Podcasts about Evagrius

Not every day is going to be great. We're not promised a life without struggles. In fact, before Jesus left this earth, He told us we were going to have troubles – John 16:33. What do we do about that? How do we continue on when things of this earth make us sad or heartbroken or frozen in fear? There is an answer. In fact, there are 4 steps that can get you back to peace and moving forward.Today, I want to take you behind the scenes of my own struggles these past few days and show you how I used the very tools I teach you to shift my thinking, regulate my emotions, and anchor myself in God's truth. Resources Mentioned:·       Another Beautiful Life: A Christian's Journey to Finding Peace and Healing in Brokenness by Tricia Zody https://a.co/d/hoPKsBO on Amazon·       Episode 171 – Tools For Emotional Overwhelm·       Episode 179 - Motivation·       Talking Back by Evagrius of Pontus on Amazon·       For more tools, questions for reflection, and resources to help you on your journey, download the Listener's Guide for this episode: https://www.triciazody.com/guideScriptures Mentioned:·       John 16:33, John 14:27, James 1:2, 2 Corinthians 10:5, Isaiah 55:11, Romans 8:28, Psalm 37:23, Ephesians 2:10 Are you wondering how Life Coaching works? Would you like a free, 30-minute session? Click this link to set up a Consult Call: https://calendly.com/triciazodylifecoach/30minConnect:Website: www.triciazody.comFollow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tricia.zody/  and Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/triciazody/Register for the FREE Emotions Workshop - Feb. 24, 2025 @ 2p CT - HERE!

In the 4th Century an Egyptian Monk named Evagrius of Pontus gained a reputation as an object of fear among the demons. His friend and fellow monk wrote to Evagrius requesting a treatise concerning "the fight against beings of darkness" so that "we, your friends, might easily cast off from ourselves those evil suggestions of theirs." Evagrius' reply is a taxonomy of spiritual warfare laid out in the simplest of terms. Evagrius demonstrates a thought that a demon would encourage us to believe, and then pairs it with the appropriate response of scripture. Following the pattern of Jesus' combat with Satan in the desert Evagrius takes up the word of God to cut off the thoughts of sin and temptation. In this episode of the Podcast, Aaron and James talk through the effect of the book and the encouragement to take up the word as our chief weapon against sin.Talking Back: A Monastic Handbook for Combating Demons, by Evagrius of Pontus. Amazon Link

In the 4th Century an Egyptian Monk named Evagrius of Pontus gained a reputation as an object of fear among the demons. His friend and fellow monk wrote to Evagrius requesting a treatise concerning "the fight against beings of darkness" so that "we, your friends, might easily cast off from ourselves those evil suggestions of theirs." Evagrius' reply is a taxonomy of spiritual warfare laid out in the simplest of terms. Evagrius demonstrates a thought that a demon would encourage us to believe, and then pairs it with the appropriate response of scripture. Following the pattern of Jesus' combat with Satan in the desert Evagrius takes up the word of God to cut off the thoughts of sin and temptation. In this episode of the Podcast, Aaron and James talk through the effect of the book and the encouragement to take up the word as our chief weapon against sin. Talking Back: A Monastic Handbook for Combating Demons, by Evagrius of Pontus. Amazon LinkSponsors:Men's Night: ProtectFriday February 1st7-9pmRegister HereWhat is Membership?Sunday February 2311-12pmInterested in becoming a member at RCD, stick around after the service.https://subspla.sh/sf9t572

In this episode, we talk about the so-called "Book of the Holy Hierotheos", a Syriac work that contains some of the most radical and shocking mystical teachings from the corpus of early Christian writings.Find me and my music here:https://linktr.ee/filipholmSupport Let's Talk Religion on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/letstalkreligion Or through a one-time donation: https://paypal.me/talkreligiondonateSources/Recomended Reading:Chatonnet, Francoise Briquel & Muriel Debié (2023). "The Syriac World: In Search of a Forgotten Christianity". Darling Young, Robin; Joel Kalvesmaki; Columba Stewart; Charles M. Stang & Fr. Luke Dysinger (Translated by) (2024). "Evagrius of Pontus: The Gnostic Trilogy". OUP USA.King, Daniel (2018). "The Syriac World". Routledge.Luibheid, Colm (Translated by) (1987). "Pseudo-Dionysius: The Complete Works". Classics of Western Spirituality. Paulist Press International.Marsh, F.S. (Translated by) (1927). "The Book Which is Called The Book of the Holy Hierotheos". Williams & Norgate.Also check out more info about Evagrius on Luke Dysinger's website: http://www.ldysinger.com/Evagrius/#hierotheos #mysticism #christianity Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Counter both vice and spiritual desolation, is an awareness to exercise the will and choose a heart of gratitude. Evagrius of Pontus (Talk Back) 346-399 Continue reading The post Authentic Gratitude VIII appeared first on Fides et Ratio.

The Decree of the Holy, Great, Ecumenical Synod, the Second of Nice (787 AD). 549   (Found in Labbe and Cossart, Concilia. Tom. VII., col. 552.)   THE holy, great, and Ecumenical Synod which by the grace of God and the will of the pious and Christ-loving Emperors, Constantine and Irene, his mother, was gathered together for the second time at Nice, the illustrious metropolis of Bithynia, in the holy church of God which is named Sophia, having followed the tradition of the Catholic Church, hath defined as follows: Christ our Lord, who hath bestowed upon us the light of the knowledge of himself, and hath redeemed us from the darkness of idolatrous madness, having espoused to himself the Holy Catholic Church without spot or defect, promised that he would so preserve her: and gave his word to this effect to his holy disciples when he said: “Lo! I am with you always, even unto the end of the world,” which promise he made, not only to them, but to us also who should believe in his name through their word. But some, not considering of this gift, and having become fickle through the temptation of the wily enemy, have fallen from the right faith; for, withdrawing from the traditions of the Catholic Church, they have erred from the truth and as the proverb saith: “The husbandmen have gone astray in their own husbandry and have gathered in their hands nothingness,” because certain priests, priests in name only, not in fact, had dared to speak against the God-approved ornament of the sacred monuments, of whom God cries aloud through the prophet, “Many pastors have corrupted my vineyard, they have polluted my portion.” And, forsooth, following profane men, led astray by their carnal sense, they have calumniated the Church of Christ our God, which he hath espoused to himself, and have failed to distinguish between holy and profane, styling the images of our Lord and of his Saints by the same name as the statues of diabolical idols. Seeing which things, our Lord God (not willing to behold his people corrupted by such manner of plague) hath of his good pleasure called us together, the chief of his priests, from every quarter, moved with a divine zeal and brought hither by the will of our princes, Constantine and Irene, to the end that the traditions of the Catholic Church may receive stability by our common decree. Therefore, with all diligence, making a thorough examination and analysis, and following the trend of the truth, we diminish nought, we add nought, but we preserve unchanged all things which pertain to the Catholic Church, and following the Six Ecumenical Synods, especially that which met in this illustrious metropolis of Nice, as also that which was afterwards gathered together in the God-protected Royal City. We believe…life of the world to come. Amen.535 We detest and anathematize Arius and all the sharers of his absurd opinion; also Macedonius and those who following him are well styled “Foes of the Spirit” (Pneumatomachi). We confess that our Lady, St. Mary, is properly and truly the Mother of God, because she was the Mother after the flesh of One Person of the Holy Trinity, to wit, Christ our God, as the Council of Ephesus has already defined when it cast out of the Church the impious Nestorius with his colleagues, because he taught that there were two Persons [in Christ]. With the Fathers of this synod we confess that he who was incarnate of the immaculate Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary has two natures, recognizing him as perfect God and perfect man, as also the Council of Chalcedon hath promulgated, expelling from the divine Atrium [αὐλῆς] as blasphemers, Eutyches and Dioscorus; and placing in the same category Severus, Peter and a number of others, blaspheming in divers fashions. Moreover, with these we anathematize the fables of Origen, Evagrius, and Didymus, in accordance with the decision of 550 the Fifth Council held at Constantinople. We affirm that in Christ there be two wills and two operations according to the reality of each nature, as also the Sixth Synod, held at Constantinople, taught, casting out Sergius, Honorius, Cyrus, Pyrrhus, Macarius, and those who agree with them, and all those who are unwilling to be reverent. To make our confession short, we keep unchanged all the ecclesiastical traditions handed down to us, whether in writing or verbally, one of which is the making of pictorial representations, agreeable to the history of the preaching of the Gospel, a tradition useful in many respects, but especially in this, that so the incarnation of the Word of God is shown forth as real and not merely phantastic, for these have mutual indications and without doubt have also mutual significations. We, therefore, following the royal pathway and the divinely inspired authority of our Holy Fathers and the traditions of the Catholic Church (for, as we all know, the Holy Spirit indwells her), define with all certitude and accuracy that just as the figure of the precious and life-giving Cross, so also the venerable and holy images, as well in painting and mosaic as of other fit materials, should be set forth in the holy churches of God, and on the sacred vessels and on the vestments and on hangings and in pictures both in houses and by the wayside, to wit, the figure of our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ, of our spotless Lady, the Mother of God, of the honourable Angels, of all Saints and of all pious people. For by so much more frequently as they are seen in artistic representation, by so much more readily are men lifted up to the memory of their prototypes, and to a longing after them; and to these should be given due salutation and honourable reverence (ἀσπασμὸν καὶ τιμητικὴν προσκύνησιν), not indeed that true worship of faith (λατρείαν) which pertains alone to the divine nature; but to these, as to the figure of the precious and life-giving Cross and to the Book of the Gospels and to the other holy objects, incense and lights may be offered according to ancient pious custom. For the honour which is paid to the image passes on to that which the image represents, and he who reveres the image reveres in it the subject represented. For thus the teaching of our holy Fathers, that is the tradition of the Catholic Church, which from one end of the earth to the other hath received the Gospel, is strengthened. Thus we follow Paul, who spake in Christ, and the whole divine Apostolic company and the holy Fathers, holding fast the traditions which we have received. So we sing prophetically the triumphal hymns of the Church, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion; Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Rejoice and be glad with all thy heart. The Lord hath taken away from thee the oppression of thy adversaries; thou art redeemed from the hand of thine enemies. The Lord is a King in the midst of thee; thou shalt not see evil any more, and peace be unto thee forever.” Those, therefore who dare to think or teach otherwise, or as wicked heretics to spurn the traditions of the Church and to invent some novelty, or else to reject some of those things which the Church hath received (e.g., the Book of the Gospels, or the image of the cross, or the pictorial icons, or the holy reliques of a martyr), or evilly and sharply to devise anything subversive of the lawful traditions of the Catholic Church or to turn to common uses the sacred vessels or the venerable monasteries,536 if they be Bishops or Clerics, we command that they be deposed; if religious or laics, that they be cut off from communion. [After all had signed, the acclamations began (col. 576).]   The holy Synod cried out: So we all believe, we all are so minded, we all give our consent and have signed. This is the faith of the Apostles, this is the faith of the orthodox, this is the faith which hath made firm the whole world. Believing in one God, to be celebrated in Trinity, we salute the honourable images! Those who do not so hold, let them be anathema. Those who do not thus think, let them be driven far away from the Church. For we follow the most ancient legislation of the Catholic Church. We keep the laws of the Fathers. We anathematize those who add anything to or take anything away from the Catholic Church. We anathematize the introduced novelty of the revilers of Christians. We salute the venerable 551 images. We place under anathema those who do not do this. Anathema to them who presume to apply to the venerable images the things said in Holy Scripture about idols. Anathema to those who do not salute the holy and venerable images. Anathema to those who call the sacred images idols. Anathema to those who say that Christians resort to the sacred images as to gods. Anathema to those who say that any other delivered us from idols except Christ our God. Anathema to those who dare to say that at any time the Catholic Church received idols. Many years to the Emperors, etc., etc. 535 Anastasius in his Interpretatio (Migne, Pat. Lat., Tom. CXXIX., col. 458), gives the word, “Filioque.” Cardinal Julian in the Fifth Session of the Council of Florence gave evidence that there was then extant a very ancient codex containing these words; and this MS., which was in Greek, was actually shown. The Greek scholar Gemistius Pletho remarked that if this were so, then the Latin theologians, like St. Thomas Aquinas would long ago have appealed to the Synod. (Cf. Hefele, Hist. Councils, Vol. V., p. 374, Note 2.) This reasoning is not conclusive if Cardinal Bellarmine is to be believed, who says that St. Thomas had never seen the Acts of this synod. (De Imag. Sanct., Lib. ii., cap. xxii.) 536 Constantine Copronymus turned many monasteries into soldiers' barracks. In this he has been followed by other crowned enemies of Christ. Epitome of the Definition of the Iconoclastic Conciliabulum held in Constantinople, A.D. 754.530   The Definition of the Holy, Great, and Ecumenical Seventh Synod. 543   THE holy and Ecumenical synod, which by the grace of God and most pious command of the God-beloved and orthodox Emperors, Constantine and Leo,531 now assembled in the imperial residence city, in the temple of the holy and inviolate Mother of God and Virgin Mary, surnamed in Blachernæ, have decreed as follows. Satan misguided men, so that they worshipped the creature instead of the Creator. The Mosaic law and the prophets cooperated to undo this ruin; but in order to save mankind thoroughly, God sent his own Son, who turned us away from error and the worshipping of idols, and taught us the worshipping of God in spirit and in truth. As messengers of his saving doctrine, he left us his Apostles and disciples, and these adorned the Church, his Bride, with his glorious doctrines. This ornament of the Church the holy Fathers and the six Ecumenical Councils have preserved inviolate. But the before- mentioned demi-urgos of wickedness could not endure the sight of this adornment, and gradually brought back idolatry under the appearance of Christianity. As then Christ armed his Apostles against the ancient idolatry with the power of the Holy Spirit, and sent them out into all the world, so has he awakened against the new idolatry his servants our faithful Emperors, and endowed them with the same wisdom of the Holy Spirit. Impelled by the Holy Spirit they could no longer be witnesses of the Church being laid waste by the deception of demons, and summoned the sanctified assembly of the God-beloved bishops, that they might institute at a synod a scriptural examination into the deceitful colouring of the pictures (ὁμοιωμάτων) which draws down the spirit of man from the lofty adoration (λατρείας) of God to the low and material adoration (λατρείαν) of the creature, and that they, under divine guidance, might express their view on the subject. Our holy synod therefore assembled, and we, its 338 members, follow the older synodal decrees, and accept and proclaim joyfully the dogmas handed down, principally those of the six holy Ecumenical Synods. In the first place the holy and ecumenical great synod assembled at Nice, etc. After we had carefully examined their decrees under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we found that the unlawful art of painting living creatures blasphemed the fundamental doctrine of our salvation—namely, the Incarnation of Christ, and contradicted the six holy synods. These condemned Nestorius because he divided the one Son and Word of God into two sons, and on the other side, Arius, Dioscorus, Eutyches, and Severus, because they maintained a mingling of the two natures of the one Christ. Wherefore we thought it right, to shew forth with all accuracy, in our present definition the error of such as make and venerate these, for it is the unanimous doctrine of all the holy Fathers and of the six Ecumenical Synods, that no one may imagine any kind of separation or mingling in opposition to the unsearchable, unspeakable, and incomprehensible union of the two natures in the one hypostasis or person. What avails, then, the folly of the painter, who from sinful love of gain depicts that which should not be depicted—that is, with his polluted hands he tries to fashion that which should only be believed in the heart and confessed with the mouth? He makes an image and calls it Christ. The name Christ signifies God and man. Consequently it is an image of God and man, and consequently he has in his foolish mind, in his representation of the created flesh, depicted the Godhead which cannot be represented, and thus mingled what should not be mingled. Thus he is guilty of a double blasphemy—the one in making an image of the Godhead, and the other by mingling the Godhead and manhood. Those fall into the same blasphemy who venerate the image, and the same woe rests upon both, because they err with Arius, Dioscorus, and Eutyches, and with the heresy of the Acephali. When, however, they are blamed for 544 undertaking to depict the divine nature of Christ, which should not be depicted, they take refuge in the excuse: We represent only the flesh of Christ which we have seen and handled. But that is a Nestorian error. For it should be considered that that flesh was also the flesh of God the Word, without any separation, perfectly assumed by the divine nature and made wholly divine. How could it now be separated and represented apart? So is it with the human soul of Christ which mediates between the Godhead of the Son and the dulness of the flesh. As the human flesh is at the same time flesh of God the Word, so is the human soul also soul of God the Word, and both at the same time, the soul being deified as well as the body, and the Godhead remained undivided even in the separation of the soul from the body in his voluntary passion. For where the soul of Christ is, there is also his Godhead; and where the body of Christ is, there too is his Godhead. If then in his passion the divinity remained inseparable from these, how do the fools venture to separate the flesh from the Godhead, and represent it by itself as the image of a mere man? They fall into the abyss of impiety, since they separate the flesh from the Godhead, ascribe to it a subsistence of its own, a personality of its own, which they depict, and thus introduce a fourth person into the Trinity. Moreover, they represent as not being made divine, that which has been made divine by being assumed by the Godhead. Whoever, then, makes an image of Christ, either depicts the Godhead which cannot be depicted, and mingles it with the manhood (like the Monophysites), or he represents the body of Christ as not made divine and separate and as a person apart, like the Nestorians. The only admissible figure of the humanity of Christ, however, is bread and wine in the holy Supper. This and no other form, this and no other type, has he chosen to represent his incarnation. Bread he ordered to be brought, but not a representation of the human form, so that idolatry might not arise. And as the body of Christ is made divine, so also this figure of the body of Christ, the bread, is made divine by the descent of the Holy Spirit; it becomes the divine body of Christ by the mediation of the priest who, separating the oblation from that which is common, sanctifies it. The evil custom of assigning names to the images does not come down from Christ and the Apostles and the holy Fathers; nor have these left behind them any prayer by which an image should be hallowed or made anything else than ordinary matter. If, however, some say, we might be right in regard to the images of Christ, on account of the mysterious union of the two natures, but it is not right for us to forbid also the images of the altogether spotless and ever-glorious Mother of God, of the prophets, apostles, and martyrs, who were mere men and did not consist of two natures; we may reply, first of all: If those fall away, there is no longer need of these. But we will also consider what may be said against these in particular. Christianity has rejected the whole of heathenism, and so not merely heathen sacrifices, but also the heathen worship of images. The Saints live on eternally with God, although they have died. If anyone thinks to call them back again to life by a dead art, discovered by the heathen, he makes himself guilty of blasphemy. Who dares attempt with heathenish art to paint the Mother of God, who is exalted above all heavens and the Saints? It is not permitted to Christians, who have the hope of the resurrection, to imitate the customs of demon-worshippers, and to insult the Saints, who shine in so great glory, by common dead matter. Moreover, we can prove our view by Holy Scripture and the Fathers. In the former it is said: “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth;” and: “Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath;” on which account God spoke to the Israelites on the Mount, from the midst of the fire, but showed them no image. Further: “They changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man,…and served the creature more than the Creator.” [Several other passages, even less to the point, are cited.]532 The same is taught also by the holy Fathers. [The Synod appeals to a spurious passage from Epiphanius and to one inserted into the writings of Theodotus of Ancyra, a friend of St. Cyril's; to utterances—in no way striking—of Gregory of 545 Nazianzum, of SS. Chrysostom, Basil, Athanasius of Amphilochius and of Eusebius Pamphili, from his Letter to the Empress Constantia, who had asked him for a picture of Christ.]533 Supported by the Holy Scriptures and the Fathers, we declare unanimously, in the name of the Holy Trinity, that there shall be rejected and removed and cursed out of the Christian Church every likeness which is made out of any material and colour whatever by the evil art of painters. Whoever in future dares to make such a thing, or to venerate it, or set it up in a church, or in a private house, or possesses it in secret, shall, if bishop, presbyter, or deacon, be deposed; if monk or layman, be anathematised, and become liable to be tried by the secular laws as an adversary of God and an enemy of the doctrines handed down by the Fathers. At the same time we ordain that no incumbent of a church shall venture, under pretext of destroying the error in regard to images, to lay his hands on the holy vessels in order to have them altered, because they are adorned with figures. The same is provided in regard to the vestments of churches, cloths, and all that is dedicated to divine service. If, however, the incumbent of a church wishes to have such church vessels and vestments altered, he must do this only with the assent of the holy Ecumenical patriarch and at the bidding of our pious Emperors. So also no prince or secular official shall rob the churches, as some have done in former times, under the pretext of destroying images. All this we ordain, believing that we speak as doth the Apostle, for we also believe that we have the spirit of Christ; and as our predecessors who believed the same thing spake what they had synodically defined, so we believe and therefore do we speak, and set forth a definition of what has seemed good to us following and in accordance with the definitions of our Fathers. If anyone shall not confess, according to the tradition of the Apostles and Fathers, in the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost one godhead, nature and substance, will and operation, virtue and dominion, kingdom and power in three subsistences, that is in their most glorious Persons, let him be anathema. If anyone does not confess that one of the Trinity was made flesh, let him be anathema. If anyone does not confess that the holy Virgin is truly the Mother of God, etc. If anyone does not confess one Christ both God and man, etc. If anyone does not confess that the flesh of the Lord is life-giving because it is the flesh of the Word of God, etc. If anyone does not confess two natures in Christ, etc. If anyone does not confess that Christ is seated with God the Father in body and soul, and so will come to judge, and that he will remain God forever without any grossness, etc. If anyone ventures to represent the divine image (χαρακτήρ) of the Word after the Incarnation with material colours, let him be anathema! If anyone ventures to represent in human figures, by means of material colours, by reason of the incarnation, the substance or person (ousia or hypostasis) of the Word, which cannot be depicted, and does not rather confess that even after the Incarnation he [i.e., the Word] cannot be depicted, let him be anathema! If anyone ventures to represent the hypostatic union of the two natures in a picture, and calls it Christ, and thus falsely represents a union of the two natures, etc.! If anyone separates the flesh united with the person of the Word from it, and endeavours to represent it separately in a picture, etc.! If anyone separates the one Christ into two persons, and endeavours to represent Him who was born of the Virgin separately, and thus accepts only a relative (σχετική) union of the natures, etc. If anyone represents in a picture the flesh deified by its union with the Word, and thus separates it from the Godhead, etc. If anyone endeavours to represent by material colours, God the Word as a mere man, who, although bearing the form of God, yet has assumed the form of a servant in his own person, and thus endeavours to separate him from his 546 inseparable Godhead, so that he thereby introduces a quaternity into the Holy Trinity, etc. If anyone shall not confess the holy ever-virgin Mary, truly and properly the Mother of God, to be higher than every creature whether visible or invisible, and does not with sincere faith seek her intercessions as of one having confidence in her access to our God, since she bare him, etc. If anyone shall endeavour to represent the forms of the Saints in lifeless pictures with material colours which are of no value (for this notion is vain and introduced by the devil), and does not rather represent their virtues as living images in himself, etc. If anyone denies the profit of the invocation of Saints, etc. If anyone denies the resurrection of the dead, and the judgment, and the condign retribution to everyone, endless torment and endless bliss, etc. If anyone does not accept this our Holy and Ecumenical Seventh Synod, let him be anathema from the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, and from the seven holy Ecumenical Synods! [Then follows the prohibition of the making or teaching any other faith, and the penalties for disobedience. After this follow the acclamations.] The divine Kings Constantine and Leo said: Let the holy and ecumenical synod say, if with the consent of all the most holy bishops the definition just read has been set forth. The holy synod cried out: Thus we all believe, we all are of the same mind. We have all with one voice and voluntarily subscribed. This is the faith of the Apostles. Many years to the Emperors! They are the light of orthodoxy! Many years to the orthodox Emperors! God preserve your Empire! You have now more firmly proclaimed the inseparability of the two natures of Christ! You have banished all idolatry! You have destroyed the heresies of Germanus [of Constantinople], George and Mansur [μανσουρ, John Damascene]. Anathema to Germanus, the double-minded, and worshipper of wood! Anathema to George, his associate, to the falsifier of the doctrine of the Fathers! Anathema to Mansur, who has an evil name and Saracen opinions! To the betrayer of Christ and the enemy of the Empire, to the teacher of impiety, the perverter of Scripture, Mansur, anathema! The Trinity has deposed these three!534 In this epitome of the verbose definition of the council, I have followed for the most part Hefele. (Hist. of the Councils, Vol. V., p. 309 et seqq.) Now four years old. These are Hefele's words. These are Hefele's words. These are not given in full but are sufficient to give the true gist.

