173 – Chastity, Integrity and the Desert Fathers – Bishop Erik Varden

Erik Varden, bishop of Trondheim, Norway as well as Trappist monk, joins the podcast to discuss his new book Chastity: Reconciliation of the Senses.

Topics discussed include:

• Recovering the true meaning of the word "chastity"
• Continence and chastity are not the same thing
• What the Desert Fathers can teach us about chastity
• Why we need to meditate on the original vocation of man before the Fall rather than limiting our options to what our sinful nature is capable of
• Why having a sense of dignity in one's masculinity or femininity helps us to be chaste
• The importance of friendship between men and women
• The redirection of eros

Links

Erik Varden, Chastity: Reconciliation of the Senses https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/chastity-9781399411400/

Élisabeth-Paule Labat, The Song That I Am: On the Mystery of Music, trans. Erik Varden https://litpress.org/Products/MW040P/The-Song-That-I-Am

Thomas's 3-part essay inspired by the Labat book https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/mystery-music-part-i/

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