O The intersection of bad thoughts is a necessary condition for the struggle with sins and passions.

Sin is not born in a person's soul right away. The holy fathers say that it begins with adverb or accusations... In Slavic, to take a hit means to collide with something.

The adjective arises in the mind of a person from the impressions of what he saw, for some other reason or as an image imposed by the enemy - the devil, but it comes against the will of a person, without his permission and participation. Man himself is free to accept the adposition in his heart or to reject it. If the adposition is accepted, he is already thinking it over, becoming his own. Fathers also call it a combination of or an interview with a thought.

The third stage is inclination to thought , or sucking when the will has fallen so much under the influence of sinful thought, has become so close to it that a person is already ready to take action. Sin is already halfway committed in thought. As the Lord says in the Gospel: "From the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, perjury, blasphemy" ( Mt. 15:18). Thus, showing where the sin begins - from the "evil thought" about it. And the apostle James writes: "Lust, having conceived, gives birth to sin, and the sin committed gives birth to death" ( Jacob 1:15).

A sinful thought that has settled in the soul and heart will surely someday turn into action. A person who allows himself immodest looks, does not keep his sight and hearing from seductive pictures, who has impure, prodigal thoughts in his mind, cannot remain chaste. The same can be said about any passionate thought: anger, despondency, or drunkenness. Sin begins with the thought of it, let's drive away the thought - we will cope with sin.

“Can anyone take a fire in his bosom so that his dress does not burn out? Can anyone walk on burning coals so as not to burn their feet? " ( Proverbs 6: 27-28), - asks the wise Solomon.

Those who want to lead a spiritual life should remember that bad thoughts need to be put to death in the bud, "smash their babies on a stone" ( Ps. 136). And the germ of a thought is (as mentioned above) an adposition. He is a thing that does not belong to us at all, but like some kind of malicious insect that seeks to fly into the slightly open window of our consciousness.

Once, in a book on psychology, I found the idea that our thoughts are not at all our property and an absolute product of our mind. What we think is the result of many reasons and circumstances: upbringing, living conditions, the time in which we live, the country in which we were born, etc. For example, if we were born in a different country, at a different time, or received a different upbringing, we would think differently. Thus, what we think is not really our thoughts, they can arise in us for very many reasons beyond our control. (It should also be added that Orthodox people are well aware that bad, sinful thoughts can come from another source, and this source is well known). Of course, these remarks about thoughts concern only thoughts that are not rooted in the mind, if a person accepted a thought and began to ponder it, he already becomes akin to it, it becomes his own. And so psychologists advise separating bad thoughts from good ones and making a “divorce” with bad ones, that is, not letting them into your consciousness, not considering them yours, but to good thoughts, on the contrary, “woo” and be friends with them in every possible way, replacing the bad, gloomy ones. , aggressive thoughts are bright, kind, positive. I liked this idea very much, but how surprised I was when I read almost literal, very similar advice from Saint Theophan the Recluse: “It is a great mistake, and a common mistake, to regard everything that arises in us as blood property, which we should stand for as ourselves. All sinful things have come to us, therefore it must always be separated from ourselves, otherwise we will have a traitor in ourselves. Whoever wants to wage war with himself must divide himself into himself and into the enemy hiding in him. Separating from yourself a certain vicious movement and recognizing it as an enemy, then convey this consciousness and feeling, revive in the heart a hostility towards it. This is the most salutary means to drive away sin. Every sinful movement is kept in the soul through the feeling of a certain pleasantness from it; therefore, when dislike for him is aroused, it, having lost all support, disappears by itself. "

Indeed, sin and filth cannot be a part of the soul, it is not inherent, not akin to man, we were created pure, light, purified by the waters of Holy Baptism. Here is a child who has just been baptized, he is pure, he is like an angel of God, and “everything sinful is that has come to us,” it comes only later. And only by accepting it in ourselves, agreeing with it, we ourselves plant sin in our soul. And then it's already hard to kick him out.

Shield of Faith

We must establish in our minds a kind of filter, to decide which thoughts are desirable for us, and which must not be allowed on a cannon shot. How can parents block children's access to certain websites or TV channels? Another example can be cited. When the doorbell rings, we do not immediately open it without asking: "Who is there?" No, we first look through the peephole and only after making sure that it is a person we know is calling, we let him into the apartment.

You don't need to be afraid of thoughts, but you don't need to talk to them either.

Once, in my youth, I confessed to an experienced priest that I had been tortured by sinful thoughts, and he gave me this advice: “Take thoughts as something external that has nothing to do with you. We can not always control the thoughts that come to us, but it is in our will: to accept or not. " Let's say: a person is sitting in the house. The windows and doors are closed. Outside the windows there is a storm, a blizzard, bad weather. But they do not harm him until he opens the window. But once you open it, bad weather will burst inside and it will become uncomfortable and cold. Likewise, thoughts are inevitable, but they should not enter the soul and defile it. One Western theologian said, "We cannot forbid birds to fly over our heads, but we must not allow them to nest in our hair." You don't need to be afraid of bad thoughts, but you don't need to talk to them either. It is very important to learn in time and very quickly to recognize a bad idea and cut it off already on the periphery of consciousness, when it just approached us. Also, everyone needs to know their weakness (a tendency to melancholy, irritation or prodigal incitement) and especially to follow the thoughts in this area. "He who is forewarned is armed."

It is very important not only to get rid of sinful thoughts and not allow them into your soul, but also to fill it with other, spiritual, bright, kind thoughts. After all, there is a law - "nature abhors a vacuum." And spiritual nature too. Remember the parable, how an unclean spirit leaves a person and the expelled one wanders through the wilderness, then returns and, finding his place unoccupied, brings 7 of his most evil demons. A holy place, as they say, is never empty.

Saint Theophan advises to put, after the expulsion of evil thoughts, at the very entrance to the soul, as it were, a shield and not to let them back in: “And for this, hasten to reestablish in the soul the convictions opposite to those on which the embarrassing thought rests”.

Every passion is opposed by an opposite virtue. Similarly, every sinful thought can be opposed by an opposing, virtuous one. For example: prodigal - chaste, pure; angry - benevolent; the thought of condemnation is the thought of justification, pity for one's neighbor, etc.

In conclusion, I will give one more piece of advice from Bishop. Theophanes - to begin the struggle with thoughts with a prayer to the Lord, the Saints and the Guardian Angel. So that we do not attribute the success of spiritual warfare to our own efforts, but only the help of God. You need to find your main passion and fight it both actively and in your thoughts. This abuse will never stop. “But it is getting easier and easier ... or it will be more and more convenient and convenient to overcome it. And experience will be added; so it won't be difficult to notice and reflect. "

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How to deal with sin?

The easiest thing (although it can be difficult) is to prevent sin by deed; it is much more difficult not to sin in thoughts and feelings; and it is extremely difficult to change the disposition of the heart, that is, to heal your passions. How do we do this?

Any reason for doing things must be cut off, namely: not to put ourselves in a situation leading to a sinful deed, to predict in advance situations in which we may find ourselves in order to protect ourselves from temptations, and so on. Discourse, consideration and attention are needed here.

Thoughts must be resisted, firstly, by inattention to them, by prayer, and secondly - to “counterthinks”, “oppositions” - that is, to oppose sin with good, cultivating virtues opposite to sin. Finally, passions: fighting them is a real cross, patience and humility are needed here, and most of all - prayer, trust in God and non-despair. Resistance to passions can last for a very long time, a whole life - it depends on the acquired strength of passions before turning to God.

The struggle with sin is a complex thing; here both victories and defeats are possible, when we nevertheless admit sin - in deed, word, feeling, thought. When this happens, you do not need to fall into confusion, despair, etc., but you need to immediately resort to repentance.

On the inner work of repentance

Repentance (here we are talking about an act of internal repentance, not about the Sacrament itself) is not something amorphous, like a kind of confused self-reproach of the soul. Nor is it some kind of internal hysteria. Repentance has its own internal order and order, which is very well defined by St. Theophan the Recluse. Here's what he writes.

There is repentance:

1. awareness of your sin before God;
2. reproaching yourself for this sin with full confession of your guilt, without shifting responsibility to other people or circumstances;
3. determination to leave sin, to hate it, not to return to it, not to give it a place in oneself;
4. prayer to God for the forgiveness of sin, until the spirit is pacified.

Let's take a look at this definition of St. Theophanes.

1) Awareness of sin before God, - that is, not just a statement of sin, namely sin before God. This implies, At first, faith, and Secondly, necessarily personal relationship with God, connection with Him, communication with God. And this realization is not a record of some formal violation, but a living feeling that sin has separated me from God, that what I have done is unpleasant to my God, I have upset, offended, insulted God. Repentance is not digging into oneself and not cold self-report, but a living feeling that sin has separated me from God. He who does not have such a feeling is in danger of formalizing his inner life.

2) Reproaching yourself that is, imputation of responsibility for sin. Very often we tend to shift responsibility to circumstances, to other people, to demons, and to justify ourselves; but it is important to realize what exactly we wrong before God.

3) You need to put decision to resist sin, do not return to him, whatever the cost to us. Without this, repentance will not be repentance, but will simply turn into some kind of hypocritical statement of fact. It is imperative to set yourself up to resist sin. Experience shows that this point is especially lame in all of us.

4) Praying to God for forgiveness- because on our own we can do nothing, but only the Lord forgives us, calms our heart, returns Himself to us and comforts us.

Here is such a penitential movement of the soul d O it is false to pass every time our conscience convicts us of sin, even the smallest one. For, let's say, "minor" sins, this internal repentance is often enough, while significant sins require already taking them to confession, because the heart is not at peace with just the passage of the indicated repentant internal work.

"Graduation" of sins

Here it is necessary to return again to the fact that there is a sin. There are "sins to death" deadly sins(cf. 1 John 5:16). These include, among others, two kinds of the most common and serious sins: prodigal sins and sins proudlysti... Deeds of fornication are clear to everyone, but deeds of pride are often incomprehensible to those who repent. The sin of pride in relation to God is fierce resistance to God, and in relation to people - cruelty and mercy. Fornication deprives us of our human dignity, our integrity, and deeds of pride resolutely turn away from us the humble, merciful and good God, as completely opposite to Him.

These are sins, so to speak, objective, they always have their effect - separate us from God - no matter what we think about it. Other sins not mortals, increase or decrease their sinfulness in accordance with the moral state of the soul, that is, they depend on our subjective disposition. For example, I did not read the rule in the evening. Is it a sin or not? If I came home from work barely alive, fell into bed and fell asleep - of course, this is not a sin. If I thought: “Oh, okay, the prayer rule is all a form, you have to live in the spirit,” and having turned on the TV, I watched it until midnight and fell asleep under it, filled with impure images from what I was watching, this is certainly a sin.

In this way, many deeds become or come out of the category of sin, depending on our inner disposition, and here it is the business of our Christian conscience to determine what is sin and what is not. There is sinssmall, for example, they said a taunt to someone, or became vaulted, or got angry, and so on, which happens a million times a day. Finally, there are lodgesnew sins, that is, a person considers something to be a terrible sin, and this is not a sin at all. This applies primarily to the ceremonial sphere of church life.

“When passions are alive, it is impossible for us to live, but we must perish. If we do not have time to kill them here, they will kill us there ".
Saint John Chrysostom

«… We do not follow Christ because we love the passions, we enjoy them and, as it were, we do not know that following Christ, every slightest fulfillment by the deed of His word, brings the greatest good to the soul, that the good of following the path indicated in the Gospel is incomparably higher and better than anyone. the blessings of the world!»

Abbess Arseny (Sebryakova)

Saint Theophan the Recluse (1815-1894) in one of his shutter notes and collected in a book called "Contemplation and Reflection"(“How the Spiritual Life Goes) writes:“ TOWhen a person is devoted to passions, he does not see them in himself and does not separate from them, because he lives in them and by them. "
If we do not recognize ourselves as sinners and do not see any passions in ourselves, this does not mean at all that they are not in us, and we are righteous before God, but only that we are spiritually blind and do not see them in ourselves. And if holy righteous John of Kronstadt (1829-1908) talked about himself: “ What a gang of robbers of passions operates in me ... and at night in different dreams. What a den of mental robbers is my soul ", then what to say about us sinners.
Venerable Barsanuphius of Optina (1845-1913) says that few people in the world know about passions at all and that you need to fight them. Some people think that it is necessary to pray for salvation, but “ the prayer of a passionate man will not save him O". And then he continues: “ Our only purpose in life is to eradicate passions and replace them with opposite virtues.».

