The present time is a time of great temptation. The spirit of the modern world is trying to seduce us, corrupt us, and entice us all into carnal sins. It is also very difficult to resist this. And every time it becomes more and more difficult.
“The ordeals of fornication are terrible and vile... few souls go through them unhindered, since the world lies in evil...”
- the ordeal of blessed Theodora. The ordeal of fornication.
One of the most terrible sins is fornication. Fornication is one of the seven deadly sins in the Orthodox Church. Photo: suharewa.ru
From childhood, children become accustomed to seeing only all kinds of lustful temptations around them. Children absorb them very quickly, and they also begin to register on a subconscious level. When they grow up, then without any resistance, they voluntarily fall into these sinful networks.
Sin is a thought, a desire that contradicts God's commandments
Sin is a thought, desire, decision, attraction that contradicts the Divine moral law, as well as God's commandments. Sin is also the cause of the perversion of human nature due to man’s falling away from God, his fall into an unnatural state.
Why do people sin? The Monk Ambrose of Optina answered this question:
“...Or because they don’t know what to do and what to avoid; or, if they know, they forget, then they become lazy and despondent.”
Venerable Ambrose of Optina.
Photo: icons.pstgu.ru Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh spoke about who a sinner is:
“Who is a sinner? The one who broke the law of God in the first place. A sinner is one who lives in such a way that he becomes alien to God, who is ashamed in the face of God, who disgraces God in front of other people. This is a person divided in himself, separated from his neighbor, removed from God. The sinner has lost touch with God, with his conscience, with his own life, with the life of his neighbor. Each of us can say that he is like that. It is not that we discover that we have committed one particularly heinous sin and repent of it. It's about our lifestyle."
Anthony of Sourozh
Metropolitan
About the sin of carnal impurity
Rejoice, zealous guardian of spiritual and physical purity!
(
Akathist to St. Sergius, Ikos 2.)
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!
Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, we are now preparing to enter the holy days of the Lord’s Great Lent. The Holy Church, caring for our salvation, with wonderful, touching hymns and edifying Gospel readings, tries to awaken us to the upcoming feat of repentance, cleansing ourselves from everything passionate, vicious, sinful, from everything that has removed us from the face of a loving God to a distant land
(Luke 15:13).
Sin is the greatest evil in the human race, depriving us of the grace of God. Every sin is abominable before God and deprives us of God’s favor, but there is one sin that the Lord especially abhors—the sin of carnal uncleanness. I apologize if I offend anyone’s chaste ears by reminding me of this vice. Perhaps we should pass over this sin in silence and not say anything about it, but the fact is that in the world this vice acts with force, takes root, corrupts humanity and, of course, dooms people to destruction. Therefore, although the Holy Apostle Paul writes that it is shameful to even talk about this sin, nevertheless, the Holy Scriptures speak about it in order to protect humanity from this terrible vice, and the Holy Fathers reveal the essence of this evil in particular detail. The shepherds and teachers of the Church in their works scourge him with great power in order to save the faithful from the fall.
The sin of carnal impurity, in contrast to chastity, is generally called voluptuousness, but more often - fornication, adultery. It contains not only actions that are contrary to purity, but also voluptuous thoughts, unclean desires and feelings, immodest glances, bad words, lustful kisses and touches, and in general other similar voluptuous actions that are contrary to the purity of our nature.
It must be said that mental and physical purity, called chastity, was embedded in our nature during the creation of man by God Himself, which is why the first people were immaculate, angelically pure, not even having a concept of sinful lusts and differences in sex. Therefore, the desire for purity of soul and body is inherent in our nature, while sinful lusts entered it only after the Fall of man. And only spiritual and physical purity brings us closer to God, likens us to the purest Angels and attracts God’s grace to us.
Chastity in the New Testament is among the first Christian virtues, and virginity is revered in the Christian Church as a great feat, the reward for which is the Kingdom of Heaven. All holy ascetics of piety first of all tried to be chaste, for they firmly knew that nothing unclean and nasty would enter the Kingdom of God. Two virgins of extraordinary beauty once appeared to Saint Gregory the Theologian in a dream, who expressed their purest and ardent love for him. "Who you are?" - the Saint asked them. “One of us is Purity, the other is Chastity,” they answered. “We stand before the face of the Heavenly King and enjoy the beauty of the heavenly virgins.” See how close the chaste are to God in that eternal life!
The sin of voluptuousness in all its forms is a mortal, grave sin and is severely punished by God. Although each of us sometimes experiences a very strong attraction of our nature to the pleasures that a marital union brings, however, dear ones, we must remember this: God created people of different sexes and determined marital relations between them not to excite and feed carnal lusts, but exclusively for the birth of children, for the spread and multiplication of the human race. Therefore, every sensible person must curb his sensual inclinations and aspirations and subordinate them to the law of God in order to preserve his purity.
Whoever commits fornication uses his body against its purpose, against the will of God, because the will of God is to preserve our body in purity, and fornication violates its holiness, which is why this sin is primarily called in the Holy Scriptures filth, a sin against one’s own body. Our bodies are members of the mystical Body of Christ and are intended to be instruments of the life and grace of Christ, and not instruments of sin.
According to the apostolic teaching, our bodies are in a mysterious union, a union with Christ, but the sin of fornication separates us from Him and destroys this union that surpasses all understanding. For just as in a marital union the husband and wife are considered until then, by Divine decree, to be one body, until adultery follows on either side, so it is exactly the same in the mystical union with Christ. Although all other vices remove us from Christ, this vice simply completely destroys our union with the Lord and separates us from Him until we are cleansed by true repentance and reunite with Him, the beginning and source of our life. What dishonor therefore occurs to the bodies of people when they, from being members of Christ, become members of fornication and deprive themselves of the glory that will be revealed in the glorification of bodies that have preserved their integrity at the general resurrection from the dead!
It would seem that these truths are enough to see the full severity of this vice and protect yourself from it, but the holy Apostle Paul also says that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit living in us (see: 1 Cor. 6:19). And just as the Holy Spirit dwells in pure bodies, so, on the contrary, the fornicator is a dwelling place for the devil. Listen to what the Apostle writes about this in his instructions to Christians: The will of God is your sanctification, so that you abstain from fornication; so that each of you knows how to keep his vessel in holiness and honor, and not in the passion of lust, like the pagans who do not know God... Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? So, shall I take away the members of Christ to make them the members of a harlot? It won't happen! Or do you not know that whoever has sex with a harlot becomes one body with her? And he who is united with the Lord is one spirit with the Lord. Flee fornication; Every sin that a person commits is outside the body, but the fornicator sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who dwells in you, which you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God both in your bodies and in your souls, which are God's
(1 Thess. 4:3-5; 1 Cor. 6:15-20).
You see what dignity the holy Apostle imparts to our body. And we know what honor is given to the body of a Christian after his death. They perform incense before him, surround him with burning lamps, bow to him, kiss him, sing funeral hymns, carry icons before him, and place a cross on his grave. Why such an honor? And because the body of a Christian is burnt, it is consecrated in the Sacrament of Baptism by the grace of the Spirit of God, it is the abode of the Holy Spirit.
