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Season 6Ep. 14
We began this evening with letter 52. St. Theophan continues to discuss with Anastasia the importance of warming the heart. Our passions have so dampened the wood that it can no longer be enkindled. We must go out in search of dry wood. We must protect that part of ourselves that have perhaps not been permeated by the passions. More importantly we must draw close to God that it might inflame our hearts and free our spirit. All of this is a preparation for letter 53. St. Theophan begins to discus...
May 13, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 247
This evening we concluded Hypothesis III on “how a person should repent”. The elders begin by emphasizing sorrow in the spiritual life. This is not a sorrow that leads a person into depression or despondency. It is not rooted in shame but rather in the acknowledgment of the impact of our sin on the relationship that we have with God and also how we have treated the grace and mercy that he has shown us. Sorrow, therefore, is to be carried along in the spiritual life as a bridle for the soul which...
May 11, 2021•1 hr 18 min•Season 6Ep. 13
Tonight we picked up with Letter 51, entitled “Turning the burdens of life to spiritual profit”. Saint Theophan gives Anastasia some of the best and most practical advice and counsel here. He begins to teach her a method of reinterpreting everything that comes before her eyes in a spiritual sense. She had been struggling, as we often do, with distractions in her day-to-day work and so finding it very difficult to maintain the constant remembrance of God. Therefore, gradually, Theophan teaches he...
May 06, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 245
There are times that it becomes perfectly clear that one is being fed on solid food. Tonight was such a moment. We picked up with Hypothesis Three on “how we should repent”. We heard from St. Isaac the Syrian with whom we are familiar. St. Isaac begins by teaching us that for every illness, whether of the soul or body the appropriate medicine must be applied. Only then will one be cured. We must apply the appropriate remedy to the passion that afflicts us the most. St. Isaac gives us two example...
May 04, 2021•1 hr 16 min•Season 6Ep. 12
The simplicity and the clarity of St. Theophan‘s thought often keeps us perhaps from seeing the holy genius and the beauty that is expressed in these letters. This was particularly evident tonight as we concluded letter 49 and began letter 50. St. Theophan begins by talking to Anastasia about a particular infirmity that we all struggle with as human beings - worry. Anxiety is a disease that is rooted in our separation from God. We experience within our very depths a kind of disintegration; somet...
Apr 29, 2021•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 243
This evening we concluded the Hypothesis II of the Evergetinos. The focus is on the remembrance of death. Our mortality is a very powerful lens through which to view our life, our actions and most importantly our relationship with God. God and His love alone endures and it is to this love alone that we must cling. If we sin and turn away from that love then repentance must be our constant companion. In fact, we are told that even our virtue can lead us into sin without repentance. We can begin t...
Apr 27, 2021•1 hr 9 min•Season 6Ep. 11
Tonight we began letter 49 on facing the burdens and responsibilities of life. These realities, St. Theophan tells Anastasia, are not to be seen as obstacles to a holy life or doing God’s will. In fact, it is by God’s providence that we are presented with the work and station in life that we have embraced. It is the disposition of the mind and heart that is most important. The meanest and smallest of tasks of life or the most demanding of duties must be done as if received from God’s hand and wi...
Apr 22, 2021•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 241
Tonight we concluded Hypothesis I with a story of a bishop who fell into grave sin and scandal. Broken in spirit, he embraces a life of repentance in a monastery, while also seeking to hide his the dignity of his office. However, God reveals to the Abbot of the monastery that the bishop is coming to him. The abbot recognizes him and tells him that he will follow him wherever he goes to reveal that he is a bishop. The abbot does this not with a morbid delight but rather that the bishop might be f...
Apr 20, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Season 6Ep. 10
Tonight we picked up with Letter 48. St. Theophan begins to instruct Anastasia about how to attain Undistracted Prayer. One of the most difficult labors in the spiritual life is to settle one’s thoughts. As we seek to take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ we are confronted with the multiplicity of our thoughts and their unruliness. Theophan tells Anastasia that she must have firm resolve and hold on to her anxiety about this and intensify her efforts in correcting the fault o...
Apr 15, 2021•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 238
We picked up this evening with Hypothesis I which we have been considering over the past month or so. Again the theme is repentance and the avoidance of despair. We have been presented with stories from the Gerontikon which is a collection of the saying of the elders. The focus of the first story we considered tonight was a monk who fell in love with an Egyptian woman. Her father went to a pagan priest and was instructed by a demon through that priest to tell the monk that if he denied God, deni...
Apr 13, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Season 6Ep. 9
Tonight we came to the conclusion of Letter 47 on developing a prayer rule. St. Theophan begins by warning Anastasia that she must be even more diligent and concentrated in the evening. It is then that we often become sluggish and inattentive as we become more and more fatigued or after we have had the evening meal. It is at times like this that we can be subject to particular temptations. Therefore, Theophan tells Anastasia that she should increase her prostrations and petitions to God and that...
Apr 08, 2021•59 min•Ep. 236
We continued with our reading of Hypothesis I on “repentance in the avoidance of despair.” After giving us a foundation of many stories of God‘s infinite and boundless mercy, the focus of attention this evening is on the human response to this mercy. Repentance is not a static reality. Rather, it is a source of protection, a cloak that one wears. We are not meant to simply remain in the sadness of having committed sins, but rather we are to rise and engage in the spiritual warfare that God’s mer...
Apr 06, 2021•1 hr 17 min•Season 6Ep. 8
Tonight we picked up with Letter 46 to Anastasia including general rules about staying on the spiritual path. St. Theophan’s guidance is very sensible. He begins by encouraging her to pray, read and meditate in order to engage her mind, body and memory in every aspect of her prayer. He does not want it simply to be a discipline for her but rather a relationship. She must labor with all of her strength trusting in God and that He will provide things in His own time and in accord with His Providen...
Apr 01, 2021•1 hr•Ep. 234