Neither going to church, nor fasting, nor alms, nor other deeds of mercy will save us if we do not work on our souls, if we do not try to live according to the commandments of God, and therefore fight our passions and sinful habits, gradually purifying our mind and heart, and implanting the gospel virtues in ourselves. Everyone has their own passions, someone is proud and proud, stubborn and self-willed, someone is gluttonous and voluptuous, someone loves money and spoils their lives with stinginess, someone is angry and constantly irritated over trifles, etc. As the Holy Fathers advise, it is necessary to single out the main, prevailing one from the struggling passions, and to direct all efforts to overcome it. A proud person needs to understand the fatality of his condition and love humility, a glutton should abstain in food, fast more diligently, a money-loving and cruel person - to love works of mercy, try to become merciful and kind to people, a lazy person - to work on himself, work both spiritually and physically, etc. ... You need to change yourself, to become heavenly from earthly, to become like Christ, so that after death you have a pure soul, ready for the kingdom of heaven.
If we do not know anything about this struggle, or do not attach great importance to it and rely on the mercy of God infinitely, we live for our pleasure, or knowing, we do not find the determination to start a struggle with our flesh, our pride, with our passionate inclinations, again, relying on the love of God and His condescension to us, the weak, then we are our own enemies. - Without conquering the passion in ourselves, we will not be able to enter Paradise, there is no place for the proud, fornicators and voluptuous ...
St. John Chrysostom (347-407) writes that “when passions are alive, it is impossible for us to live, but we must perish. If we do not have time to kill them here, they will kill us there. "
Monk Simeon the New Theologian (1021) about the same he says: “No matter what good deeds he does, no matter what feats he fights and no matter how much he tries in real life ... the soul is outside the kingdom of heaven: for into the kingdom of heaven only healthy souls who have no weakness are accepted. "
And here are some more words Saint Joseph Optinsky (1837-1911):"Condemners, and vindictive, and proud, even though they pray, even fast, even give out money, if they do not correct themselves, then they will not and will not have a place in heaven, but they will go to hell to demons forever torment endlessly."
Therefore, passions must be fought not only by monks, but also by the laity. And our participation in church services, frequent and regular confession and communion, prayers, fasts, reading of Holy Scripture are the means in this struggle, the struggle for the sanctification of the soul and its union with the Lord.
As said Saint Simeon the New Theologian (1021):“In the future life, the Christian will not test whether he has renounced the world, fasted, performed vigils, prayed, cried, whether others did any good deeds in his present life, but he will carefully test whether he has any likeness To Christ, like a son to a father ... "

Let's now clarify what passion is according to the teachings of the Holy Fathers.
1.Soul, by nature, passionless, but, having sinned for the first time in the Garden of Eden, i.e. violating the commandment of God, believing not his Creator and Benefactor, but the tempter, man let death into his soul, along with sin, - about which God warned him, giving him the only commandment at that time.
Then repent of the first people to God in this sin, without self-justification and fear of their Creator (at the instigation of the evil one, who entered their souls through sin and now influenced them and inclines them to everything bad - unbelief in God, etc.) - the Lord is here I would have forgiven them their sin, and by His Grace I would have cleansed their hearts from the dark spirit that had entered there, and they would again shine with their primordial beauty, and continue to be blessed next to God ...
But this is the whole danger of sin - it darkens the mind and soul, makes a person seem insane and easily controlled from the outside by god-opposing forces, makes him a slave to passions and the devil, the real culprit of all evil and opposed to God both at the beginning of human history and now, enthralling more and more people into his nets, making them his own, spiritually blind, slaves, and inspiring them with lies and slander against God, the Truth, drawing them into lusts, every shame, making them unfit for eternal life, spoils souls, knowing that they are eternal, and after death, thus. he takes them to his hell, where he fully splashes out on them all his anger and hatred of God, receiving satisfaction from the torment of sinners languishing in hell ...
And this is a terrible reality, about which it is better to know in advance, so as not to get there forever. How many eyewitnesses of hellish torment, by the grace of God, have now been brought back to life after their death, often in a completely useless body - but the soul returns and doctors in a semi-marital state are forced to perform previously unthinkable operations in order to somehow patch up the revived body! A very good film on this topic. Galina Tsareva “Non-Invented Stories"- testimonies of people who have experienced clinical death, about the afterlife (who have not seen, I advise you to look, - the soul comes to life even among the most unbelievers).

2. Passions are different from sins. Sin is a violation of God's commandment. And passions are already sinful habits, sinful drives, which a sinner himself, without God's help, cannot resist, a sinful life that makes a person sinful and unclean, cut off from the bliss of eternal life, a friend, or rather, a slave of dark forces, who does not see at all his plight, and therefore not correcting himself and not even wanting to hear about it. He seems to be fencing off in his life from God, decides for himself that there is no God, and drawn by such "convictions" of his into permissiveness and trampling on all kinds of norms and prohibitions, in his madness, sometimes, to a life worse than bestial. A person created with an eternal soul, remembering and knowing God, endowed with the mind, will, ability and desire to love and be loved, who has a conscience so as not to get lost in this earthly life, but to return home, to the Heavenly Fatherland, tramples all this mercilessly, rips out the remnants of good from his heart, and makes it a haven for spiritual robbers - demons, evil detractors who hate God and all that is good ...
All Evil Begins From Unbelief... By faith, salvation begins, because, not having believed in God, not trusting Him and His words, how can you find Him and after death get to Him? Faith is the path to God... But it must be true, and not a crafty fake, false, empty, like everything from the crafty one, it must regenerate a person into a new creature, free from vices and passions, purifying his soul and making her a partaker of eternal life.
3. Passions are demons, as they teach about St. John Climacus and other Holy Fathers. The demon of vanity, the demon of pride, the demon of gluttony, the demon of despondency, love of money, laziness, etc. The Holy Fathers also classify unbelief as one of the passions, since it is inspired by the same godless forces; this also includes lack of faith, superstition, heresy, false worship (from paganism to falling into various sects and schisms). All these lies are from the enemy, in order to prevent a person from finding the Truth, to find that unique, non-false path leading through repentance, labor, prayer, abstinence, humility, i.e. narrow, the way indicated by the Son of God - to true love, regenerating and making partaking in eternal and blessed life. And this is not at all about austerity... That is the lot of specially blessed souls - those who love God with all their heart and for His sake. leaving the world, loved ones, relatives. It's about saving Orthodox way of life in the world- in divine marriages, it means that they do not violate chastity, according to the commandments of God and with His help, given through participation in the Holy Church Sacraments, prayer, reading of Holy Scripture, and first of all, the Gospel and the Psalter.
When a person goes to meet God in the path indicated by Him, miraculous events begin to happen to him., he enters, as it were, into another reality - of course, because he becomes a partaker of God's Grace, is illuminated from within by the Light of Christ, everything becomes clear to him, everything is possible, everything is within his power! And the truth is, what can be impossible for a person when he is with Almighty God, when he only trusts in Him in his daily life, when he believes Him and trusts His every Word, when he loves Him with all his soul and learns to love all of His creation, and even enemies, which, as you know, the Lord does not have - He loves everyone, and wants salvation for everyone, when they become a part of His omnipotence, and His humility, and His mercy, and His all-conquering love. And this is during life. After death, having joined the Eternal God on earth, the soul inherits blessed eternity beyond the grave! What could be better than God's promises? - Paradise during life, heaven and after death. It is surprising that there are so few souls now who believe God and His word - after all, Who is more worthy of trust if not God ?!

4. Passions are divided into mental(pride, vanity, despondency, despair, envy, disbelief) and bodily(fornication, gluttony, love of money, drunkenness, drug addiction, laziness). It is easier to discern the bodily ones for the carnal, not yet spiritualized, person, therefore, at the beginning, the struggle goes precisely with these passions. Moreover, how
writes St. John Cassian Roman, who does not conquer the demon of gluttony, he cannot legally fight with other passions... Therefore, exploits all begin with abstaining from excess or light food - from observing fast days on Wednesdays and Fridays, fasting for many days, abstaining from food before Communion, etc. Abstinence strengthens the willpower of a person, makes him stronger, more spiritualized. Gradually, the experience of spiritual struggle is gained, one learns one's own weaknesses, a person learns to humble himself in the fall and to rely no longer on his own weak strength, or on his own correction, but on the help of God, on His mercy ...
Everything is gradual. But the main rule is to follow the inner motives(for what deeds? - For the sake of love of God? Or out of humility, in order to appear righteous before people? Or out of fear of being punished here, by illness, or after death, by eternal torment? Or out of obedience to the spiritual father, the Church? etc. ), and humble yourself. Without humility, all our exploits are not pleasing to God, because bodyless angels and many highly spiritual people have fallen by pride and vanity ...
5. The knot of all passions is tied to pride... Therefore, if we want to overcome the passions that live in us and challenge us with God, we must arm ourselves against the main enemy - against our own "I" living deep in our heart. This is the root. If we pull out the root, the passionate tree itself will collapse.
After all, look, all the commandments of God are built on love - either to God, or to your neighbor. What is the opposite of love? - Self-love! So it turns out that this our criminal self-love, from which all passions flow (gluttony, laziness, fornication, avarice, pride, vanity, etc.), is our main enemy! Let us defeat pride - overcome passions - plant in our souls instead of love for ourselves, love for God and for people, with all the virtues that follow from this - and we are our own to God and the saints, and to His Angels! And the Kingdom of Heaven enters the soul of such a person now, here on earth, and nothing is impossible for him - peace, a serene state of mind, love for everyone ... And this is possible both under favorable external circumstances, or not (illness, war etc.). A person is not afraid of anything when he is with God! - for the sake of this alone, it is worth working on yourself, and on cleansing your soul from the passions that have caught on to it.

6. Signs by which self-esteem is cognized, and the resulting pride - resentment, condemnation of others, self-justification, passion to command, stubbornness, self-will, self-pity, desire for everything to be my way, good taste, love of clothes, jewelry, luxury, comfort, fear of poverty and reliance on their strengths, their work, money, etc., envy, contempt of others, arrogance, not mercy, greed, etc.
Extreme degrees of pride - delusions of grandeur and delusions of persecution(which are symptoms of a mental illness - schizophrenia, and are not treated by doctors), the root of which lies in criminal self-adoration, and whose Doctor is one - God. Only the Lord God heals pride and the mentally ill, and this healing is given in His spiritual hospital - the Church, with the help of His Holy Sacraments - confession, communion, unction. Explain the connection between sinful life and disease, sorrow, suffering in our daily life, quarrels with loved ones and relatives, help through confession to free ourselves from sins that burden the soul of a person - and the priest of God is called, endowed with the power from God to bind and forgive our sins. There is no salvation without a priest - we all need to understand this well. And no matter how imperfect they are in themselves (if only not heretics and not schismatics), but endowed with God's Grace of the priesthood, they are God's servants, His instruments, without them not one of the Holy Church Sacraments is possible. The instrument may be gold or copper, but the grace of God works both there and there - for the sake of believers, for the salvation of their souls. The Shepherd's Sheep Does Not Judge, - is talking St. John Chrysostom... Most of all, be afraid to condemn priests - this is the voice of all the Holy Fathers.

7. Well, let's finish with words Saint Theophan the Recluse, very important at the beginning of the spiritual struggle with passions, in order to give the most necessary idea in this struggle of what we are, and what are the passions that struggle with us. “Hurry to separate yourself from the enemy and oppose yourself to him, and his to yourself ... All our trouble is that we do not know how to separate ourselves from the enemy and disunite with him, we think that the passionate movement that worries us is we, our nature, and we hasten to satisfy it, while it is not our nature and not we, but our enemy. This delusion is the source of all our falls and wrong deeds ..."(" Contemplation and Reflection ", p. 135).
And prayer, invoking God's help for our struggle, and thanksgiving for this help. We must remember that without God's help we cannot overcome any passion, and we cannot withstand any sinful attraction. The Lord helps newcomers more, as those who take the first steps, and in the future, the significance of prayer cannot be overestimated.
Help us, Lord, to get rid of the passions that are at war in us, and save us by the Power of Your Grace!

SINNESS PASSIONS AND FIGHT AGAINST THEM

according to the teachings of the Monk John Climacus

Sinful passion - a vice, rooted in the soul and through a habit that has become, as it were, its natural property. First of all, it is necessary to cleanse oneself from the passions of pride, vanity, stomach-eating and avarice.

ABOUT INSANE PRIDE

Pride is the rejection of God, a demonic invention, the contempt of men, the mother of condemnation, the fiend of praise, the sign of the infertility of the soul, the rejection of God's help, the forerunner of insanity, the culprit of falls, the cause of demonic possession, the source of anger, the door of hypocrisy, the stronghold of demons, the repository of sins, the cause of mercy, ignorance compassion, cruel torturer, inhuman judge, adversary to God, root of blasphemy. (In square brackets there is a reference to the "Ladder" of St. John. The first number denotes the Word, the second - the separation of this Word.)

Pride is the extreme squalor of the soul, which dreams of itself that it is rich, and, being in darkness, thinks that it is in the light.

The beginning of pride is the end of vanity; middle - humiliation of one's neighbor, shameless preaching of one's labors, self-praise in the heart, hatred of reproof; and the end is the rejection of God's help, reliance on one's own diligence, demonic disposition.

He who is captivated by pride needs the help of God Himself; for human salvation is vain for such.

It is a shame to be proud of other people's jewelry, and it is utter madness to be proud of God's gifts. Be exalted only by those virtues that you performed before your birth; and those that you fulfilled after birth, God gave you, as well as the birth itself. The virtues that you corrected without the help of the mind are only yours: because God has given you the mind itself. What deeds you have shown without a body, only take them to your own diligence; for the body is not yours, but the creation of God.

God resists the proud (James 4: 6); who can have mercy on them? Everyone who is high-hearted is not clean before the Lord (Proverbs 16: 5); who can cleanse it?

Do not lift your neck, earthy; for many, being holy and insubstantial, were cast out of heaven.

Let us hear all who want to avoid this pit: very often this passion receives food from thanksgiving, for at first it does not incline us shamelessly to reject God. I have seen people who thank God with their lips and ascend in their thoughts. The Pharisee clearly testifies to this when he said: God, I thank Thee (Luke 18:11).

Drunkenness is the cause of stumbling, and pride is the cause of obscene thoughts. Although he who stumbles is not guilty for stumbling, he will undoubtedly be punished for drunkenness.

From pride comes the forgetting of sins; and their memory is an intercessor for humility.

This nasty passion not only prevents us from prospering, but also casts us down from above.

Where the fall took place, pride was first established there; for the herald of the first is the second.

He who rejects conviction discovers passion, and whoever accepts it is freed from its bonds.

A proud person is like an apple, rotten inside, but outwardly shining with beauty. Tat does not like the sun; the proud humbles the meek.

Whoever in conversation stubbornly wants to insist on his opinion, even if it was just, let him know that he is possessed by the devil's illness; and if he does this in conversation with equals, then, perhaps, denouncing the elders will also heal him; if he treats the greatest of himself and the wisest in this way, then this ailment from people is incurable.

Nothing is so repugnant to the repentant as embarrassment from irritability, because repentance requires great humility, and irritability is a sign of great exaltation.

If from this one passion, without any other, someone fell from heaven: then he must investigate whether it is not possible, through humility, and without other virtues, to ascend to heaven?

When the belly is oppressed, then the heart is also humbled; if it is at peace with food, then the heart is lifted up in thoughts.

One of the seers told me what he had seen. “When I,” he said, “was sitting in the meeting of the brethren, the demon of vanity and the demon of pride came and sat down with me on either side; and the first one pushed me in the side with his vain finger, urging me to tell about some of my visions or the deed that I did in the wilderness. ”But as soon as I had time to reflect it, saying: let the wicked ones return and be ashamed (Ps. 39:15); immediately sitting on the left side speaks in my ear: good, good But you created and became great, having conquered my most shameless mother.Then I, turning to him, uttered the words following in order after the verse I said.May those who are ashamed return, saying to me: well, you have done good (Ps. 39: 16)". Then I asked the same father, how is vanity a matter of pride? He answered me: "Praises uplift and puff up the soul; when the soul is ascended, then pride will embrace it, which raises to heaven and brings it down to the abyss."

The prodigals can be corrected by people, the crafty Angels, and the proud - God himself. A kind of love can often consist in giving a neighbor, when he comes to us, freedom to do whatever he pleases, and to show him, moreover, a joyful face. One should test how and how long, when and just as repentance for good deeds destroys them, as repentance for wicked ones destroys this latter?

If reason puffs up many, then, on the contrary, ignorance and ignorance in some way moderately humble.

Apparent pride is healed by sorrowful circumstances; and invisible - the Eternal and Invisible.

