The fight against the passion of fornication based on patristic teaching

What is the passion of fornication

St. John Cassian considers the fight against the spirit of fornication to be second in importance and priority:

“...The struggle, more than others, is long, constant and completely defeated by very few, a fierce battle that begins to fight from the first age of maturity and does not stop before other passions are conquered. Since the uprising here is twofold, armed with two weapons for struggle, then it must also be resisted with two weapons in hand. Physical fasting alone is not enough to achieve perfect purity of chastity; it must be surpassed by repentant contrition of spirit and persistent prayer against this unclean spirit; then constant teaching in the Scriptures combined with mental work, also physical labor and handicraft, which keeps the heart from wandering and returns it to itself, and most of all, deep, true humility, without which victory over any passion can never be achieved.”

St. Ephraim the Syrian calls shamelessness the mother of fornication:

“...If women see that you are treating them loosely and talking about empty things, then, inciting you to do even worse, they will bring you to your downfall. “But also be careful that others, under the guise of contrition and reverence, do not weaken your mind with their speeches.” One of the saints said: “They are talking for a long time, trying to bend you to passion.”

St. John Climacus says:

“There is fornication without knowing a woman, which, as unnatural, exposes you to greater torment. This is a kind of death and destruction that we always carry within ourselves, and most of all in our youth. But I do not dare to declare this destruction by writing, because my hand is held back by the one who said: what happens is that it is shameful for them to eat and speak and write (Matthew 5:12) ...

The Lord, as incorruptible and incorporeal, rejoices in the purity and incorruption of our body; demons do not rejoice over anything else so much as about evil fornication, and they do not love any passion as much as this, the desecrator of the body.”

Why are demons called evil?

The cunning of the hypocritical demon is guile. That is why representatives of evil spirits are called evil - this quality is really inherent in them. All demons are cunning, unpredictable, they almost always want to deceive a person with insufficiently strong faith.

In prayers, people often ask for protection from the evil one. Here we mean any evil spirit, not just demons. Devils, demons, demons - prayer can protect all these representatives of evil spirits from the wickedness.

Cunning, playfulness, pretense, deceit, cunning - all these qualities are from the demon. Many people have them. They are believed to be under the influence of evil spirits. It is she who pushes them to deception, revenge, and obtaining forbidden pleasures.

Manifestations of the passion of fornication

Manifestation of the passion for fornication when communicating with women

Communication with persons of the opposite sex in violation of distance and limits of meekness, caution and chastity leads to the kindling of lust.

St. Nile puts it this way: “Oil feeds the flame of the lamp; treatment of women kindles the fire of lustful pleasures.”

“When a man of voluptuousness meets women, he becomes cheerful and is attracted by their beauty; his bodily goodness drives him crazy, he is delighted by the handsomeness of his face, he is captivated by the stateliness of his figure, and in conversations with women he melts with pleasure; when remembering what he saw, he dreams lustfully, vividly imagining in his mind women’s faces, their passionate expressions, charming smiles, movements of the eyes, elegant clothes, flattering speeches, pursing lips. He is bored with men; and if he sees women, he becomes enlightened and runs back and forth to render his services; then where does he get his voice for singing, the ability to say a sharp word, laugh and show himself to be entertaining and pleasant” (St. Ephraim the Syrian).

Fornication and gluttony

The Holy Fathers teach that gluttony and lust are closely related to each other.

“Abstinence begets chastity; Gluttony is the mother of fornication” (St. Neil of Sinai).
“The satiation of the belly is the mother of fornication, and the oppression of the belly is the culprit of purity” (St. John Climacus).

Fornication, communication and memory

“Just as proportionate melting purifies silver, but if continued beyond measure, it causes loss: so a chaste habit spoils a long-term image in a woman’s thoughts” (St. Nilus of Sinai).