The saints knew this and that is why they cared so zealously for spiritual and physical purity. They decided to die rather than defile themselves and lose their purity. Thus, one day a harlot came to one famous ascetic, the Monk Martinian, in the desert under the guise of a poor lost wanderer. Afterwards, dressed in beautiful clothes, she began to tempt the hermit to sin, which inflamed a strong carnal war in him. The reverend husband was already in great confusion and hesitation, but common sense overcame the temptation: he lit the brushwood collected in a pile and, barefoot, stood on it and stood until the material fire extinguished the fire of carnal lust.
Another ascetic, the Monk John the Great, at one time was so strongly overwhelmed by carnal passion that once, passing by a cleft in the rock where a huge snake was nesting, he decided to accept death from him rather than finally succumb to lust and defile himself. But as soon as he came into contact with the serpent, he immediately died, and his carnal passion left him.
The holy martyr Potamiena decided rather to be thrown into a cauldron of boiling tar than to surrender into the hands of her pagan master for desecration. Another martyr, a married woman, whose beauty seduced the tormentor of Christians, resorted to such a technique in order to preserve her chastity. She asked the warriors to give her time to change into her best clothes, and at that time she entered her bedroom and pierced her womb with a sword. This is how the saints cared about cleanliness...
The sin of fornication is terribly punished by God, and one must be very careful about it. Let no one think that he is safe from falling. Many people, strong in soul, suddenly fell, and those who had maintained purity and integrity for a long time later became so attached to carnal sin that it was difficult to expect correction from them. The Church knows examples when people endowed with the gifts of miracles, insight, prophecy, participants in the grace of the Holy Spirit, sadly fell into the abyss of this sin.
Some, reading the Gospel, may think that the Lord is lenient towards fornicators, and, consequently, towards the sin of fornication. But in response to this misunderstanding, it is necessary to say the following: the Lord really treated fornicators and harlots with condescension when He saw them bringing public repentance and washing His most pure feet with their tears. He was lenient towards the weakness of our nature, but He was very strict about sin: You have heard that it was said to the ancients: Thou shalt not commit adultery. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
(Matt. 5:27-28). In the Old Testament, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by fire because of the fornication of their inhabitants. And many, many other examples of God’s punishment of adulterers should frighten us and keep us from this vice.
This sin in itself brings the greatest harm to a person. People who enslave themselves to him fall into poverty and poverty, as can be seen in the example of the prodigal son; they ruin their health, grow old and die prematurely. An intemperate fornicator destroys his spiritual strength: he loses his memory, darkens his reason and weakens his will. And Saint John Climacus says that one who gives himself over to this passion necessarily falls into insensibility, loses shame and fear of God, is deprived of prudence and the mercy of God and, incurring the wrath of God upon himself, willingly plunges himself into the destruction that awaits all fornicators and harlots.
To protect ourselves from prodigal falls, the Holy Fathers command us to pay attention to our most basic thoughts and desires. Since this sin originates first in thoughts, it is necessary to nip it in the bud, not giving the sinful feeling the opportunity to intensify. For this, the Fathers advise us to think that God is omniscient and omniscient, that not one of our most secret thoughts is hidden from Him, that for enjoying our unclean desires we will be tortured at the Last Judgment of God, when all our shameful thoughts will be laid bare before all of us. family and friends, and what shame will come over us then! We must suppress the flame of passionate fire at the beginning so that it does not burn us when we no longer have the strength to fight it.
It is also necessary to move away from corrupt communities and people, not to listen to seductive speeches; Virgins and virgins especially need to beware of communicating with people of the other sex and talking with them.
Further, it is necessary to observe moderation in food and drink, and most of all to be afraid of drinking wine, which especially inflames carnal passion. At the same time, it is impossible to achieve spiritual and physical purity without first cleansing your soul of other passions: anger, vanity, pride, despondency, love of money, enmity and others similar to them. It is necessary to remain humble, have a contrite heart and pray to God, who alone can give strength to overcome this passion.
Truly blessed is that body that will preserve itself in purity and will be worthy of the glorification that will follow during the General Resurrection from the dead. And, on the contrary, that body is worthy of condemnation and mourning, which self-willingly surrendered itself to this impurity and, consequently, to destruction. Rejoice and have fun, all of you, dear ascetics of piety, for the sake of preserving purity, sometimes experiencing sorrows, but struggling with the attack of carnal lusts, taming them out of love for the Lord, for a great reward is prepared for you for this abstinence! In the sorrows and difficulties experienced during this fierce battle, may our Hero Jesus Christ Himself, the Guide of our life, the Most Pure Virgin Mary, all the saints and our warmest prayer book and patron, St. Sergius, be your helpers.
Do not despair either, you who have fallen for some reason. Do not be discouraged, the doors of repentance have not yet been closed, the Merciful Heavenly Father is still waiting for the conversion of His prodigal sons. Now comes Great Lent, when the Lord is especially close to the repentant. Fall down to Him with tears, as the prodigal son fell, and say: “We have sinned, Lord, before You and are unworthy to be called Your children, but accept us at least as one of Your hired servants.” And He, the Merciful, will forgive sin and, having cleansed the soul from filth, will make it white and nourish it with the Lamb slain for the sins of the whole world.
Thus, everyone is called to a chaste life, people of every condition. The purity of virgins should consist in completely removing themselves from sensual pleasures, the purity of widows - in abstaining from carnal pleasures after the death of their husband or wife until their death, the purity of married persons - in maintaining marital fidelity and moderate use of their conjugal rights. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, teaching us that, having rejected ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live chastely, righteously and godly in this present age, awaiting the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ
(Titus 2:11-13) To whom from us, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, be honor and praise, now and forever.
Amen. Week of the Prodigal Son, 1963 Tags: Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov), Sermons of the Lavra inhabitants Contents
Orthodoxy identifies 7 deadly sins
What is included in carnal sins? There are 7 deadly sins:
- pride;
- envy;
- anger;
- despondency;
- greed;
- gluttony;
- voluptuousness.
7 virtues and 7 sins
These are the forbidden sins of man. Sins of the flesh are very dangerous indeed. The severity of precisely such sins is terrible because they poison not only the body, but also the soul. The soul suffers doubly.
After a person repents, it takes a very long time for healing.
It is worth saying that carnal sins scorch the soul with the fire of Gehenna. There is plenty of evidence of an afterlife.
Valentina Romanova, after visiting the next world, said after the accident:
“...I find myself at the edge of the abyss. They tell me: “Look!” The thought flashes: will they really reset it? I cover my face with my palms (so it seemed to me) because of the smell. I almost got sick of it. Now I know: this is what a dead body smells like. I can not see anything. And they again: “Look!” I looked and recoiled in horror. Millions of people! Like tadpoles in a barrel. Sobs, screams, moans. At the deepest bottom there are people of all colors. They... defecate in front of each other. Unbearable stench! I ask: “How did they get here? How to save them? We need some kind of rope. Why are they so indifferent to them? And they answered me: “Here are human vices.” How is this, vices? “Perverts, fornicators, adulterers, child molesters, homosexuals, bestialists...” I didn’t even know such words. They tell me: “The touch of these people brings suffering. They got what they deserved..."
