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Book review: Passions of the Soul by Rowan Williams

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 by  Brother Christopher   Over many years of working in spiritual direction and speaking to guests and retreatants about their prayer life, a consistent issue that comes up repeatedly is how to deal with distracting thoughts and, more broadly, how to deal with what the tradition has described as “the passions of the soul.” These are what get in the way of resting in God’s presence during formal prayer, while at other times lead us into self-defeating patterns of behavior that seem to have a life of their own. We often feel captive to them, and become discouraged over our seeming inability to keep them from controlling us. Monastic tradition has had long experience learning to understand such passions, and Evagrius and Cassian in particular have written authoritatively about them, identifying pride, lust, anger, gluttony, avarice, sadness, envy, and acedia as what we are dealing with. They have offered sound guidance to keep them from enslaving us. That said, their wisdom has tradi
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The Sacred Pedagogy of Art

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  Part 1 of 2 By Brother Theophan   " I am seventy years of age, and the whole study of my life has been to find out what it is that is in myself; what is this thing we call life, and how does it operate? " - George Inness, 1894   Living around the Hudson has stimulated me to return to the Hudson River School of painting and enter more deeply into this 19 th -century American art movement. Exploring local art museums such as the Clark and the Albany Institute of History and Art, which houses a large collection of Hudson River paintings, along with a recent trip to Olana , has deepened this involvement. Several artists from this school have moved me, but George Inness, in particular, has had the greatest impact on me lately. The Clark Art Institute houses a large collection of his works, available for viewing. Many of the themes that have deeply resonated with me—such as the continuity between waking and dreaming consciousness, the visible and invisible, nature and spi
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A Partnership in Ministry

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  By Brother Gregory   Recently, a Companion asked me what she could do for New Skete. She was sorry that she lives so far away from the monastery, and she felt that she was not doing enough. My response to her question was this: What can the Monks and Nuns of New Skete do for her? It was very clear in her conversation that she cares about people and responds to their needs. With so much sadness and suffering in the world, the monastics have talked about feelings of depression and helplessness as to how to respond to national and world divisions and war. This Companion has no effect on what is going on in Gaza, the Ukraine, or even the political climate in our nation. I reminded her that little acts of kindness can go a long way in lifting someone’s spirit and helping another person to have a better day. It all begins with us individually and how we can have a profound influence on another person. Just a smile, a “Hello,” or a “Good Morning” can have a strong impact on another pers
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That Most Silent of Saturdays

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  By Brother Brennan Christ is risen! Recently, a young composer and cellist, Jennifer Bewerse, recognized New Skete as the inspiration for her newest composition, “Inside Silence.” Jennifer visited here several years ago as a participant in the Cello Seminar, a local music theory and practice workshop led by noted musician and teacher Rhonda Rider at the nearby Brown Farm. After witnessing a bit of our life, work, and worship here at New Skete, she kindly credited us with inspiring her current work, and for our “dedication to developing a rich inner self and spirituality through monastic life.”             I was really impressed with her impressions, I must say, and with her particular attention to the practice of, as well as the incidental occurrence of, silence—whether it be an intentional silence as in meditation, or unintentional as an “awkward lull” in a conversation. Both can be quite mysterious, yet also of great value, often surprisingly so. Something mysterious can of
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The Big 6-0

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by Ida Williams, New Skete Employee This summer I turn the “big 6-0.”   As my oldest grandson said as we were watching fireworks one night, “That’s a big one!” It feels just like yesterday when I was saying, “I’m 50, and I can kick, and stretch, and kick.”   The average life expectancy in the United States is 79 years, so I am in the third-third of my life.    I am pondering about what my life will look like during this final third.   When will I retire; will I travel; will I become a snowbird?   At retirement age, I will have spent more than a third of my employed years working for New Skete.   This monastery that I and so many others love will be celebrating its “big 6-0” in a few years.   Unlike me, New Skete has no thoughts of retirement or scaling back.   During New Skete’s 50th anniversary celebration, we created a commemorative journal highlighting the Then, Now, and Tomorrow of the monastery and its work.    A copy of this journal can be viewed by clicking here. How on
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A Lenten Reflection

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 by  Brother Christopher   There is a healthy tension in Orthodoxy during the weeks leading up to Great Lent. Interestingly, three out of the four pre-Lenten Sundays have forgiveness as their principal theme: the Publican and Pharisee, the Prodigal Son, and Forgiveness Sunday. It is as if the Church intends to have us experience the true meaning of forgiveness before Lent even begins, so that our Lenten observance is less one of “earning” God’s forgiveness through our ascetic practice, and more our response of gratitude for the forgiveness we have already received. Now, while that might be a consoling thought, such forgiveness is not the whole story. Sandwiched between the Sunday of the Prodigal Son and Forgiveness Sunday is Judgement Sunday, which offers a salutary counterbalance to any temptation to take God’s forgiveness for granted. So let’s reflect a bit on Matthew’s apocalyptic scene in chapter 25 of his gospel and that scary word “judgement,” which can make us twitch in our
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Monks on the Move

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  by Brother Christopher   It is not often that monks get to travel, given that our focus is on living the monastic life in this particular community. However, occasionally situations come up when travel is warranted, and one such opportunity presented itself recently for Brothers Christopher and Theophan. The Institute for the Study of Eastern Christianity at Catholic University of America was hosting a conference titled “Ascetic Practices and the Mind: Mental Healing in Eastern Christianity” on March 1-2. We found out about the conference when Robin Darling Young, one of the theology professors at Catholic U and an organizer of the conference, paid a brief visit to New Skete last fall. During the course of her visit she learned that Brother Theo had a background in neuroscience, and she mentioned to us how the conference planners were looking for an Orthodox participant(s) whose interests were in both spirituality and neuroscience. She took advantage of the synchronicity to inqui
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