“It’s unnecessary to talk about not getting drunk on wine and not spending time with women; since everyone himself clearly sees how alien this is to virtue. And not only in this alone is it necessary to beware of the aspirations of demons, but also with men one should not conduct effeminate conversations that can arouse lustful pleasure and lead the soul to destruction. We refuse to meet with women not because we consider women to be evil, but because through dating and conversation with women it is easy for the enemy to overthrow us and lead us to transgress the commandments of God. We must beware of the attacks of evil spirits from everywhere, placing our hope in the full armor and power of the Holy Spirit. He who locks one door from the enemy and opens two to him and thinks of himself that he is safe is deceived. No; You need to protect yourself from everywhere and not give an excuse to someone who is looking for an excuse” (St. Ephraim the Syrian).

“Avoid treating women if you want to be chaste, and never give them the freedom to treat you boldly; for at the beginning they either really have or hypocritically show timid modesty, and later they dare to do anything. And this becomes for you a fishing rod that snares you into death, a cunningly woven net that draws you into destruction. May they not deceive you with modest speeches; because in them, too, evil animal poison is hidden (beasts from the abyss)” (St. Nilus of Sinai).

“Someone, seeing an unusually beautiful woman, glorified the Creator about her. From looking at her, love for God kindled in him, and a source of tears flowed from his eyes. And it was marvelous to see how what for another would have been ruinous, for him, more than nature, became a crown (of victory). If such a person always has the same feeling and action in similar cases, then he received incorruption before the general resurrection.
The same rule should guide us in relation to sweet singing and songs. God-loving people are usually aroused by both worldly and spiritual songs to holy joy, God’s love and tears, while sensualists are usually moved to the opposite” (St. John Climacus).

The devil uses human memory to kindle the passions nesting in the soul. From memories of a woman, the devil moves on to painting seductive pictures in his mind and voluptuous feelings in his soul. Therefore, at the first lustful thought or memory of a woman (a person of the opposite sex), one must immediately cut it off and say the Jesus Prayer.

St. Ephraim advises:

“If you want to be chaste, remain abstinent and stop harmful dates. To the extent that a person approaches what produces temptation, to that extent it is impossible for his heart to remain without confusion of thoughts and inflaming of evil desires; because the visible face and speech excite him to passion. Just as a sponge, brought to something wet, swells and absorbs moisture: so a person, unsteady in thought, if he gets close or talks for a long time with those who reason in a carnal way, absorbs harm; therefore, having become drunk with this, he becomes intoxicated even without wine, and because he is already filled with harmful things, he does not accept spiritual words” (St. Ephraim the Syrian).

Prodigal passion and vision

Our senses are the “gateways” of the soul. To keep the soul's house clean, the gates must be locked. A person receives most impressions and information through vision. Therefore, special attention should be paid to its protection.

St. Ephraim the Syrian reminds us that:

“Warfare, excited by an absent-minded eye, both in the presence and absence of an object, inflames the soul with lust. Even in a dream he represents the object to his heart; because demons picture a tempting thing in thought and occupy the mind, renewing the image of a tempting object previously seen by human eyes. For this reason the prophet prays: turn away my eyes from seeing vanity...
He who does not resist lust, but allows his eyes to wander freely, has, of course, already bowed his mind to passions, and if not for human shame, he would have repeatedly corrupted his body. Why, if he does not stay sober and constantly have the fear of God before his eyes, then he will not hesitate to corrupt his body.

For this demon, who teaches the eyes to be distracted, is followed by another demon, who materially commits sin in the flesh.

If the second sees that the first has managed to entertain the soul and make it distracted, he immediately begins to advise that carnal sin should also be committed. To the one defeated by his eye, he begins to advise something similar to this: “Behold, in intention you have sinned and committed adultery in your heart, you have already broken the commandment, and the sin of transgressing the commandment is already imputed to you. So satisfy your lusts now. For both to do and to desire are the same thing. At least enjoy your lust." - But don’t believe his inventions; according to the word of the Apostle: let us not understand his thoughts (2 Cor. 2:11), for by this he wants to ensnare your soul. This demon, advising him to commit a lawless sin, must be told: “Although I fell with my eye and committed adultery with my heart; however, I crush my adulterous heart with repentant sighs and wash my fallen eye with tears. For God will not despise a contrite and humble heart (Ps. 50:19)” (St. Ephraim the Syrian).

