Tonight we concluded letter 18 to the young Anastasia. The Saint works very hard to help her understand what the “one thing needful” for us is as Christian men and women. We must subordinate all things to the spiritual and in doing so this brings about a kind of harmony within the person; a harmony of thoughts, feelings, desires, undertakings, relationships, and pleasures. Simply put the St. Theophan tells us, this is “Paradise”. It is to live in the peace and the love of the kingdom. It is this that we must guard and protect and we must learn the ways that such harmony can devolve into disorder. While there can be external influences that disrupt our lives, Saint Theophan warns Anastasia this sympathy for the things of the world already exists within us in a subtle fashion. The disorder and confusion that we experience within is fed by the turbulence of the world and then once again re-enters the human heart. But make no mistake, he states; it begins within and with a predisposition toward sympathy with the things of the world. It is the nature of the interior disposition and its origin that Theophan will discuss in the next letter.
---
Text of chat during the Zoom meeting:
01:04:21 Fr. John (Ivan) Chirovsky: just a reminder: "how to form an orthodox Christian conscience" would help us to understand the things that St Theophan and his contemporaries would have taken for granted as familiar to members of a a devout Christian family.....
http://www.pravmir.com/how-to-form-an-orthodox-conscience/#ixzz3e6KPm2PA
Letters of Spiritual Direction to a Young Soul - Letter Forty Part III and Letter Forty-one Part I
Letters of Spiritual Direction to a Young Soul - Letter Forty Part II
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Seventy-six Part II and Homily Seventy-seven
Letters of Spiritual Direction to a Young Soul - Letter Thirty-nine Part II and Letter Forty Part I
Letters of Spiritual Direction to a Young Soul - Letter Thirty-eight Part II and Letter Thirty-nine Part I
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Seventy-six Part I
Letters of Spiritual Direction to a Young Soul - Letter Thirty-seven Part II and Letter Thirty-eight Part I
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Seventy-five Part IV
Letters of Spiritual Direction to a Young Soul - Letter Thirty-seven Part I
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Seventy-five Part III
Letters of Spiritual Direction to a Young Soul - Letter Thirty-five Part I
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Seventy-five Part II
Letters of Spiritual Direction to a Young Soul - Letter Thirty-four Part I
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Seventy-four Part IV and Homily Seventy-five Part I
Letters of Spiritual Direction to a Young Soul - Letter Thirty-three Part II
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Seventy-four Part III
Letters of Spiritual Direction to a Young Soul - Letter Thirty-two Part II and Letter Thirty-three Part I
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian - Homily Seventy-four Part II
Letters of Spiritual Direction to a Young Soul - Letter Thirty-one Part II and Letter Thirty-two Part I
A Special Message from Philokalia Ministries
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Tangent on Veritas Catholic Network
Life After Ministry
Devoted To Prayer
Conspirituality
Human Design: Your Personal Blueprint for Life