Valentina Romanova
Eight deadly sins and the fight against them (Fornication) - sacred. Pavel Gumerov
Demon of Impurity
Every priest periodically has to answer the same question (usually asked by young people): “Why are physical, carnal relationships between a man and a woman outside of marriage considered a sin?
After all, all this is done by mutual consent, no harm or damage is caused to anyone. Adultery is a different matter: it is treason, the destruction of a family. What's bad here?" First, let's remember what sin is. “Sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4). That is, a violation of the laws of spiritual life. And violation of both physical and spiritual laws leads to trouble, to self-destruction. Nothing good can be built on sin or error. If a serious engineering miscalculation is made during the foundation of the house, the house will not stand for long; Such a house was once built in our holiday village and fell apart a year later.
The Holy Scripture calls sexual relations outside of marriage fornication and classifies them among the most serious sins: “Do not be deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor those who practice masculinity (that is, those who commit hand fornication. - P.G.), nor homosexuals... The Kingdom of God inherit” (1 Cor. 6:9–10). They will not inherit unless they repent and stop committing fornication. For those who have fallen into fornication, the canonical rules of the church, for example, St. Basil the Great and Gregory of Nyssa, are also very strict: they are forbidden to receive communion until they repent and do penance. I will keep silent about the terms of penance. Modern man simply cannot stand this.
Why does the Church look at the sin of fornication with such severity and what is the danger of this sin?
It must be said that carnal, intimate communication between a man and a woman has never been forbidden by the Church; on the contrary, it has even been blessed, but only in one case - if it is a marriage union. And, by the way, not only married, but also simply a prisoner under civil laws. After all, in the first centuries of Christianity there was a problem when one of the spouses accepted Christianity, but the other (or the other) had not yet. The Apostle Paul did not allow such spouses to divorce, recognizing that this was also a marriage, albeit without the church’s blessing for now.
The same apostle writes about marital physical relations: “The husband show due favor to his wife; likewise is a wife to her husband. The wife has no power over her body, but the husband does; Likewise, the husband has no power over his body, but the wife does. Do not deviate from each other, except by agreement, for a while, to practice fasting and prayer, and then be together again, so that Satan does not tempt you with your intemperance” (1 Cor. 7: 3-5).
The Lord blessed the marriage union, blessed the carnal communication in it, which serves childbearing. Husband and wife are no longer two, but “one flesh” (Gen. 2:24). The presence of marriage is another (though not the most important) difference between us and animals. Animals do not have marriage. The female can copulate with any male, even with her own children when they grow up. People have marriage - mutual responsibility, duties to each other and to children.
Physical relationships are a very powerful experience, and they serve to further enhance the bond between spouses. “Your desire is for your husband” (Gen. 3:16), it is said about the wife, and this mutual attraction of the spouses also helps to cement their union.
But what is blessed in marriage is a sin, a violation of the commandment, if done outside of marriage. The marital union unites a man and a woman into “one flesh” (Eph. 5:31) for mutual love, bearing and raising children. But the Bible also tells us that in fornication people are also united into “one flesh,” but only in sin and lawlessness - for sinful pleasure and irresponsibility: “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? So, shall I take away the members of Christ to make them the members of a harlot? It won't happen! Or don’t you know that he who has sex with a harlot becomes one body with her?” (1 Cor. 6:15–16).
Indeed, every unlawful carnal relationship inflicts a deep wound on a person’s soul and body, and when he wants to get married, it will be very difficult for him to carry this burden and memory of past sins.
Fornication unites people, but in order to defile their bodies and souls.
Love between a man and a woman is possible only in marriage, where people make vows of fidelity and mutual responsibility to each other before God and all people. Neither simply sexual relations, nor cohabitation with one partner in the now fashionable “civil marriage” gives a person real happiness. Because marriage is not only physical intimacy, but also spiritual unity, love and trust
to your loved one. It is clear that neither promiscuous relationships nor cohabitation without registration can achieve this. No matter how beautiful words lovers of “civil marriage” hide behind, their relationship is based on one thing - mutual distrust, uncertainty about their feelings, fear of losing “freedom.” Fornicating people rob themselves; Instead of following the open, blessed path, they try to steal happiness from the back door. One very experienced priest in family life once said that those living outside marriage are like people who, having put on priestly vestments, dare to serve the liturgy; they want to get what does not rightfully belong to them.
Statistics show that marriages in which there was a period of cohabitation before marriage break up much more often than those where the spouses did not have such experience. And this is understandable and explainable: sin cannot lie at the foundation of a family building. After all, physical communication between spouses is given to them as a reward for their patience and purity. Young people who do not preserve themselves until marriage are lax and weak-willed people. If they did not deny themselves anything before marriage, then they will just as easily and freely go “to the left” already in marriage.
Guard your heart
Where does the sin of fornication begin? “Whoever looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28). This is where the passion begins. A person lets it into his heart, enjoys it, and there it is not far from bodily sin.
Yes, sin comes from the heart, but it also somehow gets into the heart. Comes from several sources. Fornication, as the holy fathers say, is directly related to the sin that we talked about in the previous article - the passion of gluttony, bodily satiety and excessive wine drinking. “Abstinence begets chastity, but gluttony is the mother of lust.” Let us also remember: “Do not get drunk with wine, which causes debauchery” (Eph. 5:18). Lust for love is a carnal passion, and it can be curbed by accustoming the flesh to abstinence and moderation. Fatty, filling, spicy food, drinking copious amounts of wine - all this makes the blood very hot, causes a play of hormones, and excites. This is a well-known fact.
Another factor influencing the violence of the flesh is the lack of preservation of vision and other senses. Of course, we do not yet have such monstrous debauchery as Ancient Rome was drowned in, although we are getting closer to it. But Rome certainly did not know such propaganda and advertising of this sin. In the article about the media, a lot has already been said about this. Not only television (you can at least turn off the TV), but also the streets of our cities are filled with images of naked bodies. Moreover, shameless billboards sometimes “decorate” the most intense routes. I think that the accident rate near such posters increases several times. One Moscow priest somehow couldn’t stand it, brought a large ladder and wrote in black paint on a huge obscene poster: “Luzhkov, are you the mayor of Sodom?” Of course, all this is being done to disintegrate and weaken the nation. A well-known fact: Hitler distributed pornography and contraceptives in the occupied territories. Despite the fact that in Germany itself, pornography was prohibited.
Is it possible to protect ourselves from all this filth that literally haunts us at every step? It's difficult, but it's possible. The Lord does not give tests beyond our strength. And that person who wants to keep his soul and body pure can do this even in Sodom, like righteous Lot.
First,
What needs to be done is to reduce the number of sources of temptation to a minimum.
Second:
do not fix your attention on irritating objects, do not cling to them. Don’t devour seductive pictures with your eyes, but learn to glide over them with your gaze, as if not noticing them.