The devil, through persuasion, wants to bring a person to fall. Until the fall has occurred, the sin is not committed by action. Everything that preceded the action is sin of the heart, internal, which can be washed with tears and erased from the soul without leading to corruption of the body. These are different degrees of sin. The devil is a persuader: having convinced people to go down one step, he forces them to go down further: “once you break one, break another, break a second, break a third.” One has only to obey him and he disappears. Therefore, the one who resists must prepare himself for battle in this way: if I have sinned, then I will try to repent; if I sin, then I will try to offend the Lord as little as possible; if I have offended, why offend more, why fall to the end and upset yourself. If you resist, resist with all your might until the end.

“Behold, God Himself, the Creator and Creator of the entire human race, knowing best of all the nature of His creation, directs healing there, from where the causes of this passionate pain mainly come, when He says: everyone who looks at a woman and lusts after her has committed fornication. with her in your heart (Matthew 5:28). Making a remark about the voluptuousness of the eyes, He denounces them not so much as the inner feeling that makes bad use of their service in looking. This heart, sick and wounded by the arrow of lust, looks with lust - the blessing of sight, bestowed by the Creator for good, turning, through its passion, to the service of evil deeds and the disease of voluptuousness hidden in itself, bringing into reality regarding the view. Why is the saving commandment prescribed to the one through whose passion evil wounds occur through sight. For it does not say: guard your eyes with all guarding, but: guard your heart with all guarding (Proverbs 4:23)” (St. John Cassian).
The sight of an elegant woman drowns you worse than the waves. You can still swim out of the waves for the love of life; The sight of a woman, seductive, makes you neglect life itself...
“A woman’s gaze is a poisonous arrow, it wounds the soul and pours poison into it; and the more old this ulcer becomes, the more damage it produces...
Looking at a woman in an intemperate manner arouses indecent passion; but he disposes the chaste to glorify God” (St. Neil of Sinai).

St. Ephraim the Syrian warns:

“Do not allow your eyes to wander here and there and do not peer into the beauty of others, lest your adversary use your eyes to overthrow you...
When the flesh is inflamed, do not touch the body, so as not to cause severe inflammation...
Do not incline your ears to shameful speech, lest your mind be defiled. Just as the smoke of the eye (Prov. 25:20), so a shameful word is harmful to the soul” (St. Ephraim the Syrian).
“If you talk to blooming beauty, then watch your eye so that lust does not disturb your mind; and then you will begin to prolong your speeches, full of passionate movement, and it will turn out that you are only talking about chastity with the edges of your lips, but with your soul you are abandoning yourself to lust and are completely occupied with it. Therefore, it is better, when you happen to have such a meeting, rather, interrupting your speech, take up silence. For the Scripture says: deceive him with much conversation (Proverbs 7:21). Frequent conversations of this kind cause significant harm to the soul” (St. Ephraim the Syrian).
“The demon of fornication is brought into inaction not only by abstinence from food, but also by abstinence of the eyes, so as not to see vanity (Ps. 119:37). In the eye, distractedly rotated, there is already fornication, about which the Lord testified: everyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart (Matthew 5:28). Such adultery is eradicated in oneself by one who turns his eye down and his soul to the Lord; and whoever prevailed over the belly also prevailed over the gaze. Our terrible traitor is the distracted eye” (St. Ephraim the Syrian).
“When you see a beautiful woman who shines with beauty, has a bright gaze, shining cheeks and some kind of artificial expressiveness in her face, and she inflames your thoughts and intensifies your lusts, think that what surprises you is earth, what inflames you is ashes ; - and your soul will stop raging. Place your thoughts on the skin of her face and then you will see all the little value of beauty; because you will find nothing but bones, veins and stench. Imagine also that she grows old, changes, dies and all this color falls off. Consider what you are amazed at, and be ashamed - and, having been ashamed, bring repentance” (St. Ephraim the Syrian).

The action of the passion of fornication

“The higher and more heavenly the virtue of chastity is, the stronger it evokes enemy slander. Why should we observe all the more intensely not only the abstinence of the body, but also

contrition of heart, with unceasing prayerful sighs, so that the furnace of our flesh, which the king of Babylon is constantly trying to set on fire by setting fire to carnal decoys,

unceasingly quench and cool the dew of the Holy Spirit descending into our hearts” (St. John Cassian).