Shodhin Geiman is Sensei & Abbot at Chicago Zen Center and recently retired Senior Research Professor at Valparaiso University. He has written on aspects of the Dharma and on points of interface between Buddhist and Christian spirituality. His book, Alone in a World of Wounds: A Dharmic Response to the Ills of Sentient Beings (Cascade Books, 2022). Another, Obstacles to Stillness: Thoughts, Hindrances, and Self-Surrender in Evagrius and the Buddha (Fortress Press, 2023), came out in 2023. He is currently working on a book exploring the intrepid fearlessness of bodhisattvic aspiration. In this conversation we explore his views on Dharma and Activism and Engaged Buddhism as developed in his critical take on both, Alone in a World of Wounds. We discuss; 1. His two books on practice. 2. The concepts of deliverance of mind and non-adherence in the practicing life. 3. The unfashionable practices of patience and forbearance and why they matter. 4. Why mixing Buddhism and activism is not all it is cracked up to be. 5. The inherent problems with trying to serve two masters and the impact this has on dharma practice. 6. The Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizekis critique of the New left and activism and the call to stop and think before acting. 7. How the desire to fix the world runs in tandem with the desire to fix ourselves and how both are so deeply rooted in American Buddhism. 8. Kant and sublime objects. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Shodhin Geiman is Sensei & Abbot at Chicago Zen Center and recently retired Senior Research Professor at Valparaiso University. He has written on aspects of the Dharma and on points of interface between Buddhist and Christian spirituality. His book, Alone in a World of Wounds: A Dharmic Response to the Ills of Sentient Beings (Cascade Books, 2022). Another, Obstacles to Stillness: Thoughts, Hindrances, and Self-Surrender in Evagrius and the Buddha (Fortress Press, 2023), came out in 2023. He is currently working on a book exploring the intrepid fearlessness of bodhisattvic aspiration. In this conversation we explore his views on Dharma and Activism and Engaged Buddhism as developed in his critical take on both, Alone in a World of Wounds. We discuss; 1. His two books on practice. 2. The concepts of deliverance of mind and non-adherence in the practicing life. 3. The unfashionable practices of patience and forbearance and why they matter. 4. Why mixing Buddhism and activism is not all it is cracked up to be. 5. The inherent problems with trying to serve two masters and the impact this has on dharma practice. 6. The Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizekis critique of the New left and activism and the call to stop and think before acting. 7. How the desire to fix the world runs in tandem with the desire to fix ourselves and how both are so deeply rooted in American Buddhism. 8. Kant and sublime objects. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/buddhist-studies

Shodhin Geiman is Sensei & Abbot at Chicago Zen Center and recently retired Senior Research Professor at Valparaiso University. He has written on aspects of the Dharma and on points of interface between Buddhist and Christian spirituality. His book, Alone in a World of Wounds: A Dharmic Response to the Ills of Sentient Beings (Cascade Books, 2022). Another, Obstacles to Stillness: Thoughts, Hindrances, and Self-Surrender in Evagrius and the Buddha (Fortress Press, 2023), came out in 2023. He is currently working on a book exploring the intrepid fearlessness of bodhisattvic aspiration. In this conversation we explore his views on Dharma and Activism and Engaged Buddhism as developed in his critical take on both, Alone in a World of Wounds. We discuss; 1. His two books on practice. 2. The concepts of deliverance of mind and non-adherence in the practicing life. 3. The unfashionable practices of patience and forbearance and why they matter. 4. Why mixing Buddhism and activism is not all it is cracked up to be. 5. The inherent problems with trying to serve two masters and the impact this has on dharma practice. 6. The Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizekis critique of the New left and activism and the call to stop and think before acting. 7. How the desire to fix the world runs in tandem with the desire to fix ourselves and how both are so deeply rooted in American Buddhism. 8. Kant and sublime objects. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/religion

Shodhin Geiman is Sensei & Abbot at Chicago Zen Center and recently retired Senior Research Professor at Valparaiso University. He has written on aspects of the Dharma and on points of interface between Buddhist and Christian spirituality. His book, Alone in a World of Wounds: A Dharmic Response to the Ills of Sentient Beings (Cascade Books, 2022). Another, Obstacles to Stillness: Thoughts, Hindrances, and Self-Surrender in Evagrius and the Buddha (Fortress Press, 2023), came out in 2023. He is currently working on a book exploring the intrepid fearlessness of bodhisattvic aspiration. In this conversation we explore his views on Dharma and Activism and Engaged Buddhism as developed in his critical take on both, Alone in a World of Wounds. We discuss; 1. His two books on practice. 2. The concepts of deliverance of mind and non-adherence in the practicing life. 3. The unfashionable practices of patience and forbearance and why they matter. 4. Why mixing Buddhism and activism is not all it is cracked up to be. 5. The inherent problems with trying to serve two masters and the impact this has on dharma practice. 6. The Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizekis critique of the New left and activism and the call to stop and think before acting. 7. How the desire to fix the world runs in tandem with the desire to fix ourselves and how both are so deeply rooted in American Buddhism. 8. Kant and sublime objects. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

True Stories Pt. 2: The Far Country At Home By Louie Marsh, 8-18-2024   Intro – 3 graphics and then what is a parable.   1) Never forget – Christianity is all about my HEART.   25  “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26  And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27  And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.' Luke 15:25-27 (ESV)   Notice he was working when his younger brother came home. His type is seldom counted as lost, either by himself or others. This makes his condition all the more hopeless. He is not away in the distant land among swine as is the case with his prodigal brother, although he is just as lost. He is in an environment that is wholesome and clean. "Now the elder son was in the field." Socially he had not brought reproach upon his father. He had resisted all temptation to physical dissipation. He was industrious and thrifty. His conduct created no scandal.   7  But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7 (ESV)   He was in short someone we'd all call a “good man.” Would have made a great church member, yet he did not know his Father – he was separated from God – a completely works righteousness kind of person.   Show pic – Damned Thru The Church   25  “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26  You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. 27  “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. Matthew 23:25-27 (ESV)   2) I know I've drifted from God when I RESENT other's blessings.   28  But he was angry and refused to go in…. Luke 15:28a (ESV)   3) God FOLLOWS me when I drift from him.   28 …His father came out and entreated him, Luke 15:28b (ESV)   19  We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19 (ESV)   6  For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Romans 5:6 (ESV)   4) The results of trying to get right with God by WORKING.   ·       I fail to really KNOW the Lord.    29  but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. Luke 15:29 (ESV)   The seven deadly sins, also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins, is a grouping and classification of vices within Christian teachings. Behaviors or habits are classified under this category if they directly give birth to other immoralities.  According to the standard list, they are pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth.   This classification originated with the desert fathers, especially Evagrius Ponticus, who identified seven or eight evil thoughts or spirits that one needed to overcome. Evagrius' pupil John Cassian, with his book The Institutes, brought the classification to Europe, where it became fundamental to Catholic confessional practices   ·       I RESENT it when God gives grace to others.   30  But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!' Luke 15:30 (ESV)   38  John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” 39  But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. Mark 9:38-39 (ESV)   5) I completely miss the HEART of God.   31  And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32  It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.'” Luke 15:31-32 (ESV)        

