Tag Archive for ‘Evagrius of Pontus’
A School for Prayer (21)
Mind-in-the-heart Prayer By Fr Craig Larkin SM, 1943 – 2015 Hesychastic Prayer in the Eastern Church (2) A spirituality of the ‘heart’ in Christian tradition As far back as the time of the Desert Fathers, the question was raised: “Where does prayer take place? In the mind? In the heart? Or somewhere else?” Evagrius of […]
A School for Prayer (14)
By Fr Craig Larkin sm, 1943 – 2015 The Desert Experience Sinai – John Climacus and prayer of the heart From Egypt to Sinai The great flourishing of the Desert period in Egypt was to last only about 100 years. Though remnants of this period in Egypt would remain through the centuries (and still remain […]
School for Prayer (13) Evagrius of Pontus (5) – The human person in Christ
By Fr Craig Larkin sm, 1943 – 2015 Putting it Together According to Evagrius’ teaching, the human person, with its strengths and struggles, can be illustrated like this: How the Logismoi operate The Fathers, following Evagrius, outline a number of ‘stages’ in the struggle with the logismoi. 1. Provocation – the logismos simply appears. 2. […]
School for Prayer (12) – Evagrius of Pontus (4)
By Fr Craig Larkin sm, 1943 – 2015 Building up Resistance Each of the logismoi is resisted or counteracted by a virtue or a good habit: To resist the logismos of Gluttony Be moderate in eating and drinking Undertake fasting from time to time or don’t eat between meals Do manual work Develop the habit […]
A School for Prayer (11) – Evagrius of Pontus (3)
By Fr Craig Larkin sm, 1943 – 2015 ‘Thoughts’ or logismoi are the most significant things for Evagrius of Pontus, and he considers that these are at the beginning of difficulties for anyone on the spiritual journey. What causes us trouble is not our feelings or even our actions, but first of all our thoughts. […]
A School for Prayer (10) – Evagrius of Pontus (2)
By Fr Craig Larkin SM, 1943 – 2015 ‘Thoughts’ are the most significant things for Evagrius of Pontus, and he considers that these are at the beginning of difficulties for anyone on the spiritual journey. What causes us trouble is not our feelings or even our actions, but first of all our thoughts. Logismoi Evagrius […]
A School for Prayer (9)
Evagrius of Pontus (346—399) and the Eight ‘Thoughts’ By Fr Craig Larkin SM, 1943 – 2015 Hardly known in the West, Evagrius of Pontus nevertheless is one of the most significant influences on spirituality in both East and West. Evagrius belongs to the third generation of Desert Fathers. His spiritual father was Macarius the Great. […]
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