“Like a pig, it’s nice to roll around in the mud; so demons find pleasure in fornication and uncleanness.
In purity dwells great light, and joy, and peace, and patience; and in fornication dwell sadness, despondency, insatiable sleep and thick darkness...
There is no hidden place for the eyes of God. Let not the enemy deceive you, telling you that he will not see. You stand near the feet of God. Don't neglect this. For it is written: heaven is My throne, but earth is My footstool (Acts 7:49).
If you are chaste, do not be proud of your abstinence, but in humility pray to the Lord to be your guardian to the end. For often a sudden invasion of four-legged animals into the vineyard suddenly destroyed the fruit due to the negligence of the guardian” (St. Ephraim the Syrian).

Sometimes the laity begins to forget themselves and condemn others for living wickedly and depravedly. I would like to remind those who have fallen into a high opinion of themselves that we are preserved only by the grace of God, and not by our own efforts. He who has acquired chastity is worthy of praise, but having become proud, forgetting about the Guardian and Source of chastity, he may soon fall low and shamefully. Be careful in your chastity and thank God for maintaining your purity.

“Be attentive to yourself, so that instead of the Holy and Most Pure Lord you do not introduce a nasty enemy into your temple and so that your temple is not corrupted by the shamelessness of this enemy, a hater of good. He is shameless and stubborn in his intention; You repeatedly kick him out with reproach, but he shamelessly tries to enter. If you bring him into your temple, God will leave you. And your temple will be filled with all uncleanness, stench and darkness [3, 114]” (St. Ephraim the Syrian).

“If you have mercy on your opponent, you will have an enemy; and if you spare this passion, it will rise up against you” (St. Neil of Sinai).
This passion is insidious and pretends to be asleep. Therefore St. Neil advises:
“If lustful passion is calm when dealing with women, do not believe the dispassion it promises. For even a dog, surrounded by a crowd, wags its tail, but when it comes out of it, it immediately displays its characteristic ferocity” (St. Nilus of Sinai).
“The fox pretends to be asleep, and the demon pretends to be chaste; that one - to deceive the bird, and this one - to destroy the soul. Do not trust this mortal body throughout your entire life; and do not rely on it until we stand before Christ.
Let no one who has learned to maintain cleanliness impute to himself the acquisition of it; for it is impossible for anyone to overcome his nature; and where nature is conquered, there the coming of the One who is above nature is recognized; for without any contradiction the lesser is abolished by the greater” (St. John Climacus).
“When the memory of a woman becomes dispassionate; then conclude that you have entered the limits of chastity. When the image of her that you imagine takes your soul, then know that you are still alien to this virtue. But even in the first case, do not dwell on such thoughts and do not mentally talk for a long time with the female image; because this passion loves to return, and danger from it is close...
Understand that separate types of fornication are combined together - physical fornication and spiritual fornication. When a lustful thought dissolves with your spirit, then your soul is united with the seductive imprint in it.

The demon takes on a woman's face in order to seduce the soul into mixing with it. The appearance of the image (of the wife) is taken on by an incorporeal demon in order to lead the soul into fornication with lustful thoughts. Do not be carried away by a ghost that has no substance, so as not to do something similar in the flesh. All those who do not reflect internal adultery with the cross are deceived by the spirit of fornication” (St. Nilus of Sinai).

The demon of fornication attacks people in different ways depending on their spiritual state. Reverend Neil testifies:

“He quickly attacks a zealous ascetic fighter, suddenly showering him with arrows of passionate lust, because he cannot endure for long the burning of the luminous fire emanating from his ascetic labors; and to the one who, from the seduction of lustful sweetness, has weakened in the severity of self-restraint, little by little he approaches an interview with his heart, so that it, inflamed by evil lusts, indulges in conversation with them, is captivated by them and completely puts aside hatred of this sin” (St. Nilus of Sinai) .

