Thank you once again to all who attended The Evergetinos group tonight. The wisdom of the Fathers is breathtaking to say the least! Tonight we began Hypothesis 13. The focus is on renouncing the world to go to a remote place, what constitutes a remote place, and the specific benefits that we are seeking. We are all too familiar in this world with isolation. We may be surrounded by many people and our lives filled with so many different things and activities and yet we can feel completely alone a...
Nov 02, 2021•1 hr 12 min•Season 6Ep. 37
Tonight we concluded Letter 67. As we have seen in previous letters and as Theophan progresses in his teaching of Anastasia, he draws her ever deeper into the wisdom of the fathers. He picks up this evening speaking with her again about the importance of confessing all of one’s sins; not judging those that seem small or great but rather confessing everything that is contrary to the will and the love of God. No sin is ever to be deliberately omitted. If omitted - in essence it is unresolved. If i...
Oct 28, 2021•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 293
Tonight we concluded Hypothesis 12, again considering the importance of parents raising their children not only to love virtue but also to be willing to sacrifice all for it and for Christ. We considered three stories where mothers had to set aside their natural sensibilities and desire to protect their children from harm. In each case, the mothers act out of their faith to encourage their sons to remain steadfast. We see in and through the stories that they are not only bound by blood but, in a...
Oct 26, 2021•1 hr 17 min•Season 6Ep. 36
I love St. Theophan. The reason I say this is because one can see so clearly how deep his love is for the young Anastasia. He is a true spiritual father. At this point in their correspondence, Anastasia has come to a deeper understanding of the spiritual life and Theophan has shared with her the great riches of the spiritual tradition. Yet, his love for her makes him at times speak the truth to her with a kind of sternness. Not anger, but rather with a clarity about the weightiness of the matter...
Oct 21, 2021•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 291
Thank you everyone who participated tonight and for all of your great comments! God bless Synopsis: Continuing along with Hypothesis 12, we are given another extraordinary story of the relationship between a mother and her son. Saint Alypios makes the decision to live a life solely dedicated to God and to silence. His plan is to go to live among the monks of the East and to leave home and family in the pursuit of the will of God. His mother, setting aside all natural sensibilities even though sh...
Oct 19, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Season 6Ep. 35
Thank you again to all who participated in the group tonight. It was a great blessing as always and joyful. Tonight we concluded Letter 66 of Saint Theophan to the young Anastasia. Anastasia had decided to make a pilgrimage to the monastery of Saint Sergius. Theophan offers her counsel as to how not to turn this into an act of curiosity or to reduce it to a mere stroll. Pilgrimages involve the full self; specific sacrifices and hardships - all of which form and shape the heart. It is a reflectio...
Oct 14, 2021•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 289
Thank you to all who participated in the group tonight! To say that this was the most beautiful reading that we have considered in the Evergetinos would be an understatement. We continued our reflection on Hypothesis 12 on the importance of parents instilling in their children the love of virtue and the willingness to risk all for it. Tonight we read one single story: from the life of Saint Clement of Ancyra, martyr. The story centers on Clement’s mother who is a widow and so became for her son ...
Oct 12, 2021•1 hr•Season 6Ep. 34
Tonight we concluded Letter 65 wherein St. Theophan quotes St. Poemen on the nature of the God-pleasing life. Theophan emphasize here the importance of being unyielding in dealing with our thoughts. We must give them no room for growth and not nourish thoughts that are contrary to God‘s will and to the life of virtue. Closely tied to this struggle with the thoughts is the cultivation of virtue. He tells us that one must at the same time do good and cultivate every sort of virtue within oneself i...
Oct 07, 2021•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 287
Thank you everyone who participated in the Evergetinos study group: Such beautiful readings tonight! I know this is an oft repeated observation that I make, but there was something in the readings this evening that struck deep to the heart. The conclusion of Hypothesis 11 spoke to us about the deep union enjoyed by individuals who shared a common love of the kingdom and pursuit of love and faith in this world. The deeper our purity of heart, we were told, the more clearly will we see the brightn...
Oct 05, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Season 6Ep. 33
Tonight we continued with Letter 65 on Saint Poemen‘s thoughts on the God-pleasing life. Once again St. Theophan is drawing Anastasia into a deeper understanding of what takes place within the mind and the heart. We constantly have to strive to maintain sobriety; that is, a steady attentiveness and attitude of mind where we simplify the thoughts and keep them focused upon Christ. We do not allow or want to allow ourselves to be formed simply by the world around us and in an indiscriminate fashio...
