Tag: asceticism
Our real enemy is within our own castle
Often in the course of the liturgical year the Church complains, in our behalf, that we are pressed down under the burden of our own human activity. That seems strange! To be free to do things in our own way would appear, at first sight, to be “the liberty of the sons of God.” But… Read More ›
To see the value and the beauty in ordinary things
One of the most important – and most neglected – elements in the beginnings of the interior life is the ability to respond to reality to see the value and the beauty in ordinary things to come alive to the splendor that is all around us in the creatures of God. We do not see… Read More ›
Enter by the narrow gate
Amma Theodora said, ‘Let us strive to enter by the narrow gate, Just as the trees, if they have not stood before the winter’s storms cannot bear fruit, so it is with us; this present age is a storm and it is only through many trials and temptations that we can obtain an inheritance in… Read More ›
Which is more Important
Someone asked Abba Agathon, “Which is better, bodily asceticism or interior vigilance?” The old man replied, “Man is like a tree, bodily asceticism is the foliage, interior vigilance is the fruit. According to that which is written, ‘Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.’… Read More ›
An Invitation to Interiorness
In short, therefore, it can be said that St Benedict’s message is an invitation to interiorness. Man must first of all enter himself, he must know himself deeply, he must discover within himself the aspiration to God and traces of the Absolute. The theocentric and liturgical character of the social reform advocated by St Benedict… Read More ›
Transfiguration
In the end we are dealing with a phenomenon that transformed the world. When Christ was transfigured on Mount Tabor, he bestowed on history what we now understand to be an uncreated and natural grace. It has affected the way we view the world ever since. Anthony and his fellow anchorites were not just uneducated… Read More ›