And third:
not only not to show special attention to temptations, but also to change your attitude towards them, to perceive them as something neutral. I will give an example to explain my thoughts. Although I have quite a serious driving experience, I still suffer from inattention and distraction on the road. On the way, I can look at something interesting and unusual, and this has let me down more than once. And I developed a rule, made a vow to myself: while driving, pay attention only to the road situation, signs, instrument readings, and not to fixate on everything else that is distracting, as if to glide your gaze over objects without stopping for a long time on them. In ordinary, non-car life, this technique also helps preserve vision. When you encounter something unhelpful, defiantly seductive, you cannot help but see it (although it is useful to look away), but you can not look at it, not stop looking. Of course, this requires a certain skill. But then, purely automatically, you begin to filter out what you don’t need to look at.
Another important way to protect yourself from temptations is to change your attitude towards tempting things. Things in themselves are neutral; What makes them good or bad is our attitude towards them. For example, a woman can be looked at as an object of desire, or she can (even if she is not very modestly dressed) as something neutral. Saint Theophan the Recluse writes about this: “What can one do if, living in society, one cannot help but look at their wives? But it is not just the one who looks at his wife who commits adultery, but the one who looks at him with lust. Look - look, but keep your heart on a leash. See through the eyes of children who look at women purely, without bad thoughts.”
A being of the opposite sex can be looked upon as a sister or a mother (brother or father), but not as something that incites lust in us. After all, very often we ourselves are ready to open the soul of passion. But if it is locked, it will be difficult for a seductive image or picture to get inside. If a person has a wife, there can be only one woman for him - his wife. He can only love her as a woman; everyone else has no gender. He should see only the human, not the feminine, in other women. The enemy is very strong, and from an immodest glance, slight flirting to adultery - one step. It is not only your eyesight that needs to be kept clean, but also your mind. Unclean, prodigal thoughts, like dirt, stain and defile the soul and heart. It is not for nothing that St. Ephraim the Syrian called the demon of fornication “the demon of uncleanness.” We have already talked about how to deal with sinful, unclean thoughts in one of the previous articles.
Everything that was said above relates to thoughts, feelings, desires - this is where the passion for fornication begins. The second thing to remember is our behavior. “Woe to that man through whom temptation comes” (Matthew 18:7). Immodest clothing, ambiguous jokes, ease in dealing with the opposite sex - all this can harm not only us, but also other people. And then “woe is us.” Whatever we do, we must always think about whether we are unconsciously driven by some passion, and how our behavior will respond in the heart of another person.
Woe to the world from temptations
A lot in our life depends on attitude
to one problem or another. Even obvious temptation can be treated quite neutrally. But if you specially tune yourself, warm up the passion in yourself, a small push is enough for the passions to break loose.
Nowadays, the media, modern literature, art, even education are trying to instill in us the idea that sin is the norm, and black is white. The sin of fornication is especially ardently promoted: “Sexual life is necessary for everyone without exception (in different forms), you simply cannot live without it, without it you will never have happiness, health, or anything at all. If a person has genitals, they must definitely function, etc.” We can talk about this for a very long time, but everything is clear as it is. Everything has turned upside down: sin, perversions are not something that needs to be gotten rid of, but something that is impossible to live without. The source of all this is also known. We are offered a monstrous lie, and the “father of lies,” as we know, is the devil.
Is it possible to maintain purity, living in this terrible world of depravity and sin?
The Gospel, the New Testament, where fornication is called a mortal sin, was written not only for people of the 1st century. It is written for all times and for us Christians of the 21st century. Where did the first Christians live? In the Roman Empire. And Rome has reached such a level of debauchery, debauchery, and sexual perversion that our country, thank God, has not yet reached. And yet, Christians were able to save themselves and their families from the onslaught of uncleanness. And Christianity, despite the most severe persecution, was able to change this world. The empire became Christian at the beginning of the 4th century.
If we talk not about the times of the first Christians, but about our recent past, then 20 years ago much that modern youth considers funny, ridiculous and outdated was the norm. The norm was to start a family. For most girls, it was the norm to keep themselves until marriage. Cohabitation without marriage was condemned by society and was extremely rare. This was the case in our country, where family traditions did not die even in the godless Soviet times. And in general, any normal person sooner or later understands that the path of licentiousness, permissiveness, and family destruction is a path to nowhere. America, exhausted by the fruits of the “sexual revolution,” turned towards moral, family values. Since 1996, the United States has introduced a program called Abstinence Education. 50 million dollars a year are allocated for its implementation. The purpose of this program is to oppose sexual promiscuity, abortion, and out-of-wedlock pregnancy by promoting abstinence and explaining to adolescents that it does not harm the body.
In our country, unfortunately, on the contrary, the opinion that abstinence is harmful is being instilled in every possible way: “If there are organs, they must work at all costs. If there are desires, they must be satisfied.” And that’s why we surpassed everyone in terms of abortions and the number of abandoned children.
A little about the reproductive organs. They are given to us for reproduction, for the reproduction of offspring. And all animal organisms use them for this. Their non-functioning cannot lead to loss of health. For example, a woman may give birth to one child in her life, or she may not give birth at all. At the same time, her uterus will remain unclaimed, but this does not mean that the woman will get sick. The human body has self-regulation mechanisms.
It all depends on our attitude to the problem of abstinence. If a person is determined that he will not be able to live and will die without sexual intercourse, it will indeed be impossible for him to abstain. And those who are determined to abstain and keep themselves from temptations will be able to bear this.
In marriage, it is also necessary to learn abstinence. After all, there are fasts, periods of pregnancy, and illness can happen. There are people whose professional activities require long business trips. And it was always like this, and the spouses somehow endured and humbled themselves. Many godly mothers had many children and during pregnancy and breastfeeding (which is more than two years) did not have carnal intercourse with their husbands.
And now even other doctors advise treating some diseases (for example, prostatitis) with the help of casual relationships. If a man does not have a wife, they advise him to take a mistress in order to “heal.” What can I say? Prostatitis is not a new disease. But in our time, immorality and licentiousness have captured all levels of society and classes, including doctors. No sin can be the basis of treatment. Sin does not create, but only destroys. Now there are a lot of modern drugs and methods for treating male diseases. Unscrupulous doctors sometimes give simply terrible advice. One man lost his only child, who was very seriously ill and died in his arms. This man was extremely worried about his grief. In addition, his wife could no longer bear children. He underwent treatment for a long time, turned to psychiatrists, psychotherapists, and this is what they advised him: “Get yourself a mistress, and let her give birth to your child. Or divorce your wife and marry a young woman, and you will have children.” Yes, truly “a terrible age, terrible hearts!”
God help you!
Warfare that inflames the flesh is a natural thing; there is no need to be afraid of it. Every person feels certain impulses and movements in his body. But these movements should not get out of control. Our hormones, our nature, must always be kept on a short leash and in a strict collar, otherwise this dog will break out and may bite us ourselves.
If we want to fight the lust of the flesh and ask God for help, the Lord will definitely help us. If there is no struggle with the flesh, there will be no reward for the feat.
