Originally published at National Catholic Register
The podcast’s launch coincides with the Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope, which Bishop Varden sees as particularly significant.
Bishop Erik Varden of Trondheim, Norway, has announced a new collaboration with EWTN and Exodus 90 to produce The Desert Fathers in a Year, a podcast series launching Jan. 1, 2025, that aims to bring the wisdom of early Christian monasticism to modern audiences.
The series, with the first episodes recorded at the Cistercian monastery of Nový Dvůr in the Czech Republic, will explore the teachings of the desert fathers and mothers — the first Christian monks and nuns who retreated to the desert in the fourth century to seek God through prayer and asceticism.
“We live in a desert of distractions,” Bishop Varden told CNA. “The desert fathers show us how to find true joy and meaning through the love of Christ. They learned to master distractions and temptations through prayer and silence, and this can inspire us to find direction in life.”
The podcast’s launch coincides with the Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope, which Bishop Varden sees as particularly significant.
“St. Benedict wrote: ‘Never lose faith in God’s grace.’ This is a pillar for us
