Anthony Lilles

Anthony Lilles, STD, a graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville, completed his graduate and post-graduate studies in Rome at the Angelicum. His expertise is in Saint Elisabeth of the Trinity and the Carmelite Doctors of the Church. He is currently a professor of spiritual theology at St Patrick’s Seminary and University in Menlo Park, CA. Previously he was a founding faculty member of St. John Vianney Theological Seminary, and afterwards an associate professor at St John’s Seminary for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. In 2012, Discerning Hearts published his book “Hidden Mountain, Secret Garden: A Theological Contemplation on Prayer,”. Through Emmaus Press, he and Dan Burke wrote “30 Days with Teresa of Avila”and Living the Mystery of Merciful Love: 30 Days with Therese of Lisieux. . And, his book “Fire from Above” was published in 2016 by Sophia Institute Press. Prof. Lilles assisted Dan Burke in founding the Avila Institute and the High Calling Program for priestly vocations. He podcasts at www.discerninghearts.com, offers retreats to religious communities, gives spiritual conferences and lectures on the Catholic Spiritual Tradition.

Articles By Anthony Lilles

Marriage, Prayer and the Cross (Part I of III)

Venerable Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan exhorted the faithful while he was in prison, “If you desire peace, you will have to fight continuously.” This constant struggle is true not only for the heart but also for the sacredness of marriage.  Our culture has come to despise the faithful love of husband and wife.

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St John of Avila: Learning the Language of God (Part I of II)

St John of Avila’s master work in the spiritual life is Audi, Filia or Listen, O Daughter.  This treatise for Sancha Carrillo, one of his penitents, was started while he was imprisoned by the Inquisition. He continued to develop and revise the original text for more than thirty years. In fact, the final revisions were

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The Beatitude of Peacemaking in the Body of Christ (Part III of III)

Peacemaking A troubled reader writes… “Although I am a convert to Catholicism, I am sad and offended that the Catholics would forget what Jesus would do with regards to breaking bread with any of his children. I too am a Eucharistic Minister and I would never turn anyone down from breaking bread with their fellow

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The Beatitude of Peacemaking in the Body of Christ (Part II of III)

A troubled reader writes… “Although I am a convert to Catholicism, I am sad and offended that the Catholics would forget what Jesus would do with regards to breaking bread with any of his children. I too am a Eucharistic Minister and I would never turn anyone down from breaking bread with their fellow man

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The Beatitude of Peacemaking in the Body of Christ (Part I of III)

A troubled reader writes… “Although I am a convert to Catholicism, I am sad and offended that the Catholics would forget what Jesus would do with regards to breaking bread with any of his children. I too am a Eucharistic Minister and I would never turn anyone down from breaking bread with their fellow man

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Prayer and Orthodoxy

Prayer and Orthodoxy Dan Burke recently began posting a three part response, in the National Catholic Register, to a question about false teaching on prayer.  The question was how do we know when a teaching is false. The answer is not easy, but even in the very first part of his answer, Dan gets us

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Pilgrimage of Faith & Christianity’s Unvanquished Hope

I recently accompanied a group of pilgrims from the Tatra Mountains of Poland to Warsaw for the Year of Faith. Twenty years ago, the Pilgrim Pope came to celebrate World Youth Day in Denver and spent time in prayer in a retreat center, high up in the Rocky Mountains.  We decided that we would go to

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The Solidarity of Christian Prayer

Faith in Christ opens us to unconquerable ecclesial horizons even when love seems impossible and the world is falling apart around us. It is about the solidarity we have in Christ. The solidarity that compels us to pray in terms of “we” and “our” instead of remaining on the level of “I” and “mine.” The

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St Hildegard of Bingen on Receiving Holy Communion

At the center of the spiritual life is the real presence of Christ Jesus given to us in the Eucharistic worship He instituted for our sake.  Saint Hildegard of Bingen, Doctor of the Church, reminds us of the proper disposition we must maintain throughout our worship.  It is a disposition of quaerere Deum, a reverent

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