The Gnostic Trilogy is the best-known and most important work by the ascetic philosopher and teacher Evagrius of Pontus. Among the writers of his age, Evagrius stands out for his short, perplexing, and absorbing aphorisms, which provide sharp insight into philosophy, Scripture, human nature, and the natural world. The first part of the trilogy, the Praktikos (The Practiced One), provides a diagnosis and treatment of the eight tempting thoughts. It was a foundational text for monastic asceticism and was the basis for the later Seven Deadly sins tradition. The second, Gnostikos (The Knower), explains how someone who has mastered the body and mental delusions should teach others. The third, longest, and most controversial, the Kephalaia gnostika (Gnostic Chapters), ranges broadly over the origin of the universe, the nature of rational beings, and the hidden symbols of Scripture. This part was responsible for Evagrius's condemnation as a heretic and, as a result, does not survive intact in the original Greek and must be restored from ancient translations. Evagrius of Pontus: The Gnostic Trilogy (Oxford UP, 2024) presents the Trilogy in its entirety for the first time since antiquity and provides a fresh, comprehensive English translation of all three works, in all their known ancient versions, both Greek and Syriac. Detailed explanatory notes, cross-references to Scripture, to ancient literature, and to Evagrius's other writings, as well as commentary on the translation techniques of the Syriac translators, provide the necessary resources for understanding this significant but puzzling text. New Books in Late Antiquity is presented by Ancient Jew Review. Robin Darling Young is Professor of Church History at the Catholic University of America. Joel Kalvesmaki is a digital humanist and the editor of University of California Press's book series Christianity and Late Antiquity. Find a link to his online Guide to Evagrius in the show notes. Columba Stewart is executive director of HMML, sounds like heaven, but short for the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library at St. John's University and Abbey in Minnesota. Charles Stang is Professor of Early Christian Thought at Harvard Divinity School and the director there of the Center for the Study of World Religions. Fr. Luke Dysinger is Professor of Church History and Moral Theology at St. John's Seminary in California. Michael Motia teaches in Classics and Religious Studies at UMass Boston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

The Gnostic Trilogy is the best-known and most important work by the ascetic philosopher and teacher Evagrius of Pontus. Among the writers of his age, Evagrius stands out for his short, perplexing, and absorbing aphorisms, which provide sharp insight into philosophy, Scripture, human nature, and the natural world. The first part of the trilogy, the Praktikos (The Practiced One), provides a diagnosis and treatment of the eight tempting thoughts. It was a foundational text for monastic asceticism and was the basis for the later Seven Deadly sins tradition. The second, Gnostikos (The Knower), explains how someone who has mastered the body and mental delusions should teach others. The third, longest, and most controversial, the Kephalaia gnostika (Gnostic Chapters), ranges broadly over the origin of the universe, the nature of rational beings, and the hidden symbols of Scripture. This part was responsible for Evagrius's condemnation as a heretic and, as a result, does not survive intact in the original Greek and must be restored from ancient translations. Evagrius of Pontus: The Gnostic Trilogy (Oxford UP, 2024) presents the Trilogy in its entirety for the first time since antiquity and provides a fresh, comprehensive English translation of all three works, in all their known ancient versions, both Greek and Syriac. Detailed explanatory notes, cross-references to Scripture, to ancient literature, and to Evagrius's other writings, as well as commentary on the translation techniques of the Syriac translators, provide the necessary resources for understanding this significant but puzzling text. New Books in Late Antiquity is presented by Ancient Jew Review. Robin Darling Young is Professor of Church History at the Catholic University of America. Joel Kalvesmaki is a digital humanist and the editor of University of California Press's book series Christianity and Late Antiquity. Find a link to his online Guide to Evagrius in the show notes. Columba Stewart is executive director of HMML, sounds like heaven, but short for the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library at St. John's University and Abbey in Minnesota. Charles Stang is Professor of Early Christian Thought at Harvard Divinity School and the director there of the Center for the Study of World Religions. Fr. Luke Dysinger is Professor of Church History and Moral Theology at St. John's Seminary in California. Michael Motia teaches in Classics and Religious Studies at UMass Boston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/biography

The Gnostic Trilogy is the best-known and most important work by the ascetic philosopher and teacher Evagrius of Pontus. Among the writers of his age, Evagrius stands out for his short, perplexing, and absorbing aphorisms, which provide sharp insight into philosophy, Scripture, human nature, and the natural world. The first part of the trilogy, the Praktikos (The Practiced One), provides a diagnosis and treatment of the eight tempting thoughts. It was a foundational text for monastic asceticism and was the basis for the later Seven Deadly sins tradition. The second, Gnostikos (The Knower), explains how someone who has mastered the body and mental delusions should teach others. The third, longest, and most controversial, the Kephalaia gnostika (Gnostic Chapters), ranges broadly over the origin of the universe, the nature of rational beings, and the hidden symbols of Scripture. This part was responsible for Evagrius's condemnation as a heretic and, as a result, does not survive intact in the original Greek and must be restored from ancient translations. Evagrius of Pontus: The Gnostic Trilogy (Oxford UP, 2024) presents the Trilogy in its entirety for the first time since antiquity and provides a fresh, comprehensive English translation of all three works, in all their known ancient versions, both Greek and Syriac. Detailed explanatory notes, cross-references to Scripture, to ancient literature, and to Evagrius's other writings, as well as commentary on the translation techniques of the Syriac translators, provide the necessary resources for understanding this significant but puzzling text. New Books in Late Antiquity is presented by Ancient Jew Review. Robin Darling Young is Professor of Church History at the Catholic University of America. Joel Kalvesmaki is a digital humanist and the editor of University of California Press's book series Christianity and Late Antiquity. Find a link to his online Guide to Evagrius in the show notes. Columba Stewart is executive director of HMML, sounds like heaven, but short for the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library at St. John's University and Abbey in Minnesota. Charles Stang is Professor of Early Christian Thought at Harvard Divinity School and the director there of the Center for the Study of World Religions. Fr. Luke Dysinger is Professor of Church History and Moral Theology at St. John's Seminary in California. Michael Motia teaches in Classics and Religious Studies at UMass Boston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/intellectual-history

The Gnostic Trilogy is the best-known and most important work by the ascetic philosopher and teacher Evagrius of Pontus. Among the writers of his age, Evagrius stands out for his short, perplexing, and absorbing aphorisms, which provide sharp insight into philosophy, Scripture, human nature, and the natural world. The first part of the trilogy, the Praktikos (The Practiced One), provides a diagnosis and treatment of the eight tempting thoughts. It was a foundational text for monastic asceticism and was the basis for the later Seven Deadly sins tradition. The second, Gnostikos (The Knower), explains how someone who has mastered the body and mental delusions should teach others. The third, longest, and most controversial, the Kephalaia gnostika (Gnostic Chapters), ranges broadly over the origin of the universe, the nature of rational beings, and the hidden symbols of Scripture. This part was responsible for Evagrius's condemnation as a heretic and, as a result, does not survive intact in the original Greek and must be restored from ancient translations. Evagrius of Pontus: The Gnostic Trilogy (Oxford UP, 2024) presents the Trilogy in its entirety for the first time since antiquity and provides a fresh, comprehensive English translation of all three works, in all their known ancient versions, both Greek and Syriac. Detailed explanatory notes, cross-references to Scripture, to ancient literature, and to Evagrius's other writings, as well as commentary on the translation techniques of the Syriac translators, provide the necessary resources for understanding this significant but puzzling text. New Books in Late Antiquity is presented by Ancient Jew Review. Robin Darling Young is Professor of Church History at the Catholic University of America. Joel Kalvesmaki is a digital humanist and the editor of University of California Press's book series Christianity and Late Antiquity. Find a link to his online Guide to Evagrius in the show notes. Columba Stewart is executive director of HMML, sounds like heaven, but short for the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library at St. John's University and Abbey in Minnesota. Charles Stang is Professor of Early Christian Thought at Harvard Divinity School and the director there of the Center for the Study of World Religions. Fr. Luke Dysinger is Professor of Church History and Moral Theology at St. John's Seminary in California. Michael Motia teaches in Classics and Religious Studies at UMass Boston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Gnostic Trilogy is the best-known and most important work by the ascetic philosopher and teacher Evagrius of Pontus. Among the writers of his age, Evagrius stands out for his short, perplexing, and absorbing aphorisms, which provide sharp insight into philosophy, Scripture, human nature, and the natural world. The first part of the trilogy, the Praktikos (The Practiced One), provides a diagnosis and treatment of the eight tempting thoughts. It was a foundational text for monastic asceticism and was the basis for the later Seven Deadly sins tradition. The second, Gnostikos (The Knower), explains how someone who has mastered the body and mental delusions should teach others. The third, longest, and most controversial, the Kephalaia gnostika (Gnostic Chapters), ranges broadly over the origin of the universe, the nature of rational beings, and the hidden symbols of Scripture. This part was responsible for Evagrius's condemnation as a heretic and, as a result, does not survive intact in the original Greek and must be restored from ancient translations. Evagrius of Pontus: The Gnostic Trilogy (Oxford UP, 2024) presents the Trilogy in its entirety for the first time since antiquity and provides a fresh, comprehensive English translation of all three works, in all their known ancient versions, both Greek and Syriac. Detailed explanatory notes, cross-references to Scripture, to ancient literature, and to Evagrius's other writings, as well as commentary on the translation techniques of the Syriac translators, provide the necessary resources for understanding this significant but puzzling text. New Books in Late Antiquity is presented by Ancient Jew Review. Robin Darling Young is Professor of Church History at the Catholic University of America. Joel Kalvesmaki is a digital humanist and the editor of University of California Press's book series Christianity and Late Antiquity. Find a link to his online Guide to Evagrius in the show notes. Columba Stewart is executive director of HMML, sounds like heaven, but short for the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library at St. John's University and Abbey in Minnesota. Charles Stang is Professor of Early Christian Thought at Harvard Divinity School and the director there of the Center for the Study of World Religions. Fr. Luke Dysinger is Professor of Church History and Moral Theology at St. John's Seminary in California. Michael Motia teaches in Classics and Religious Studies at UMass Boston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/christian-studies

The Gnostic Trilogy is the best-known and most important work by the ascetic philosopher and teacher Evagrius of Pontus. Among the writers of his age, Evagrius stands out for his short, perplexing, and absorbing aphorisms, which provide sharp insight into philosophy, Scripture, human nature, and the natural world. The first part of the trilogy, the Praktikos (The Practiced One), provides a diagnosis and treatment of the eight tempting thoughts. It was a foundational text for monastic asceticism and was the basis for the later Seven Deadly sins tradition. The second, Gnostikos (The Knower), explains how someone who has mastered the body and mental delusions should teach others. The third, longest, and most controversial, the Kephalaia gnostika (Gnostic Chapters), ranges broadly over the origin of the universe, the nature of rational beings, and the hidden symbols of Scripture. This part was responsible for Evagrius's condemnation as a heretic and, as a result, does not survive intact in the original Greek and must be restored from ancient translations. Evagrius of Pontus: The Gnostic Trilogy (Oxford UP, 2024) presents the Trilogy in its entirety for the first time since antiquity and provides a fresh, comprehensive English translation of all three works, in all their known ancient versions, both Greek and Syriac. Detailed explanatory notes, cross-references to Scripture, to ancient literature, and to Evagrius's other writings, as well as commentary on the translation techniques of the Syriac translators, provide the necessary resources for understanding this significant but puzzling text. New Books in Late Antiquity is presented by Ancient Jew Review. Robin Darling Young is Professor of Church History at the Catholic University of America. Joel Kalvesmaki is a digital humanist and the editor of University of California Press's book series Christianity and Late Antiquity. Find a link to his online Guide to Evagrius in the show notes. Columba Stewart is executive director of HMML, sounds like heaven, but short for the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library at St. John's University and Abbey in Minnesota. Charles Stang is Professor of Early Christian Thought at Harvard Divinity School and the director there of the Center for the Study of World Religions. Fr. Luke Dysinger is Professor of Church History and Moral Theology at St. John's Seminary in California. Michael Motia teaches in Classics and Religious Studies at UMass Boston

In the 4th century, after the Roman Empire was officially declared "Christian," thousands of men and women fled to the deserts of Egypt. They were literally following Jesus's example of going into the wilderness to face their demons. This week, we'll explore the story of one such "Desert Father" named Evagrius. In the wilderness, Evagrius faced his own demons and learned to help others face theirs. He then went on to give us a taxonomy of temptation that we know as the seven deadly sins.

Theology as Charisma and Experience, continued a) St John the Theologian and Evangelist b) St Gregory the Theologian c) St Symeon the New Theologian d) St Gregory Palamas Discussion after the Talk Q1 Progress in Prayer Q2 The Worldwide Influence of Russian Theologians Q3 Curing Human Beings Q4 Noetic Prayer and Evagrius of Pontus Q5 The Method of Hypnotism and Orthodox Psychotherapy Q6 Obedience to the Spiritual Father Q7 Monasticism and Marriage in Relation to Deification Q8 Holy Communion and Confession Q9 Holy Communion and Holy Relics Q10 The Possibility of Baptism in the Mother's Womb Q11 Birth Control Q12 The Relationship between the Divine Liturgy and the Jesus Prayer Q13 Theology and Philosophy Q14 Discerning between Thoughts Q15 Sorrow and Depression Part 3 - Romania 1. The Hesychastic Life according to St Basil the Great 1. Correspondence with St Gregory the Theologian 2. Sacred Hesychia and God's Temple a) Wandering b) Leaving the World c) Life in the Wilderness d) Prayer and Reading e) Hesychia f ) Nous and Theoria g) Temple of the All-Holy Spirit h) Transformation of the Whole of Life 3. Hesychast and Celebrant Epilogue Discussion after the Talk Q1 The Link between Hesychastic Experience and the Divine Eucharist Q2 Theoria of the Divine Light Statement on the Television Station of the Patriarchate of Romania The International Conference on St Basil the Great 2. Bringing Up Children Today 1. Children are God's Gift 2. Bringing up Children in the Church 3. Children as Equal Members of the Church 4. Difficulties connected with the Development and Upbringing of Children Today Discussion after the Talk Q1 The Hour of Death Q2 Sickness of the Nous Q3 Noetic Prayer Q4 Holy Communion and Confession Q5 Homeopathy Q6 Children in the Church Q7 Choosing Someone to Care for Children Q8 Dialogues between the Orthodox and non-Orthodox Q9 Children Facing Death Q10 Children and Church Attendance Q11 Religious Education in School Q12 Demonic Attacks on Children Q13 Psychological Disturbance Q14 Unloved Children 3. Interview - The Theology of St Gregory Palamas and the Scholasticism of Barlaam Q1 The Historical Context of the Life of St Gregory Palamas Q2 Influence of the Holy Mountain on his Life Q3 Effect of his Conflict with Barlaam Q4 Popular Interest in Theological Issues Q5 Summary of St Gregory Palamas's Teaching Q6 Knowledge of God Q7 Patristic Teaching as the Basis of St Gregory Palamas's Teaching Q8 Consequences of the Church's Victory through St Gregory Palamas Q9 The Message of St Gregory Palamas for our Era 4. Interview - Therapy and Truth Part 4 - Georgia 1. About Orthodox Psychotherapy 1. Why the Book was written 2. The Book's Title and Subtitle 3. Discussions about the Subject Matter of the Book 4. Orthodox Psychotherapy from the Psychological Point of View 5. Basic Elements of Orthodox Therapeutic Treatment Discussion after the Talk Part 5 - St Paissy Velichkovsky St Paissy Velichkovsky – A Great Hesychast Father 1. His Path to Monasticism 2. Searching for and Translating the Writings of Hesychast Fathers 3. Spiritual Guide to Hundreds and Thousands of Monks 4. Experiencing Hesychastic Monasticism 5. His Saintly Decease 6. The ‘Philokalic' Movement in the Orthodox World Conclusion

Mother is starting a few episodes long series on the 8 evil thoughts as listed by Evagrius. In this episode she introduces the concept and talks about why it is an important topic!