Once I caught this insane charm (pride) in my heart, brought into it on the shoulders of her mother, vanity. Having tied both with the bonds of obedience and beating them with the scourge of humility, I forced them to tell me how they entered my soul? Finally, under the blows, they said: we have neither beginning nor birth, for we ourselves are the leaders and parents of all passions. The contrition of the heart, born of obedience, is fighting against us. We do not tolerate being subordinate to someone; Therefore, we, desiring to be in command in heaven, retreated from there. To put it briefly: we are the parents of everything contrary to humility; and that which promotes this, it resists us. However, if we also appeared in heaven in such strength, where will you flee from our face? We very often follow the patience of desecration, the correction of obedience and lack of anger, lack of memory of malice and service to others. Our fiends are the essence of the fall of spiritual men: anger, slander, annoyance, irritability, screaming, blasphemy, hypocrisy, hatred, envy, rebellion, willfulness, disobedience. There is only one thing that we do not have the strength to resist; being strong for you, we will tell you this: if you sincerely reproach yourself before the Lord, you will despise us like a spider's web. You see, pride said, that the horse I ride is vanity; The monk humility and self-reproach will laugh at the horse and his rider, and with sweetness they will sing this triumphant song: we will give the Lord, gloriously be glorified: we will lead the horse and rider into the sea (Ex. 15: 1) and into the abyss of humility.

Hula

Above this, we have heard that from an evil root and an evil mother comes the most evil devil, that is, unspeakable blasphemy is born from bad pride. Therefore, it is necessary to bring it out to the environment; for this is not an unimportant thing, but the fiercest of our enemies and adversaries. And, what is even more terrible, we cannot say without difficulty, reveal, confess these thoughts to a spiritual doctor. Therefore, they often plunged many into despair and hopelessness, destroying all their hope, like a worm in a tree.

Blasphemous words are born in the hearts of the proud, and heavenly visions in the souls of the humble.

No one should think that he is guilty of blasphemous thoughts; for the Lord is the seer of the heart, and knows that such words are not ours, but those of our enemies.

When we stand for prayer, these impure and inexpressible thoughts rise up against us, and at the end of the prayer they immediately leave us; for they are not in the habit of fighting those who do not arm themselves against them.

This godless spirit not only blasphemes God and everything Divine, but also speaks shameful and dishonorable words in us, so that we either leave prayer or fall into despair.

Whoever is disturbed by the spirit of blasphemy and who wants to get rid of it, let him know for sure that his soul is not to blame for such thoughts, but an unclean demon who once said to the Lord Himself: I will give all this to you, if you fall worship us (Matthew 4: 9 ). Therefore, we, despising him, and imputing for nothing the thoughts he put into, let us say to him: follow me Satan: I will worship the Lord my God and that one service: your sickness and your words will turn on your head, and your blasphemy will come down on your top. in the present age and in the future (Ps. 7:17).

CONDEMNATION

Let us stop judging and condemning our neighbor - and we will not be afraid of blasphemous thoughts, for the reason and root of the second is the first.

To judge is to shamelessly steal the dignity of God, and to condemn is to destroy your soul.

As the exaltation and without another passion to destroy a person greatly, so the condemnation alone, in itself, can completely destroy us, for this Pharisee was also condemned for this.

Listen to me, listen, evil judges of other people's deeds: if it is true, as it is indeed true, what you judge by judgment, they judge you (Matthew 7: 6), then, of course, for what sins we will condemn our neighbor, bodily or mental, they will fall ourselves; and it does not happen otherwise.

Just as a good winegrower tastes only ripe berries and leaves sour ones, so a prudent and judicious mind carefully notices the virtues that it sees in someone; the mad man looks for vices and shortcomings. It is said about him: after experiencing iniquity, the one experiencing trials has disappeared. (Ps. 63: 7)

Quick and stern judges of the sins of a neighbor are ill with this passion because they do not have a perfect and permanent memory and concern for their sins. For if a person exactly, without a covering of pride, saw his evil deeds, then he would not have worried about anything else related to earthly life, thinking that he would not have time to mourn himself, even though he he lived a hundred years and at least saw a whole Jordan of tears flowing out of his eyes. I watched the cry of true repentance and did not find a trace of backbiting and condemnation in it.

Demons who murderers urge us to either sin, or, when we do not sin, to condemn those who sin, in order to defile the former with the latter.

I have seen such people who secretly and secretly committed grave sins, and meanwhile, considering themselves the best of others, mercilessly attacked those who were carried away by light, but obvious offenses.

I saw one who had sinned openly, but secretly repented; and the one whom I condemned as a fornicator was already chaste with God, having propitiated Him with a sincere conversion.

As fire is repugnant to water, so it is not akin to the penitent to judge. If you saw someone sinning even at the very departure of the soul from the body, then even then do not condemn him, for the judgment of God is unknown to people. Some obviously fell into great sins, but they committed great virtues in secret, and those who loved to ridicule them were deceived, chasing smoke and not seeing the sun.

Never be ashamed of the one who slanders your neighbor in front of you, but better tell him: "Stop it, brother, every day I fall into the worst sins, and how can I condemn him?" Thus, you will do two good things, and with one plaster you will heal both yourself and your neighbor. This is one of the shortest paths to receiving the remission of sins, i.e. so as not to condemn anyone. For it is said: do not judge, and they do not judge you (Luke 6:37).

MENTALITY

The punishment of the proud is his fall, the annoying one is the devil; and the sign of his forsaking him from God is insanity. In the first two cases, people were often healed by people; but the latter is incurable from people.

FEAR, ANXIETY

The proud soul is the slave of fear; trusting in herself, she is afraid of the faint sound of the creatures and the shadows themselves.

Those who weep and grieve over their sins have no insurance, but those who are fearful often lose their minds, and in justice. For righteously the Lord forsakes the proud, so that he may teach others, not to be exalted.

Fear is an imagined misfortune; or otherwise - fear is a quivering feeling of the heart, alarmed and lamenting in the representation of unknown misadventures. Fear is the deprivation of firm hope.

Whoever has become a slave of the Lord is afraid of his own Master, and in whom there is no fear of the Lord, he is often afraid of his own shadow.

Do not be lazy at midnight to come to those places where you are afraid to be. If you give in even a little to this infant and laughter worthy passion, then it will grow old with you. But when you go to those places, arm yourself with prayer; When you come, stretch out your hands and beat the foes with the name of Jesus, for there is no powerful weapon either in heaven or on earth. And having got rid of this disease, praise the One who Delivered, for when you thank Him, He will also cover you for ever.

When an evil spirit approaches invisibly, then the body fears, and when an angel comes, then the soul of the humble rejoices. So, when we recognize the coming of the Angel of God by this action, we will rather rise up to prayer, for our good guardian has come to pray with us.

See VANITY

THE DECLIMATION OF LOVE

As love becomes impoverished, there is fear in us, for in whom there is no fear, he is either filled with love, or has died in soul.

Love, in fact, is the deposition of any contrary thinking, for no one thinks evil (1 Cor. 13: 5).

HYPOCRISY

Some young women sin shamelessly, while others secretly and with bashfulness, but indulge in even more cruel vices than the first. The same can be seen in the passions of dishonor. There are many secretly cunning young women, such as: hypocrisy, cunning, sadness, memory malice and heartfelt slander, who apparently represent one thing, but internally look at another.

LYING

Hypocrisy is the mother of lies, and often it is also the reason for it. For some argue that hypocrisy is nothing more than a teaching in a lie and an inventor of a lie, with which an oath worthy of execution is intertwined.

MEMORIES

Memory malice is the fulfillment of anger, the storage of sins, hatred of the truth, the destruction of virtues, the rust of the soul, the worm of the mind, the shame of prayer, suppression of prayer, the alienation of love, a nail pierced into the soul, an unpleasant feeling, beloved in grief with delight, never ceasing sin, law-breaking , the rage is everyday.

Memory malice is a crafty interpreter of Scripture, who interprets the utterances of the Spirit according to his own understanding. May the prayer given to us by Jesus put him to shame, which we cannot say with him, having memory of malice.

Remembering malice, remember malice against demons and, enmity, enmity against your flesh incessantly. For this flesh is an ungrateful and flattering friend: the more we please it, the more it hurts us.

Not then will you know that you have completely gotten rid of this rottenness when you pray for the one who offended, or you reward him for evil with gifts, or invite him to a meal, but when, hearing that he fell into some kind of misadventure, mental or physical, you grieve about him, as about yourself, and you will cry.

Remembering the sufferings of Jesus will heal the memory of malice, greatly shamed by His innocence ...

Some took upon themselves labors and deeds in order to receive forgiveness, but a person who did not remember evil was ahead of them. Let go of a little, and they will let you go a lot (Luke 6:37).

I have seen those infected with memory malice who admonished others to forget their grievances, and then, ashamed of their words, they abandoned this passion.

See Anger

ENVY

Know that this is also a sign of a memory-malicious and envious person, if he easily and with pleasure condemns the teachings, deeds and virtues of his neighbor, being possessed by the spirit of hatred.

SLAVE (SPELL)

None of the wise, as I think, will contradict the fact that backbiting is born from hatred and memory malice. And so it is, after its ancestors, by me, in order, and it is proposed.

Backbiting is a fiend of hatred, a subtle affliction; a large secret and lurking drinker that sucks and consumes the blood of love; hypocrisy of love; the cause of defilement and burdening of the heart; extermination of purity.

Hearing that some are cursing their neighbors, I forbade them; the doers of this evil, in excuse, answered that they were doing it out of love and concern for the evil one. But I said to them: "Leave such love so that what was said does not turn out to be false: slandering the secrets of his sincere, this one we will exile (Psalm 100: 5). If you truly love your neighbor, as you say, then do not ridicule him, but pray for him in secret. for this image of love is pleasing to God.You will beware of condemning sinners if you always remember that Judas was in the cathedral of Christ's disciples, and the robber was among the murderers, but in an instant a wonderful change happened to them.

Whoever wants to conquer the spirit of slander, let him ascribe the guilt not to the one sinning, but to the demon feeding him. For no one wants to sin against God, although each of us sins not by compulsion.

See Anger

ABOUT VARIOUS VANITY

Vanity, in its appearance, is a change of nature, the corruption of morals, the observation of reproaches. In terms of quality, it is a waste of labor, a loss of sweat, a thief of spiritual treasures, a fiend of unbelief, a forerunner of pride, drowning in the pier, an ant in the threshing floor, which, although small, still plunders all labor and fruit. The ant is waiting for the gathering of wheat, and vanity is waiting for the gathering of wealth, for he rejoices that he will steal, and this, that he will squander.

The sun shines for everyone without distinction; but vanity rejoices in all virtues. For example: I am conceited when I fast, but when I permit fasting in order to hide my abstinence from people, I again become conceited, considering myself wise. I am conquered by vanity, dressing in good clothes; but even dressing in thin, I am also conceited. I will speak, I am conquered by vanity; I will shut up, and again he won. No matter how you throw this tri-hank, all one horn will stand up.

Once, sitting in my cell, I fell into such decay that I thought I would almost leave her. But some strangers came and spoke to me, as to a silent one, many praises; and the thought of corruption immediately left me, being driven away by vanity ... I was surprised how the three-horned demon of vanity resists all spirits.

A vain person is an idolater, although he is called a believer. He thinks he honors God, but in fact he is not pleasing God, but people.

Vanity is often the cause of dishonor instead of honor; for it brings great shame to his angry disciples.

Simple hearts are not very susceptible to poisoning with this poison, for vanity is the destruction of simplicity and a pretense of living.

CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF SINAL PASSION

The spirit of despair rejoices seeing the multiplication of sins; but the spirit of vanity, when it sees the increase in virtues; for the door to the first is a multitude of plagues, and the door to the second is an abundance of toil.

Vanity makes the angry meek before people.

The vanity of those who are preferred makes them proud, and those who are despised are memory-vicious.

It very conveniently joins natural gifts and through them often overthrows its accursed slaves.

SIGNS OF SINNED PASSION

Observe and see that obscene vanity is adorned to the very grave with clothes, incense, numerous servants, fragrances, and the like.

Anyone who loves to show himself is vain. The fast of the vain one remains without reward, and his prayer is fruitless, for he does both for the praise of man.

He is not the one who shows humility, who cools himself (for who will not endure reproach from himself); but he who, being rebuilt by another, does not diminish his love for him.

There are some of the vain ones whose petitions should be heard by God; but God precedes their prayers and petitions, so that, having received what is asked through prayer, they do not fall into greater self-importance.

HOW TO FIGHT SINNY PASSION

If we zealously want to please the Heavenly King, then, no doubt, we will taste the glory of heaven; but he who has tasted it will despise all earthly glory; and I would be surprised if anyone, having not tasted the first, could despise the last.

Choose to offend people rather than God; for He delights in seeing that we strive diligently to dishonor in order to shock, hurt, and destroy our vain vanity.

Do not obey this blower when he teaches you to declare your virtues for the benefit of those who hear; What benefit is it to a person if he uses the whole world, but revenges his soul (Matt. 16:26)? Nothing benefits others as much as a humble and unfeigned disposition and word. In this way, we will urge others, too, so that they do not ascend; and what could be more useful than this?

There is glory from the Lord, for it is said in the scripture: I who glorify Me I will glorify (1 Sam. 2:30); and there is glory that comes from the devil's cunning, for it is said: woe, when all men recount good to you (Luke 6:26). You will clearly know the first, when you look at glory as harmful to you, when you turn away from it in every possible way and, wherever you go, everywhere you hide your residence. The second, you can recognize when you do a little something so that people can see you.

Often the Lord heals the vain from vanity with dishonor.

When we covet glory, or when, without seeking on our part, it comes to us from others, or when we attempt to use some tricks that serve to vanity: then let us remember our weeping and think of the holy fear and trembling with which we stood before God in our solitary prayer; and thus we will undoubtedly put shameless vanity to shame, if, however, we strive for true prayer. If this is not in us, then let us hasten to remember our outcome. If we don’t even have this thought, then at least we will be afraid of the shame that follows vanity, because ascend by all means humble ourselves (Luke 14:11) even here, before the age to come.

When our praises, or, rather, our deceivers, begin to praise us, then let us hasten to remember the many of our iniquities; and we will see that we are truly unworthy of what they say or do in our honor.

Once, when I was still young, I came to a city or village, and there, during dinner, thoughts of gluttony and vanity suddenly attacked me. But, fearing the fiend of overeating, I reasoned better to be defeated by vanity, knowing that in young devils of overeating very often the demon of vanity overcomes. And this is not surprising: in the worldly, the root of all evil is the love of money, and in the monks - deliciousness.