St. John explains:

“With beginners, falling into carnal sins usually happens due to the abundance of food; with averages they happen from arrogance and for the same reason as with beginners; but with those approaching perfection, they happen only from the condemnation of their neighbors” (St. John Climacus).

Hence, understand that constant self-compulsion, self-restraint and self-coercion are necessary. If you feel that you are weak, pray and immediately restore the previous order and structure.

“The natural way of life is the same determined by the Creator both for us and for animals; “Behold,” God says to man, “I have given you all the grass in the field, it will be food for you and for the beasts” (Gen. 1:29, 30). Therefore, having received food in common with the dumb and having transformed it into something more luxurious with our own imaginations, shouldn’t we justly be recognized as more unreasonable than the dumb, if the animals remain within the limits of nature, without violating what was decreed by God, and we, people gifted with reason, have completely retreated from ancient law?

For what delicacies do the dumb have? What bakers and cooks, with a thousand arts, prepare delight for the poor belly? Don’t they love the ancient poverty, eating grass, being content with what happened, and drinking water, sometimes only rarely? That is why they indulge in carnal pleasures less often, without igniting their desires with any fattening food and not always knowing the difference between the male and female sexes. For this feeling gives them one time in the year in which natural law, as a means of procreation, has invented to copulate them to sow others like themselves; at other times they are so alienated from each other that they completely forget about this wish. And in people, from expensive dishes, the insatiable lust of fornication instilled frantic desires, not allowing the passion to subside at any time” (St. Nilus of Sinai).

“Those who slipped and fell into the ditch of lust fall far from those ascending and descending along this (seen by Jacob) ladder, and in order for them to begin such an ascent again, they will need much sweat and extreme fasting...
Don't fall into deception, young man! I saw some praying for the persons they loved, who, being prompted by lustful passion, thought, however, that they were fulfilling the duty of holy love...

Sometimes lust, having been born inside the soul, passes into the body, and sometimes it passes from the body into the soul. The latter usually happens to those living in the world, and the former to those going through monastic life, due to their poverty of substance (or lustful material).
When, after a long struggle with the demon, the ally of our mortal flesh, we finally drive him out of our hearts with the stones of fasting and the swords of humility: then this accursed one, like a worm, creeping inside our body, intensifies to defile us, with a certain tickling inciting timeless and wordless movements" ( St. John Climacus).

The Holy Fathers established that prayer with prostrations or bows to the ground drives away fallen spirits. Therefore, illness or sleep time makes us more vulnerable. Watch out!

“What the eyes have not seen, the larynx, by hearing alone, is not very willing to taste; so those who are pure in body receive from their ignorance (the pleasures of fornication) great relief in the battle against fornication” (St. John Climacus).

Therefore, understand how important it is to protect the chastity of your children, boys and girls.

“Just as someone who stands before him and at the same time turns away his face from him and converses with his enemies is disgusting to an earthly king, so someone who stands in prayer and accepts unclean thoughts is disgusting to the Lord” (St. John Climacus).

The influence of bodily abstinence and storage of the senses on the passion of fornication

“Fornication takes over satiety, joins the ranks of the opponents of the mind and fights against it to the end along with its enemies.
He who loves silence is hardly vulnerable to the arrows of this enemy; and those who mingle in the crowd receive constant wounds from it” (St. Neil of Sinai).
“When we are full, the spirit of gluttony departs and sends a prodigal spirit against us, informing it in what state we are in, and saying: “Go and stir up such a thing; his belly is full, and therefore you will labor a little.” This one, having come, smiles and, having tied our hands and feet with sleep, does whatever he wants to us, desecrating the soul with dreams and the body with outflows” (St. John Climacus).

Layman, when eating food, stop yourself in time - at the first signs of satiety with it - reminding yourself that after that lust can take power over your flesh, and you will not resist.