A certain presbyter Konon often performed the sacrament of baptism. Every time he had to anoint women with holy oil and baptize them, he fell into great embarrassment and for this reason even wanted to leave the monastery. Then Saint John the Baptist appeared to him and said: “Be strong and patient, and I will deliver you from this battle.” One day a Persian girl came to him for baptism. She was so beautiful that the presbyter did not dare to anoint her with holy oil. She waited two days. Meanwhile, Presbyter Konon, taking the mantle, left with the words: “I can no longer stay here.” But as soon as he climbed the hill, Saint John the Baptist met him and said: “Return to the monastery, and I will deliver you from the battle.” Konon angrily answered him: “Rest assured, I will never return. You promised me this more than once, but you never kept your promise.” Then Saint John opened his clothes and made the sign of the cross three times. “Believe me, Konon,” said the Baptist, “I wanted you to receive a reward for this abuse, but since you did not want to, I will deliver you, but at the same time you will be deprived of the reward for your feat.” Returning to the monastery, the presbyter baptized the Persian woman, as if not noticing that she was a woman. After which, until his death, he performed baptism without any unclean stimulation of the flesh.
It is no coincidence that carnal lust is compared to fire, flame. And the holy fathers unanimously say that you cannot give it any food (fuel) through satiety of the flesh, sight, hearing and other senses, and then it will not be difficult to cope with it. A sudden flame can be easily trampled, but in just a few minutes the whole house will be on fire. Anyone who has ever seen a big fire knows how uncontrollable the fire element is.
A person overwhelmed by any carnal passion cannot resist them
A person overwhelmed by any carnal passion cannot resist them. One sin can send a person to hell.
Blessed Theodora said that it is impossible to get around prodigal obstacles without obstacles:
“...at the ordeal of fornication... all fornication, every lustful thought and dream, as well as passionate touches and lustful touches are tortured. The prince of this ordeal sits on his throne, dressed in foul and stinking clothes, sprinkled with bloody foam, and many demons stand before him.”
Blessed Theodora
After the ordeal of fornication comes:
“...the ordeal of adultery, in which the sins of those living in marriage and not observing marital fidelity, but desecrating their bed, are tortured, as well as all kinds of abductions of virgins for the purpose of corrupting them and all kinds of fornication. Here those who dedicated themselves to God and made a vow to keep their lives in purity and virginity, but then did not keep this vow, are tortured.” And then - “the ordeal of Sodomy sins, in which the unnatural sins of men and women, sodomy and bestiality are tortured.” , incest and other secret sins that are embarrassing to even remember. The prince of this ordeal has a very nasty and ugly appearance and is all covered with stinking pus; his servants are like him in everything: their stench is very unbearable, their appearance is vile and terrible, their rage and cruelty is excessive.”
After this, any person will think about his life. Since our world is too evil, it does its best to prevent a person from knowing what awaits him for his sins.
Chapter VI. Fornication "demon of uncleanness"
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I think every priest periodically has to answer one question (usually asked by young people): “Why is physical, carnal relations between a man and a woman outside of marriage considered a sin, because all this is done by mutual consent, no harm is caused to anyone, damage, for example, adultery - Another thing is treason, destruction of a family, but what’s bad here?”
First, let's remember what sin is. “Sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4). That is, a violation of the laws of spiritual life. And violation of both physical and spiritual laws leads to trouble, to self-destruction. Nothing good can be built on sin or error. If a serious engineering miscalculation is made during the foundation of the house, the house will not stand for long. Such a house was once built in our holiday village. It stood and stood, and a year later it fell apart.
The Holy Scripture calls sexual relations outside of marriage fornication and classifies them among the most serious sins: “Do not be deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor fools (i.e., those who commit hand fornication (St. Paul), nor homosexuals... The kingdom of God is not will inherit" (1 Cor. 6:9). They will not inherit unless they repent and stop fornication. Church canonical rules for those who have fallen into fornication, for example, St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory of Nyssa, are also very strict. They are forbidden to receive communion until they will not repent and will not bear penance. I will remain silent about the timing of penance. Modern man simply cannot stand this. Why does the Church look at the sin of fornication with such severity and what is the danger of this sin?
It must be said that carnal, intimate communication between a man and a woman was never forbidden by the Church; on the contrary, it was blessed, but only in one case. If it was a marriage. And by the way, not only married, but also simply concluded under civil laws. After all, even in the first century of Christianity, there was a problem when one of the spouses accepted Christianity, but the other (or the other) had not yet. And ap. Paul does not allow such spouses to divorce, recognizing that this is also a marriage, albeit without the blessing of the church.
The same apostle writes about marital physical relations: “The husband show due favor to his wife; likewise is a wife to her husband. The wife has no power over her body, but the husband does; Likewise, the husband has no power over his body, but the wife does. Do not deviate from each other, except by agreement, for a while, to practice fasting and prayer, and then be together again, so that Satan does not tempt you with your intemperance” (1 Cor. 7:3-5).
The Lord blessed the marriage union, blessed the carnal communication in it, which serves childbearing. Husband and wife are no longer two, but “one flesh” (Gen. 2:24). The presence of marriage is another (though not the most important) difference between us and animals. Animals do not have marriage. The female can copulate with any male, even with her own children when they grow up. People have marriage, mutual responsibility, duties to each other and to children. It must be said that physical relationships are a very strong experience, and they serve even greater affection for the spouses. “Your attraction is for your husband” (Gen. 3:16), it is said about the wife, and this mutual attraction of the spouses also helps to cement their union.
But what is blessed in marriage is a sin, a violation of the commandment, if done outside of marriage. The marital union unites a man and a woman into “one flesh” (Eph. 5:31) for mutual love, bearing and raising children. But the Bible also tells us that in fornication people are also united into “one flesh,” but only in sin and lawlessness. For sinful pleasure and irresponsibility. “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? So, shall I take away the members of Christ to make them the members of a harlot? It won't happen! Or don’t you know that he who has sex with a harlot becomes one body with her?” (1 Cor. 6:15-16)
Indeed, every unlawful carnal relationship inflicts a deep wound on a person’s soul and body, and when he wants to get married, it will be very difficult for him to carry this burden and memory of past sins.
Fornication unites people, but in order to defile their bodies and souls.
Love between a man and a woman is possible only in marriage, where people make vows of fidelity and mutual responsibility to each other before God and all people. Neither just sexual relations, nor cohabitation with one partner in the now fashionable “civil marriage” gives a person real happiness. Because marriage is not only physical intimacy, but also spiritual unity, love and trust in a loved one. It is clear that neither promiscuous relationships nor cohabitation without registration can achieve this. No matter how beautiful words lovers of “civil marriage” hide behind, their relationship is based on one thing: mutual distrust, uncertainty about their feelings, fear of losing “freedom.” Stray people rob themselves; instead of walking the open, blessed path, they try to steal happiness from the back door. One very experienced priest in family life once said that those living outside marriage are like people who, having put on priestly vestments, dare to serve the liturgy. They want to get what does not rightfully belong to them.
Statistics show that marriages in which there was a period of cohabitation before marriage break up much more often than those where the spouses did not have such experience. And this is understandable and explainable: sin cannot lie at the foundation of a family building. After all, physical communication between spouses is given to them as a reward for their patience and purity. Young people who do not preserve themselves until marriage are lax and weak-willed people. If they did not deny themselves anything before marriage, then they will just as easily and freely go “to the left” already in marriage.
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Unnatural sins are fornication in the broader sense of the word.
There are also unnatural sins. What it is? What does it include? Unnatural sins are also called forbidden sins - this is fornication in the broader sense of the word.
