Father Gabriel, a schema-archimandrite, converted from Catholicism to Orthodoxy through baptism in Moscow on the eve of the Dormition of the Holy Theotokos, August 2010. Yes, he is a member of World Orthodoxy, but he addresses some very important points concerning the spirituality of the Desert Fathers. These Desert Fathers were called by God to live apart and to practice the essentials of Christianity: love of God, our neighbor, and ourselves. Without the true love of God, our prayer life is non-existent.
What follows is a very interesting interview dealing with Father Gabriel's studies and prayer life that eventually led to his own conversion from Catholicism to Orthodoxy. It is interesting that he believes that Roman Catholics will not convert as a group to Orthodoxy, but only as individuals, and that most Catholic religious are probably not even open to Orthodoxy because they are not being taught to live and breathe the spirituality of the Desert Fathers, which is so essential for monastic life and for the Orthodox life of laity.
Since Roman Catholicism has lost contact with its Eastern Orthodox roots, it has been searching for mystical experiences in the non-Christian East. In the excerpt below, Father Gabriel talks about the practice of yoga, Zen, reiki, and so on that has infected Roman Catholic religious - both men and women.
The [Catholic] monks are the ones who practice yoga, Zen, reiki, and so on. When you tell this to Russian monks they are shocked, they can’t imagine this is happening. I do not judge them; thank God, it is our Lord Who will judge the world and not me. But it means that people are not looking for a solution, an answer within their own tradition. They are looking outside of it, in non-Christian religions. To me, Catholic monks practicing Zen meditation is like Zen monks praying the Stations of the Cross. It is completely absurd. In Buddhism, suffering has a different origin; it is overcome in a different way from in Christianity. There is no crucified Savior. Why should they meditate on the Stations of the Cross? Of course, they do not.
When I was in a Catholic monastery, I experienced the promotion of Buddhism through the spread of the retreat tapes by Thomas Merton. This was the primary reason why I left the convent and did not return when they begged me to do so. I was seeking a deeper prayer life, a life I only found within Holy Orthodoxy. One of the first books that I read on my journey to Orthodoxy was the Sayings of the Desert Fathers by Sister Benedicta Ward, an Anglican nun.
That Father Gabriel and Sister Benedicta can read, study, and live the examples provided by the Desert Fathers, but not convert readily to True Orthodoxy shows how blessed we are to have been called by God, for it is a calling.
p.s. I have given much thought about where to place this thread. Miscellaneous does not fit as Father Gabriel is no longer a Catholic. World Orthodoxy might be a suitable place, but Praxis seemed to be the best fit as living the examples provided by the Desert Fathers is so important to our spiritual life.