How easily our emotions pull us out of control! It's one thing to feel an emotion, but it's another to let it run rampant in our brain. Add some impulsivity in there, and you've got yourself quite a conflict. Handling our emotions and impulsivity can be a difficult task, so that's why we turn to a stillness practice. This is training the mind to pause rather than react to the conflicts in your mind and in your world. Practicing stillness allows you to harness your emotions and impulsivity so you can use that energy to create positive, purposeful change without regret. Starting Sunday, February 18 at 7 a.m., I'll be leading a live, virtual Christian contemplative practice on the Insight Timer app. You can find a new, live contemplative practice each week by heading to my Insight Timer profile: insighttimer.com/brad4d_wellness

Evagrius Ponticus (345-399 CE) was an expert of the inner life and today host Lisa Colon DeLay reads from Fr. Gabriel Bunge's book to learn what Evagrius meant by "Dragon's Wine and Angel's Bread".

This episode Dr. Jenkins continues looking at the first Origenistic controversy by looking at the key Origenist, namely the enigmatic Evagrius of Pontus, and his weird and wonderful teachings on the nature of the soul and prayer (sometimes weird and sometimes wonderful). You can find Dr. Jenkins most recent book at http://tinyurl.com/perilousrealm

This episode Dr. Jenkins continues looking at the first Origenistic controversy by looking at the key Origenist, namely the enigmatic Evagrius of Pontus, and his weird and wonderful teachings on the nature of the soul and prayer (sometimes weird and sometimes wonderful). You can find Dr. Jenkins most recent book at http://tinyurl.com/perilousrealm

This episode Dr. Jenkins continues looking at the first Origenistic controversy by looking at the key Origenist, namely the enigmatic Evagrius of Pontus, and his weird and wonderful teachings on the nature of the soul and prayer (sometimes weird and sometimes wonderful). You can find Dr. Jenkins most recent book at http://tinyurl.com/perilousrealm

The conclusion of hypothesis 41 was as beautiful as it was convicting. The fathers speak of a stability of mind and heart that deepens through the ascetic life and allows us to see the most subtle movements either toward or away from God. This subtlety of perception is unmatched in the spiritual tradition. The ascetic life revealed to the fathers not only sin and its manifestations, but the power of God's grace to transform our lives in such a way that every impediment is removed that prevents us from loving unconditionally. The ascetical life is not an end in itself. It allows us to “ascend the cross”, the fathers tell us. The purity of heart that is achieved through it, the freedom from the passions, allows us to love in a self-emptying fashion, and to truly abandon ourselves to the will of God. Every illusion is set aside and one gradually comes to see with greater and greater clarity that “all is grace”. It is then that the desire for God compels us in our every word, thought, and action! --- Text of chat during the group: 00:25:38 Anthony: Perhaps something should be allowed for different characters or temperaments. Maybe this is a reason Westerners have different orders.   00:30:05 Louise: Was the Ethiopian a demon or a hallucination?   00:43:12 maureencunningham: Longest road is from the head to heart   00:50:34 Ernest: So doesn't it help to have a spiritual director to regularly guide your path.   00:54:06 John: There's a book called "Talking Back" by Evagrius which has a variation of mocking evil thoughts: he supplies verses of Scripture against a whole variety of evil thoughts.   01:07:53 Ernest: But doesn't one experience these higher gifts, greater than earthly bread, when one receives Holy Communion…the real presence of Jesus?   01:10:52 Louise: In the Sufi mystical tradition, the disciple-to-be had to wash the latrine for 5 years, and only that. Afterward, he could attend the meetings with the Sufi master, where he was mostly bashed, laughed at, lied to, publicly humiliated, etc. while love was produced in his heart. What a way to chose the heart!   01:12:44 Paul Grazal: +1   01:17:30 Paul Grazal: Amen.  Thank you Father   01:18:56 maureencunningham: Beautifully said Thank You.   01:19:25 David Fraley: Thank you, Father!   01:19:28 Lorraine Green: Thank you very much Father  

In Part II of our discussion with Joel Kalvesmaki we explore the philosophy and mysticism of the Kephalaia Gnōstika, Evagrius' masterwork of mind-bending metaphysical aphorisms.

Part I of a discussion of Evagrius of Pontus – ascetic, philosopher, developer of Origen's thought, and mystical writer – with Joel Kalvesmaki. In this episode we cover the life and work of the great sage, in particular his ‘gnostic trilogy', and discuss the ‘Second Origenist Controversy' which would decide the fate of his opinions vis à vis Orthodoxy in the sixth century.

We continued to our reflection on step number 14 - gluttony, or that “clamorous mistress, the stomach.”  We are being exposed to the wisdom of the fathers, so deeply rooted in their experience of human nature and how it has been effected by sin. St. John, in his typical fashion, reveals to us the subtleties (psychological, emotional and spiritual) of how we are deceived by the evil one and how our bodily appetites can be used against us. It is precisely because our appetite for food is natural and needed for sustenance that it is something that can be used against us and so powerfully.  This step shows how St. John and the other fathers were not only spiritual warriors, but the first depth psychologists. They knew how the mind and the heart work. We are easily deceived and easily moved to rationalize our use of food. Perhaps what is most significant is that St. John shows us how essential this practice of fasting and abstinence is in our spiritual life. We can't be dabblers or minimalists. Because it is such a part of who we are, our appetite for food must be formed and shaped both by discipline and by the grace of God. What and how we eat is often a reflection of our emotional state a response to a need and desire for consolation. Rather than nourishing ourselves upon the love of God, we will choose some thing that offers immediate satisfaction - even though we know it is ever so temporary. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:22:56 Anthony: Months ago we talked about the monk who cut off his genitals, to great spiritual and physical harm.  Fasting is a healthy way of cutting off an appetite; it cannot be complete, since that is absolutely repulsive to natural law.  It encourages both cutting something off and moderation in approach.  Maybe that is a reason why fasting is a help for both gluttony and lust.   00:24:00 Anthony: In addition, fasting is accessible to both men and women - a remedy for all.   00:25:03 angelo: Reacted to "Months ago we talked..." with

In this Episode of Fearless we move beyond identifying the biggest fears that threaten us (Lesson 2), into equipping ourselves for the counterattack. Chris and Fr. Dave present an ancient spiritual exercise for conquering fears, inspired by the desert father Evagrius of Pontus: ‘talk back' to them with Scripture.

Have the great Christian saints, over millennia, been in agreement about some central points and practices if we hope to continue our growth? One scholar says they have been indeed. Dave Schmelzer runs down some key points of interest, not least the happy surprise that, if we keep at this, our reward will be an overflowing playfulness in our lives. Mentioned on this podcast:Jason M. Baxter's book An Introduction to Christian Mysticism; Recovering the Wildness of Spiritual LifePete Holmes on not knowingSome mystics who come up: Hildegard of Bingen, Gregory of Nyssa, Meister Eckhart, Thomas Merton, Evagrius, Nicholas of Cusa, Pseudo-Dionysius, Augustine, Francis of Assisi, John Ruusbroec, Evelyn Underhill, C.S. Lewis

Psalm 12 may have been written 3,000 years ago, but as with all the Psalms, it connects with every generation.---On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among the children of man.- It can be tempting at times to think that it has never been this bad before- That this generation trumps all prior generations.- -In the 4th century, Evagrius of Pontus said it this way- -First the righteous fail, then the truth is diminished. Not only is there no truth among the righteous, there is no holiness among honest people. Now, since the righteous have failed, truth is diminished. Perhaps the poverty of righteous people is the reason why so many heresies have shot up.---That's what they said in the 4th century, as the gospel -triumphed- over the Roman empire. As millions professed faith in Jesus Christ - the faithful could only see how truth had perished.--Why do I say this-- Do I say this to tell you that it's not really that bad today-- No.--I say this to tell you that it is still that bad today---The Psalms were collected and gathered together in order to be the hymnal of God's people.--The Psalms were given to us as templates - as patterns - so that we might inhabit them -in Christ-. Just as Israel was called to sing these Psalms in David, so we are called to sing them in Christ.--Have you had any experience with friends who betrayed you-- Neighbors who lied to you-- Flatterers who flattened you-- People who used their tongues to cut you down----Then Psalm 12 is for you. In every generation from David to the present, Psalm 12 is designed for the people of God to cry out to the LORD and find comfort and refuge in him...

Psalm 12 may have been written 3,000 years ago, but as with all the Psalms, it connects with every generation."On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among the children of man." It can be tempting at times to think that it has never been this bad before! That this generation trumps all prior generations. In the 4th century, Evagrius of Pontus said it this way: "First the righteous fail, then the truth is diminished. Not only is there no truth among the righteous, there is no holiness among honest people. Now, since the righteous have failed, truth is diminished. Perhaps the poverty of righteous people is the reason why so many heresies have shot up."That's what they said in the 4th century, as the gospel "triumphed" over the Roman empire. As millions professed faith in Jesus Christ – the faithful could only see how truth had perished.Why do I say this? Do I say this to tell you that it's not really that bad today? No.I say this to tell you that it is still that bad today!The Psalms were collected and gathered together in order to be the hymnal of God's people.The Psalms were given to us as templates – as patterns – so that we might inhabit them (in Christ). Just as Israel was called to sing these Psalms in David, so we are called to sing them in Christ.Have you had any experience with friends who betrayed you? Neighbors who lied to you? Flatterers who flattened you? People who used their tongues to cut you down?Then Psalm 12 is for you. In every generation from David to the present, Psalm 12 is designed for the people of God to cry out to the LORD and find comfort and refuge in him...

Today someone mentioned to me that Saint John Climacus does not mince words when speaking about the spiritual life, and in particular when speaking about the passions. This is unequivocally true. John does not varnish the truth. His heart has been formed in such a way that it would be impossible to do so; his view of God, man, redemption, and sin is shaped by the cross, and by the fullness of the gospel. Such is the case in our reading this evening of Step 8. St. John begins to define for us the nature of freedom from anger and the virtue that leads us along that path: meekness.  In this step like so many others, our view of reality and our experience as human beings is going to be challenged. Our experience of aggression in ourselves and from others must be seen now through what has been revealed to us in Christ and through the Cross. We must allow the grace of God to shape our identity so deeply that we remain unmoved either by dishonor or by praise. Meekness is allowing the love of God to touch our emotions and affective state as well as the incensive faculty that protects us from sin.  The Scriptures teach us that “the anger of man does not bear fruit acceptable to God.”  The reason for this is that such anger is often driven by an insatiable desire that we be treated in a fashion that satisfies our vainglorious needs or our sense of justice. Anger, however, can become so deeply rooted within the soul that bitterness becomes the lens through which we view relationships, and circumstances of every kind. It can become the log in our eye that prevents us from seeing any goodness in the world or others. Let us, then, listen attentively to what John says and allow him to guide us along this challenging path. --- Text of chat during the group:  00:03:22 FrDavid Abernethy: page 119, para 66   00:18:02 Maple(Hannah) Hong: What page?   00:19:24 Sean: Top of 120   00:20:06 Maple(Hannah) Hong: Thank you, Sean!   00:57:54 Jeff O.: Evagrius talks a lot about the blinding effect of anger on the intellect of the mind, blinding the seer and consequently how meekness allows us to see (know) God   00:58:11 Eric Ewanco: Reacted to "Evagrius talks a lot..." with

"Do not pray for the fulfillment of your wishes, for they may not accord with the will of God. But pray as you have been taught, saying: Thy will be done in me (cf. Luke 22:42). Always entreat Him in this way - that His will be done. For He desires what is good and profitable for you, whereas you do not always ask for this." - Evagrius Ponticus. Swami Sarvapriyananda speaks on Evagrius's teachings on prayer.

We are talking about Evagrius of Pontus again and break down of the sin of wrath. Many people struggle with anger, and Evagrius says that anger and wrath are the enemies of true prayer. When we are angry it blinds us and we often have reactions we wouldn’t normally have or condone. Two things can […]

We are talking about Evagrius of Pontus again and break down of the sin of wrath. Many people struggle with anger, and Evagrius says that anger and wrath are the enemies of true prayer. When we are angry it blinds us and we often have reactions we wouldn’t normally have or condone. Two things can happen: we act on our anger (and later regret it) or we don’t and we feel like a whimp. So…what’s the correct way to react when experiencing anger? Tune in and find out more!

In this episode we discuss acedia as described by Evagrius of Pontus. We often hear it described as sloth or laziness, but a more accurate understanding is “sadness”, “despondency”, or “despair”. Laziness is a symptom and not the sin itself. Fr. Rob and Fr. Conrad break down the main symptoms of acedia and also how to […]

In this episode we discuss acedia as described by Evagrius of Pontus. We often hear it described as sloth or laziness, but a more accurate understanding is “sadness”, “despondency”, or “despair”. Laziness is a symptom and not the sin itself. Fr. Rob and Fr. Conrad break down the main symptoms of acedia and also how to combat this sin. Tune in to learn more!