When you hear that your neighbor or friend reproached you in your absence or in your presence, then show love and praise him.

The Lord often hides from our eyes the virtues that we have acquired; but a person who praises us, or, better to say, misleads, will open our eyes with praise; and as soon as they are opened, the wealth of virtue disappears.

The beginning to the destruction of vanity is keeping the lips and loving dishonor; the middle is the cutting off of all conceived tricks of vanity; and the end (if only there is an end in this abyss) is to try to do in front of people what humiliates us, and not to feel any sorrow during it.

It often happens that a worm, having reached full age, receives wings and flies to a height, so vanity, having increased, gives rise to pride, the boss and perpetrator of all evil.

He who does not have this ailment is very close to salvation; and the one possessed by it will appear far from the glory of the saints.

CRAFTINESS

Cunning is a perversion of righteousness, a deceived mind, a deceitful justification of oneself by good intentions; oaths guilty of torment; ambiguous words, the secrecy of the heart, the abyss of flattery, the skill of lying, self-conceit turned into nature, the enemy of humility, the guise of repentance, the removal of crying, hostility against confession, persistence in one's opinion, the cause of falls, an obstacle to rebellion from falling, an insidious smile when denouncing, reckless lamentation , feigned reverence - in a word, it is a demonic life.

Deceit is art, or, better to say, demonic disgrace, which has lost the truth and is thinking to hide it from many.

The evil one is the devil's companion and accomplice, therefore the Lord taught us to call the devil evil when we say: Deliver us from the evil one (Matt. 6:13).

Voluptuousness and deceit are the mother of all evil, the one possessed by them will not see the Lord, but moving away from the first without moving away from the second will not bring us any benefit.

When we see one of our soldiers about Christ in bodily suffering and illness, we will not cunningly explain to ourselves the cause of his illness, but rather accept him with simplicity and love that does not think evil and try to heal him like our own member and like a warrior wounded by abuse.

CANDLE

[On the path of obedience] there is only one path that is misleading; it is called self-infliction. Whoever has completely rejected self-will and in what he considers good, spiritual and godly, has already achieved his goal before he entered into the feat, because obedience is disbelief in oneself in all that is good, even to the end of his life.

The wife, who did not preserve the purity of the bed, defiled the body, and the soul, who did not keep the covenant (obedience), defiled the spirit. The crime of the first is followed by reproach, hatred, beatings, and, what is most deplorable, divorce. The crime of the latter is followed by: desecration, oblivion of death, insatiable gluttony, intemperance of the eyes, the search for vain glory, immeasurable sleep, fossilization of the heart, insensitivity, the repository of evil thoughts, increasing consent to these, captivity of the heart, confusion of the spirit, disobedience, condemnation, addiction, unbelief, uncertainty of the heart, verbosity and liberty of conversion, the worst of all; but what is most pitiful is a heart that is alien to affection, followed by complete insensitivity in the inattentive, the mother of falls.

HYPOCRISY

Hypocrisy is from self-indulgence and self-righteousness.

Hypocrisy is the opposite of a body with a soul, a constitution intertwined with all sorts of fictions.

Let us flee from the rapture of hypocrisy and from the pit of secret deceit, hearing what was said: the crafty will be consumed (Ps. 36: 9), as the potion of the ghost will soon fall away (Ps. 36: 2); for such is the essence of pasturing demons. ;

See PRIDE

LYING

See PRIDE

FLATTERY

A flatterer is a servant of demons, a guide to pride, a destroyer of affection, a destroyer of virtues, a diverter from the true path. Blessed you, you flatter (Isaiah 3:12), says the prophet.

Annoyance, humiliation and all similar cases in the soul of a novice are likened to wormwood bitterness, and praise, honor and approval, like honey, give rise to all sweetness in the voluptuous. But let us consider what is the property of both: wormwood purifies all internal impurity, and honey usually multiplies bile.

Great people tend to endure grievances with courage and joy, while saints and saints tend to listen to praise without harm.

No one knows even more in man, exactly the spirit of man (1 Cor. 2:11).

So let them be put to shame and restrained who try to please us in the face.

It is a great thing to reject human praise from the heart, but even more is to turn away demonic praise from oneself.

When our praises, or, rather, our deceivers, begin to praise us, then let us hasten to remember the many of our iniquities, and we will see that we are truly unworthy of what they say or do in our honor.

LOST NETWORKING

See DEAD

PRESENTATION AND BLESSING

He who sometimes cries, and sometimes enjoys and says funny things, instead of stones, throws bread at the dog of love of love; apparently he drives him away, but by the very act he attracts him to himself.

From false affection, exaltation is born, and from true affection, consolation.

PERSISTENCE IN YOUR OPINION

See PRIDE

FEAR, ANXIETY

All fearful vain ones, but not all fearless humble ones, for it happens that even robbers) and grave-diggers are not afraid.

Fearfulness is an infantile disposition in an old conceited soul. Fearfulness is a deviation from faith in anticipation of unexpected misfortunes.

See PRIDE.

THE DECLIMATION OF LOVE

See PRIDE.

POLYVONGE

Polyphony is a seat on which vanity loves to appear and solemnly exhibit itself. Polyphony is a sign of folly, a door of backbiting, a guide to ridicule, a servant of lies, the extermination of heartfelt affection, the calling of despondency, the forerunner of sleep) waste of attention, extermination of the heart's storage, cooling of holy warmth, darkening of prayer,

The silence of Jesus put Pilate to shame: and the silence of the lips of a pious man abolishes vanity.

Constrain the belly with abstinence, and you will be able to block your mouth; for the tongue is strengthened by the multitude of foods. Strive with all your might against this tormentor and stay awake with unremitting attention, watching him; for if you work even a little, then the Lord will immediately help.

Do not try to talk too much, talking with God, so that your mind is not wasted in searching for words. One word of the publican appeased God, and one saying, full of faith, saved the robber. Verbosity in prayer often entertains the mind and fills it with dreams, but oneness usually gathers it.

LYING

Iron and stone collide and produce fire; verbosity and ridiculousness breed lies.

Lying is the destruction of love, and perjury is rejection of God.

None of the prudent will consider a lie as a small sin, for there is no vice against which the All-Holy Spirit would utter such a terrible saying as against a lie. If God destroys all who speak lies (Psalm 5: 7), then what will suffer those who sew a lie with oaths?

See PRIDE.

BECAUSE

Peter the Apostle uttered a word and then wept bitterly, forgetting the saying of the Psalmist: Rech I will keep my ways, I will not sin with my tongue (Ps. 38: 1), and the word of another wise man: "It is better to fall from a height on the ground than from the tongue" (Sir 20:18).

When you come out of your solitude, keep your tongue, for in a short time it can squander the fruits of many labors.

Crying is exterminated from verbosity, blasphemy and rumor.

Laziness, weakening of the soul, decrepitude of the mind

A small fire often destroys all the substance that has happened, and a small hole (laziness) wastes all our labor.

Just as it is impossible by nature to live without food, so it is impossible to indulge in negligence for the rest of your life.

See DEPRESSION.

ABOUT SADNESS AND LONELY

Despondency is a relaxation of the soul, exhaustion of the mind, ... hatred of a vow, ... a slander of God, as if He were merciless and inhuman; in psalmics it is weak, in prayer it is weak, in bodily service it is strong as iron, in needlework it is soulless, in obedience it is hypocritical.

A courageous soul also resurrects a dead mind; discouragement and laziness waste all wealth. But as of all the eight leaders of malice, the spirit of despondency is the heaviest, we will deal with him in the same order as with others; however, let us add the following.

CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF SINAL PASSION

Despondency is often one of the branches, one of the first offspring of verbosity, as we have already said before; that is why they put this vice here, as in a place befitting him in the crafty chain of passions.

Despondency sometimes comes from enjoyment; and sometimes because there is no fear of God in man.

To those who have come to prayer, this crafty spirit reminds of the necessary deeds and uses every trick in order to only distract us from the conversation with the Lord, as a substitute, by some plausible pretext.

SIGNS OF SINNED PASSION

The demon of despondency produces a three-hour (i.e. when the hours: the first, third and sixth) tremors, pain in the head, fever, pain in the stomach: when the ninth hour comes, it gives a little to arise, and when the meal has already been offered, it makes you jump off from the bed; but then, at the hour of prayer, it burdens the body again; those standing in prayer, he plunges into sleep and in untimely yawns he steals the verses from their lips.

When there is no psalmics, then despondency does not appear; and the eyes, which were closed from slumber during the rule, open as soon as it was over.

Observe - and you will see that it fights those who are on their feet, persuading them to sit down; and it exhorts those who are sitting to lean against the wall, it makes them look out the window of the cells, it encourages them to knock and stamp their feet. He who weeps for himself does not know despondency.

HOW TO FIGHT SINNY PASSION

Diligent prayer is destruction to despondency, and the memory of the last judgment gives rise to zeal.

An obedient husband does not know despondency, through sensual deeds he corrects his mental and spiritual (deeds).

Let us now bind this tormentor also with the memory of our sins; we will beat him with needlework, we will entice him with thinking about future benefits.

Observe every day various trends, soaring, admiration and changes in this inseparable companion of your mind (that is, the spirit of despondency) and see: how and where does he tilt you with these movements? He who has acquired silence by the Holy Spirit knows the consideration of these subtleties.

So, tell us, oh you, careless and relaxed, who is it that gave birth to you evil? And what are your fiends? Who are those fighting against you? And who is your killer? He replies: "In true novices, I do not have where to tilt my head; but I have a place for myself in the silent, and I live with them. I have many parents: sometimes insensibility of the soul, sometimes oblivion of heavenly blessings, and sometimes excessive work. who abide with me: changes of residence, disregard for the commands of the spiritual father, ignorance of the final judgment ... But my opponents who bind me now are psalmics with handicrafts. good; but who gave birth to prayer, ask her about that. "

OBSESSION

He who does not obey in word, without a doubt, does not obey in deed, for whoever is unfaithful in word is adamant in deed. He works in vain, and receives nothing from holy obedience except his own condemnation.

He who sometimes obeys, and sometimes does not obey his father, is like a person who at one time applies a healing ointment to his sick eye, and at another time lime. For the Scripture says: "Create only one, but destroy the other, whatever has more time, only labor" (Sir 34, 23).

Those novices who, noticing the benevolence and condescension of their mentor, do not know themselves and their benefits, who ask him to appoint them ministries according to their desires. Let them know that, having received them, they are completely deprived of the confessional crown, because obedience is the rejection of hypocrisy and their own desire.

Let your conscience be your mirror of your obedience, and that is enough for you.

Laziness, RELAXATION OF THE SOUL, FANCY OF MIND

A painless heart blinds the mind, and many brushes dry up the fountains of tears. Thirst and vigilance oppress the heart, and when the heart is embarrassed, then tears arise. What I have said will seem cruel to those who please the womb, but incredible to the lazy, but an active husband will diligently experience this in practice. Whoever has learned this by experience will rejoice about it, and whoever is still seeking will not do without sorrow.

See VANITY

See DEPRESSION

LOTS OF SLEEP

Many a dream is an unrighteous roommate who steals from the lazy half of their lives or even more.

A vigorous monk is the enemy of fornication, while a sleepy monk is his friend.

Sleep is a certain property of nature, an image of death, inaction of the senses. Sleep itself is one and the same, but like lust, it has many reasons: it comes from nature, from food, from demons, and, perhaps, from excessive and prolonged fasting, when the exhausted flesh wants to support itself with sleep.

How much you drink depends on your habit, so does a lot of sleep. That is why we must, especially at the beginning of our exploit, strive against sleep, for it is difficult to heal an old habit.

Vigil is the extinguishing of fleshly incites, getting rid of dreams, filling the eyes with tears, softening the heart, keeping thoughts, the best crucible for cooking food, taming evil spirits, curbing the tongue, driving away dreams.

Cruelty of the soul

A wakeful eye purifies the mind, and a long sleep hardens the soul.

The painlessness (of the soul) is negligence turned into nature, the numbness of thought, the product of bad habits, the net of diligence, the snare of courage, the ignorance of affection, the door of despair, the mother of oblivion, who, having given birth to her daughter, is again her daughter, this is the rejection of the fear of God.

SADNESS IS NOT BOSS

If anyone hated the world, he escaped sorrow. But if anyone has a predilection for something visible, he has not yet got rid of it; for how not to be sad when you lose your favorite thing? Although we need to have great sobriety in everything, but first of all we must be most reasonably attentive in this respect ...

Just as often too much wood suppresses and extinguishes the flames and produces much smoke, so too often too much sorrow makes the soul, as it were, smoky and dark, and dries up the water of tears.

With enough dishonor, vexation and reprimand ... let us imagine the terrible sentence of this Judge; and we will undoubtedly cut the reckless sorrow and grief that is instilled in us with meekness and patience, like a double-edged sword.

Desire for dishonor is the healing of irritability; psalmics, mercy, and non-possession are the killers of sorrow.

Another is the humility of the repentant, filled with lamentation, another twinge of the conscience of those who still sin, and the other is blessed and rich humility, which, by a special God's action, is infused into the perfect. Let us not try to explain in words this third humility, for our labor will be vain. The sign of the latter is the complete patience of dishonor. Often old habits are painfully possessed by those who mourn their sins, and this is not surprising. The word about destinies and falls is dark for us, and no mind comprehends what sins happen to us from negligence, which are the permission of Providence and which are at the abandonment of God. However, someone told me that if we fall into sin through the permission of God, we will soon rise up and turn away from sin, for the One who has allowed does not allow us to be possessed for a long time by the demon of sorrow. If we have fallen, then first of all, let us take up arms against this demon; for he, having presented himself during our prayer and remembering to us our former boldness towards God, wants to tear us away from prayer.

ABOUT ANGER AND RAGE

Anger is the memory of innermost hatred, i.e. memory malice. Anger is a desire for evil to the one who grieves. Hot temper is an untimely inflammation of the heart. Grief is an unpleasant feeling that nests in the soul. Irritability is a comfortable movement of disposition and an ugliness of the soul.

An angry person, at times voluntarily carried away by this passion, i.e. voluntarily undergoing temporary fits of madness, then from the habit and involuntarily conquered and crushed by it.

Nothing is so repugnant to the repentant as embarrassment from irritability, because repentance requires great humility, and irritability is a sign of great exaltation.

O friends, it should not be hidden from us, and the fact that sometimes, during anger, wicked demons soon depart from us with the purpose of making us neglect the great passions (as some in their justification say: I am hot-tempered, but this is mine soon passes), as if about unimportant, and finally made their disease incurable.