Sep 30, 2021•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 285
Tonight we continued with Hypothesis 10 and began Hypothesis 11. Both speak with us about the deepest realities of human existence. The weight and the significance of our choices, the things we love, the realities that we give our hearts to, are all placed before us for our consideration. Quite naturally this creates tension and uneasiness within the mind. The reflections are sobering to say the least. They speak to us about a malicious evil who furiously seeks to undermine our faith in the merc...
Sep 28, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Season 6Ep. 32
This evening we began Letter 64 where St. Theophan discusses with Anastasia solitude as well as how to avoid boredom and idleness. Theophan is very direct and one might even say stern about this subject. The feeling of loneliness or boredom should be out of place for us if we understand our true identity. We are in reality never alone. The Lord is always close by as well as our Guardian Angel. Therefore, each time we find ourselves alone we must renew as quickly as possible the conviction that t...
Sep 23, 2021•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 283
Tonight we concluded a brief section from Hypothesis Nine and began reading Hypothesis Ten. The subject matter of these readings is rather fierce; presenting us over and over again with the experience of death. What is the experience of the soul at the moment of death bearing within it its vices and virtues alone.? We are presented with images and visions of the Saints who describe a malignant evil set upon the demise of those seeking to follow the narrow path that leads to the kingdom. Even at ...
Sep 21, 2021•1 hr 9 min•Season 6Ep. 31
Tonight we concluded Letters 63. St. Theophan began to speak with Anastasia about something that was near and dear to her heart - singing and playing the piano. Theophan does not demonize music; but he does understand the impact that it has upon the soul, either to elevate it or to drag it down. Its beauty can make us transcend ourselves, while its coarseness can make us insensitive to that which is beautiful. Therefore, Theophan counsels Anastasia to acknowledge the fact that her abilities are ...
Sep 16, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 281
We continued this evening with our reading of Hypothesis IX. As always the stories that we are given from the Fathers are both comforting and fiercely challenging. We heard first about how saintly souls are able to see divine things. Because of their purity of heart and by the grace of God they are able to have a vision of things beyond the limits of the human mind and our capacity for perceiving the hidden realities around us. We also heard about the reality of Hell itself through the experienc...
Sep 14, 2021•1 hr 16 min•Season 6Ep. 30
We began Letter 63 this evening entitled “Singing and Music.”However, St. Theophan begins first by discussing with Anastasia how she engages in the tasks of the day and fulfilling her duties. His counsel to her speaks directly to us as well in our own day. The work that we engage in is to be free from trouble and cares. Otherwise the heart becomes agitated. We must strive to work calmly; for if we do not everyday life becomes a hindrance to the spiritual life and our activity and occupations are...
Sep 10, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 279
Tonight we began Hypothesis IX on “where the souls of the dying go and how they exist after the separation from the body.” We are presented both with the experience of the Saints as they witness the death of others their ascent to heaven and also the experience of those who witness, through the action of God and his Angels, both Hell and the joys of Heaven. Our contemplation of these stories is meant to foster kind of urgency within us. We are not to lose ourselves in empty speculation but rathe...
Sep 07, 2021•1 hr 17 min•Season 6Ep. 29
Tonight we concluded Letter 62 on Active Warfare with the passions. Increasingly, Theophan offers more and more practical counsel to Anastasia. Active warfare against the passions includes specific ascetical practices such as fasting, the ordering of sleep and other appetites, avoiding certain forms of entertainment; basically anything that is formative and helps one to be more attentive to God and is conducive to cleansing the passions from the heart. This requires arranging our life and the co...
Sep 02, 2021•59 min•Ep. 277
Continuing with Hypothesis VIII and considering the experience of those who die and come back to life, we are brought to a place of self-reflection that we often resist. The only thing that we take out of this world is either our virtue or our vice. Saint Ephraim tells us tonight that it is the it voice of these sins that will bear witness to the truth about our lives before God. Again we must strive to think about this in the full context of our faith and what God has revealed to us. God, we ar...
Aug 31, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Season 6Ep. 28
St. Theophan continues to nourish the young Anastasia with solid food. He guides her deeper and deeper into the spiritual life and warfare. We began this evening with Letter 61 where Theophan teaches Anastasia about guarding the senses of hearing and sight. Often the present generation neglects the constant state of receptivity that we find ourselves in as human beings; the intense amount stimuli that the mind and the heart have to engage. We must learn to discriminate between those things that ...