I've often thought the Desert Fathers were the first and truest of depth psychologists. Their understanding of the human person, the workings of the mind and the heart, the effects of the emotions, and the workings of the unconscious is unparalleled in anything that we have seen before or sense.  Tonight Saint John Climacus, in a few paragraphs, takes us into those depths. He shows us the extent to which we can become conceited and that a false self can begin to emerge and become solidified. Out of their experience the Fathers came to know the many and varied ways that these things manifest themselves and the spiritual remedies to be applied. Disobedience, our inability to hear the truth and embrace it with love, has an impact on every area of our life and every relationship. It can lead to a kind of passive-aggressiveness that hardens the heart and makes us insensible to the needs of others or their goodness. Even Saint John says that he is amazed at the dexterity that we show in all manner of sin and the diversity of evil that flows from it. --- Text of chat during the group: 00:14:17 FrDavid Abernethy: para 81 page 88   00:14:34 Sr Mary of our Divine Savior solt: Hi What page again please   00:14:45 FrDavid Abernethy: page 88   00:14:50 FrDavid Abernethy: para 81   00:15:07 Sr Mary of our Divine Savior solt: Thank u   00:15:49 Sr Mary of our Divine Savior solt: Good to be here   00:31:39 Johnny Ross: The paradox of true freedom is that it is found in obedience and conformity to our spiritual practice as shown by Christ. True freedom is not being able to do what you want. That is the distortion of modernity.   00:35:19 Carol Nypaver: What if bearing with insults  causes suspicion from one's boss in the workplace? At what point can we defend ourselves?  Doesn't justice demand that?   00:37:37 Carol: Like a lamb led to the slaughter, he opened not his mouth   00:38:15 Jeffrey Ott: This seems to align with Evagrius' conversations on meekness and how courage and patience work together, “the work of courage and patience is to know no fear of enemies and eagerly to endure afflictions.”   00:38:36 Ambrose Little, OP: I wonder if some of the genius is that instead of trying to tackle lust head on, it's coming at it from a different angle--one that is less associated with bodily desire. The mental desire for respect/high opinion of yourself (pride), though, is similar in that it is also a disordered desire. So if we learn to tame pride by embracing scorn, that exercise can teach us experientially how to tame lust (or other passions).   00:40:58 Cindy Moran: I have known some who have stayed in an abusive marriage saying they a trying to grow in holiness.   00:48:16 Ambrose Little, OP: Not a few saints have embraced significant personal suffering as a way of penance. Do you think it's ever right to endure, for example, an abusive relationship as a form of penance? Or what about an abusive brother in a monastic community?   01:03:07 Johnny Ross: This ego-centric Self is an illusion used by the prince of this world to control us. What about the tension between love thy neighbor as thyself and pick up thy cross and deny thyself. What is this self referred to here?   01:10:26 Ambrose Little, OP: like a small child..   01:15:45 Lee Graham: What is my motive for doing something a certain way? Seek Pure motives as well as purity of heart.   01:18:29 Bonnie Lewis: Father, I'm afraid you cut out.  I didn't hear what you just announced.   01:18:37 Sr Mary of our Divine Savior solt:

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss a tool for understanding who God created you to be that is deeply rooted in ancient Christian thinking. It's called the Enneagram. The concept of the Enneagram dates back to the earliest centuries of the ancient Eastern monastic movement, to the times of the Desert Fathers. It's most notably attributed to Evagrius Ponticus, who created a list of eight corresponding virtues and vices. These would later be incorporated into the nine points of the Enneagram. So how can Christians use this tool as a part of their ongoing walk with Christ? Episode Links While this podcast provides a great overview of the Enneagram, you can take a deeper dive into it through a four-week series delivered by James Emery White at Mecklenburg Community Church called “Finding Your Way to You: The Bible, The Enneagram and Self-Understanding.” The fourth installment of that series was an interview between Dr. White and author and speaker Suzanne Stabile. She has, by far, written the most thorough and well-researched books on this topic, and has devoted her time to helping people understand how to apply the Enneagram to their life and their relationships. You can find out more about her through her website Life in the Trinity Ministry. Her books, which really should be read in the following order, are: The Road Back to You, The Path Between Us and her latest book, The Journey Toward Wholeness. For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday.

In this episode we talk to Brandon Dahm about his recent article, Correcting Acedia through Wonder and Gratitude. We talk about virtue formation and fight vice, the nature of emotions and acedia, and how practicing gratitude and wonder corrects acedia.  The discussion includes the thought of the desert fathers, Evagrius and Cassian, Aquinas, G.K. Chesterton, and Robert Roberts.

Een verhaal over woestijnvader Evagrius, een bekende schrijver en denker uit de vierde eeuw.

"The seven deadly sins, also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins, is a grouping and classification of vices within Christian teachings,[1] although they are not mentioned in the Bible. Behaviours or habits are classified under this category if they directly give rise to other immoralities.[2] According to the standard list, they are pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony and sloth,[2] which are contrary to the seven heavenly virtues. This classification originated with the Desert Fathers, especially Evagrius Ponticus, who identified seven or eight evil thoughts or spirits to be overcome.[3] Evagrius' pupil John Cassian with his book The Institutes brought the classification to Europe,[4] where it became fundamental to Catholic confessional practices as documented in penitential manuals, sermons such as "The Parson's Tale" from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and artworks such as Dante's Purgatory where the penitents of Mount Purgatory are grouped and penanced according to their worst sin. The Catholic Church used the best of the deadly sins to help people curb their evil inclinations before they could fester. Teachers especially focused on pride, which is thought to be the sin that severs the soul from grace[5] and is the very essence of evil, and greed, both of which underlie the other sins. The seven deadly sins are discussed in treatises and depicted in paintings and sculpture decorations on Catholic churches as well as older textbooks.[1] The seven deadly sins, along with the sins against the Holy Ghost and the sins that cry to Heaven for vengeance, are taught especially in Western Christian traditions as things to be deplored.[6]" --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/antonio-myers4/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/antonio-myers4/support

Learn the meaning of Colossians 1:24, in which Paul claims that he is "filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions."Support us on Patreon:Apply for Saint Paul's House of FormationEmail usMusic by Richard Proulx and the Cathedral Singers from Sublime Chant. Copyright GIA Publications

Learn about the symbolic clothing that bishops wear, where it comes from and what it means.Support us on Patreon:Apply for Saint Paul's House of FormationEmail usMusic by Richard Proulx and the Cathedral Singers from Sublime Chant. Copyright GIA Publications

Learn the liturgical role of the Deacon in divine service.Support us on Patreon:Apply for Saint Paul's House of FormationEmail usMusic by Richard Proulx and the Cathedral Singers from Sublime Chant. Copyright GIA Publications

Hear the meaning of some of the most common traditional Christian symbols.Click here to view a gallery of the symbols covered in this episodeSupport us on Patreon:Apply for Saint Paul's House of FormationEmail usMusic by Richard Proulx and the Cathedral Singers from Sublime Chant. Copyright GIA Publications

Learn about the ancient Church writer Evagrius of Pontus, which of his writings you probably already know about, and why he narrowly misses out on the 'Father of the Church' title.Support us on Patreon:Apply for Saint Paul's House of FormationEmail usMusic by Richard Proulx and the Cathedral Singers from Sublime Chant. Copyright GIA Publications

"We are their bodies," one monk admitted. This week Klaus and Travis examine the practical knowledge the first generations of Christian monks developed for identifying and combatting their demons and the devil himself. Sources:Life of Ant(h)ony by AthanasiusDavid Brakke, Demons and the Making of the Monk : Spiritual Combat in Early Christianity (Also check ProQuest.)John Cassian, Institutes, Book XAndrew Crisplin, “The Sin of Sloth or the Illness of the Demons? The Demon of Acedia in Early Christian Monasticism”Excerpts of Evagrius' PraktikosShenoute the Great, “Because of You too, O Prince of Evil”

Identifying avarice and dejection: 2 of he 8 afflicting thoughts Evagrius teaches us about.

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 they become more like an animal. Their will and their consciousness are driven and controlled by what is not in accord with nature and with how God has created us. The passions, according to Theophan, arise out of the desire to please one's self, selfishness and pride. The passions are sustained by these. When we give ourselves over to them we are dragged along like a young ass on a cord behind its owner. Therefore, the Saint tells Anastasia that she must not be sparing with herself. She has been controlled by these passions even though that they have not dominated her life. He would have her understand our capacity for self-pity and so also our capacity for self-deceit. The passions can seem and make themselves seem attractive. Thus, we must, in accordance with the Scriptures, be sober and vigilant. We must watch and pray. It is this radical alertness the keeps us from falling victim to the relentless attack of the evil one which can be direct or very subtle. When you look inside of yourself you will see all the many subtle attachments that keep you from embracing the will of the Lord. This is the first thing in the struggle with the passions and she must learn this lesson well.   --- Text of chat during the group: 00:17:12 Fr. John (Ivan) Chirovsky: the best modern day book on the passions is:   Therapy of Spiritual Illness: An Introduction to the Ascetic Tradition of the Orthodox Church (Therapy of Spiritual Illness, I,II,III boxed set) Paperback – January 1, 2012 by Dr Jean-Claude Larchet 00:17:23 Fr. John (Ivan) Chirovsky: you can get it in paperback 00:17:44 Erick Chastain: I love those books! 00:38:03 Eric Williams: How, then, do we avoid the heresy of quietism? 00:45:18 Eric Williams: Sorry for being generic. ;) 00:54:23 Eric Williams: Fair point :) 00:57:10 Erick Chastain: LOL I really didn't intend to sidetrack us big time like this 00:57:29 Lilly Crystal: All amazing points :) 00:59:31 Fr. John (Ivan) Chirovsky: It is to be remembered that there is a secular definition of “passion”, for example: “Passion is a feeling of intense enthusiasm towards or compelling desire for someone or something. Passion can range from eager interest in or admiration for an idea, proposal, or cause; to enthusiastic enjoyment of an interest or activity; to strong attraction, excitement, or emotion towards a person” (Wikipedia).  Thus, we have the Western Christian definition in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1767, 1773, where a “passion” is a morally neutral concept. 00:59:50 Fr. John (Ivan) Chirovsky: In the Eastern Christian definition, used here, and in the official catechism of the UGCC: Christ Our Pascha § 795, “passion” is always a vice, one of the eight capital sins.  In the East, a “passion” (from pathos in Greek) is any deadly obsession that seems to be beyond our ability to control, let alone to recognize, in ourselves.  “Passions” arise from “logismoi”, literally “thoughts”, that act on and overcome people, becoming habits of thinking, feeling-willing, and desiring over which we have little or no control.  Thus, a passion is any spiritual “cancer”, poetically described as a “death-bearing” or “soul-corrupting” sin. 01:00:09 Fr. John (Ivan) Chirovsky: Those Eastern Church Fathers, whose works were written between the 4th and 15th centuries and collected and published in the Philokalia-Добротолюбіє, list “by name a total of 248 passions and 228 virtues” (see English language edition, page 205, Volume 3).  The Greek word “pathos” can also mean and be translated as “sufferings, desires, energies, zealous activities, cravings” depending on its context. 01:01:33 Lisa Weidner: Thank you, Fr John 01:02:19 Fr. John (Ivan) Chirovsky: In 375 AD, Archdeacon Evagrius of Pontus (c. 346-399) developed a com¬pre¬hen¬sive list of eight evil assaulting “thoughts” (Greek: logismoi, Ukrain¬ian: помисли).  Through the centuries this was systematized in the East by various saints, mostly St. Maximos the Confessor (590-662).  The assaulting  “thoughts” act on and over¬come people, becoming habits or compulsions of thinking, feeling-willing, and desiring over which we end up having little or no control.  At this point, the “thoughts” are said to have become “passions” (Greek: pathеа, Ukrainian: пристрасті). 01:02:49 Fr. John (Ivan) Chirovsky: In the East, the passions are a distortion, deprivation or misdirection of the intellective, appetitive and incensive powers of the soul.  See Tables at: http://ocampr.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/the-christian-ascetic-tradition-on-dejection-and-despondency-david-holden-2004.pdf.  The “passions” enslave us and thereby are the chief cause of our sufferings.  In liberating us from sin and the effects of sin, our Lord delivers us from our passions as well as the pain which they cause.  St. Gregory the Dialogist (Pope of Rome from 590-604) would revise Evagrius' list to form what, in the West, is today more commonly known as “the Seven Deadly Vices”, or Sins. 01:03:14 Fr. John (Ivan) Chirovsky: St. John “of the Ladder” (Climacus, 579-649) was of the opinion that although the passions (пристрасті) were not directly created by God, they are still naturally good, except for akedia-listlessness, despondency.  In Step 26, 156, of his Ladder of Divine Ascent, he writes: “Nature gives us the seed for childbearing, but we have perverted this into fornication.  Nature provides us with the means of showing anger against the serpent, but we have used this against our neighbour.  Na¬ture inspires us with zeal to make us compete for the virtues, but we compete in evil.  It is natural for the soul to desire glory, but the glory on high.  It is natural to be over¬bearing, but against the demons.  Joy is also natural to us, but a joy on account of the Lord and the welfare of our neighbour.  Nature has also given us resentment, but to be used against the enemies of the soul.  We have received a desire for food, but not for profligacy.” 01:03:29 Fr. John (Ivan) Chirovsky: It is when we use our free will to misdirect the passions from the good towards the evil, that we allow the passions to gain control over us.  This, in turn, is how the thieves, or demons, are empowered by us to rob us of eternal life.  A helpful passage on this latter point regarding what demons do, is to be found in the homily at: https://www.holycross-hermitage.com/blogs/articles-sermons/sermon-for-the-sunday-of-st-john-climacus-2017 01:13:51 Mark Cummings: I hope he was talking to a do 01:13:53 Mark Cummings: dog 01:15:22 renwitter: Mark! :-D Hahhaha. LOL 01:19:19 Lilly Crystal: Pray, Hope and Don't Worry! -Padre Pio  

Religious thinkers and contemporary scientists have seen acedia as a fundamental problem, as it opposes the goal of rest in relationship to the divine and enjoying the goodness of human relationships. Drawing upon Evagrius, Aquinas, and contemporary psychology, Prof. Chris Jones (Barry University) will offer advice on how to identify acedia in the distractions of contemporary life and offers practices to correct its harmful influence.Chris Jones is Assistant Professor of Theological Ethics and Director of the Doctor of Ministry Program at Barry University. This lecture was given to the Morningside Institute on March 15, 2021. The Morningside Institute brings scholars and students together to examine human life beyond the classroom and consider its deepest questions through the life of New York City. For more information about upcoming events, please visit https://www.morningsideinstitute.org.

Rohadi interviews author and spiritual formation director Lisa Colón DeLay in this hour long episode. The two venture through a conversation on spirituality and where the church fits in a modern world in formation. They spend time unpacking some features in the first book from Lisa Delay, "The Wild Lands Within". The landscape around culture, religion, and spirituality is shifting, and how we can engage in our own formation changes with it. Learn new insight on ways to grow personally and spiritually.  The Wild Land Within is an invitation to explore your own flyover country. This book serves as a companion to search the inner and unseen but very real territory of yourself. As we attend to this land within, our journey will involve some issues you may know little or nothing about. There are places of rough and even terrifying terrain. We will learn what makes spiritual growth unnecessarily difficult or extra confusing. To explore this land within means encountering climate and storms, negotiating treacherous topography, and finding creatures both wounded and wild. Explore the secluded territory of the inner life with a gentle and trained companion. In The Wild Land Within, spiritual guide and podcast host Lisa Colón DeLay prepares us to better understand the terrain that changes when we undergo spiritual practices in hopes of spiritual growth. This book:  Now available wherever books are sold. Sign up for some cool interactive points upcoming with Lisa Delay. Find her on Twitter and Facebook as well. May 5 learn about Evagrius https://www.crowdcast.io/e/desert-father-evagrius-/register June 2 book club - https://www.crowdcast.io/e/spark-my-muse-book-club--2 Faith in a Fresh vibe connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram | Cypher Church

Observing the death of a dear friend, Leslie Verner reflects on chronos (clock time) versus kairos, moments that reveal what truly matters. She draws on Madeleine L'Engle's Walking on Water, Thornton Wilder's Our Town, C. S. Lewis's Mere Christianity, George Eliot's Middlemarch, When Breath Becomes Air, Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Jean-Charles Nault, Kathleen Norris, Saint Benedict, Evagrius, and the New Testament. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

February 5 (February 18) ................................................................................................................................ 33 Afterfeast of the Meeting of our Lord in the Temple ........................................................................................... 33 Martyr Agatha of Palermo in Sicily ....................................................................................................................... 33 Repose of Saint Theodosius of Chernigov ............................................................................................................. 34 Martyr Theodula of Anazarbus, and the Martyrs Helladius, Macarius and Evagrius, in Cilicia ................... 38 Icon of the Mother of God “the Seeker of the Lost” ............................................................................................ 39 Icon of the Mother of God “Elets-Chernigov” ...................................................................................................... 41 Icon of the Mother of God “the Rescuer of the Drowning” ................................................................................. 42 --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/an-orthodox/message