Some, being prone to irritability, are oblivious to the healing and extermination of this passion; but these wretched ones do not meditate on what has been said: the striving of his anger falls to him (Sire. 1:22).

Living in brotherhood, we will guard ourselves with every care (Proverbs 4:23), for in a wharf filled with ships, these latter can easily grieve over each other, especially those of them that are secretly pierced by anger, like a worm.

The rapid movement of the millstone in an instant can erase and consume more of the soul's wheat and the fruit of life than the slow circulation of another during the whole day; therefore, we ought to pay attention to ourselves. Sometimes a flame, suddenly fanned by a strong wind, more than a prolonged fire, burns and destroys the spiritual field.

It is great harm to disturb the eye of the heart with irritation, as it is said: bewildered with rage my eye (Psalm 6: 8), but it is great harm to reveal spiritual fury with words; if by hand, then this is already completely indecent and alien to the monastic. Angelic and Divine Living.

CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF SINAL PASSION

The angry man and the hypocrite met each other; and it was impossible to find the right word in their conversation. If you open the heart of the former, you will find fury; but having tested the soul of the second, you will see deceit.

I saw a pitiful sight in angry people, occurring in them from a secret exaltation. For, being angry, they again became angry because they were conquered by anger. I was surprised to see in them how fall followed fall; and could not see without compassion how they avenged themselves for sin by sin, and, horrified at the treachery of demons, I almost despaired of my life.

As water, little by little poured into a fire, completely extinguishes it, so a tear of true crying extinguishes any flame of irritability and anger ...

As with the manifestation of light, darkness disappears, so from the incense of humility all grief and irritability are destroyed.

Those who are in the community, although against all passions for every hour, must fight, but especially against two: against gut and irascibility, because in many brethren there are many reasons for these passions.

SIGNS OF SINNED PASSION

Hope is destroyed by anger, for hope will not shame, but an ardent husband is not good (Proverbs 11:25).

HOW TO FIGHT SINNY PASSION

I saw people who, being angry, rejected food out of annoyance and by this reckless abstinence they applied poison to poison. I saw others who, as if for a blessed reason, taking advantage of their anger, indulged in a lot of food and fell from the ditch into the rapids. Finally, I also saw intelligent people who, like good doctors, dissolving both, from the moderate comfort given to the body, received very great benefit.

Just as a hard and sharp-angled stone, colliding and colliding with other stones, loses all its angularity, unevenness and roughness and becomes round, so a hot-tempered and stubborn person, dealing with other rude people, receives one of two things: either he heals his ulcer with patience, or retreats, and thus obviously recognizes his weakness, which, as in a mirror, will appear to him in his faint-hearted flight.

If anyone notices that he is easily overcome by exaltation and hot temper, cunning and hypocrisy, and wants to draw against them a double-edged sword of meekness and innocence, let him enter, as it were, into the door of salvation, into the community of brothers, and moreover the most severe, if he wants to completely get rid of from these passions, so that there, subjected to vexation, humiliation and shocks from the brethren, and mentally, and sometimes sensually hit or oppressed, dejected and trampled underfoot, he could cleanse the robe of his soul from its filth. And that reproach is, in fact, the washing of the passions of the soul - of that may the common proverb among the people assure you; it is known that some people in the world, showered someone with swear words in the face, say: "I washed such and such a good person." And this is true.

The voluptuous damages only himself, and maybe one more ..., the angry one, like a wolf, often outrages the whole herd, and grieves and oppresses many souls.

If you want or think that you want to take out the bitch of your neighbor, then instead of a medical instrument, do not use a log. The log is harsh words and harsh treatment; a medical instrument is meek admonition and long-suffering reproof. Rebuke, - says the Apostle, - forbid, beg (2 Tim. 4: 2), but did not say: and strike, if this is required, then as rarely as possible, and not by yourself.

If we look closely, we will see that many of the angry are diligently practicing vigilance, fasting and silence; and the intention of the devil is, under the guise of repentance and crying, to put on them substances that nourish their passion.

As fever in the body, being one in itself, has not one, but many causes of its inflammation, so the inflammation and movement of anger and our other passions comes from many and different reasons. Therefore, it is impossible to appoint one medicine against them. And this is my advice: that each of the ailing should diligently seek a decent remedy for his healing. The first step in this healing will be the knowledge of the cause of the illness, so that, having found it, you will receive a proper plaster for your illness from the Providence of God and from spiritual doctors. Those who want to enter with us in the Lord into the proposed spiritual court - let them enter; and we investigate, though not clearly, the passions mentioned and their causes.

So, let anger, like a tormentor, be bound by the bonds of meekness, and, struck by longsuffering, drawn by holy love, and, appearing before the judgment seat of reason, let it be interrogated. Tell us, insane and shameful passion, the name of your father and the name of your wicked mother, as well as the names of your nasty sons and daughters. Tell us, moreover, who are those who are fighting against you and killing you? In response to this, anger tells us: “I have many mothers, and my father is not one. My mothers are: vanity, avarice, gluttony, and sometimes prodigal passion. And my father is called arrogance. My daughters are: memory malice, hatred, enmity, self-justification. But my enemies who resist them, who hold me in bondage, are anger and meekness. My counselor is called humility; and from whom he is born, ask him in due time. "

MEMORIES

The holy virtues are like Jacob's ladder; and obscene passions - to the bonds that fell from the Supreme Peter. Virtues, being linked one to another, the producer is elevated to heaven; but the passions, giving birth to one another and strengthening one by the other, are cast into the abyss. And as we have now heard from insane anger that memory malice is one of its own products, we will now talk about it in order.

He who died of anger killed the memory of malice, for as long as the father is alive, there is still childbearing.

When, after much deed, you are not able to pull out these thorns, then repent and humble yourself, at least in words, before the one you are angry with, so that you, being ashamed of long-term hypocrisy before him, could completely love him, being burned with conscience like fire.

Remembering the sufferings of Jesus will heal the memory of malice, greatly shamed by His innocence. In the tree, inside rotten, a worm is born, and in the apparently meek and silent, but not truly such, a long anger lurks. He who spews out anger from himself receives the remission of sins, and who clings to it, he is deprived of God's mercy.

We know of many evil creatures of anger; only one involuntary fiend of onago, albeit an incidental one, is useful to us. For I have seen people who, inflamed with violent anger, spewed out the old memory malice hidden within them, and thus got rid of passion with passion, receiving from the offender either an expression of repentance, or an explanation as to what they had grieved for a long time. And I saw again those who apparently showed longsuffering, but reckless, and under the cover of silence hid memory malice within themselves; and I considered them the most reprobate, frantic, because they clouded the whiteness of the dove, as it were, with some blackness. We need a lot of diligence against this serpent (that is, anger and memory of malice), because nature also cooperates with it, like the serpent of carnal lust.

See PRIDE.

SLANDER

Once a brother slandered his neighbor before the [abbot]; This monk immediately commanded to expel him, saying that two devils should not be allowed to be in the monastery, i.e. visible and invisible.

See PRIDE.

ENVY

See PRIDE

CONFUSION OF MIND, INSANITY

As the winds revolt the abyss, so rage confuses the mind more than all passions.

ABOUT SILVER LOVE

The love of money is the worship of idols, the daughter of unbelief, the excuse of oneself for our weaknesses, the predictor of old age, the harbinger of hunger ...

The lover of money is a blasphemer of the Gospel and a voluntary apostate. He who has acquired love has squandered money, and whoever says that he has both is deceiving himself.

The love of money begins under the guise of giving alms, and ends with hatred of the poor. The money-lover is merciful as long as he collects money; and as soon as he accumulated them, he clasped his hands.

The love of money is and is called the root of all evil (1 Tim. 6:10); and it really is that, for it produces hatred, plunder, envy, separation, enmity, embarrassment, rancor, cruelty and murder.

As those who have chains on their feet cannot walk comfortably, so those who collect money cannot ascend to heaven.

Great is he who piously rejected his possessions, but holy is he who rejects his will. The former will be enriched a hundredfold by possessions or gifts, and the latter will inherit eternal life.

CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF SINAL PASSION

There is a devil of avarice, which often takes a hypocritical image of humility, and there is a devil of vanity, which encourages the distribution of alms: the same is done by the devil of voluptuousness. If we are clean from the last two passions, then we will not stop doing deeds of mercy in every place.

Waves will not leave the sea, and anger and sorrow will not leave the lover of money.

He who has tasted the blessings of the highest easily despises the earthly, while he who has not tasted the former rejoices in the acquisition of the latter.

SIGNS OF SINNED PASSION

In Job there was not even a trace of love of money, that is why he, and having lost everything, remained without embarrassment.

Do not say that you collect money for the sake of the poor, for even two mites of a widow bought the Kingdom of Heaven.

Means of combating sinful passion

Unshakable faith cuts off vain concerns, and the memory of death teaches us to reject the body as well.

Faith and withdrawal from the world is the death of avarice, but mercy and love betray the body itself for one's neighbor.

He who weeps for himself, even for his own body, is rejected and does not spare him in case of need.

Conquering this passion, this compartment of care; and the one who is bound by her never prays purely.

UNMORRY KILL

See SILVER LOVE.

UNBELIEVE, LACK OF FIRM HOPE IN GOD

Unshakable hope is the door of impartiality, while the action of the opposite is self-evident.

The impoverishment of hope is the destruction of love, our labors are connected with hope, deeds are based on it, God's mercy surrounds it.

See Anger.

FEAR, ANXIETY

See PRIDE.

THE DECLIMATION OF LOVE

See PRIDE.

WORDS AND PRECAUTIONS

He who despised substance got rid of word justifications and contradictions; the covetous person is ready to compete for the needle to death.

As a blind man is an unskilful shooter, so an unskilled disciple perishes.

ABOUT WONDERFUL

One wise man asked me a terrible question: "What sin, - he said, - after murder and renunciation of Christ, is the most serious of all?" And when I answered: "To fall into heresy," then he objected: "How does the conciliar church receive heretics and grant them communion of the Holy Mysteries, when they sincerely anathematize their heresy, accepting him, excommunicates him for whole years from the Most Pure Mysteries, as the apostolic canons command? " I was amazed at the bewilderment; and this bewilderment remained bewilderment and without permission.

The Lord, as incorruptible and incorporeal, rejoices in the purity and incorruption of our body; demons, according to some, do not rejoice so much about anything else as about the malice of fornication, and do not love any passion as desecrating the body.

Do not believe in this mortal body throughout your life and do not rely on it until you present yourself to Christ.

The serpent of lust is manifold; to those who have not tasted the sweetness of sin, he inspires them to taste it only once and stop; but those who have eaten the deceit prompts them to commit sin again by remembering them. Many of the former, since they do not know this evil, are also free from struggle; and of the latter, many, as having learned this abomination by experience, endure coldness and battle. However, quite often the opposite happens.

This my, and, one might say, not my hostile, but my beloved flesh, Paul called death. Who will deliver me, he says, from the body of death (Rom. 7: 24)? And Gregory the Theologian calls her passionate, slavish and nocturnal. I would like to know why these holy men give her such names? If the flesh, as mentioned above, is death, then the one who overcomes it, of course, will never die. But who is a man who will live and will not see death - the desecration of his flesh?

Do not think that you cannot fall because of abstinence; for someone who did not eat anything was cast out from heaven.

Our inhuman enemy and the mentor of fornication instills that God is loving for mankind, and that He will soon forgive this passion as natural. But if we begin to observe the deceit of demons, we will find that, after committing a sin, they present God to us as a righteous and inexorable Judge. The first they say to lead us into sin, and the second they say to plunge us into despair.

Let us consider whether not each of our mental enemies, when they turn against us, is assigned to carry out his own assignment, as is the case in a sensual battle; and this is surprising. I watched the tempted, and I saw some of the others' most fierce falls: have ears to hear, let them hear (Matt. 11:15)!

I noticed that sometimes the fornication wolf intensifies the illnesses of the ailing, and in the illnesses themselves produces movements and effusions. It was terrible to see that the flesh, in the midst of fierce suffering, rages and rages. And I turned, and saw lying on the bed, who in their very suffering were comforted by the action of Divine grace or a feeling of tenderness; and with this consolation they reflected painful sensations, and in such a state of mind that they never wanted to get rid of the disease. And he turned again, and saw grievously suffering, who with bodily illness, as if by some penance, got rid of spiritual passion; and I glorified God, who healed clay with clay.

CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF SINAL PASSION

All demons try to darken our minds first, and then they suggest what they want, for if the mind does not close its eyes, then our treasure will not be stolen, but the prodigal demon uses this means much more than anyone else. Often, having darkened the mind, this sovereign, he prompts and forces us and before people to do what only madmen do. When, after a few time, the mind becomes sober, then we are ashamed not only of those who saw our outrageous actions, but also of ourselves, for our obscene actions, conversations and movements, and we are horrified about our previous blindness; why some, arguing about this, often lagged behind this evil.

With the novice, bodily falls usually occur from the enjoyment of food; with the middle ones, they come from lofty intelligence and from the same reason as with the novices; but with those approaching perfection, they happen only from the condemnation of their neighbors.

Memory malice is far from solid natural love, but fornication conveniently approaches it, as we sometimes see lice lurking in the dove.

See VALVE

Let us tame the womb by thinking about the future fire. Obeying the belly, some at last cut off their innermost limbs and died a double death. Let us be careful, and we will see that overeating is the only reason for the drowning that happens to us.

He who serves his womb and, meanwhile, wants to overcome the spirit of fornication, is like a fire extinguishing oil.

After our satiety, this unclean spirit departs and sends on us a prodigal spirit; he announces to him in what condition we are left, and says: "Go, disturb such and such: his belly is full, and therefore you will work a little." This one, having come, smiles and, having tied our hands and feet with sleep, does everything he wants with us, defiling the soul with vile dreams and the body with outflows.

In voluptuous people it happens (as one of them, who experienced this, confessed to me after his sobriety) a feeling of some extraordinary attraction and love for bodies, and such a shameless and inhuman spirit, clearly nesting in the very feeling of the heart, that the one who is struggling with this spirit during battle feels bodily kindling, like fire from a burning stove; he is not afraid of God, imputes to nothing the memory of torment, he disdains prayer, almost as if he is actually committing a sin, and looks at dead brows like soulless stones. The sufferer of this becomes, as it were, mad and frenzied, intoxicated by the everlasting passionate desire of verbal and dumb creatures, so that if the days of this painful battle did not end, then no soul could be saved, clothed in this clay, dissolved in blood and phlegm. How could it be otherwise? For everything that exists by its nature insatiably desires something akin to itself: blood - blood, a worm - a worm and silt - silt; and therefore this flesh also desires the flesh, although the perpetrators of nature and the desires of the Kingdom of Heaven try to seduce this charming woman with various tricks. Blessed are those who have not experienced the battle described above. So, let us pray that He will deliver us forever from such a temptation. Those who crawled and fallen into the ditch are far removed from the angels ascending and descending along this ladder; and for such an ascent, after a fall, many sweats with the strictest fasting are required for them.

