Desert Fathers with Bishop Erik Varden

The Desert Fathers offer timeless insights for our growth in self-knowledge and holiness. Join Bishop Erik Varden every week!

[Desert Fathers with Bishop Erik Varden @DFIY_Show]

In Episode 22 of Desert Fathers in a Year, we continue our journey into the wisdom of the Desert Fathers, focusing on self-mastery through the lens of Abba Makarios’ life. This episode explores the delicate balance between personal asceticism and communal charity, drawing from a saying in the Systematic Collection of the Desert Fathers. Host Jamie Baxter and Bishop Erik Varden reflect on how the Fathers discreetly practiced austerity while prioritizing love and fellowship with others.

[Matthew Balan ن @MatthewJLB]

St. Moses is 1 of the Desert Fathers featured in the @DFIY_Show podcast. Do listen to this episode & then start from the beginning: https://t.co/khFxqj2cEr

[Exodus 90 App @Exodus90App]

5 ways to prepare for St. Michael's Lent (which starts this Friday!) https://t.co/0gS3Nqegzx

[Desert Fathers with Bishop Erik Varden @DFIY_Show]

New episode premiering now: https://t.co/V0BRzCTEVu

[Desert Fathers with Bishop Erik Varden @DFIY_Show]

Do you have a question for Bishop Varden? Submit your question to [email protected]

[Desert Fathers with Bishop Erik Varden @DFIY_Show]

New episode of the Bonus Roundtable for Desert Fathers in a Year!

[Desert Fathers with Bishop Erik Varden @DFIY_Show]

Struggling with lust and anger? The Desert Fathers knew the battle well. In this episode, we unpack Abba Poemen’s wisdom, the difference between eros and porneia, and why true freedom in Christ challenges our culture’s myths about sexuality.

[Desert Fathers with Bishop Erik Varden @DFIY_Show]

New Episode of Desert Fathers in a Year!

Necessary Words: Confession, Freedom, and the Danger of Silence

[Exodus 90 App @Exodus90App]

O God, Remember your servant Pope Francis, whom you have called from this world to yourself. Grant that he who was united with your Son in a death like his, may also be one with him in his Resurrection, when from the earth he will raise up in the flesh those who have died, and transform our lowly body after the pattern of his own glorious body. Amen.

[Desert Fathers with Bishop Erik Varden @DFIY_Show]

Want to ask Bishop Erik Varden a question?

You can submit your question to [email protected] for our Live Q&A at the end of this month.

[Desert Fathers with Bishop Erik Varden @DFIY_Show]

Episode 16: The Monk and the Actress

Do you have a question for Bishop Erik Varden? Submit your question to [email protected].

[Desert Fathers with Bishop Erik Varden @DFIY_Show]

Jamie, Doyle, Jared, and Adam discuss episode 15 of @DFIY_Show: Penthos.

[Desert Fathers with Bishop Erik Varden @DFIY_Show]

“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.

[Desert Fathers with Bishop Erik Varden @DFIY_Show]

“Woe is me, for Your name is all around me, yet I serve Your enemies!” - Abba Isaiah

Compunction is the piercing realization of our own sin—a painful but necessary wake-up call. It’s not just guilt, but the sorrow that leads to transformation. Do we truly want to be healed, or are we clinging to what keeps us broken?

New episode of @DFIY_Show 👇

[Desert Fathers with Bishop Erik Varden @DFIY_Show]

ICYMI: 👇

[Desert Fathers with Bishop Erik Varden @DFIY_Show]

Happening TONIGHT!
https://t.co/Bh6WAM20wo

[Desert Fathers with Bishop Erik Varden @DFIY_Show]

Happening TONIGHT!
https://t.co/Bh6WAM20wo

[Desert Fathers with Bishop Erik Varden @DFIY_Show]

Did you catch the new episode of DFIY?

Abba Moses faced racial contempt from monks who tested his humility. He chose silence over retaliation, revealing inner peace. His vulnerability and mercy, not weakness, defined him—a lesson in gracefully rising above prejudice.

[Desert Fathers with Bishop Erik Varden @DFIY_Show]

New Bonus Roundtable discussion for DFIY!

Jamie, Doyle, Adam, and Jared from the @Exodus90App team meet to discuss Bishop Varden's reflection on Episode 12 of Desert Fathers in a Year, Staying Put.

[Desert Fathers with Bishop Erik Varden @DFIY_Show]

Episode 11: Flee, and Be Saved

Abba Mark said to Abba Arsenius: ‘Why do you flee from us?’ The elder said to him: ‘God knows that I love you. But I cannot be with God and with people. The myriads and chiliads on high have one will; human beings, meanwhile, have many wills. Therefore, I cannot abandon God in order to walk among people.’

New episode of @DFIY_Show.

[Desert Fathers with Bishop Erik Varden @DFIY_Show]

Everyone wants peace.

In this week's roundtable discussion, Jamie, @doylembbaxter, @minihan8, and Dr. Jared Staudt discuss cultivating peace in your daily life.