The First Disposition: LoveLove is rule one. It's the thing that ought to inform your life.I think most everyone agrees with the wealthy Stoic philosopher, Seneca, who wrote, “There is no enjoying the possession of anything valuable unless one has someone to share it with.”Five minutes of Internet surfing would yield a hundred other aphorisms about the supreme importance of love that most would agree with.But what exactly is it?It's simply this: attraction to other.That's it.But it's crucial. By attracting yourself to other, you are pulling yourself out of yourself, as it were. It's why love is so irrational and magical, yet so manifestly powerful that even logic and philosophy can't deny its importance.Love is what happens when you put yourself second . . . .behind the object loved. Love, then, walks hand-in-hand with humility. Humility is nothing more than self-forgetfulness. It's not self-deprecation or declarations of your worthlessness. It's a disposition that isn't focused on yourself at all.Once you're not focused on yourself, the problems that arise from self-centeredness — the grasping greed, inflamed lust, ego-centered ambition — decrease.You are then better positioned to love . . . and to develop the other dispositions discussed below.“In front of love, passionlessness marches.”Evagrius, The PraktikosTemporal Disposition: The NowThe present moment is the only thing you can control. The past is gone, the future might not even arrive, and if it does arrive, it won't be in the form you anticipate.To live in the present moment is the most common-sensical thing in the world, but it also seems to be the hardest thing in the world, especially in the modern world where everyone seems to be afraid: running from, rushing to, or bracing for . . . something to come.Just stop it. Be in the present moment, softly writing off regrets, calmly refusing to entertain worries about the future. Just addressing the task at hand.If you need to plan responsibly for the future, that's fine. Just try to think about the future only to the extent it depends on the present moment.Yes, it'll take practice, but I'm convinced this very difficult disposition is worth all the wisdom in the world if it can be acquired.And if you want a simple disposition hack, try this: cultivate a spirit of thankfulness. The mere mental act of being thankful contents your mind with something else, taking it off you, past regrets, and future schemes. It's remarkably effective.Also: Cultivate the ability to focus. It's a key to living in the present moment.It's also the third disposition.“Only a man who lives not in time but in the present is happy.” Ludwig WittgensteinDisposition During Active Life: ConcentrationMost people associate “active life” with work: life on the job.But here I mean the active part of life in general . . . pretty much anything that isn't sleeping, meditation, or abject sloth. Work, yes, but also play, whether it's gardening, golfing, socializing, exercising, reading, etc.Whatever you do, focus on it and only it.I realize that's pretty routine advice that's hard for many people to follow, but here are three tips that might help:(1) Tie your focus to humility. Why do you get distracted? Maybe it's because your ego tells you something else might please you more than the task or person in front of you now. Tell yourself that all you deserve is the current task.(2) Understand the “flow.” There are two types of mental effort: “concentration on the task and the deliberate control of attention.” Daniel Kahneman. When you're in the flow, the deliberate control of attention occurs without trying, with the result that your mental energy isn't divided: all of your mental efforts can be spent on the task. Merely by understanding what the flow is and appreciating what's going on when trying to concentrate will make you better at it.(3) Try to imbue everything, even office life, with a spirit of play. Play, the Jungian analyst Robin Daniels points out, occupies that “transitional space” between subject-object: you're focused on an object that you enjoy. The object takes you out of yourself, but you are still having fun. If you cultivate the spirit of play in everything, especially your work, focus follows naturally.“In the intellectual order, the virtue of humility is nothing more nor less than the power of attention.” Simone WeilThe flow is a state of “effortless concentration so deep that [the persons in the flow] lose their sense of time, of themselves, of their problems.” Daniel Kahneman“Blur the distinction between work and play.” Winifred GallagerDisposition of Movement: SlownessWhy, exactly, do we rush?There can be specific reasons, of course. If a kid is drowning, I hope your pace quickens.But in general, why do we rush?I think the answer is pretty clear: it's because we're self-centered. We rush because we're trying (often only semi-consciously) to satisfy something we want.If we slow down, we may not reach our aim. The rushing, in turn, feeds our self-centeredness, “enabling” it, as it were. Our ego inflates even more, feeding a growing frenzy of ambitions, schemes, and plans that we must rush to meet, creating in us a disposition of hurriedness.We need to flip that disposition. We need to slow down drastically and develop the disposition of slowness.It'll let air out of your ego. As your ego deflates, you become calmer. As you become calmer, you start to think more clearly.If you doubt this, try a simple experiment: After a hectic day, drink wine, relax, and observe. The depressant in a moderate amount of alcohol takes you out of yourself by slowing you down, mentally and physically. It calms you, letting you think and see more clearly, and when it does, you normally start to see the goodness of existence.Moving with deliberate slowness is, in my experience, a dry version of drinking wine.“To become a philosopher, start by walking very slowly.” Nassim Taleb“Rushing is a form of aggression.” Robin DanielsDisposition Toward Noise: SilenceThis one is tricky. Noise, after all, isn't something you control, right? That's why your neighbor with the leaf blower sucks. You can simply divert your eyes from an unpleasant sight, but you can't simply divert your ears from an unpleasant noise.Moreover, in the modern world, noise is ubiquitous. Over 50 years ago, Max Picard, a philosopher who detested noise, said the modern world is historically unique because noise was everywhere, as exemplified by the radio:“Radio has occupied the whole space of silence. There is no silence any longer. Even when the radio is turned off, the radio-noise is so amorphous that it seems to have no beginning and no end; it is limitless.”Things have only gotten worse since then.Fortunately, there are two types of noise: inner and outer. You have a lot of control over the inner. You can turn down the volume of the passions that inflame your mind, slow down the parade of thoughts, dull the drumbeats of ambitions that keep you in a state of steady agitation.But you'll have to practice. The noise in our modern world makes it more difficult to practice, but it can be done: by closing the door, using noise-canceling headphones, meditating.Once the volume of inner noise is turned down and you've cultivated the disposition of silence, you will find yourself closer to a state of stillness, which, as Ryan Holiday points out in his recent bestseller, Stillness if the Key, is crucial to a good existence.“Silence is not just the absence of noise any more than peace is the absence of war. It is rather a positive and difficult accomplishment, a state of justice in the soul in which according to the classical formulation stretching back to Plato, each part receives its due in the performance of its proper function.”John Senior, The Restoration of Christian Culture

Text: Proverbs 19:20 Series: “Seven ‘Ups’ for the New Year” Evagrius Ponticus was one of the most influential Christian theologians of the late fourth century, writing around the time of other great thinkers like Augustine, Eusebius, and Basil. The reason that his name is not as familiar among some students of church history as the others I mentioned is because Evagrius chose to pursue his faith and write down his beliefs as a desert monk in Northern Egypt, not in one of the intellectual centers in Alexandria or Constantinople or Jerusalem or Rome. As the story goes, when Evagrius was making transition from societal life to monastic life, he consulted a spiritual elder for advice on how best to make such a transition. And the elder answered with this word of wisdom: “If you wish to save your soul, do not speak unless you are asked a question.” We all know from personal experience how our mouths can so easily land us in hot water, especially when we speak before we think things through. But what the elder whom Evagrius sought out was inviting him to see is how it’s impossible to have anything to say until one has first spent time in silence allowing both the ears and the heart to process what the mouth by itself can never understand. “If you wish to save your soul, do not speak unless you are asked a question.” I sense the same counsel coming from the writer of Proverbs in the passage that’s before us this morning. Proverbs, as you know, is a book of wisdom saying, traditionally attributed to Solomon, considered one of Israel’s wisest kings, and the objective of these proverbs is not just to make us smarter; it’s to make us more faithful. It’s to make us more righteous. It’s to give us the counsel we need in order to save our souls. Someone has said that a proverb is a short sentence that is based on long experience. I like that definition. It’s not just information being imparted in the Proverbs. It’s wisdom. And there’s a huge difference. The good Lord knows we don’t need any more information today; we’re drowning in information. And information comes at us fast and loud and too often in greater amounts than we can process. But wisdom? Wisdom is slower and deeper and much more lasting, which is why we are in something of a “wisdom famine” today. People want more information to be able to get ahead of the game, but it is only wisdom that will save our souls. So, consider this verse from the 19th chapter of Proverbs: “Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise.” At the end you will have found your soul’s salvation. Needless to say, the word that jumps out at me in this proverb is the word “listen.” The Hebrew word means more than merely hearing something, which is all taking in information involves. It means to attend to what we take in, to process it, and then to heed it so that it sets us on a course that makes us intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually formed. I don’t know that any of us is a “born” listener. I say that because of how so many times when we’re in a conversation with someone, instead of “locking in” on what the other person is telling us, we’re already thinking about what we’re going to say in return. And God forbid if there is ever a period of silence between us and another person because that’s just too uncomfortable. And so, when silence comes we try to fill it with some comment or remark or observation as quickly as we can. We are not “born” listeners, and so in order to gain wisdom there is a real sense in which we must become “reborn” listeners. What does that mean? The Bible speaks of Jesus as the author and finisher of our faith, as the one after whom we are called to model our devotion. And one thing we can say about Jesus. Jesus was a listener. I think about the time when Jesus encountered the Samaritan woman at the well and truly listened to her sordid story, a response the woman had clearly not received from any other person in her life. I think about the time when Jesus came across blind Bartimaeus on the outskirts of Jericho and asked him a most searing question: “What do you want me to do for you?” It was probably the first time anyone had ever paid any real attention to this blind beggar. I think about that time when the religious leaders dragged a woman before him who had been caught in the very act of adultery and demanded that Jesus condemn her to be stoned. You remember that story. What was the first thing Jesus did? He did nothing. He bent down and began drawing with a stick in the sand and kept silent. Only then did Jesus offer one of the powerful words of wisdom ever uttered: “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone?” And after the religious leaders left in shame, what then did Jesus do? He listened to the woman. “Where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you?” And when the woman answered that no one had, Jesus showed her mercy and sent her on her way, wiser and stronger in soul. “Then neither do I condemn you; go your way and sin no more.” And most importantly, Jesus listened to God. You’ll remember in the Gospel of Mark when after beginning his ministry with a flurry of healing miracles, his disciples, sensing the momentum rolling in their favor, somehow had lost track of Jesus and couldn’t find him. When they finally located him, they found him in a solitary place, a desert place. “Everyone’s looking for you,” they said to Jesus. But Jesus had understood the importance of going to such a place so that he might better listen to God (Mk. 1:35-37). And how, in the Gospel of John, did Jesus explain his wise counsel to the Jewish religious leaders who had demanded to know where such an unlearned, untrained Galilean rabbi had gotten his religious information, “I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So, whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say” (Jn. 12:49-50). I think you see the pattern that each of us needs to follow. Sometimes we cannot hear God because we will not stop to listen, which when you think about it might be one of the good things to have come out of this season of COVID where so many of our “normal routines” have been disrupted and we’ve been given a chance to ruminate, to reflect, and to listen to what God may have had for us to hear so that we might make progress in, as the writer of Proverbs says, “being counted among the wise,” among those who each day are being formed into the very image of Christ, who as the book of Colossians tells us, is the one in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden (Col. 2:3). Richard A. Kauffman is a book review editor for the Christian Century magazine and a retired Mennonite minister. If you don’t know anything much about Mennonites, they are a peace-loving people who value the importance of prolonged periods of spiritual reflection, which means that they place a high priority on listening to God in the midst of their everyday activity. In an article Kauffman wrote for another publication, titled “Signs of the Church,” he lists about thirty short proverbs he believes captures a faith community that best bears witness to Jesus in a day when too many Christians tend to wear their religion on their sleeve. One of the “signs” got my attention as a preacher. It goes: “Talk only if you can improve the silence” (“Signs of the Church, Christianity Today, January 2007, p. 56). In other words, if silence is for us the default instead of the exception, then perhaps we might see more clearly the way to gaining what we need to know in order to live life in all its abundance. So, I invite you to join me in “clamming up,” which will for me as a preacher require a work of grace that might make me a reborn listener. For only then will we be able to improve the silence because of we have listened to God’s advice, accepted His divine discipline, and be transformed as a result so that at the end of our days we might truly save our souls and for all eternity be counted among the wise. Proverbs 19:20

From the 4th century to the Medieval Ages we slither our way through the Seven Deadly Sins. More deadly than the Deathly Hollows and danker than the Death Star, the Seven Deadly Sins have been a warning to Christians through the ages: take care of your mortal soul!Are they all they're cracked up to be? Maybe yes, maybe no. Listen in to a little background on the Seven Deadly Sins. Let your imagination wild as you hear about how Dante imagined them. Yet fear not! We'll let you know how to avoid h-e-double hockey sticks on Earth.A warning as well (NOW, a warning?) beware of Daleks taking advantage of a bad sound situation.Listen in!*Special thanks to Mike Koening for some sweet sound fx*

Seven deadly sins. It almost seems like a cliché at this point: lust, gluttony, sloth, avarice, anger, pride, and envy. But it wasn't always so in Christian doctrine. Nor is it so for Dante. Join me, Mark Scarbrough, in this interpolated episode of the podcast WALKING WITH DANTE as I begin to explore some of the history of the question of which sins got labeled deadly--and why there are seven of them. (Don't worry: we'll be back to Canto V and the lustful in the next episode of the podcast.) Here are the segments of this episode: [01:02] What are the seven deadly (or mortal) sins? Or more specifically, what is a "sin"? And how does Jesus make a mess out of an otherwise simple definition? [06:17] Evagrius, one of the church's great ascetics, and his list of eight evil thoughts, developed in the late 300s CE. [09:07] Pope Gregory I and the notion of "seven deadly sins"--including two new ones in the list: sloth and envy. [15:07] Dante's INFERNO plays loose and fast with the seven deadly sins. Support this podcast

Acedia ("sloth") is a tricky vice. Most of us face it daily. Does it really mean "laziness"? Dr. Stefana Dan Laing invites us to stay spiritually alert (and stay still) with the help of St. Evagrius. Click here for more resources on acedia. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/living-church/support

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 it alone is perfectly fit to lift us up and heal us. God has given us all. Better yet, He has given us everything – the perfect love of His only begotten Son and the gift of His own Spirit. We are given something far greater than the original innocence of Adam and Eve. We are given a share in the very life of God and all that He asks is that we receive it with humility and gratitude. Our responsibility is simply to embrace His will and providence and to remove any obstacles that may be an impediment to the work of this grace in our lives. If one were to sum up this letter it would be “All is Grace” - grace that must be received with a childlike faith.   ----- Text of chat during the group Fr. John (Ivan) Chirovsky: regarding eastern Christian use of the word "passion". In 375 AD, Archdeacon Evagrius of Pontus (c. 346-399) developed a comprehensive list of eight evil assaulting “thoughts” (Greek: logismoi).  Through the centuries this was systematized in the East by various saints, mostly St. Maximos the Confessor (590-662).  The assaulting  “thoughts” act on and overcome people, becoming habits or compulsions of thinking, feeling-willing, and desiring over which we end up having little or no control.  At this point, the “thoughts” are said to have become “passions” (Greek: pathеа).  A “passion” (from pathos in Greek) is any deadly obsession that seems to be beyond our ability to control, let alone to recognize, in ourselves.  Thus, a passion is any spiritual “cancer”, or “death-bearing” and “soul-corrupting” sin.  The Greek word “pathos” can also mean - and be translated as - “suffering, desire, energy, zealous activity, craving”, depending on its context. Fr. John (Ivan) Chirovsky: In the East, the passions are a distortion, deprivation or misdirection of the intellective, appetitive and incensive powers of the soul.  See Tables at: http://ocampr.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/the-christian-ascetic-tradition-on-dejection-and-despondency-david-holden-2004.pdf.  The “passions” enslave us and thereby are the chief cause of our sufferings.  In liberating us from sin and the effects of sin, our Lord delivers us from our passions as well as the pain which they cause.  Fr. John (Ivan) Chirovsky: St. Gregory the Dialogist (Pope of Rome from 590-604) would revise Evagrius' list to form what, in the West, is today more commonly known as “the Seven Deadly Vices”, or Sins.  [Also in the West, the current edition of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, for example §1767, uses the word “passion” to indicate something that is morally neutral, merely a strong feeling or emotion, and thus not sinful - unlike the way that the word “passion” is used in the East.]  Those Eastern Church Fathers, whose works were written between the 4th and 15th centuries and collected and published in the Philokalia-Добротолюбіє, list “by name a total of 248 passions and 228 virtues” (see English language edition, page 205, Volume 3). Fr. John (Ivan) Chirovsky: St. John “of the Ladder” (Climacus, 579-649) was of the opinion that although the passions (пристрасті) were not directly created by God, they are still naturally good, except for akedia-listlessness, despondency.  In Step 26, 156, of his Ladder of Divine Ascent, he writes: “Nature gives us the seed for childbearing, but we have perverted this into fornication.  Nature provides us with the means of showing anger against the serpent, but we have used this against our neighbour.  Na¬ture inspires us with zeal to make us compete for the virtues, but we compete in evil.  It is natural for the soul to desire glory, but the glory on high.  It is natural to be over¬bearing, but against the demons.  Joy is also natural to us, but a joy on account of the Lord and the welfare of our neighbour.  Nature has also given us resentment, but to be used against the enemies of the soul.  We have received a desire for food, but not for profligacy.”   Fr. John (Ivan) Chirovsky: It is when we use our free will to misdirect the passions from the good towards the evil, that we allow the passions to gain control over us.  This, in turn, is how the thieves, or demons, are empowered by us to rob us of eternal life.  A helpful passage on this latter point regarding what demons do, is to be found in the homily at: https://www.holycross-hermitage.com/blogs/articles-sermons/sermon-for-the-sunday-of-st-john-climacus-2017