Aug 26, 2021•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 275
There are times when reading the Fathers or the gospel when one walks away feeling as if the earth is shifting beneath one’s feet; or one begins to question their perception of who they are, their identity as a Christian, and whether or not they are living it fully or if it is an illusion. As difficult as it is to consider such things, and as hard as they strike at the heart, they are often the most important things for us to reflect upon. To consider the truth about death and judgment as in Hyp...
Aug 25, 2021•1 hr 9 min•Season 6Ep. 27
Tonight we began Letter 61. St. Theophan begins to teach Anastasia about the necessity of guarding the senses, in particular hearing and sight. This is especially challenging in modern times when there are so many sources of stimuli. Nonetheless, Theophan tells her they all hold their influence on the person and guide them either toward the good or toward the evil. Therefore, one must not give free reign to the senses. Do not allow yourself to see everything and hear everything but rather be ext...
Aug 20, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 273
In Hypothesis VIII, we found ourselves considering something that is rather jarring to our sensibilities. We began listening to Saint Gregory the Great on the experience of those who die and come to life again and how this can happen by Divine Providence. We are presented with stories of those who are brought to deep repentance when they began to see that fearful state of Hell. We are also shown that such experiences may take place by God‘s providence perhaps not for the conversion of the one wh...
Aug 18, 2021•1 hr 17 min•Season 6Ep. 26
Sometimes a great question can lead a group in exactly the right direction! That was true this evening in our discussion of Letter 60 of Saint Theophan‘s correspondence with Anastasia. So often the spiritual life can seem amorphous. Yet, how is it lived practically? How is it that we direct anger at the passions and what does that look like? Sometimes the spiritual life and the warfare that Theophan describes can seem frightening - let alone confusing. Understanding this leads us right where we ...
Aug 05, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 271
This evening we concluded Hypothesis VII of the first volume of The Evergetinos. Once again we considered the experience of death of two saintly figures, St. Daniel the Stylite and Abba Sisoes. We begin to see in these two men how their constant repentance and the embrace of God’s grace brought forth, in anticipation, the life of the kingdom. The presence of the saints and angels, the light of Christ and the transformation of their countenance, all speak of the glory that lies on the other side ...
Aug 04, 2021•1 hr 9 min•Season 6Ep. 25
When reading the Fathers, one has to be prepared to be challenged; and at in times in ways that are discomfiting. Letter 60 of Theophan’s correspondence with Anastasia presents us with such a challenge. The title of the Letter is “Cleansing the Heart.” Theophan focuses on the eruption of passions that come with great force; feelings, desires, thoughts come upon us like a wave or erupt like a volcano. Our response to such circumstances is to be consistent with all that he has taught her. We are t...
Jul 30, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 269
Tonight we picked up with Hypothesis VII, continuing our reflection upon the experience of death by those righteous souls who sought to draw close to God in their life. God in His great mercy will often come to them to console and prepare them for their own passover; their passing over from death to eternal life. The unknown of this reality can be a fearful thing, and so in the stories we often hear of the dying soul being surrounded by his fellow monks praying for his soul. This moment, often f...
Jul 27, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Season 6Ep. 24
“Know that in this is the entire essence of the labor over the attainment of salvation.“ These are bold words from Saint Theophan at the end of Letter 59. However, they do not arise simply from his own experience but from the entire spiritual tradition. Part of the problem in modern times is that we have lost the clarity that is necessary for those in the spiritual battle and the weapons that we have been provided in abundance. Purity of heart, the struggle with a Passions, unceasing prayer, the...
Jul 23, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 267
Tonight we continued our reading of Hypothesis VII on the experience of death for those who have sought to live a virtuous life; how God often offers consolation or aids them by accompanying them through the experience of death. We are presented with one beautiful story after another. But, what becomes evident is that these are not simply to be read as pious stories, but rather something that speaks to how we view life as a whole including our preparation for death. We are reminded how important...
Jul 20, 2021•1 hr 17 min•Season 6Ep. 23
Tonight, in Letter 59, St. Theophan continued to guide Anastasia through the writings of Saint Hesychius of Jerusalem. Again we see how deeply connected Theophan is to the spiritual tradition as a whole. The spiritual battle is very simple, albeit not easy. We must show great attentiveness to what is going on internally and with our thoughts. When we see the enemy advance a thought, we must strike it down with anger in the heart and do so swiftly. Most of all we must pray against it, calling upo...
Jul 15, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 265
