In the Heart of the Desert Quotes

“Prayer is learning to live, without expecting to see results; it is learning to love, without hoping to see return; it is learning to be, without demanding to have. We cannot live and love and simply be, unless we are consumed by a total commitment to detachment.”
― John Chryssavgis, In the Heart of the Desert: The Spiritualilty of the Desert Fathers and Mothers

“For, as I always like to say: ‘It is not possessing something that is harmful, but being attached to it.”
― John Chryssavgis, In the Heart of the Desert: The Spiritualilty of the Desert Fathers and Mothers

“The brothers asked Abba Agathon: “Among all good works, which is the virtue that requires the greatest effort?” He answered: “Forgive me, but I think that there is no greater labor than that of prayer to God. For every time a person wants to pray, one’s enemies, the demons, want to prevent one from praying, for they know that it is only by turning one away from prayer that they can hinder one’s journey. Whatever good works a person undertakes, if one perseveres in them, one will attain rest. But prayer is warfare to the last breath.”
― John Chryssavgis, In the Heart of the Desert: The Spiritualilty of the Desert Fathers and Mothers