Meditation: "Prayer is communion of the mind with God." -Evagrius

St. ArseniusOn the 22nd day of Coptic Month of Baramhat we celebrate the life of St Arsenius the Great.Arsenius was born to wealthy parents in the year 350 AD in Rome. His father was a righteous and honorable senator and judge. They sent Arsenius to the teachers of the Church and he was raised in the fear of God, was eager to read the Scriptures and was ordained a deacon then an arch-deacon by Saint Damasus, the Bishop of Rome.After his parents died, he and his sister, Afrositty, gave all their riches to the poor, and chose to live an ascetic life. Arsenius became famous for his righteousness and wisdom. He was a disciple of Rophenius the monastic historian from whom he admired the Egyptian monastic life and its fathers, and he wished to meet them.When the Emperor Theodosius the Great wanted a man to whom he might entrust the education of his children, Saint Damasus recommended Arsenius. Arsenius accordingly went to Constantinople in 383 A.D. and was appointed to the post by Theodosius.After ten years at the court he seemed clearly to hear the voice of God through the Gospel, "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Matthew 16:26). He left Constantinople and came by sea to Alexandria and fled into the wilderness. When he first presented himself to Abba Macarius the Great, the father of the monks of Skete, he recommended him to the care of Saint John the Short to try him. In the evening, when the rest of the monks sat down to take their meal, Saint John left Arsenius standing in the middle without inviting him. Such a reception was a severe trial to a revered member of the imperial court; but Arsenius accepted humbly.Saint John took a loaf of bread and threw it on the ground before him, bidding him with an air of indifference to eat it if he would. Arsenius cheerfully sat on the ground and took his meal. Saint John was so satisfied with his behavior that he required no further trial for his admission, and said, "This man will make a monk".Arsenius was asked one day why he, being so well educated, sought the instruction and advice of a certain monk who was an utter stranger to all literature. He replied, "I am not unacquainted with the learning of the Greeks and the Romans; but I have not yet learned the alphabet of the science of the saints, whereof this seemingly ignorant Egyptian is master".Evagrius of Pontus who, after he had distinguished himself at Constantinople by his learning, had retired into the desert of Nitria in 385, expressed surprise that many learned men made no progress in virtue, whilst many Egyptians, who did not even know the letters of the alphabet, arrived at a high degree of contemplation. Arsenius answered, "We make no progress because we dwell in that exterior learning which puffs up the mind; but these illiterate Egyptians have a true sense of their own weakness, blindness, and insufficiency; and by that very thing they are qualified to labor successfully in the pursuit of virtue".One of the emperor's officers brought news to Arsenius that a relative of his had passed away and made him his heir. The saint took the will and would have torn it to pieces had the officer not begged him not to, saying such an incident would get him in trouble. Arsenius, however, refused the estate, saying "I died eleven years ago and cannot be his heir".He employed himself in making mats of palm-tree leaves; and he never changed the water in which he moistened the leaves, but only poured in fresh water upon it as it wasted. When some asked him why he did not cast away the filthy water, he answered, "I ought to be punished by this smell for the self-indulgence with which I formerly used perfumes". He lived in the most utter poverty, so that in an illness, having need for a small sum to procure him some little necessities, he was obliged to beg for it.Due to his desire for quiet and solitude, Saint John allowed Saint Arsenius to live alone in a hidden cave in the desert 32 miles away. He would seldom see strangers who came to visit him, but Theophilus, Pope of Alexandria, came one day in company with others to visit him, begging Arsenius to speak some wisdom for the good of their souls. The saint asked them whether they were disposed to comply with his directions; and being answered in the affirmative, he replied, "I entreat you then that, whenever you are informed of Arsenius' abode, you would leave him to himself and spare yourselves the trouble of coming after him".He never visited his brethren, contenting himself with meeting them at spiritual conferences. The abbot Mark asked him one day why he so much shunned their company. The saint answered, "God knows how dearly I love you all; but I find I cannot be both with God and with men at the same time; nor can I think of leaving God to converse with men".Arsenius was known by man for his gift of tears, weeping both over his own shortcomings and those of the world. His tears which he shed continually had worn away his eye-lashes. He lived in this same austere manner till the age of about ninety-five.His brethren, seeing him weep in his last hours, said to him, "Father, why do you weep? Are you, like others, afraid to die?" The saint answered, "I am very afraid - nor has this dread ever forsaken me from the time I first came into these deserts". Notwithstanding his fear, Saint Arsenius died in great peace, full of faith in the year 445.Lessons from this story“He is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much;” (Luke 16:10) As this story tells us, Arsenius was born in privilege and as he escaped the world to the desert to converse solely with God, he weeped for his sins, sins that are so inconsequential to you and me as to be not even acknowledged. But the depth of this great saint, dug deep into his own existence and finding even the smallest of sins weeped for forgiveness.Repentance is an essential part of being Christian. Not only must we walk through hallways of our sins, but even the crumbs on the floor must be acknowledged. But this kind of depth of examination escapes most of us not because this saint is greater than us, but because he detached from the world. Once detached, he examined himself daily, every nuance of his existence. But because we continue to live in the world, our repentance is more focused on the bigger sins, assuming we are honest with ourselves. But just imagine, if you could, stopping everything you are doing right now. Disconnecting from the world, isolating yourself in such a way that no one could contact you. Then all you would have left to examine would be yourself. Those lucky few that have this great time of oneness with themselves are truly blessed.Not a selfish oneness, where you are only focused on the “me”. But a unity between the known “you” and the hidden “you”. The visible “you” that you share with others and the secret “you” you shy away from prying eyes. This is a repentance worthy of saints. A dispassionate and clinical examination of one’s self as an honest judge.This is why we call Arsenius the Great. PrayerLord, please help us be honest with ourselves so that we may pour more of ourselves out and drink in more of you. That we may walk with our eyes wide open with full knowledge of the sins we commit, knowingly and unknowingly, the hidden and the manifest. May the prayers of St Arsenius be with us all, amen.

The first Sunday of Lent invites us to follow Christ into the desert, growing in intimacy with God and the discerning of Spirits. Prayer, fasting and the Scripture are Jesus' chosen weapons. Let us be clothed in Him, fully armed with all spiritual weapons, pulling down strongholds against the Gospel of the Kingdom Welcome to Lent, a 46 day global fast, in preparation to celebrate Easter, the resurrection of the Son of God. Key resources for this message: Fire of Mercy, Heart of the Word: Meditations on the Gospel According to St. Matthew, Vol. 1 of 3. Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis Tallking Back: A Monastic Handbook for Combating Demons by Evagrius of Pontus, 4th Century Desert Father.

Abstract: We often associate sloth with laziness, but is it possible for a culture to be productive and still be slothful? In this talk, Dr Matthew Tan explores how Sloth is arguably the most pervasive of the deadly sins first by understanding it by its original name, the vice of Acedia. Taking its cue from the writings of the desert father, Evagrius of Pontus, the talk would take a deep dive into what the vices do to the life of monastic virtue, and how acedia acts as a spiritual opiate whose affects are more than just spiritual. It will end by looking at how monastic practice can give us clues into providing new responses to this ancient vice. Bio: Dr Matthew Tan is the private secretary of Bishop Tony Randazzo in the Archdiocese of Sydney, and an Adjunct Senior Lecturer in a Theology at the University of Notre Dame Australia. He received his doctorate in Theology from the Australian Catholic University and his License in Sacred Theology at the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas in Rome. He is the author of two books, the most recent of which is "Redeeming Flesh: The Way of the Cross with Zombie Jesus". He runs the blog "the Divine Wedgie" on the Patheos Catholic blog channel, and will soon be launching his theological side project "AwkwardAsianTheologian.com".

Deacon Jared RSS Luke 18:35-43And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way side begging: And hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant. And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried so much the more, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him: and when he was come near, he asked him, saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, “Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee.” And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God. Today’s Gospel begins with what might truly be called a “Gospel” message. The English word Gospel, a contraction of the phrase “Good Spell” which in Old English meant a “Good Tale,” would be more literally translated today as “Good News.” And that is precisely what today’s story begins with, a bustling crowd entering into Jericho as they discuss the good news of their day. The crowd passes by a blind man begging beside the side of the road, and this man asks the crowd what all the excitement is about. They reply that Jesus of Nazareth is on his way. This would be exciting news to anybody, but to the blind man, it is very good news.As the crowd continues to flow past him, the blind man cries out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Those at the front of the crowd try to turn the blind man away, but he perseveres, repeating again, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” This time Jesus hears him and asks for the man to be brought before him. “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus inquires. The blind man does not hesitate, but immediately asks that he might receive his sight. Jesus grants this man his sight, saying that it was “his faith” that had made him well. It wasn’t just the blind man’s belief that Jesus was a great healer, or even the action of crying out to Jesus, but it was his faithful perseverance that had saved him.Why does Luke include this story in his Gospel? Why does the Church read it to us today? Is it simply a miracle story, meant as one more proof that Jesus was indeed God and therefore worthy of our worship? Or is there a more practical message to be found in this story? With this story, more than many others, I think the latter is true. As we prepare right now for the coming of the Light into the world at Christmas, the Church is reminding us that we all live in darkness, that each one of us is blind. Not metaphorically blind, but really blind. We are surrounded by a spiritual reality that we in fact cannot see. We cannot see this spiritual reality because our spirit has become darkened, our heart has become blind. For the Eastern Orthodox Church, the promise that “the pure in heart shall see God” is very real, and thus spiritual blindness is a very real malady. In fact, it is one of the more serious maladies faced by humanity.So what is this “Spiritual Blindness” the Church is reminding us of today? In Orthodox teaching, “spiritual blindness” is a malfunctioning of what in Greek is called the nous and is generally translated into English as “the mind” or “the intellect.” It is the nous St. Paul is talking about in Romans when he teaches, “Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” In modern culture we tend to think of the mind as the source of our person. We say things like, “I think therefore I am.” We think of the mind’s role is to tell our body what to do. But this is not the Orthodox teaching at all. And increasingly, it is not the scientific understanding either.Indeed medical science has become much better in recent decades about understanding the effect of the mind on the body, and the effect of body on the mind. And while science has been a little slower to recognize how spirituality might play into creating a truly healthy person, even here we have had a bit of a renaissance with doctors recommending spiritual practices like meditation or yoga.It is interesting that Christian spirituality almost never enters into the conversation. And this is not science’s fault nearly as much as it is Christianity’s. To a great extent Christianity has offered little to the conversation. Practices such as confession, fasting, prayer, and meditation, once regular practices for Christians, have slowly disappeared from among the faithful. I think this is because the Western Church, along with Western culture, bought into the notion of the human person is a being made up of a body, a mind, and a spirit, three separate parts. And with this in mind, they’ve relegated themselves to saving the spirit and left the body and the mind to the doctors.But for Orthodox Christians, the human person is a unity. The body, mind, and spirit are aspects of the single human person, not parts that can be separated. When God came to save humanity, he came to save us body, mind, and spirit alike. This is why we believe is a bodily resurrection. And just as much as Jesus came to save both the physical and the spiritual, this is also the mission of the Church. We are here to help people both physically and spiritually, and in fact these acts are often deeply connected.So, from the Orthodox perspective, the proper role of the mind is not to direct human action, but rather to function as the gateway or “eye” of the heart. The heart or the soul is where the Orthodox Church seats the person. The Church teaches that a healthy mind both guards what enters into the heart and guides what comes out of the heart. A darkened nous - what the Church describes as “spiritual blindness” – is a nous that accepts evil thoughts and directs us toward evil words and actions.Now most of us think of these evil words and actions as “sins.” But the meaning of the word translated as “sin” would be more properly be translated as something like “missing the mark” or “falling short.” Thus, when these evil words and actions happen, they are not themselves “sin” but rather evidence that sin has corrupted our heart. As Jesus taught, “Every good tree brings forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit.” When the Church teaches that humanity has inherited their sin from generation to generation, it is this corruption of the heart she is talking about.Evagrius Ponticus, and St. John Cassian after him, codified a list of eight categories of evil thoughts or logismoi in the fourth and early fifth centuries. These are thoughts which the nous must try to keep from taking root in the heart, thoughts which would work to conform us “to the pattern of this world.” The list includes gluttony, lust, avarice, anger, dejection, listlessness, vanity, and pride. You will most likely recognize some of these from the Western list of the “Seven Deadly Sins.” This is because Pope Gregory I adapted his list from that of Sts. Evagrius and John in the sixth century. Now when we hear about the “Seven Deadly Sins,” again, we think of a list of seven “very bad things we must not do.” But this is again to confuse the symptoms with the disease. Listen to how St. John Cassian describes a condition like dejection: “When [dejection] seizes our soul and darkens it completely, it prevents us from praying gladly, from reading Holy Scripture with profit and perseverance, and from being gentle and compassionate with our brethren.” He is clearly describing here a spiritual state of being, not a specific wrongdoing.Sins like anger, greed, gluttony, and vanity are every bit as much symptoms of a spiritual illness, symptoms of a heart corrupted by sin. When we begin to understand this, we can see why Jesus taught that to harbor anger in our heart is the same as to murder; to lust in our heart is the same as to practice infidelity; to hoard our wealth is the same as to steal. Realizing this truth can also help us to have compassion for our neighbors. In a legal system that conceives of behaviors as the problem, it is easy to punish or shun of the offender. But when we realize that many of the most offensive behaviors flow from sick hearts, hearts sick with a disease shared by all of us, this realization can help us find compassion as we strive to show love.So if the problem facing the mind is the onslaught of evil thoughts, is it safe to say that the mind is in some serious danger these days? Modern culture has created so many new and stunning ways to spread thoughts across the globe at a faster and faster rate. Life has become a constant barrage of headlines, tweets, and status updates. Some of the ideas we hear are good, some of them are bad, but when we get so many all at once, the task of discernment becomes difficult. And if our mind becomes overwhelmed, even the good ideas can become bad for us.I ran across a great passage, again by St. John Cassian, describing vanity, and illustrating how even seemingly good ideas can become damaging to the soul. “The vice of vanity is difficult to fight against, because it has many forms and appears in all of our activities – in our way of speaking, in what we say as well as in our silence, at work, in vigils and fasting, in prayer and reading, in stillness and in long-suffering. Through all of these it seeks to strike down the soldier of Christ. When it cannot seduce one with extravagant clothes, it tries to tempt them by means of shabby ones.” Here we see that even a seemingly good act like avoiding fancy clothes can become itself a temptation from the Evil One. And not all of these poisonous ideas, these evil logismoi, originate in our culture. The Church teaches that some logismoi, logismoi that seem to originate within us, are like arrows shot at us by the devil and his demons. These logismoi are often temptations to judge others, elevate ourselves, or to act out in anger. These tests often occur suddenly, and the Church suggests we to swat them away just as swiftly. For it is not when these temptations arise, but when they are allowed to settle into our hearts, that they become our responsibility. As John Climacus writes, “When [the demons] take control of the soul and darken the light of the mind, then there is no longer within our miserable souls either temperance, or discernment, or self-understanding, or humility, but instead there is an apathy, a lack of discernment, and spiritual blindness.”So with so many attacks coming from within and without, how are we expected to keep guard over our hearts? What advice does the Church give us? One thing suggested by the Church, is avoiding undue concern for this world. In the version of Unseen Warfare compiled and edited by Theophan the Recluse we are warned to guard our mind from “too much knowledge and curiosity. For if we fill it up with a quantity of information, ideas, and thoughts, without excluding those that are vain, unsuitable, and harmful…it is no longer able to understand clearly what is useful for our true self-correction and perfection. Let tales of the past and news of the present pass you by, and let all the changes in the world and its kingdoms pass before you as though they did not exist at all.” Living in today’s 24/7 news cycle, it is hard to imagine the strength of will that would be necessary to let “the news of the present pass you by.” But this is the recommendation of the Church.And to be clear, this is not about being uninformed, but rather about avoiding indiscriminate consumption of the news, spending hours consuming what often amounts to little more than gossip. The Church is suggesting that you take control of your news consumption, just as you would your food consumption, including even occasional fasts.Also just like food, it is not simply about consuming less, but we should also look at what we consume and work to consume more of the healthy stuff. We are encouraged to seek out and surround ourselves with the good thoughts, or good news. Our written prayers are bathed in beautiful and poetic thoughts, in true thoughts. We should be consuming these daily. And if words are occasionally hard for us to focus on, our Church is well aware of the power of images. Our Church is filled with them. Fill your house, your car, your desk with them as well.Beyond all of this, beyond guarding against the bad thoughts and seeking out the good thoughts, we are ultimately called to free ourselves from thoughts or logismoi altogether. The Church describes a state of the heart where we may attain a true inner peace. This state is called hesychia, often translated as stillness. This does not mean that we stop thinking, but rather that our heart is no longer besieged by invading thoughts and is therefore free to see and to think clearly. St. Maximus teaches that a purified heart will be “wise, good, powerful, compassionate, merciful, and long-suffering; in short, it includes within itself almost all the divine qualities.” Again we hear an echo of that beatitude, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”The work of acquiring hesychia is where prayer and vigils and fasting can be helpful. St. Thalassios teaches, “Tire your body with fasting and vigils, and you will be able to repulse the lethal thoughts of pleasure.” And this is where our little Church, this little sanctuary in middle of Davenport, can be of great service to the community. This little mission has the power to become an oasis of peace and a place of healing. If people are able to come in and for an hour or two “lay aside all earthly cares” and focus on their Lord and God and Savior, can you imagine a better gift than that. John Climacus taught that, “it is the understanding which is obtained through divine illumination that can brighten the darkness present in others.” We must work to bring that peace and light into our own souls, so that we will be able to share that light with the souls of others.It is not just vigils that assist in the pursuit of hesychia, but this is also where the Jesus Prayer is held in such high esteem by the Eastern Church. She knows it is so difficult for the mind to be silent, so the Church gives us good words to use when we struggle to silence the mind. These words are good for every occasion – “Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me.” If repeated in earnest and in faith, Jesus is sure to calm that stormy sea within our heart, just as he once calmed the stormy sea at the cries of his disciples.These words, “Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me,” also bring us back to where we began today, for these are the words of the faithful blind man – “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!” So I hope you can now see how the story of the blind man is not the story of a single miracle in the past, but rather a story selected to encourage each of us to faithfully seek out that same miracle. Each one of us is the blind man sitting on the side of the road. We must be like the blind man and cry out continually, “Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me!” Even when we are distracted by the assaults of the Evil One, we must continue to faithfully cry, “Lord have mercy!” And if we do this, we can be assured that our Lord who is always faithful, will call us to himself and say, “Receive your sight. Your faith has made you well.” Amen.

