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Daily Meditations

The Purpose and Method of Christian Life (Part VIII). Virtues (Part IV): Balance

08/30/2017

According to the fathers of the Conferences, the result of developing discretion and discernment is the manifestation of the fourth virtue on our list, namely, balance. This balance is described by Abba Moses as the “royal road,” upon which a monk is not made proud by virtue nor drawn down so as to give in to vice.33 Christian life, Abba Moses assumes, invites one both to laxity and to possible over-corrections in the pursuit of

Saintless Christianity

08/29/2017

By Father Stephen Freeman What would Christianity mean if there were no saints? To rephrase the question: What would be the meaning of the Christian gospel if there were no wonderworkers, no people who had been transfigured with the Divine Light, no clairvoyant prophets, no healers, no people who had raised the dead, no ascetics living alone in the deserts for years on end, no beacons of radical, all-forgiving love? What would be the meaning

You Are Not Important

08/28/2017

I think there are basically two paths of spiritual transformation: prayer and suffering. The path of prayer is taken by those rare people who consciously and slowly let go of their ego boundaries, their righteousness, their specialness, their sense of being important. In the journey of prayer, as you sink into the mystery of God’s perfect love, you realize that you’re nothing in the presence of God’s goodness and greatness, and that God is working

Patience (Part III): Patience as a Characteristic of Prayerful Living

08/25/2017

Patience Is Practical Patience is practical in that it is necessary, within chronological time, to overcome obstacles to seeking God and barriers which prevent openness to God’s grace. It is a factor that contributes to transformation. Patience is also a manifestation of an open and God-filled life. It is a characteristic of a manner of life which embodies God’s presence. Patience was seen as an alternative to the mind’s and the ego’s need for “immediate

FROM CHARISMATIC PRAYER TO CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER

08/24/2017

If we have been involved in charismatic prayer for some time, we should not be surprised or disappointed if this style of prayer calms down over the years to a simple resting in the presence of God. The traditional role of God the Holy Spirit is to conform us to God the Word, Who then ushers us into the silent depths of God the Father. This Trinitarian simplification happens at God’s own initiative. In early

The Purpose and Method of Christian Life (Part VII). Virtues (Part III): Discernment and Discretion (Part II)

08/23/2017

The Christian, then, must be on guard against doctrines and scriptural interpretations that lead to ruin-she must develop discernment to see such ideas for what they are. But perhaps even more pressing, according to the Conferences, is the need to develop discretion. According to the fathers of the Conferences, discretion is an intellectual virtue much like discernment, except a Christian applies discretion when considering not which ideas, doctrines, and scriptural interpretations to embrace, but when

The Long Defeat and the Cross

08/22/2017

By Father Stephen Freeman Few ideas contrast as starkly to our modern myths as Tolkien’s view of history as “the long defeat.” I have been very interested in the continuing comments that struggle with the perceived pessimism of such a phrase. I have refrained from commenting at length myself, for the very reason that I wanted to do so in an article. For the nature of the long defeat that is the Christian life and

Giving Birth to God

08/21/2017

Many of the early teachers of the Christian Church believed in an ontological, metaphysical, objective union between humanity and God, which alone would allow Jesus to take us “back with him” into the life of the Trinity (John 17:23-24, 14:3, 12:26). This was how many in the Early Church understood and experienced “participation.” It proclaimed our core identity as the beginning point (Ephesians 1:3-12), not external practices of any type. We had thought our form

The Purpose and Method of Christian Life (Part VI). Virtues (Part II): Discernment and Discretion (Part I)

08/18/2017

Both discernment and discretion involve the Christian’s development of a correct relationship with various ideas and concepts. They are intellectual virtues in that to display them means to recognize certain truths and realities clearly, without being deceived. Abba Moses defines discernment in the first conference as the ability first to avoid any kind of incorrect doctrine or idea that might lead a monk astray. Whatever has found entrance into our hearts, and whatever doctrine has

I DON’T HAVE TIME TO PRAY

08/17/2017

This is something that really separates the sheep from the goats. Tessa Bieleckie once defined the contemplative life as “the art of stealing time.” If you have ever spent time in communities of monks or friars or nuns, you will see firsthand that even in communities that officially value contemplation, the practical demands of earning income, keeping rather large premises reasonably clean, and apostolic initiatives leave time for little else other than liturgical prayer (which

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