On January 17, the Church celebrates St. Anthony Abbot, one of the great Desert Fathers whose radical search for God in the wilderness laid the foundations of Christian monasticism. More than sixteen centuries later, the wisdom of the Desert Fathers continues to speak with striking clarity to modern hearts.<\/p>\n
Desert Fathers in a Year with Bishop Erik Varden<\/p>\n
Bishop Erik Varden and the Wisdom of the Desert<\/p>\n
For Bishop Erik Varden, Prelate of Trondheim and a Trappist monk, that encounter with the Desert Fathers has been deeply personal. Reflecting on his first experiences with their writings, he recalls how their simplicity revealed a profound spiritual depth.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d read about Desert Fathers and I\u2019d read the short collection of sayings before I\u2019d joined the monastery,\u201d Bishop Varden said, \u201cbut it was when I was in novitiate I realized just how important this body of literature is.\u201d<\/p>\n
What struck him most was their dialogical nature. \u201cThese sayings\u2026 always, always like dialogues,\u201d he explained. \u201cA young monk coming to the older monk, having a problem and having a quivery of asking, \u2018Father how can I live with this, what do I do with this?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The answers, Bishop Varden noted, remain timeless. \u201cI found the answers to be so penetrating, so true and so timeless and often disconcertingly addressing precisely what was going in my own heart.\u201d<\/p>\n
Praying Through the Desert Fathers Today<\/p>\n
That living encounter with ancient wisdom lies at the heart of \u201cDesert Fathers in a Year,\u201d a weekly video series launched with Exodus 90, produced in collaboration with EWTN, and guided by Bishop Varden. The series invites viewers to pray their way through the teachings of the Desert Fathers over the course of a year.<\/p>\n
Anthony Johnson, filmmaker with EWTN Vatican, explained how Bishop Varden\u2019s monastic identity shaped the entire project. \u201cBishop Eric Varden, he’s a Trappist monk, and everything that he prepared in his content was done through this lens,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n
Filming followed the bishop\u2019s real-life journey. \u201cThe place where we started first with our series was a Cistercian abbey in the Czech Republic,\u201d he noted. \u201cBasically throughout the year, Bishop Eric Varden was speaking at various monasteries and conferences throughout the year, and we would just try to meet up with him wherever he was at.\u201d<\/p>\n
From there, the team continued filming in Rome and beyond, capturing monastic life and sacred places that echoed the spiritual landscape of the Desert Fathers\u2019 texts.<\/p>\n
From the Desert to the Modern World<\/p>\n
As the year drew to a close, the series culminated in what the team described as an \u201cepic pilgrimage\u201d through Italy\u2014following the path of St. Benedict, who translated the desert tradition into a rule of life that shaped Christian civilization.<\/p>\n
For Bishop Varden, visiting these foundational sites was initially only a hope. \u201cTo begin with, it just seemed like a bit of a dream to go to the foundational sites and record,\u201d he said. \u201cBut then it ended up being possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
He emphasized that the desert is not limited to geography. \u201cThe desert isn’t necessarily made up of sand,\u201d Bishop Varden explained. \u201cYou made the point right at the beginning of the series that, you know, the modern city is in many ways a desert.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jamie Baxter, CEO of Exodus 90, described the impact of visiting Subiaco and Monte Cassino for the first time. \u201cI got to experience firsthand, on a first impression, the different geographies of these places,\u201d he said, \u201cwhich made the significance of them, for Benedict, obvious to the senses.\u201d<\/p>\n
The journey itself became a lesson. \u201cThe topography says so much about the spiritual journey,\u201d Bishop Varden reflected. \u201cThe experience itself is basically a human one and unchanging.\u201d<\/p>\n
For EWTN filmmaker and creative of the EWTN Travel App Anthony Johnson, the project also changed how he views his work. \u201cIt\u2019s the series that I think had the most impact on me in my work as a content creator,\u201d he said, noting how audience responses revealed the series\u2019 pastoral reach.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen people are commenting from the heart,\u201d Johnson explained, \u201cit really is motivating\u2026 it\u2019s meaningful, it\u2019s impactful, it\u2019s reaching people, it\u2019s touching them, and it\u2019s helping them get through difficult times.\u201d<\/p>\n
That, he added, is precisely why the Desert Fathers still matter. \u201cThese desert fathers, they\u2019re relatable and they\u2019re just like us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Each year, Exodus 90 begins ninety days before Easter, inviting participants into a season of prayer and preparation shaped by the Desert Fathers. In 2026, the journey begins on January 5 and leads to Easter Sunday, April 5\u2014a modern pilgrimage guided by voices from the ancient desert.<\/p>\n
Adapted by Jacob Stein. Produced by Anthony Johnson; Camera by Alberto Basile; Video edited by Anthony Johnson.<\/p>\n