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Desert Monks

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August 2020

August 25, 2020

Abba Theon And The Robbers

Abba Theon was an educated anchorite who lived in his cell for over thirty years....

July 2020

July 08, 2020

Flattery

"Woe to you, when all men speak well of you, for so their fathers did...

July 01, 2020

We Must Not Take Pride In Any Apparent Victory Over Sin

When we overcome some temptation, when we are victorious against sin, we must be careful....

June 2020

June 25, 2020

We Must Not Let Our Discipline Get In The Way Of The Greater Good

It is good for us to develop a way of life, a discipline or rule...

May 2020

May 08, 2020

The Walking Self-Righteous Dead

Those who are self-righteous, those who are so self-absorbed in their own ideas of righteousness...

April 2020

April 24, 2020

God Does Not Throw Us Away

Hans Urs von Balthasar suggests that the way many of us treat the concept of...

April 17, 2020

To Freely Speak With God

Often when we pray, or rather, when we try to pray, our heart is not...

April 07, 2020

Grace or Judgment

The desert fathers and mothers wanted to establish a utopian like community in the desert....

February 2020

February 20, 2020

Querida Amazonia and the Desert Fathers: The Wisdom of Humility

The Sayings of the Desert Fathers often provides monastic wisdom which can and should be...

December 2019

December 05, 2019

To Be A Good Guest

Hospitality is one of the many virtues promoted within Scripture. Perhaps no better representation of...

December 02, 2019

Do The Good You Can Do

“Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in...

August 2019

August 27, 2019

In Honor of St. Moses the Ethiopian

Palladius, in the Lausiac History, relates of a remarkable story of St. Moses the Ethiopian....

April 2019

April 16, 2019

The Best Inheritance

“When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous, but dismay to evildoers”...

April 02, 2019

Virtue Unites What Has Been Divided

Sin divides and destroys what is good, including and especially the existence of that which...

March 2019

March 26, 2019

We Must Go With Those In Need of Our Companionship

“Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the...

March 19, 2019

Amma Sarah And Gender Essentialism

We know little about Amma Sarah; she is a saint of the church, whose feast...

March 12, 2019

Humble Love

The Christian way is the way of love. Love is not boastful, it is not...

March 05, 2019

Purity of Heart

We all tend to look to others, desiring the approval of our peers. There is,...

February 2019

February 19, 2019

Teaching with Authority

Teaching, especially teaching in a leadership position, guiding others so they learn not only what...

February 11, 2019

Learn From Silence

While St Moses the Black became one of the great monks of the Scetis, looking...

January 2018

January 02, 2018

St Pambo And The Spirit Of God

He said of Pambo that Abba Anthony used to say of him, ‘Through fearing God,...

December 2017

December 18, 2017

The Good Of Prayer

A brother asked Abba Poemen, saying, ‘Is it good to pray?’ The old man said...

December 14, 2017

When We Trip And Fall In The Pilgrimage Of Life, God Is There Ready To Help

One of the normative phases of spiritual development is found when a spiritual pilgrim goes...

December 04, 2017

Never Put Your Selfish Desires Above The Good Of Your Neighbor

Abba John said, ‘Our Father, Abba Anthony, said he had never put his own personal...

November 2017

November 22, 2017

Legalistic Condemnation Must Give Way To The Humble Spirit Of Love

Abba Anthony predicted that this Abba Ammonas would make progress in the fear of God....

November 06, 2017

Greatness is Found in Humility

One day Abba Macarius the Great came to Abba Anthony’s dwelling on the mountain. When...

October 2017

October 25, 2017

True Greatness is Found in Love

Abba Amoun of Nitria came to see Abba Anthony and said to him, ‘Since my...

October 10, 2017

The Book Of Nature

One of the sages of that time came to Anthony the just and said: Father,...

September 2017

September 27, 2017

We Must Transcend Ourselves

And he said this, "If he is able to, a monk ought to tell his...

September 19, 2017

We Must Root Out All Forms of Racism

We must struggle with the racism within ourselves. We must realize it is not always...

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