“The overcoming of this passion is conditioned by the complete cleansing of the heart, from which, according to the word of the Lord, the poison of this pain emanates. “From the heart,” He says, “evil thoughts come; adultery, fornication, etc. (Matt. 15:19). So, first you need to cleanse where the source of life and death comes from, as Solomon says: guard your heart with all care: from these comes life (Proverbs 4:23); for the flesh is subject to his will and power. The law of fasting meager nutrition must, of course, be followed with all diligence, so that the flesh, saturated with an abundance of dishes, resisting the dictates of the soul, in a riot does not overthrow the valley of its ruler - the spirit. But if we combine the whole essence of this matter in one exhaustion of the body, without at the same time fasting the soul from other passions and without occupying it with either teaching in the divine or other spiritual activities, then we will in no way be able to ascend to the very height of true purity; because in this case, what is dominant in us will defile our body, even if it were clean. So, we must, according to the Lord’s instructions, first cleanse the inside of the glass and dish, so that the outside of them may also be clean (Matthew 23:26)” (St. John Cassian).

“If you love abstinence, you will curb the demon of fornication” (St. Ephraim the Syrian).
“Guard the integrity of your body. If you preserve it out of love for Christ, you will easily be able to excel in every virtue. The Holy Spirit dwelling in you will rejoice over you that you fill your temple of God with the fragrance of purity and right will, and will strengthen you for every good deed. And to excel in virtues and in divine purity you have the following three aids: abstinence of the belly and tongue and bridling the eye. All three of them must be kept. If you preserve, let’s say, the first two, but do not preserve your eyes from wandering, then you will not acquire lasting purity. Just as a broken water pipe cannot retain water, so a scattered eye cannot retain a chaste mind. Do not behold alien beauties (Sir. 9, - and let your mind be nailed to the fear of God (Ps. 119, 120)" (St. Ephraim the Syrian).

“Do not talk for a long time with the person who appears to you, so that it does not ignite the flame of voluptuousness in you and set on fire the threshing floor of your soul.
Just as a spark left for a long time in straw produces a flame, so prolonged remembrance of a woman kindles lust” (St. Nilus of Sinai).

Lust and wine drinking

Wine inflames the instincts of the body, makes the mind weak in controlling thoughts and resisting lust. Wine is like a battering machine - it knocks out all the locks and gates and makes the heart defenseless against the onslaught of the prodigal enemy. That is why St. says. Ephraim:

“Do not go to the cell of those who get drunk, so as not to suddenly destroy the wealth of chastity” (St. Ephraim the Syrian).

Prodigal passion and sleep. Bad dreams

This passion extends to us even in our dreams. One should learn to resist it even at this time of physiological nature.

“The quality of thoughts, which is not entirely carefully guarded among the entertainments of the day, is revealed during the night's rest; and therefore, when the said outrage happened (i.e., night desecration), then it is not sleep that should be considered to blame for this, but the lack of attention in the previous time and see in this the discovery of a pain hiding inside, which the night hour did not give birth to for the first time (as it did not exist before ), but only brought to the surface of the skin hidden in the inner fibers of the soul while the body was reinforced by sleep, revealing the internal feverish heat of passion, which we ourselves kindled, feeding on unkind thoughts throughout the day. Likewise, bodily diseases are not generated at the time in which they are apparently discovered, but are acquired in the time preceding that, when someone, without caution, eating all kinds of food harmful to health, collects disease-producing juices into himself” (St. John Cassian).

Therefore, one of the reasons for bad dreams must be assumed to be carelessness in protecting one’s chastity during the day. Such a dream should be a signal to be careful and take care of yourself.

“There are discharges in sleep sometimes from an abundance of food and in general from excessive rest of the flesh; sometimes - out of pride, when we, having been free from outflows for a long time, are lifted up by this; sometimes - because we condemn our neighbor; sometimes - just from demonic envy. God allows this to others in order to teach him humility through this sinless misadventure...
This demon observes more carefully than all others the case when we cannot pray against him physically. And then this obscene one especially tries to attack us” (St. John Climacus).
“So that even during sleep unclean dreams do not defile us, for this we must always keep a uniformly moderate fast. For whoever violates a reasonable measure of strictness in abstaining from food will certainly go beyond the proper measure of easing himself in this regard. With a change in the measure of reinforcing ourselves with food, the quality of our cleanliness must inevitably change. But at the same time, one must have constant humility of heart and patience, as well as carefully protecting oneself during the day from anger and other passions. For as soon as the fire of anger enters us, then the heat of lust will easily penetrate us...” (St. John Cassian).