Let us hear about another deceit of our enemies. Just as food that is harmful to the body, for some time, or a day later, produces a disease in us, so very often the causes that defile the soul act. I saw those enjoying themselves and not suddenly being oppressed; saw that some were eating and staying with women, and at that time had no evil thoughts; but when they were deceived by arrogance and dreamed that they had peace and confirmation, they were suddenly perished in their cell; and what kind of destruction it is, bodily and mental, to which a person can be subjected alone, knows the one who was in this temptation, and who was not tempted, he does not need to know.

There is a demon who, as soon as we lie down on a bed, comes to us and shoots at us with crafty and unclean thoughts, so that we, being too lazy to arm ourselves against them with prayer and falling asleep with bad thoughts, would be enveloped in sweat and bad dreams.

HOW TO FIGHT SINNY PASSION

He who wants to fight his own flesh and conquer it by his own strength, struggles in vain; for if the Lord does not destroy the house of the fleshly lust and does not build the house of the soul, then the one who thinks to destroy is vainly vigilant and fasting.

Do not think to overthrow the demon of fornication with objections and proofs, for he has many convincing excuses, as a warrior against us with the help of our nature.

Diligently drink reproach, like the water of life, from every person who wants to give you this medicine that cleans you from lust, for then deep purity will shine in your soul, and the light of God will not diminish in your heart.

I saw that hatred broke the long-term bonds of prodigal love, and then memory malice miraculously prevented them from reuniting. A marvelous sight! The demon heals the demon; but maybe this is not the work of demons, but the providence of God.

If there is a kindling of the flesh, then one must tame it by abstinence, at all times and in all places. When it dies down (which, however, I do not hope to wait before death), then you can hide your abstinence in front of others.

If you promised Christ to walk a narrow and cramped path, then oppress your womb, for by pleasing him and expanding it, you reject your vows. But listen and hear the speaker: the path of gluttony is wide and wide, leading to the destruction of fornication, and many walk along it, but narrow is the gate, narrow is the path of abstinence, leading to the life of purity, and few enter it (Matt. 7:14).

The godly Evagrius imagined that he was the wisest of the wise, both in eloquence and in the height of his thoughts, but he deceived himself, poor man, and turned out to be the most insane of the insane, both in many of his opinions and in the following. He says: "When our soul desires various foods, then we must exhaust it with bread and water." Prescribing this is the same as telling a young lad to climb to the very top of the ladder in one step. So, let's say in refutation of this rule: if the soul desires various foods, then it seeks what is peculiar to its nature; and therefore, against our cunning womb, we must also use prudent caution; and when there is no strong carnal warfare and there is no chance for a fall, then we cut off first of all the fattening food, then the kindling food, and then the delightful one. If possible, give your belly food sufficient and digestible so that saturation gets rid of its insatiable greed, and through a quick digestion of food get rid of inflammation, like a scourge. Let us examine and see that many of the foods that puff up the stomach also excite the movements of lust.

He who attempts to quench this war by abstinence alone is like a man who thinks to swim out of the abyss, swimming with one hand. Combine humility with self-control, for the former is useless without the latter.

Having reclined on the bed, we most must stay awake and sober, because then our mind alone, without a body, fights with demons, and if it happens to be voluptuous or full of voluptuous dreams, then it willingly becomes a traitor.

During the day, no one can imagine in his mind the dreams occurring in a dream, for that is, in the intention of the demons, in order to defile us who are awake with dreams.

This demon more carefully than all others observes the times which are more convenient for capturing us: and when he sees that we cannot pray against him bodily, then this unclean person especially tries to attack us.

Those who have not yet attained true heartfelt prayer are encouraged in bodily prayer by the feat of compulsion, for example: stretching out the arms, beating in the chest, gazing at the sky with affection, deep sighing and frequent bowing of the knees. But as it often happens that in the presence of other people they cannot do this, then the demons try to attack them; and since they are not yet able to resist them with the courage of the mind and the invisible power of prayer, then, perhaps, out of need, they yield to those who struggle with them. In this case, if possible, get away from people as soon as possible, hide for a short time in a secret place and there gaze at heaven, if you can, with a spiritual eye, and if not, then at least with a bodily one; stretch out your hands in a cross-like manner, and hold them motionless, in order to shame and defeat the mental Amalek in this way. Cry out to the One who is able to save, and cry out not with eloquent words, but with humble proclamations, beginning first of all with this appeal: have mercy on me, for I am weak (Psalm 6: 3). Then by experience you will know the power of the Almighty, and with invisible help, invisibly, you will turn invisible (enemies) into flight. Whoever has learned to fight them in this way will soon begin to drive away these enemies with one soul; for the Lord gives to the laborers this second gift as a reward for the first labors. And rightly so!

As the earthly king is abhorrent, who, standing before him, turns his face away from him and converses with the enemies of his master, so the Lord is abominable when he comes to prayer and accepts unclean thoughts.

Drive this dog that comes to you with the weapon of prayer, and no matter how much he continues to shamelessly, do not yield to him.

Beware of indiscriminately praying for a woman's Zero, so as not to be stained from the gum side.

Confessing your sins to the Lord, do not go into the details of the deeds of the flesh, as they happened, so that you do not become a lie to yourself.

What the eyes have not seen, that and the larynx, according to one hearing, does not strongly desire to taste, so those who are pure in body receive great relief from their ignorance in spiritual warfare.

SIGNS OF SINNED PASSION

Being in temptation, I felt that this wolf wants to seduce me, producing in my soul wordless joy, tears and consolation; and in my infancy I thought that I received the fruit of grace, and not vanity and delusion.

Those inclined to sensuality are often compassionate and merciful, quick to tears and affectionate; but those who care about cleanliness are not like that.

The most enlightened and judicious of the fathers noticed another thought, which is more refined than all of the above. It is called the raid of thought; and it passes in the soul so quickly that without time, without a word and an image, it instantly presents to the ascetic passion. In the carnal battle between the spirits of malice, none is faster and more inconspicuous than this. He is one subtle memory, without combination, without the continuation of time, inexplicable, and in some even in an unknown way, suddenly appears as his presence in the soul. He who, through crying, managed to comprehend such a subtlety of thought, can teach us: how, with one eye, and a simple look, and the touch of a hand, and hearing a song, without any thought or thought, a soul can passionately commit fornication.

Among the passionate there is one more passionate than the other; and some of them confess their filthiness with lust and delight. Unclean and shameful thoughts are usually born in the heart from the demon of fornication, this deceiving heart; but they are healed by abstinence and imputation of them for nothing.

Turn away from this adversary when, after you have done the above-described actions, he forbids you to pray, practice pious deeds and stay in vigil; and remember the One who said: this soul does not do my labors, tormented by vicious habits, I will create her revenge from her enemies (Luke 18: 5).

How and how can I bind my flesh, this my friend, and judge it according to the example of other passions? Do not know. Before I have time to bind it, it is already resolved; before I judge her, I am reconciled to her; and before I begin to torment, I bow to her with pity. How can I hate the one that I am naturally accustomed to love? How can I get rid of the one with whom I am forever connected? How can I kill the one who is to be resurrected with me? How to make incorruptible one that received a corruptible nature? What blessed proof can I present to one who can oppose so many natural objections to me? If I bind her by fasting, then, having condemned my neighbor, I again surrender to her; if, having ceased to condemn others, I conquer her, then, having ascended in my heart, I am again deposed by her. She is my friend, she is my enemy, she is my helper, she is also my rival: my protector and traitor. When I please her, she arms against me. Whether I am exhausting her, exhausted. Whether I calm her down, he is rampaging. Whether I am a burden or not. If I grieve her, then I myself will be extremely poor. If I defeat her, there will be no one with whom to acquire virtues. And I turn away from it, and embrace it. What is this sacrament in me? How was this combination of opposites formed in me? How am I my own enemy and friend? Tell me, my wife is my nature; for I do not want anyone else but you to ask what concerns you; tell me, how can I stay without being hurt by you? How can I avoid natural disaster when I promised Christ to wage everlasting war with you? How can I overcome your torment when I voluntarily decided to be your compulsion? She, answering her soul, says: "I will not tell you what you do not know either, but I will tell you what we both understand. I have my father in me - pride. External incitement comes from pleasing me and from excessive peace to all, and internal - from the previously former peace and from voluptuous deeds. Having conceived, I give birth to falls; they, being born, themselves give birth to death by despair. If you clearly know my deep and your weakness, then you will bind my hands. then you will bind my legs so that they do not go forward. If you unite with obedience, you will be freed from me, but if you gain humility, then you will cut off my head.

SELF-LOVE

See above.

PLEASING PASSION AND REST IN ALL (RELAXATION)

As he who fights with a lion, if he turns his gaze from him, immediately perishes, so also he who fights with his flesh, if he rests it.

He who caresses a lion often tames him; but he who pleases the body increases its ferocity.

See above.

CONDEMNATION

When others are condemned and exalted, all heroic deeds against the flesh are in vain. See above.

See PRIDE.

Hula

See PRIDE

See VANITY

If nothing agrees with humility like crying, then no doubt nothing is more opposed to it than laughter.

Be like a king in your heart, sitting on the high throne of humility, and command laughter: go, and he goes; and I cry sweet: come, and he comes; and to this body, this servant and our tormentor: do this, and he will do it (Matthew 8: 9).

God does not demand, brethren, and does not want a person to cry from heart disease, but to rejoice in spiritual laughter out of love for Him. Ward off sin, and painful tears will be superfluous to sensual eyes, for when there is no wound, then a plaster is not needed either. Adam had no tears before the transgression, just as there will be none after the resurrection, when sin is abolished; for then sickness, sorrow, and sighing will flee (Isaiah 35: 10).

See VALVE.

ABOUT THE WOMEN'S KIND FOR ALL AND THE DEVIOUS LORD

The leader of demons is a fallen day; and the head of the passions is delight. Having the intention to speak of the womb, if ever, then now most, I suggested that I be profane against myself; for it would be wonderful if someone, before going down into the grave, were freed from this passion.

Gluttony is the pretense of the womb; because it, and being full, cries out: "Little!", being full and stretching out from excess, cries out: "Hungry!"

Gluttony is the inventor of condiments, the source of sweets. Whether you have abolished one vein of it, it flows from another. Whether you have blocked this one too, it breaks through in a different way, and overcomes you.

Gluttony is the deception of the eyes; we fit in moderation, and it incites us to absorb everything at once.

Know that often the demon will squat in the stomach and prevent a person from getting enough, even if he devoured all the food of Egypt and drank all the water in the Nile.

It is an amazing thing that the mind, being incorporeal, is defiled and darkened from the body, and that, on the contrary, the immaterial is refined and purified from rubbish.

CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF SINAL PASSION

When the belly is oppressed, then the heart is also humbled; if it is at peace with food, then the heart is lifted up in thoughts.

Saturation is the mother of fornication; but oppression of the womb is the culprit of purity.

Be master over your womb, before it prevails over you, and then you will be forced to abstain with shame. Those who have fallen into the moat of iniquity, about which I do not want to speak, understand what I have said; but the chaste did not know this by experience.

SIGNS OF SINNED PASSION

The Jew rejoices over his Saturday and the holiday; and the gluttonous monk rejoices about Saturday and Sunday; during Lent counts how much is left before Easter; and many days before her he prepared food. The slave of the womb calculates with what food to honor the holiday; but the servant of God ponders what gifts he could be enriched with.

In the hearts of gluttons - dreams of food and delicacies; in the hearts of those who weep, there are dreams of the final judgment and of torment.

HOW TO FIGHT SINNY PASSION

Furs (leather bags that hold different liquids), when softened, are distributed and contain more liquid: and those left in neglect do not take the same measures. He who burdens his womb expands his insides; but in the one who strives against the womb, they are drawn together little by little; those who are strapped will not take much food, and then, according to the need of nature itself, we will be fasting.

Sitting at a table full of food, imagine death and judgment in your mind's eyes; for even in this way you can hardly tame the passion of overeating even a little. When you drink, always remember the oset and bile of your Master, and in this way you will either abide within the limits of abstinence, or, at least, moaning, humble your thought.

Do not be deceived, you cannot free yourself from the mental pharaoh, nor behold the Passover of the Heavens, if you do not always eat bitter potion and unleavened bread. Bitter potion is the compulsion and patience of fasting, and unleavened bread is not an arrogant wisdom. May this word of the Psalmist unite with your breath: alas, when the demons are in cold weather, clothed in sackcloth, and humbled my soul with fasting, and my prayer will return to the depths of my soul (Ps. 34, 13).

Fasting is violence of nature, rejection of everything that delights taste, extinguishing bodily incitement, extermination of evil thoughts, liberation from bad dreams, purity of prayer, luminary of the soul, preservation of the mind, extermination of heartlessness, the door of affection, humble sighing, joyful contrition, retention of verbiage, the cause of silence, the guardian of obedience, the relief of sleep, the health of the body, the culprit of dispassion, the resolution of sins, the gates of paradise and heavenly delight.

Let us also ask this enemy of ours, even more so the chief chief of our evil enemies, the door of passions, i.e. gorging, this is the reason for the fall of Adam, the destruction of Esau, the destruction of the Israelites, the exposure of Noah, the extermination of the Gomorians, the Lot of incest, the destruction of the sons of Elijah, the priest and leader to all abominations. Let us ask, where does this passion come from? And what are her fiends? Who destroys this and who destroys it completely?

Tell us, tormentor of all people, who bought everyone with the gold of insatiable greed: how did you find the entrance to us? When you come in, what do you usually produce? And how do you leave us?