What are prodigal sins? Prodigal sins - this refers to those who had carnal relations before marriage, allowed children to be conceived before marriage, cheated, destroyed a married marriage, sinned with masturbation, and so on.
Prodigal sins include those who lived in a carnal relationship before entering into an official marriage. Photo: os1.i.ua
But as was said earlier, your sins, no matter what they are, must be confessed before God. Confession is a repentant listing of one’s sins. All Christians must begin the sacrament of repentance before each communion.
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Adam and Eve
The Bible contains a detailed description of how God Yahweh created a woman from Adam's rib and brought her to a donor who donated his organ. Neither naked Adam nor the naked woman were embarrassed by each other. However, in the paradise where they lived, a malicious Serpent lurked, who seduced the stupid woman to try a tasty but forbidden apple from the Garden of Eden. The naked woman, of course, tore it off, thereby violating the prohibition of God Yahweh, that is, committing a sin. At this moment, two things happen simultaneously. In order not to be accused of juggling the text, I quote from several modern Bibles:
A. “And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed together fig leaves and made aprons for themselves.”
B. “And then it was as if their eyes were opened: they saw that they had no clothes on, that they were naked. Then they collected fig leaves, sewed them together and began to wear them as clothes.”
God Yahweh intervened immediately. Reacting to such an offense, not to say a violation of the rules he established, he announces to the woman:
A. “By multiplying, I will increase your sorrow in your pregnancy; in illness you will give birth to children; and your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”
B. “I will condemn you to agony during pregnancy. You will give birth in pain and you will lust after your husband, and he will dominate you.”
The cause-and-effect relationship here is obvious. Noticed nudity becomes a revelation of sexuality. At this moment, the transformation of heavenly individual immortality into the immortality of the human race takes place, which needs reproduction, and therefore the birth of children by women. Death appears on the scene. The superfluous in paradise now becomes necessary—women must give birth because people will die. In paradise, life was eternal, but the inevitability of death requires procreation. Thus, everything that is now associated with reproduction and sex is also associated with death, and therefore is poisoned by it and is dark, dirty and sinful. The Lord God describes in truly sadistic detail how he will “increase sorrow” and “doom him to the pains of pregnancy”... After all, pregnancy and the need to give birth to children are now a punishment. The punishment is also that a woman, as a consequence of her crime in heaven, will feel lust for a man. Yahweh does not say a word about a man’s lust for a woman. Yes, the Lord informed Adam that from now on he is mortal and must work, but the culprit of the fall is clearly indicated - this is a woman. And from now on, this is an unclean creature with menstruation and pregnancies, a kind of sexual animal giving birth. This is directly explained by Clement of Alexandria: “When Salome asked the Lord: “How long will death reign?”, the Lord answered: “As long as you women give birth.”
Saint Odon of Cluny wrote: “The beauty of a woman is in her skin. If men were aware of what she hides under her skin, the very sight of a woman would disgust them. For what is contained in a woman’s nose, throat and stomach... Vile impurities. And we, who are disdainful to even touch dirt, vomit or pus with a finger, how can we feel satisfaction when we squeeze these bags of excrement in our arms?! (quoting from: Louis Réau “Iconographie de l'art chrétien”, vol. II, part 2). This, of course, begs a primitive question: is there really something different in men’s noses, throats and bellies? But this question is completely inappropriate. Because there is no symmetry and there cannot be: it is the woman who seduces, deceives and plunges into the abyss of defilement and sin. Once again this is emphasized by Peter Brown (“Body and Society, Men, Women and Sexual Abstinence in Early Christianity”; Krakow, 2006): “While lamenting death, men tended to see it as a threat stemming from the constant seductive power of women ( ...). Some radical disciples of Tatian the Syrian (130 - c. 185) directly linked the sexual act with the fact that Adam and Eve lost the divine spirit. They argued that Eve, having met the Serpent - a representative of the animal world - learned from him what animals do, that is, copulation. Thus, Adam and Eve, having joined the animal world through the acquisition of sexuality, moved straight to brutality, and from there to the grave.” Tertullian (155–220) addresses a woman this way (quoting from Jean Delumeau, “Horror in the West. A study of the process of the emergence of fear in Western Europe, XIV-XVIII centuries.” Warsaw, 1986): “You must always be in mourning, in rags and repentance, in order to atone for his guilt for the destruction of the human race (...). Woman, you are the gate of the devil, you were the first to touch the tree of Satan and violate the divine law[2].”
Little by little everything gets mixed up: original sin, metaphysical impurity and crude physiological specifics. St. Augustine does not even touch on theological aspects: “Inter urinam et faeces nascimur” - “We are born in excrement and dirt.” It is extremely unpleasant for him that he had to be born from a woman’s womb. This fear of a woman's impurity becomes a reality. I will quote Francesco Petrarca, the same one who was in love with Laura, whom he saw only once on Good Friday 1327 in the Church of St. Clare in Avignon and who thus became for him just a dream, inspiration and obsession: “A woman (... ) is a real devil, the enemy of the world, the source of doubts, the cause of unnecessary quarrels that deprive one of mental balance... Let those who feel the desire to communicate with their wife, nightly cuddling, the whining of children, the torments of insomnia, marry... We, if it is in our power, prefer to perpetuate our name is by talent, and not by marriage, by works of the spirit, and not by children, by virtue, and not by copulation with a woman.” “The fear of women,” Catholic historian Jean Delumeau tries to explain, “was not just an invention of Christian ascetics. But it is also true - he is forced to admit - that Christianity internalized the pre-existing fear and used this bogeyman until the beginning of the 20th century. And this means that aggressive anti-feminism in theology is not new at all.”
