Wisdom for the Desert of our Time
Episode 17: The Fear of God
What does it really mean to “fear God”? Is it about trembling anxiety, or something deeper — something life-giving? In this reflection, Bishop Varden explores a striking saying from Abba Peter: “A man who puts his trust in that which is not God, such a man has not the fear of God in him.” He unpacks holy fear—not as terror but as awe-filled reverence, a recognition of God’s overwhelming majesty and our utter dependence on Him. Drawing from Isaiah's powerful vision of the temple, we consider how encountering God’s holiness reveals our need for purification, humility, and deeper trust.
Episode 16: The Monk and the Actress
In this episode of Desert Fathers in a Year, we reflect on the moving story of Abba Pambo, whose encounter with an actress in Alexandria reveals powerful lessons in compassion, humility, and zeal. Moved to tears, Pambo recognizes both the tragedy of a lost soul and his own need for greater devotion to God.
Episode 15: Penthos
“Through tears, a man acquires virtue.” — Abba Moses
The Desert Fathers wept—not from despair, but from compunction: grief born of love, of knowing how far we’ve wandered from the One who made us for joy.
Their tears weren’t weakness. They were strength, longing, and the beginning of salvation.
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Wisdom for the Desert of our Time
Modern life is like a desert, parched for the life-giving water that Jesus promised to woman at the well. The Desert Fathers offer timeless insights for our growth in self-knowledge, charity, and holiness.
Meet Bishop Varden
Erik Varden is a Cistercian monk and the Bishop of Trondheim in Norway.
He has become a leading Catholic voice through his writings that engage our secular culture using the language of beauty to point us to the centrality of our search for God, even when we look in the wrong places.
A Catholic convert during his studies at Cambridge, he discovered the monastic tradition and the Desert Fathers, inspiring his own vocation at Mount St. Bernard's Abbey in England where he eventually became abbot.
He guides us through the insights won in the spiritual combat of the ancient desert which direct us to what we need most today: the love of Christ that conquers all obstacles.
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