Physical fasting promotes our purity, however, the blessed fruit can easily be lost if we are inattentive and underestimate the presence of other passions. Everything should be with reasoning, moderation, verified, weighed, evenly, in proportion to everything else.

“When you go to bed, do not cover yourself beyond what is necessary; because bliss can naturally inflame your body and strongly ignite the coal of voluptuousness” (St. Ephraim the Syrian).

“When we throw ourselves on the bed, then we most must be sober; because then the mind without the body fights with demons; and if he has not yet cut off sympathy for lustful pleasures, then he willingly becomes a traitor.
Do not allow yourself during the day to think about the dreams that were in your sleep; for the demons have the intention of desecrating us who are awake with dreams” (St. John Climacus).

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The midday demon is the culprit of laziness

The clergy associate the midday demon with the sin of despondency. Dejection in the Orthodox tradition is laziness, physical and spiritual relaxation. The midday demon is the one who tempts monks to choose afternoon naps over prayers. For a monk, noon is really half the day. In the old days, people in monasteries got up even earlier, and there were two meals - lunch and dinner. After eating, the monk, tired even after half a day, wanted to sleep, and the demon took advantage of the desire of his body.

This is how Saint Theophan described the influence of the midday demon: The main sign of the presence of the midday demon near a person is a crisis in spiritual life, cooling towards church and prayers, laziness. Every believer has periods when prayers and going to church do not bring peace to the soul, there is no desire to go to church or read prayers - simply laziness.

How to get rid of the influence of the midday demon? Only self-control and willpower will help. In any business, a person can achieve results if he forces himself to go towards the goal, performing certain daily actions for this. Is there something that forces you to go to work every weekday morning? There is a word known to every person - “must”. Be guided by it every time you are overcome by the midday demon.

What other types of demons are there?

There have been repeated attempts to classify demons and demons back in the Middle Ages. In most treatises of a demonological and religious nature one can find information about what demons and demons are, as well as other evil spirits. Demons, devils and demons are at different levels of the hierarchy. Some demonologists believe that their strength depends on the number of ruined souls. In other words, evil spirits are capable of moving up the “career ladder.”

According to Alphonse de Spina, for example, a poltergeist living in houses is a separate type of demon, and an incubus or succubus can be both a demon and a demon. Every witch or sorcerer has a household demon helper, and especially powerful magicians can receive help from a patron demon. There are also special demons and devils that only plague saints.

The demonologist P. Binsfeld, who lived in the 16th century, classified evil spirits into seven sins. That is, these are demons of lust, greed and others. In addition, demons can be classified according to angelic ranks. Michael Psell classified evil spirits according to their habitat. This is a fiery demon, water, earth and air. There is also an underground evil force that causes earthquakes and mine accidents, as well as photophobic demons that are incomprehensible to humans.

In general, there are many types of demons, demons and devils. Various authors have used different methods for classifying evil spirits. Every person needs to know how its representatives differ from each other. This knowledge will be useful to people who do not want to live in sin and become a victim of dark forces.

The demon of drunkenness is the culprit of binge drinking

Priest Dmitry Fetisov claims that the deplorable situation with a large percentage of alcoholics in the CIS countries is associated with demons. Day of veneration of Saint Boniface, to whom it is customary to pray against alcohol and drug addiction. According to the new style, it falls on January 1, a day when most people are busy doing the exact opposite, namely drinking alcohol.

This attitude towards the holidays is exactly what the demon of drunkenness needs. It is believed that such evil spirits accompany every binge alcoholic. When a person commits a sin, the demon of drunkenness gets the opportunity to get to him. Drunkenness is one of the most serious problems of our time, and judging by its size, it can be said that most people do not have sufficient willpower to resist evil spirits.

The demon of drunkenness is an evil spirit voluntarily summoned by every second person. The Church considers alcoholics to be people who drink alcohol at least once every twenty days. The vast majority of Russian residents fall under this definition. You can get rid of the influence of the demon of drunkenness through fasting and prayer.