“The woman who put us to death in paradise, whose uncleanness stains our homes and poisons the earth, still dares to raise her snake’s head and even question the words of her husband and master. Truly, there is no punishment worthy of such blatant impudence. The rod is not enough here, because it doesn’t matter how much blood her back exudes, because every month it is filled with new vile blood” (rhetoric Horicius of Gaza, 4th century, according to the publication “Förster”; Leipzig, 1929). Realizing that such a rabid position could hinder evangelization, that is, strengthening the role of the church, Christianity created the cult of the Mother of God Mary, for which the Holy Scriptures do not contain any real basis. Called “mother” and “woman,” the Virgin Mary was nevertheless completely devoid of sexuality. Regular dogmas concerning her purity stipulate that she retained her innocence (to put it bluntly, her hymen) not only at the moment of conception, but also after childbirth! Thus, the Mother of God is a woman outside of physiology, or even above it. A woman who has nothing in common with those unclean creatures that sin and drag around our mortal world. During a discussion about celibacy, Father Bonecki - then editor-in-chief of Tygodnik Powszechny[3] - said that in times of persecution, the possibility of which always exists, a priest who is not burdened with a family, and therefore less exposed to the danger of sentimental blackmail, has a better chance of resisting and be steadfast in faith. Perhaps this is the only argument in favor of celibacy that seemed convincing to me. The only trouble is that those who established the rules of celibacy for priests were not interested in this argument in the slightest. It was important for them that the ministers of the church not “God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to uncleanness, so that they polluted their own bodies” (Epistle to the Romans of the Holy Apostle Paul). And it also says here, at least this is how the church fathers later interpreted this fragment, about contacts with women, that is, a very specific defilement. Where can we even talk about admitting women to the priesthood? Indeed, in this case, their uncleanness would have the opportunity to poison the religious sacraments, and the very only true teaching of the church. This is why the Roman Catholic Church does not even consider the possibility of discussing the issue of the female priesthood, since the very conversation on this topic is, in fact, apostasy. In the explanations of Saint Cyprian (JN Bakhuizen Van den Brink. [Scriptores christiani primaevi]. Haga, 1946), the body of a Christian man is presented as a microcosm, which would be flawless if it had not been in a woman’s body before birth and had not been poisoned by its secretions, and this led to the fact that a man succumbs to female influence. That is why a man is obliged to strictly subjugate a woman - to give her work in areas “not related to thinking” (Tertullian), to punish when she deviates from virtue and obedience, not to indulge her fanaticism and whims. It is clear that the husband has every right to resort to physical punishment against his wife. French libertines (followers of a nihilistic philosophy that denies generally accepted in society, primarily moral norms. - Ed.), who were partial to the “flagellation” movement, otherwise called flagellantism, cynically argued that by humiliating a woman, they, in the end, they do only what the church recommended doing a long time ago. Paradoxically, in this way libertinism in its most unbridled forms could refer to a tradition sanctified by religion, considering a woman a being of a lower order, given completely to the power of a man, and moreover, a being who is subject to punishment. This means that it is not surprising that in its ideological foundations, even consciously, as, for example, in the case of Count Honore de Mirabeau, libertinism turned to the image of a woman - guilty of the emergence of sin and death. However, it could not be otherwise. Libertinism tended to become a movement (or rather, a practice) sacrilegious. And therefore, he deliberately went for confrontation in a certain and already established area, distorting and corrupting social norms, but without denying their foundations. The depraved monk Clement in the novel by the Marquis Donatien de Sade (“Justine, or the Misfortunes of Virtue”; Lodz, 1987) explains to Teresa: “As soon as it comes to voluptuousness, there is an uproar. Women are especially zealous in this, always standing guard over their rights, women whose weakness and insignificant value do not allow them to be deprived of anything (...). There is no great loss if a man, in order to enhance his pleasure, neglects or spoils a woman’s pleasure. After all, in fact, it is impossible to equate a man with a woman.” Here is an interpretation of tradition - disgusting, but absolutely logical.
Ludwig Stomma
Many holy fathers said how to correctly confess your carnal sins
Many holy fathers write about how to properly prepare for confession, as well as how to confess.
Preparing for confession means making a test of your conscience, and also in a repentant manner you need to reconsider your entire life, as far as possible. You need to remember everything you have sinned against God and your neighbor. Before confession, you must pray that God will open a person’s eyes to all his sins. We need to cast aside shame and fear and bring tearful repentance.
For example, Saint Theophan the Recluse wrote that shame and fear in confession are saving for a person’s soul, and he also advises:
“...For confession to proceed and be performed more satisfactorily, try to write down everything that lies on your conscience, and when you approach your spiritual father, ask him to retell everything to him from the record. After this, if he wants to ask you anything else, he will ask, or you yourself invite him to do it. By acting this way, you will always move away from the lectern, like someone who has thrown off all the astringent clothing.”
Saint Theophan the Recluse
But it is important to understand that to confession you must not just bring a list of your sins, but rather bring a tearful feeling of repentance and a contrite heart.
Saint Basil the Great reasoned a little differently:
“...It is not he who confesses his sin who said: I have sinned, and then remains in sin; but the one who, in the words of the psalm, “found his sin and hated it.” What benefit will a doctor's care bring to a sick person when the person suffering from illness clings tightly to something that is destructive to life? So there is no benefit from forgiving someone who commits injustice, and from apologizing for debauchery to someone who continues to live dissolutely.”
Saint Basil the Great
Therefore, it is important to pray during confession and acknowledge your sins. Also, before confession, ask everyone for forgiveness.
SINS AND THEIR OPPOSITE VIRTUES
1. Gluttony
Binge eating, drunkenness, non-keeping and allowing fasting, secret eating, delicacy, and generally violation of abstinence. Incorrect and excessive love of the flesh, its belly and rest, which constitutes self-love, which leads to failure to remain faithful to God, the Church, virtue and people.
2. Fornication
Prodigal lust, prodigal sensations and attitudes of the soul and heart. Acceptance of unclean thoughts, conversation with them, delight in them, permission for them, slowness in them. Prodigal dreams and captivities. Failure to preserve the senses, especially the sense of touch, is the insolence that destroys all virtues. Foul language and reading voluptuous books. Natural prodigal sins: fornication and adultery. Prodigal sins are unnatural.
3. Love of money
The love of money, in general the love of property, movable and immovable. The desire to get rich. Reflection on means of enrichment. Dreaming of wealth. Fears of old age, unexpected poverty, illness, exile. Stinginess. Selfishness. Disbelief in God, lack of trust in his providence. Addictions or painful excessive love for various perishable objects, depriving the soul of freedom. Passion for vain concerns. Loving gifts. Appropriation of someone else's. Likhva. Cruelty towards the poor brethren and all those in need. Theft. Robbery.
4. Anger
Hot temper, acceptance of angry thoughts: dreams of anger and revenge, indignation of the heart with rage, darkening of the mind with it: obscene shouting, argument, swearing, cruel and caustic words, stress, pushing, murder. Malice, hatred, enmity, revenge, slander, condemnation, indignation and insult to one’s neighbor.
5. Sadness
Sadness, melancholy, cutting off hope in God, doubt in God’s promises, ingratitude to God for everything that happens, cowardice, impatience, lack of self-reproach, grief towards one’s neighbor, grumbling, renunciation of the cross, attempt to descend from it.
6.Despondency
Laziness towards any good deed, especially prayer. Abandonment of church and cell rules. Abandoning unceasing prayer and soul-helping reading. Inattention and haste in prayer. Neglect. Irreverence. Idleness. Excessive calming by sleeping, lying down and all kinds of restlessness. Moving from place to place. Frequent exits from cells, walks and visits with friends. Celebration. Jokes. Blasphemers. Abandonment of bows and other physical feats. Forgetting your sins. Forgetting the commandments of Christ. Negligence. Captivity. Deprivation of the fear of God. Bitterness. Insensibility. Despair.
7. Vanity
The search for human glory. Boasting. Desire and search for earthly and vain honors. Love of beautiful clothes, carriages, servants and cell things. Attention to the beauty of your face, the pleasantness of your voice and other qualities of your body. A disposition towards the dying sciences and arts of this age, a desire to succeed in them in order to acquire temporary, earthly glory. Shame to confess your sins. Hiding them before people and the spiritual father. Craftiness. Self-justification. Disclaimer. Making up your mind. Hypocrisy. Lie. Flattery. People-pleasing. Envy. Humiliation of one's neighbor. Changeability of character. Indulgence. Unconscionability. The character and life are demonic.