She, being irritated with these annoyances, furiously and fiercely replies to us: "Why are you guilty of me, beating me with vexations? And how do you attempt to free yourself from me when I am connected with you by nature? The door by which I enter is a property of food; and the reason for my insatiability is habit; the basis of my passion is long-term skill, insensibility of the soul and oblivion of death. And how do you seek to know the names of my offspring? my dearest offspring. My firstborn son is fornication, and the second after him is the hardening of the heart, the third is sleepiness. A sea of ​​evil thoughts, waves of filth, the depth of unknown and inexpressible filth from me originate. My daughters are: laziness, verbosity, insolence , ridiculousness, blasphemy, prejudice, cruelty, disobedience, insensitivity, captivity of the mind, self-praise, arrogance, love of the world, followed by a profaned prayer, hovering thoughts and unintentional and sudden th misadventures; and despair follows, - the fiercest of all passions. The memory of sins is at war against me. The thought of death is very hostile to me; but there is nothing in people that could completely abolish me. Whoever has acquired the Comforter prays to Him against me And He, being implored, does not allow me to passionately act in him. Those who have not tasted His heavenly consolation in every possible way seek to enjoy my sweetness. "

SENSITIVITY (PAINLESSNESS), HEART STEAMINATION, CRUTE OF HEART

I have seen many people who, listening to the word about death and the Last Judgment, shed tears, and then, when the tears were still in their eyes, hurried to the meal with zeal. I marveled at how Mrs. Onaya, the stinking passion of overeating, being strengthened by long-term insensibility, could overcome crying.

See Capture of the Mind.

See DEPRESSION.

To the extent of my feeble strength, I explained the deceit and ulcers of this insane and violent, stony and cruel passion, for I do not intend to spread much against it. He who is able in the Lord from his experience to apply healing to these ulcers, let him not be lazy to do it; I am not ashamed to confess my weakness in this matter, being myself possessed by this strong passion. I could not by myself comprehend her cunning intrigues, if I had not overtaken her nowhere, I had not held her back by force and forced her to confess all of the above, beating her with the sword of the fear of God and incessant prayer. That is why this evil tormentor told me: my allies, when they see the dead, laugh; standing in prayer, they are completely petrified, cruel and darkened. Before the sacred meal, the Eucharist remains insensitive; and even partaking of this heavenly gift, they partake of simple bread, as it were. When I see people approaching with affection, I swear at them. From the father who gave birth to me, I learned to kill everything good that is born of courage and love. I am the mother of laughter, I am the nourishment of sleep, I am the friend of satiety, I am inseparable from false reverence, and when I am convicted I do not feel sorrow.

FALSE ADVENTURE

See petrified SENSE above.

See VANITY.

DESPAIR

Do not be horrified if you fall every day, and do not deviate from the path of God, but stand courageously; and no doubt about it. The angel who protects you will honor your patience. When the ulcer is still new and hot, then it is conveniently healed, but old, neglected and neglected wounds are healed inconveniently, because for their healing they already require a lot of work, cutting and burning. Many wounds from stagnation are made incurable, but with God everything is possible (Matt. 19:26). ...

When you mourn your sins, never obey that dog, which tells you that God is loving for mankind, for he does this with the intention to tear you away from crying and fearless fear. Accept the thought of God's mercy only when you see that you are sinking into the depths of despair. ...

Let us test, I ask you, who is greater before the Lord: is he dead and resurrected, or who has never died? The one who pleases the latter is deceived, for Christ died and rose again, and the one who pleases the former exhorts the dying, that is, those who fall, not to despair.

When sorrow and despair in us intensify, then we cannot bring proper repentance, neither reproach ourselves, nor reproach ourselves, although in a sad disposition of our souls we do not indulge in sin. And when these fade away, then again our tormentor instills in us the mercy of God, so that we fall again.

See VANITY, PRIDE, HULA.

Let the passionate humbled be complacent. For if they fell into all the pits, and got bogged down in all the nets, and got sick of every ailment, but upon recovery they are luminaries and doctors, guides and instructors for everyone, declaring the properties and types of each ailment and by their experience saving those close to falling.

There is despair arising from a multitude of sins and an aggravation of conscience and intolerable sorrow, when the soul, due to the multitude of these ulcers, sinks and sinks into the depths of hopelessness from their severity. But there is another kind of despair, which comes from pride and exaltation, when the fallen think they did not deserve this fall. If someone delves into this, he will find that there is such a difference between the one and the other: the former indulge in negligence, and the latter, with hopelessness, hold on to feat, which is disgusting to one another. But abstinence and trustworthiness heal from the former, and humility and not judging anyone from the latter.

He is very unreasonable who, hearing about the supernatural virtues of holy men, despairs. On the contrary, they teach you one of two useful instructions: either through holy courage they excite you to jealousy, or through all-holy humility they lead you to a deep knowledge of your weakness and to the sight of yourself.

In grief over sins, drawn to despair, let us not stop remembering that the Lord commanded Peter to forgive the one who sins seventy times in seven (Matthew 18:22), and whoever gave such a commandment to another, He Himself, no doubt, will do incomparably more. On the contrary, when the ascension struggles with us, then we will strive to remember the saying of St. Apostle James: he will keep all the spiritual law, but he will sin by one passion - arrogance - will be guilty of all (James 2:10).

As marriage and death are repugnant to each other, so pride and despair do not agree with each other, but by the deception of demons, both of these passions can be seen in one person.

Just as it is impossible for a dying person to walk, so it is impossible for a desperate person to be saved.

Just as there is no just reason for a sufferer with fever to kill himself, so no one should in any case despair until his last breath.

LAUGHTER, TIMELESS LAUGHTER

I saw people who were dignified with lies and idle talk and, with their witticisms, aroused laughter, exterminated those who listened to crying and broken spirits.

When the demons see that at the very beginning we are trying to move away from listening to the ridiculous speeches of a harmful narrator, as from a destructive infection, then they attempt to seduce us with two thoughts: "Do not grieve," they suggest to us, "the narrator" or: "Do not present yourself as a human being, more God-loving than others. " Bounce back soon, do not hesitate, and if not, then during your prayer, thoughts of ridiculous objects will be imagined. And not only run away such conversations and crafty meetings, but also ruin them piously, offering on Wednesday the memory of death and the last Judgment, for it is better for you to sprinkle yourself with a little vanity in this case, if only to become the culprit of the common good.

See BLUD

POLYVONGE

Constrain the belly with abstinence, and you will be able to block your mouth; for the tongue is strengthened by the multitude of foods. Strive with all your might against this tormentor and stay awake with unremitting attention, watching him; for if you work even a little, then the Lord will immediately help.

See VANITY.

Preface

See SILVER LOVE.

Insolence

The meal of love destroys hatred, and sincere gifts soften the soul. But a meal without attention is the mother of insolence, and stomach-eating jumps up through the window of love. ...

If we see that some love us in the Lord, then we must most of all remain humble before them, for nothing so ruins love and nothing so quickly produces hatred as liberty in conversion.

LAZINESS

See DEPRESSION; VANITY.

ARROGANCE

See PRIDE; VANITY.

BOASTING

See VANITY.

HUMANITY

See VANITY.

BECAUSE (SPECT)

See FALSE.

Captivity of the mind

A painless heart blinds the mind, and many brushes dry up the fountains of tears. Thirst and vigilance oppress the heart, and when the heart is embarrassed, then tears arise. What I have said will seem cruel to those who please the womb, but incredible to the lazy, but an active husband will diligently experience this in practice. Whoever has learned this by experience will rejoice about it, and whoever is still seeking will not do without sorrow.

It is an amazing thing that the mind, being incorporeal, is defiled and darkened from the body, and that, on the contrary, the immaterial is refined and purified from rubbish.

If you put on perfect meekness and anger, you will work a little to free your mind from captivity.

Try to always return to yourself the deviating thought of yours, or, it would be better to say, enclose it in the words of prayer. If, due to your infancy, she gets tired and falls into amusement, then again introduce her into the words of the prayer; for impermanence is inherent in our mind. But the One who is strong to affirm everything can give constancy to our minds. If you strive unremittingly in this work, then you will also come to you, setting limits to the sea of ​​your mind, and will say to him in your prayer: you have reached until now and have not passed (Job 38:11). It is impossible to bind the Spirit, and where the Creator of this Spirit is, everything is submissive to Him.

If you constantly train your mind not to move away from you, then it will be near you during the meal. If he wanders everywhere unrestrained, then he will never be with you. Therefore, the great worker of great and perfect prayer says: I want five words with my mind to speak (1 Cor. 14:19) and so on. But for infants, this is impossible. Therefore, we, as imperfect ones, must combine the quantitative multitude with the quality of prayer, because the second is the cause of the first. For it is said: Give a pure prayer to the one who is praying unwillingly, even if not purely, but with trouble.

See BLUD.

Love of peace

Some people who carelessly live in the world asked me, saying: "How can we, living with wives and being entangled in worldly cares, imitate the monastic life?" I answered them: "Do all the good that you can do, do; do not reproach anyone, do not heal, do not lie to anyone, do not ascend to anyone, do not have hatred for anyone, do not leave church meetings, be merciful to those in need, be merciful to anyone. do not tempt, do not touch someone else's part and be content with the rent of your wives. If you do this, you will not be far from the Kingdom of Heaven. "

Whoever truly loved the Lord, who truly desires and seeks the future Kingdom, who has true sorrow for his sins, who truly acquired the memory of eternal torment and the Last Judgment, who truly fears his exodus from this life, will no longer love anything temporary, no longer will take care and will not take care of any possessions and acquisitions, or of parents, or of the glory of this world, or of friends, or of brothers, in a word, of anything earthly; but, putting aside everything worldly and all care about it, and above all, having hated his very flesh, naked and without care and laziness will follow Christ, constantly looking to heaven and from there expecting help for himself, according to the word of the saint, who said: mine according to You (Ps. 62: 9), and according to the saying of another ever-memorable: I have not bored, follow You, and the day, or rest, the Lord did not wish for a person (Jer. 17:16).

DISOBEDIENCE

See DEPRESSION.

LOTS OF SLEEP

See DEPRESSION.

CRUELY

See petrified unfeeling.

A small fire softens a lot of wax; often even a small dishonor inflicted on us suddenly softens, delights and destroys all the ferocity, insensibility and hardness of the heart.

THE EXTREME LIMITS OF SINAL PASSIONS AND OTHER VIRTUES

If the top of overeating consists in the fact that a person forces himself to take food when he does not want to eat, then the top of abstinence is to depress his innocent flesh with abstinence even when hungry. If the limit of fornication is when someone lusts at the sight of animals and even soulless creatures; then the limit of purity is to have the same feeling for everyone as for inanimate objects. If the extreme degree of love of money is when a person cannot stop collecting wealth or is not satisfied with it, then the height of non-acquisitiveness is not to spare his body either. If the extreme limit of despondency is considered when someone does not have patience at all, then the height of patience is rightly called that if a person, being oppressed, considers himself to have joy. If the abyss of anger means when a person is angry alone; then the depth of longsuffering is shown in a person when he is in equal tranquility and in the presence and absence of those who slander. If there is extreme vanity, when a person, not seeing anyone with him who would praise him, reveals vain actions; then there is a sign of complete non-conceit, so that even when visiting others, you will never be covered with vain thought. If the sign of doom, i.e. pride, there is when someone ascends by both small and insignificant deeds; then the salutary sign of humility is to think humbly of oneself even during great undertakings and perfections. And if the sign of complete enslavement by the passions consists in the fact that a person soon obeys almost everything secretly wrought from demons, then I regard it as a sign of holy dispassion, when someone can wrongly say with David: "... he who deviates from me is ignorant of the evil one" (Ps . 100: 4), and I do not know how he came, and why he came, and how he left; I became insensitive to all this, being all united and hoping to always be with God.

SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS CHAPTERS

Unshakable hope is the door of equanimity; the action of the opposite is self-evident. Abstinence is the mother of health; and the mother of abstinence is the thought of death and the firm remembrance of the bile and ocet that our Sovereign and God ate.

The companion and the beginning of chastity is silence; extinguishing the kindling of carnal fasting; but the enemy of foul and unclean thoughts is contrition of the heart.

Diligent prayer is destruction to despondency; and the memory of the last judgment gives rise to zeal.

Desire for dishonor is the healing of irritability; psalmics, mercy, and non-possession are the killers of sorrow.

The indifference to things sensual leads to the vision of the mental. Silence and silence are enemies of vanity; but if you are in a hostel, then endure dishonor.

The slayer of sensual snakes is a deer, but mental humility. Apparent pride is healed by sorrowful circumstances; and invisible - the Eternal and Invisible.

FROM WHAT WE SEE IN NATURE, WE CAN TAKE CLEAR INSTRUCTIONS FOR SPIRITUAL LIFE

Just as a snake cannot peel off the old skin if it does not crawl through a narrow hole, so we cannot reject the old evil habits and the decrepit soul and robe of the old man, if we do not go through the narrow narrow path of fasting and dishonor. Just as fat birds cannot fly high, so it is impossible for one who pleases his own flesh to ascend to heaven.

See SADNESS NOT BOSE

As clouds cover the sun, sinful thoughts darken and destroy the mind. As water constrained rises up, so the soul oppressed by troubles, repentance ascends to God and is saved.

As he who wears aromas discovers a fragrant smell against his will, so he who has the Spirit of the Lord in him is known by his words and by humility.

See Anger and Rage

As fire does not give birth to snow; so the one who seeks earthly glory will not receive heavenly glory. As one spark often burns many substances, so there is one good that blots out many great sins.

Just as it is impossible to kill animals without weapons, so it is impossible to acquire anger without humility.

The sun ray, penetrating through the well into the house, enlightens everything in it, so that the finest dust floating in the air is visible: like this, when the fear of the Lord comes to the heart, it shows him all his sins.

As those who climb the rotten staircase are in danger, so all honor, glory, and power resist humility.

Just as it is impossible for the hungry one not to remember the bread, so it is impossible for the one who does not remember death and the last judgment to be saved.

As water washes away letters, so a tear can cleanse transgressions.

As, for lack of water, letters are blotted out in other ways, so souls deprived of tears cleanse and atone for their sins with sorrow and sighing and many lamentation.

As in the multitude of impurities, many worms are born, so from the multitude of foods there are many falls, crafty thoughts and dreams.

See SILVER LOVE

Just as a fresh wound is conveniently healed, so the opposite happens to long-term mental ulcers, which are inconvenient to heal, although they are healed.

See VALVE

He who says that he has right faith, and yet sins, is like a person who has no eyes. And whoever, not having true faith, does some good deeds, he is like one who draws water and pours it into a bad vessel.

As a ship that has a good helmsman, with the help of God, comfortably enters the pier, so the soul, having a good shepherd, conveniently ascends to heaven, although it once did many sins.

If someone is weak in body and has committed many grievous iniquities, let him walk the path of humility and his inherent virtues; for he will find no other means of salvation.

Just as it is impossible for a person possessed by a long-term illness to get health in an instant, so it is impossible to overcome passions in a short time, or at least one of them.

Consider how strongly every passion and every virtue is at work in you, and you will know your success.

Just as there is no just reason for a sufferer with fever to kill himself, so no one should in any case despair until his last breath.

