Interrupting the Silence

Category: Asceticism

  • Sacred Monotony, Resting in God

    St. Augustine said that our hearts are restless until they rest in God. “Resting in God” sounds like a great idea but it often seems we are too busy to take time to rest in God. The restlessness continues. So we try to do or schedule just a little bit more, thinking that maybe that restless Read more

  • What Might You See By Turning Aside?

    When I look at my to-do list and my calendar I do not see “turning aside.” I suspect that is true for most of us. We live busy lives. To do lists are long, calendars are full, and time is short. There is no time for “turning aside.” It is not productive or efficient to Read more

  • Whom Do I Treat Unjustly?

    “But whom do I treat unjustly,” you say, “by keeping what is my own?” Tell me, what is your own? What did you bring into this life? From where did you receive it? It is as if someone were to take the first seat in the theatre, then bar everyone else from attending, so that Read more

  • What Are You Giving Up For Lent?

    “What are you giving up for Lent?” I suspect we have all heard this question many times. We have probably even asked it of another or ourselves. Unfortunately, it seems this one question often sets the tone for the season of Lent. The Ash Wednesday liturgy calls us to observe a Holy Lent, in part, Read more

  • The Last Anchorite

    In a previous post I mentioned Father Lazarus, a hermit on the mountain of St. Anthony. His life is one of detachment, silence, and solitude. Those things are not about absence but rather presence. They are practices and ways of life that open us to the very heart of God. They are interior conditions that Read more

  • Extreme Pilgrim – A Journey to St. Anthony’s Monastery

    The following video (about an hour) is a BBC production documenting the journey of Father Peter Owen-Jones, an Anglican priest, to the monastery of St. Anthony in the Egyptian desert. Father Peter is going to the desert where “there’s no escape, there’s no distraction” and we face and deal with our “issues.” He will live Read more

  • “If You Consider Me Wise, Become As I Am”

    Today, January 17, is the Feast of St. Antony of Egypt. We remember with thanksgiving his life and seek his prayers and guidance for our own lives. His biography, The Life of Antony, was written by St. Athanasius. St. Antony’s desert journey began one Sunday morning in a small Egyptian village in the year 270 Read more

  • Epiphany, Wise Men, and Watchfulness

    In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” (Matthew 2:1-2) I believe, that at some Read more

  • Get Up Again

    A monk came to Abba Sisoes and said: “What should I do, Abba, for I have fallen from grace?” And he replied, Get up again.” The monk came back shortly after and said: “What shall I do now, for I have fallen again?” And the old man said to him, “Just get up again. Never Read more