The Secret Desert Wisdom Every Man Needs | The Catholic Gentleman

Wonderful! Awesome! Thank you!

God bless you Father David and interviewers. This is one of the most meaningful, eloquent, articulate and powerful 'orators' I've ever heard❤Thank you❤❤❤

Thank you guys for all you do here!

I needed this 45 years ago

I've been following Fr. Abernethy's recordings on Isaac the Syrian and Cassian thru another popular Catholic website (won't reference their name here out of respect for you) for many months now and love it. I was a Benedictine novice 10 yrs ago, didnt persevere, but have been HANGRY for Desert Fathers ever since. Much needed in our day and age. Thanks for having him...hope you have him back.

This video was something that I absolutely needed. I have long felt the desire to "go into the desert" but never really had a tangible or useful way of approaching this (small-v) vocation or calling. Thank you Sam and John for having Fr Abernathy on your show and allowing him to elucidate something that I have long felt drawn to and now know where I can go for further reflection and, God willing, more fully engage in a life that I have long felt drawn to.

This was a wonderful episode, gentleman! I didn't listen to it all in one go, but I'm very happy to have finally finished it! :) A wonderful episode, thank you. And God bless you all!

Wow. This was incredible. I started reading the Philokalia a couple months ago and have been seeking a modern Catholic perspective incorporating this spirituality (I don’t really want to become Orthodox). So this talk, and Fr. Abernethy’s work, has been a godsend. Big thanks to ‘The Catholic Gentlemen’ for doing this.

The church has always hesitated when It.came to hesychasm... silencing of the passions... like a zero mind zen thing... i have personally felt the great stability of the west that you would skeptically look at hesychasm... read john ruysbroeck about the hesychasts... not to discredit the eastern fathers , I love them... but I think the great boast of Rome that it has not fallen comes true in this as well...

I am so blessed by this🙏🏾thank you. This was a great reaffirmation.

Wow. Literally what the spirit has been telling me these past 2 days.

I absolutely love this conversation, especially as an Eastern Catholic. I live about an hour north of Pittsburgh and I'd LOVE to meet Father David some time. The pandemic and my personal family situation has made it very difficult to have the intimate ties to the Church that I so desperately need, and this helps a lot.

What a blessing. I'm going to have to listen to this again and take notes. And, please have Fr. Abernethy back; you guys work very well together. Looking forward to diving into those 400+ podcasts; where to begin? Thank you for showing how asceticism is a real path (or tool) to a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ and the meaning of this eternal journey with Him. Peace.

Thank you for having this conversation. I particularly appreciated it as a former Orthodox who was received into the Melkite Eparchy a few months ago. One can be both Catholic and Eastern.

This is a great episode! 🤯

Sam and John - It was a real pleasure to work with both of you and to have the opportunity to talk about the Fathers. God bless your ministry and hopefully we can collaborate in the future.

This was excellent! Please make this a series and not just a one time event.

The journey is strange. Ascetism appeals to me for practical reason. Just like millenials have embraced fasting. However, I did Exodus 90 that forced me to do some ascetic practices. Guess what? It continued on... hence i'm watching this video. In between, my own practice and enlightenment has shown me that it is time for me to meet where my Lord is. I have always made him come to me. Going to him is the ascetic part. Because he said that where he is, his servants will be. I never fully realized the meaning of that until I actually did something where I go at a distance at a time inconvenient just to meet him. A Danish proverb says, "A friend's place is never far." Something I need to learn. Great video.

Many thanks!

Thank you for having Father David Abernathy. He was my first introduction to an entire world of Christianity that I never had known existed in my first 26 odd years growing up Lutheran. I am now in RCIA and I cannot get enough of the desert fathers and other spiritual teachings of our beautiful true faith. Glory to Father, Son, Holy Spirit.

Excellent. I hope there is a part 2 and 3!

Contemplative/quiet/hesychastic prayer can only be known by practicing and experiencing it. You can read about and reference it to get a basic understanding of it before you start practicing it. Whereas reading about it stirs up the intellectual reasoning process, practicing contemplation quiets the intellect and puts the reasoning process to rest. It is an experiential state of mind.

The external and internal sensations are disciplined by the ascetical aspect of contemplation. The mind rests in that the mind's attention ceases to be captured and carried away by the sense perceptions. But the mind remains alert and generally aware, merely watching but not engaging in the dynamic or drama that is occurring in the soul or psyche. The mind watches or is aware of the urges, emotions, thoughts and images in the awareness. But the mind neither desires to entertain them nor desires to push them away. Desire, aversion, fear, anger, discomfort come to rest. The attention learns not to be carried away by trains of thought or captured by images. This is the purification aspect of contemplation.

The mind becomes aware of the anatomy of the soul and the dynamic in the psyche. When the psyche rests, the soul's self-inflicting ailments cease. Contemplation is healing also.

The theory is that the Spirit dwells in the inner chamber of the soul, the center of the heart. This chamber is veiled or hidden behind the clutter in the soul which needs illuminating and cleaning before it can be discovered. Like the woman who lost the silver coin, lit a lamp, and cleaned house in order to find that which she had lost. She represents the intellect, her house represents the soul, the lamp represents contemplation, finding the coin represents reunion with what the heart treasures.

The awareness no longer distracted by and attending to sensations, urges, emotions, thoughts, and images in the mind, can then find and enter its inner chamber where the Spirit awaits and rests. Contemplative prayer is the Sabbath rest of prayer.

We had a great time with Fr. David Abernethy. Let us know anything you appreciated hearing in the comments.