Just as one who buried his father is ashamed to go to marriage immediately upon returning from the funeral, so it is indecent for those who weep for their sins to seek peace or honor and glory from people in the present age.

The feeling of the soul is its natural property, while sin is the deafening of the feeling. Consciousness produces either the cessation of evil, or the reduction of it. Consciousness is a product of conscience, and conscience is the word and conviction of the Guardian Angel given to us at baptism. That is why we note that the unenlightened by baptism are not so much tormented in their souls for their evil deeds, as the faithful ...

ABOUT THE UNION OF THE TRINITY OF VIRTUES, THAT IS ABOUT FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE

Now, after all that has been said, there are these three, all that bind and contain: faith, hope and love, but love is greater than all, for it is called God (1 Cor. 13:13). In my understanding, faith is like a ray, hope is like a candle, and love is like the circle of the sun. Yet they are one radiance and one lordship.

The first can create and create everything, the second is protected by God's mercy and made not ashamed, and the third never falls, does not stop from the flow and does not allow the wounded to sleep with her blissful rapture.

He who wants to talk about the love of God tries to talk about God Himself, but to stretch out the word about God is sinister and dangerous for the inattentive.

Love in its quality is likeness to God, as much as people can achieve, in its action it is the ecstasy of the soul, and in its nature it is a source of faith, an abyss of patience, a sea of ​​humility.

See PRIDE

See PRIDE, FEAR, ANXIOUS.

It will not be at all disgusting, I think, to borrow comparisons for lust, fear, thoroughness, jealousy, service and love for God from human actions. So, blessed is he who has such love for God as a passionate lover has for his beloved. Blessed is he who fears the Lord as much as condemned criminals fear the judge. Blessed is he who is so diligent and diligent in piety, as prudent servants are diligent in serving their master. Blessed is he who is so zealous for virtues as husbands are jealous, depriving themselves of sleep out of jealousy for their spouses. Blessed is he who stands before the Lord in prayer as servants stand before the king. Blessed is he who strives to please the Lord incessantly, as some try to please men.

A mother is not so attached to a baby she breastfeeds, as a son of love always clings to the Lord.

A truly loving person always imagines the face of a loved one and embraces his image in his soul with delight. This lust does not give him rest even in sleep, but even then his heart talks with his beloved. This usually happens in bodily love, and in spiritual love. Someone, being wounded by such love, said something about himself (which I am surprised at): I sleep, because of the need of nature, but my heart is watching (Song of Songs 5: 2) for my great love.

If the presence of a loved one clearly changes all of us and makes us cheerful, joyful and carefree, then what change will not make the presence of the Heavenly Lord, invisibly into the pure soul of the one who comes?

He who loves his neighbor can never tolerate slanderers, but he runs away from them like from fire.

He who says that he loves the Lord, but is angry with his brother, is like a person who in a dream imagines that he is running.

The power of love is in hope, for by hope we expect the reward of love.

Hope is peace in labor, it is the door of love, it kills despair, it is the guarantee of future blessings.

ABOUT ABVE JOHN, hegumen of Mount Sinai, that is, a ladder, VI century

Narrated by the monk of Sinai, who was a contemporary of the Monk John

Once Abba Martyrius came with the Monk John to Anastasius the Great, and this one, looking at them, says to Abba Martyrius: "Tell, Abba Martyrius, where is this youth from and who tonsured him?" He answered: "He is your servant, father, and I tonsured him." Anastasius says to him: "O, Abba Martyrius, who would have thought that you tonsured the hegumen of Sinai?" And the holy man did not sin: after forty years, John was our abbot. At another time, Abba Martyrius, taking John with him in the same way, went to the great John Savvait, who was then in the Guddian wilderness. Seeing them, the elder got up, poured water, washed Abba John's feet and kissed his hand; Abba Martyria did not wash his feet and then, when his disciple Stephen asked why he did this, he answered him: "Believe me, child, I do not know who this lad is, but I received the Abbot of Sinai and washed the Abbot's feet." On the day of the tonsure of Abba John (and he was tonsured in the twentieth year of his life), Abba Stratigius predicted about him that he would once be a great star. On the very day when Abba John was appointed our abbot, and when about six hundred visitors came to us, and they all sat eating food, John saw a man with short hair, dressed in a Jewish shroud, who, like a certain steward, walked everywhere. and gave orders to cooks, housekeepers, cells and other servants. When those people dispersed and the ministers sat down to eat, they looked for him everywhere who went and gave orders, but they did not find him anywhere. Then the servant of God, our reverend father John, tells us: "Leave him, Mr. Moses did nothing strange, serving in his place." There was once a lack of rain in the Palestinian countries; Abba John, at the request of the local inhabitants, prayed, and a heavy rain came down. And there is nothing incredible, for the will of those who fear Him will be done by the Lord and will hear their prayer (Psalm 144: 19).

Folk spiritual healer VICTORIA.

Welcome to my site. celitel.kiev.ua

For 26 years people have come to me, each with their own problems. After the sessions, they receive: healing, the most complex diseases, meet the other half, get married, get married, the husband, wife returns to the family, find a robot, establish a business, childless children are born, fear goes away, especially in children, stop drinking, smoking is removed negative energy (damage to the evil eye), houses, offices, cars are cleaned.
.My methodology is a sincere prayer to God, the Most Holy Theotokos, and to all the saints, for those who turn to me for help. I do not do divination magic.

How to overcome the sin of condemning your neighbor in yourself?

The sin of judgment comes from spiritual blindness. A person sees evil in another person, not noticing it in himself. Christianity starts with the opposite - you need to see yourself completely overwhelmed by sin. We have all the passions. Another thing is that they do not develop simultaneously: today - one, tomorrow - another, but the fact that we are carriers of the sin of the seed of eternal death is obvious. Christianity begins with spiritual insight, when a person sees that he is hopelessly ill, and there is not enough life to be healed. Therefore, he pays all his attention only to himself - to the life of his mind and heart, to the struggle with his passions. And only under this condition can condemnation be defeated. Condemnation is the sin of the antichrist, because judgment is given only to God. Often we condemn in a person what he has long repented of, and thus we are liars about his life. You should never condemn, remembering that God often allows us to fall into the sin in which we condemn another person. “Do not judge, lest you be judged” (Matt. 7: 1).

What to do when you step on the same rake, condemn yourself, bring repentance, but you cannot completely eradicate this sin in yourself?

We need to turn more resolutely to the experience of the Church. The holy fathers gave advice for curbing absolutely all passions. It is said about all Christian virtues. If a person is truly concerned that he is constantly defeated by gluttony, drunkenness, fornication, theft, condemnation and other passions that all people have, then he will surely find the right way out of this situation. Most often it happens like this: a person struggles half-heartedly, or maybe uses only one-tenth of the effort to change. The Apostle Paul says about this: “In the struggle against sin, you must strive to the shedding of blood” (See Hebrews 12: 4). The fathers have an expression: "Better death in struggle than life in sin." Not a single person can say that he turned to God, deeply repented of what he had done, prayed a lot, used fasting, the Sacraments, consulted with the confessor, read the Gospel, looked for an answer from the holy fathers and, unfortunately, could not find the answer anywhere, how fix your life. We will never hear that. Basically, everyone talks about the weakness of their faith and unwillingness to fight, that is, to curb their passions and desires. Many suffer, for example, from wine drinking. They came to confession, repented, held out for a day, a day later they again step on the same rake - they again buy a bottle, a snack and start on the same path. True repentance requires a struggle, an effort over oneself. Repentance is a change of life, in which there is spiritual achievement.

What is an addiction?

What is addiction and how do you know if a person has it and what measures to take then? What are the external and internal symptoms?

The concept of addiction comes from the word passion, when our heart is attached to the earthly, temporary and external. One can only cleave to God, realize Him as the main source of Love, without which we cannot live. Addiction is the very wall that is built between God and man. There is an addiction to animals, delicious food, personal beauty, fashionable clothes ... Whatever a person does, addiction is inevitable: books, TV, collections, trips, etc.
Christianity is a life in which a man puts God in the foreground. When a person is addicted to something, he seems to say: “I cannot live without this. I can’t help but drink a cup of coffee, live the day without watching TV, don’t call someone, don’t buy that… I can’t live without it! I live for a day or two, and then I definitely need to do it. " The question arises: when after death the soul leaves the body, how will its desires be fulfilled? How are you going to do it there? It's impossible! There will be no body of its own - no food, no drink, no fun - nothing can be done. And from this the soul will languish, suffer and torment. That is why, without denying the necessary care for our body, we keep talking about the fact: in bodily life, you need to do only what is necessary. Any excess is harmful and it happens because a person is damaged by sin. An appetite is born for a beautiful life. A person cannot eat in moderation, but wants a lot and tasty; cannot dress so as not to freeze in winter - but it is necessary to be fashionable and beautiful, and so on. Take a good look at yourself - whatever we do, we succeed with passion. There is no measure in our behavior. A person who loves something temporary very much sins against God. The Lord is the giver of all good for us. He wants to teach us to love Him in return. Therefore, sometimes these objects-addictions are destroyed by God so that there is no wall separating a person from Him.
It is especially difficult for a person when he falls in love with someone, and this is not the will of God. We, priests, have to deal with these situations often. How many examples are there in our literature when people went from unhappy love to terrible deeds. Each piece has a story of an unhappy broken heart from unrequited love. Why? Because the heart, afflicted by sin, cleaves to money, power, or a person. More often than not, it is not so easy to part with such an addiction in order to forget it all. Passion has taken root too deeply. The Church says: "Man, live carefully, look after what you love, so that you do not cross the forbidden line." The Lord wants you to always keep the norm in your desires, curb your passions and not give them food. Unfortunately, we do the opposite. Our passions, by leaps and bounds, ripen, grow and gain strength. By feeding your passions, you thereby complicate the subsequent struggle with them. When a person wakes up and realizes that this needs to be dealt with, the struggle will be much easier and easier.
In my opinion, you need to cool your heart to this world. In order for it to cool down, it must be warmed up with another, spiritual filling. And the Church offers us truly that which can truly satisfy a person. It is important to decide on this. And we are afraid, we are afraid of something. “I, they say, will give up the world and become a black sheep. I stopped going to parties, I use my tongue less, I don’t drink ”-“ Well, that's okay - you've become a Christian! ” You need to endure two or three months, a year will pass and your friends will forget about you, those with whom you cannot build normal relationships, those who will constantly drag you down, will stop worrying about you. Therefore, always ask yourself the question: "Is there something in my life that I cannot live without?" If the conscience is silent - thank God, then there are no addictions! Remember how the Gospel says: "If your eye tempts you, pluck it out." The hand tempts - the compartments, the leg - the compartments. It is better to enter the Kingdom of God without an eye, without a leg, without a hand, than having them destroy your soul. Better here to give up what is called addiction. This is an important side of life that must be comprehended together in order to move forward correctly.

How to deal with everyday sins, such as irritability, verbosity, prodigal thoughts. Is there a single recipe for dealing with them?

A question from Andrey. He asks for advice on how to deal with the everyday sins that we sin from confession to confession, such as irritability, verbosity, lustful thoughts. Is there a single recipe for the struggle, or is everyone looking for their own way, in consultation with a spiritual father?

Christianity is a life in which spiritual creativity must be present. The Lord made us free on purpose. Everything in Christianity is based solely on our desire. God does not need a blind executor of His instructions, but a son who, out of love, does the will of the Father.
It's good that you are worried about everyday sins. Many people are convinced that the most important thing is not to commit mortal sins: murder, fornication, theft, blasphemy, etc. Let's take a simple example. A terrible mortal sin can be likened to a huge stone. If you hang it around your neck, you will immediately go to the bottom and drown. Small sins are like grains of sand, small pebbles, but which can also be collected in huge quantities in a bag, and with this bag you can also drown. Reasoning is needed everywhere. Every sin that a person commits robs his heart of the grace of God. Loss of grace is the beginning of spiritual death.
How specifically can we deal with the day-to-day sins we commit in our lives? First, it is necessary to realize that we cannot not sin at all. This is a kind of Christian axiom. The Lord deliberately allows us these minor falls in order to teach us humility. It is very important to notice these little things. The Gospel says that the faithful in little is faithful in many things (Luke 16:10). Christianity begins from the moment when a person worries about these trifles, that he sins not only in the big, violating the main commandments of God, but also in these everyday trifles, such as: a careless word, condemnation in word or thought, gluttony, prodigal ideas and etc. Here, the most effective way is to make frequent confessions. Sin abhors light, the devil is afraid of reproof. I advise you to come to confession as often as possible. It does not even require a spiritual mentor for this purpose. It is enough to approach any parish priest and briefly repent of condemnation, gluttony, irritability, envy, bad, impure thoughts, etc. You will immediately feel that the power of these passions will weaken.
Sincere repentance brings a special joy to the soul - the grace of God. The reason we commit our day-to-day sins is our unclean heart. If you strive rightly and legally, then the grace of God will cleanse him. Over time, it will become like a snow-white dress of the bride, on which even a small dirty speck can be seen. A person sees minor sins only with the purity of his own heart. A heart infected with sin is like dirty clothes, which are covered in dust and dirt, and an extra stain may not even be noticed. If you acquire inner purity, then against the background of this purity you will notice all the flaws and that spiritual dirt that will stick to your soul. Clean clothes always make a person happy. As soon as some kind of impurity appears, you immediately want to cleanse it. Therefore, watch your heart, and then you will always experience that you have sinned again with irritability, condemnation, envy, impure thoughts, etc. You won't want this. It is very important for God to see that it is disgusting for us to sin, we do not want this. And, since a person cannot cleanse himself, he is not Baron Munchausen to lift himself out of the swamp by the hair, such a feeling of weakness in the fight against sin will turn a person to Christ and His Church. You need to love prayer, Holy Scripture, Sacraments, temple, worship, that ascetic way of life, which is a harmonious system of correct spiritual behavior, where, on the one hand, a person struggles with passions, and, on the other hand, implants the gospel virtues in their place ...
Therefore, do not lose your vigilance! You have entered a special period when the main intensity of the struggle passes into your heart. You stopped being rude, swearing, probably, you do not drink, do not steal, do not fornicate. But don't stop there and don't be complacent. It is very important to God what is in our souls. The main battle goes on within us. This is an invisible war that is taking place at the borders of the human heart. Therefore, call on God for help, humble yourself before Him, pray to Him, try to show love in your life not in word and language, but in deed and truth, as John the Theologian writes (1 John 3:18). And then the grace of God will come to you and cleanse you from everyday sins, and you will feel joy and a surge of spiritual strength. God's help to you in the work of salvation!