Episode
The Evergetinos: Book Three - Chapter II, Part IV
- Podcast
- Philokalia Ministries
- Published
- May 19, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3573
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Summary
There is something almost incomprehensible in this passage from St. Anastasios and St. Maximos because it reveals just how surrounded we are by mercy while continuing to behave as though condemnation were wisdom. The Fathers do not merely tell us not to judge. They overwhelm us with reasons not to judge. They show us a universe saturated with the patience of God, the intercession of angels, the prayers of saints, the tears of repentance, the mystery of hidden transformation, the power of baptism, the healing of affliction, the medicine of chastisement, the compassion of Christ, and the joy of Heaven itself over the salvation of even one sinner. And still we condemn. That is the horror. We condemn while standing inside the greatest revelation of mercy the world has ever known. St. Anastasios says plainly: you do not know what has happened between God and that soul after the moment you witnessed his sin. Not five years later.Not tomorrow. Ten steps later. That is how quickly grace can act. A man may fall publicly and repent secretly.A woman may appear outwardly shattered while inwardly clinging to God with tears unknown to the world.A soul everyone has dismissed may already be visited by the Holy Spirit. And the Fathers insist that we understand this: we know almost nothing. We see fragments and imagine ourselves judges of the whole human being. We see behavior but not wounds.Actions but not warfare.Falls but not repentance.Scandal but not tears.Weakness but not humility.Temptation but not hidden prayer. Worst of all, we do not see what God Himself is doing inside another person. The Fathers say there are souls purified through illness.Souls purified through humiliation.Souls purified through temptation.Souls purified through demonic assault endured with thanksgiving.Sou…