Evagrius, Cassian and Germanus. Evagrius of Pontus, experiencing the temptations of wealth and power in the Byzantine Church, fled to the deserts of Egypt, where he became the leader of the spiritual descendants of Anthony at Nitria.  Two men—Cassian and Germanus—attached themselves to him, then carried the teaching of the Desert Fathers into Gaul, and […]

Wes and Ethan wrap up our Hate the 8 Season with an overview of Evagrius' teachings on love, dispassion, and finding our salvation in Christ

Wes and Ethan discuss the final passion of their "Hate the 8" Season.  Here they explore the question of why Pride is the most terrible and demonic perversion of all.  By connecting pride with patristic angelology and the vision of glory we realize the heart of human life is in slowly becoming "all eye."  Yes, the truth is that trippy.

Ethan and Wes discuss the 7th Demon of “Vain-Glory” and why it is so dangerous to the life of Christ in us. 

Wes and Ethan explore acedia, depression, and restlessness in relationship to Psalm 91 and the story of Noah's flood.

Ethan and Wes discuss depression and sadness in relation to the Bible and the spirituality of the desert fathers.

Our Lady is calling us to a greater quality and quantity of prayer. I have been encouraging you to spend more time in silence and solitude with Jesus in prayer. So what do you think people give as the number one reason for not spending time in prayer? They are too busy. We all think we are too busy… CCC 2742 We have not been commanded to work, to keep watch and to fast constantly, but it has been laid down that we are to pray without ceasing. Evagrius (cf. 1 Thess. 5:17)  I do not believe we lack time for prayer because we lack love for God. I think the real culprit is that we have been addicted to the routines of our life and these just need to be broken to create new routines and habits.  Luke 5:12-16 Jesus was not too busy to pray  While he was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and besought him, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” And he stretched out his hand, and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him. And he charged him to tell no one; but “go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, for a proof to the people.” But so much the more the report went abroad concerning him; and great multitudes gathered to hear and to be healed of their infirmities. But he withdrew to the wilderness and prayed. Jesus had the power to heal any disease – people flooded him with requests – healing people of horrible diseases is important stuff – Jesus was really busy with all these sick people – but He was not too busy to pray. In the face of all this need – he withdrew to the wilderness and prayed.  Jesus spent time in deep friendship, relationship with His Father in prayer because he built the habit, the routine of prayer.  Mark 1:35 In the morning, long before dawn, he got up and left the house, and went off to a lonely place and prayed there. Peter and his companions set out in search of him, and when they found him they said, 'Everybody is looking for you'. Matthew 14, After Jesus fed the 5000 with the multiplication of the loaves, Directly after this he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side while he would send the crowds away. After sending the crowds away he went up into the hills by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, Luke 22:39 After the Last Supper, Jesus left to make his way as usual to the Mount of Olives, to pray. Notice, Scripture points out, Jesus went to pray, as usual, as was his custom, this was his habit or routine.  Jesus had a deep friendship with His Father because he had the habit, the routine of prayer. Beginning and ending each day in prayer was his way of life. We will not reach deep friendship with God in prayer until we establish the habit, the routine of prayer – it's all about our routines.  I know you want a deeper friendship with God, and you know friendship takes time. Yet you probably find yourself almost powerless to make the change. What's the problem, are you just weak? Do you have no will power? Will-power just means the ability to form routines. The routines we form consciously or unconsciously we can carry out. These routines over time become so powerful they become addictions. There is an old saying, make good habits and become slaves of them. We become slaves to all habits, good or bad. The sub-conscious is powerful. The subconscious is simply habits we have formed into routines of thinking and living. We have built routines in our lives and those routines are so powerful they make us addicts. If we want to make some change, then we must make a break in our ritual, in our routine. We just need to make one change in our daily ritual to change our routine and begin to form new habits to spend more time in friendship with God in prayer. What daily rituals prevent you from spending more time in prayer? What can you do to break one of those rituals and begin anew?

Wes and Ethan explore Jesus' teaching about the dangers of money and greed in the light of Evagrius' spiritual psychology.

Ethan and Wes explore the nature of lust and the notion of  sexual purity by discussing Evagrius, Joshua Harris, and Colossians 3.  

Wes and Ethan get in the hot seat as they try to answer the theological questions of a 10 year old!  Also, anger and prayer.

Wes and Ethan discuss the wisdom of Scripture and Evagrius concerning food. They explore the role of food in our spiritual lives in the modern world.

Ethan and Wes introduce Season 2 “Hate the 8” by discussing why the way of love is made possible by “dispassion.”  In this they show why the Fathers believed that it was a life free from the passions that makes Christian life possible.

Catholic Psyche Podcast’s Group Chat: Hosts: Chris & Dcn. Basil Balke Today the Theologian Therapists discuss Evagrius and his Psycho-Spiritual Model of Development. Resources: www.Mounttaborcounseling.com

Wes and Ethan explore the practice of theology as prayer and healing therapy. The Church Father, Evagrius of Pontus, serves as their guide. Along the way, they delve into the concrete shape of human illness and why and how prayer heals.

Happy New Year! In this episode, we discuss the 4th-century desert monk Evagrius and his contributions to demonology and asceticism. Next week we'll have our second retractions episode.

Volume 2 of the Deleuze Yourself series! In this episode we cover the Rhizome chapter of "A Thousand Plateaus." We'll get back to Evagrius next week. A very happy New Year to you all!

This week, we read Kracauer's essay on photography, and discuss the simultaneous comedy and horror of the mullet, a hairstyle which Eric one day hopes to be able to pull off. Next week is Evagrius's demonological classic: the Praktikos! Dean Detloff's Christianity and Anti-Capitalism course: https://friendlyfirecollective.wordpress.com/2018/11/23/90-online-graduate-course-on-christianity-and-anti-capitalism-in-the-u-s-and-canada/ Political Theology Reading Group: https://politicaltheology.com/reading-group-sylvia-wynter/ And, support us on Patreon! Patreon.com/PTRPodcast

Catholic Psyche Podcast's Group Chat Number 2 Hosts: Deacon Basil Ryan Balke, Chris Wojdak, Sara Stacey This Podcast is not intended to be or to replace medical advice or professional counseling or therapy. The group discusses Evagrius of Pontus, a Desert Father from the 4th century, and his understanding of the "Eight Evil Thoughts". Evagrius was one of the first to develop "cognitive" therapy as both a diagnostic and clinical intervention for psychological maladies. Evagrius' complete works: https://www.amazon.com/Evagrius-Pontus-Ascetic-Christian-Studies/dp/0199297088/ https://www.amazon.com/Talking-Back-Monastic-Combating-Cistercian/dp/0879073292/ Additional information about Evagrius https://www.mounttaborcounseling.com/desert-father-meets-psychotherapist/ www.mounttaborcounseling.com

Presenting more of the back episodes of the History of the Catholic Church series no longer on the main podcast feed. Episodes in this volume: #404 – On Pilgrimage #405 – Evagrius of Pontus #406 – The Conflict over Origen – Part I #407 – The Conflict over Origen – Round Two #408 – The […]

Evagrius the Simple and the sin of boasting. His picture below.

In the 4th Century, in the wake of Constantine legalizing Christianity, loads of people flooded into the church without true conversion. Many chose to keep in step with the powers that be. Constantinople became the “New Rome”, the seat of power for the Roman Empire. Note that when the persecutions ceased, the Church slowly lost its counter-cultural witness and become domesticated. As the Church grew not only in numbers, but wealth and political power, across the Empire, a new movement arose, thousands fled to the Egyptian desert, so much not to escape a spiritually deadening culture, but to do spiritual battle with the devil. Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness was their model. In the desert they would learn how to master their passions, discovering a new form of martyrdom, and in return, provide a prophetic community within the Church, calling her back to the path of transformation. One such figure, Evagrius fled Constantinople to a tiny monastery in Egypt. The desert monasteries were partially communal, leaving the greater part of the day in silence and solitude. Evagrius came to recognize 8 spiritually defeating thoughts which were common battles across the desert communities. Theses were gluttony, lust, greed, vainglory, sadness, anger, pride and acedia. His list of 8 became the basis for what would be later reorganized by Pope Gregory the Great in the 6th C as the seven deadly sins. Gregory folded sadness into acedia (sloth), vainglory into pride and added envy. Great numbers of people from all over the world would flock to these desert hermits for counsel and prayer. They became the true curates, one who cares for souls. Evagrius observed that during the hottest part of the day, from 10 AM to 2 PM, the monks would fall into a stupor and, at times, have delusional thoughts, leading them away from their vocation. After much discernment, a line from Psalm 91:6 caught his attention regarding God’s protection against the plague , the disaster, the destruction at noonday. As a handle for this plight, they named it the noonday demon, and called the effect ACEDIA which came to later be called sloth (shifting the inner wisdom of the heart to more external and physical laziness). What on earth is Acedia and how is discerning its many manifestations relevant today? It is frustratingly difficult to define and impossible is the attempt with one word. The desert fathers considered it the most insidious of all sins. • It’s a sense of moral and spiritual apathy where one just doesn’t care. • It causes us to neglect what we should do by creating diversions that may lead to frivolous activity and distraction. • It aims at leading us away from spiritual growth and relationship with God … this is why its considered one of the top three insidious evils. • It breeds self-pity, to mope, to be dejected, despondent, complacent towards God and his mission in the world. • Acedia is the disease of our modern age and the modern Church, caught in all manner of addictions, some to divert us and others to numb. Kathleen Norris, in her book, Acedia and Me, says its like a spiritual morphine. The pain is there but you don’t feel it anymore. • Acedia breeds a cynicism about God, his Church and his Kingdom. We see this in Nathaniel’s initial attitude upon hearing about Jesus. “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” • Isaiah describes it in his phrase, “No one arouses himself to take hold of me.” • Acedia is faint-hearted; listless, unmoved, unresponsive to God and his Word. It is a spiritual paralysis of the will towards participating in God. • It is often confused with depression but only mimics some of the symptoms. • It is often confused with our modern understanding of SLOTH but goes much deeper than physical and mental laziness.

Christian ascetics like Antony, Macrina and Evagrius create a new ethical ideal by pushing the human capacity for self-control to its limits.

Weekly JourneywithJesus.net postings, read by Daniel B. Clendenin. Essay: *Remembering Romero: Amos the Prophet vs. Amaziah the Priest* for Sunday, 11 July 2010; book review: *The Praktikos and Chapters on Prayer* by Evagrius of Ponticus (trans., 1981); film review: *Blue Gold: World Water Wars* (2009); poem review: *Eleven Addresses to the Lord (7)* by John Berryman.

What's the problem? What gets in the way of our goal to loving God and others? One monk, Evagrius, tells us "the passions" are our problem. Dr. Nassif explains what "the passions" are and how to fight them. He explains the lifelong battle between "the flesh" versus "the Spirit." If you're a monk, or a city-dweller, this podcast will map out the terrain of our spiritual warfare and show you the way to victory through our baptismal beginnings in Christ.