8. Pride
Contempt for one's neighbor. Preferring yourself to everyone. Insolence. Darkness, dullness of the mind and heart. Nailing them to the earthly. Hula. Disbelief. False mind. Disobedience to the Law of God and the Church. Following your carnal will. Reading books that are heretical, depraved and vain. Disobedience to authorities. Caustic ridicule. Abandonment of Christ-like humility and silence. Loss of simplicity. Loss of love for God and neighbor. False philosophy. Heresy. Godlessness. Ignorance. Death of the soul.
Such are the ailments, such are the ulcers that constitute the great ulcer, the decay of the old Adam, which was formed from his fall. The holy prophet Isaiah speaks about this great ulcer: “from the feet even to the head there is no integrity in it: neither a scab, nor an ulcer, nor a burning wound, do not apply a plaster, below the oil, below the bandage” (Is. 1, 6). This means, according to the explanation of the Fathers, that the ulcer - sin - is not private, and not on just one member, but on the entire being: it has embraced the body, embraced the soul, taken possession of all the properties, all the powers of a person. God called this great plague death when, forbidding Adam and Eve from eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he said: “If you take away one day from it, you will die” (Genesis 2:17). Immediately after eating the forbidden fruit, the forefathers felt eternal death; a carnal feeling appeared in their gaze; they saw that they were naked. The knowledge of the nakedness of the body reflected the nakedness of the soul, which had lost the beauty of innocence on which the Holy Spirit rested. There is a carnal sensation in the eyes, and in the soul there is shame, in which is the accumulation of all sinful and shameful sensations: pride, impurity, sadness, despondency, and despair. The Great Plague is spiritual death; the decay that occurred after the loss of the Divine likeness is incorrigible! The Apostle calls the great plague the law of sin, the body of death (Rom. 7:23-24), because the mortified mind and heart have completely turned to the earth, slavishly serve the corruptible desires of the flesh, have become darkened, burdened, and become flesh themselves. This flesh is no longer capable of communicating with God! (Genesis 6:3). This flesh is not capable of inheriting eternal, heavenly bliss! (1 Cor. 15:50). The great plague spread over the entire human race and became the unfortunate property of every person.
Considering my great ulcer, looking at my mortification, I am filled with bitter sadness! I'm perplexed, what should I do? Will I follow the example of the old Adam, who, seeing his nakedness, hastens to hide from God? Will I, like him, justify myself by placing the blame on the guilt of sin? It is in vain to hide from the All-Seeing One! It is in vain to justify yourself before the One who always wins, and “always judges” Him (Ps. 50:6).
Instead of fig leaves, I will clothe myself with tears of repentance; Instead of justification, I will bring sincere consciousness. Clothed in repentance and tears, I will appear before the face of my God. Is it in heaven? I have been expelled from there, and the cherub standing at the entrance will not let me in! By the very burden of my flesh I am nailed to the ground, my prison!
Sinful descendant of Adam, take heart! A light has shone in your prison: God has descended into the low country of your exile to lead you to your lost highland fatherland. You wanted to know good and evil: He leaves you this knowledge. You wanted to become like God, and from this you became like the devil in your soul, like cattle and beasts in your body; God, uniting you with Himself, makes you God by grace. He forgives your sins. This is not enough! He will remove the root of evil from your soul, the very infection of sin, hell, cast into your soul by the devil, and will give you medicine for the entire path of your earthly life for healing from sin, no matter how many times you become infected with it, due to your weakness. This healing is the confession of sins. Do you want to put off the old Adam, you, who through holy baptism have already been clothed in the New Adam, but through your own iniquities managed to revive old age and death in yourself, to choke life, to make it half-dead? Do you want, enslaved to sin, drawn to it by the violence of habit, to regain your freedom and righteousness? Immerse yourself in humility! Conquer vain shame, which teaches you to hypocritically and craftily pretend to be righteous and thereby preserve and strengthen spiritual death within yourself. Cast out sin, enter into hostility with sin by sincere confession of sin. This healing must precede all others; without it, healing through prayer, tears, fasting and all other means will be insufficient, unsatisfactory, fragile. Go, proud one, to your spiritual father, at his feet find the mercy of the Heavenly Father! One, one sincere and frequent confession can free one from sinful habits, make repentance fruitful, and correction lasting and true.
In a brief moment of tenderness, in which the eyes of the mind are opened for self-knowledge, which comes so rarely, I wrote this as an accusation to myself, as an admonition, reminder, instruction. And you, who with faith and love for Christ read these lines and, perhaps, find in them something useful for yourself, bring a heartfelt sigh and prayer for the soul that has suffered much from the waves of sin, that has often seen drowning and destruction before itself, that has found rest in one refuge: in confession of one’s sins.
You need to talk about lustful thoughts in confession so that it is clear what the essence is about.
How to confess forbidden sins, that is, carnal ones? The Holy Fathers say that there is no need to confess your lewd thoughts in detail during confession. But we need to talk about sin in such a way that it is clear what its essence is.
Metropolitan Anthony Khrapovitsky said that many are ashamed to confess prodigal sins, but as long as Christians do not confess them, he will return to them again and again. After which he may fall into complete despair, and then shamelessness and godlessness.
Metropolitan Anthony Khrapovitsky. Photo: ic.pics.livejournal.com
The Monk Macarius of Optina spoke about the importance of such confession; he also teaches how to properly confess for such sins:
“...Concerning the fact that you find it difficult to tell your confessor about certain subjects, I will tell you: do not explain in detail the mental battles of passionate carnal thoughts, but simply say: “I am overcome by carnal thoughts”; That's enough. God sees your heart, which grieves over this. If shame does not allow you to even say this, then resort to humility and remember that this small shame before one person frees you from future eternal shame.”
Venerable Macarius of Optina
You need to approach such a confession very seriously. It is important to understand and realize why you need this. Priest Pavel Gumerov always said that, as in baptism, a person is given a gift - forgiveness of sins.
Priest Pavel Gumerov believes that forgiveness of sins is a great gift that the Lord gives us. Photo: pravme.ru
That is why it is very important for everyone to appreciate this gift. It is unknown how much time we have for repentance, but for now it may be necessary to use this time correctly.
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Orthodox Life
One of the most precious treasures for a Christian is chastity.
But at all times the world tries in different ways to devalue this virtue. Some say that chastity is a relic invented by monks; others believe that it stands as an obstacle on the road to love and can even destroy this feeling; still others, based on medical research, do not recommend any abstinence. In fact, it is only through the virtue of chastity that the family and other social institutions are preserved. For, as St. Ambrose of Milan teaches, “where there are few virgins, there are few people.”
St. John Climacus claims that chastity is the comprehensive name for all virtues, purity of soul and body. Whoever achieves chastity “even in sleep itself does not feel any movement or change in the dispensation in which he resides. Chaste, who has forever acquired complete insensitivity to the difference of bodies.”
Such a person becomes like the Angels, a home for Christ, reaches a supernatural state and is able to conquer carnal love with Divine love: “Purity is the assimilation of incorporeal nature... the longed-for home of Christ and the earthly heaven of the heart... a supernatural renunciation of nature and a truly glorious competition of the dead and corruptible body with the incorporeal perfume. The one who reflects (carnal) love with (divine) love and extinguishes bodily fire with immaterial fire is pure.”
The monk distinguishes different degrees of this virtue: “The beginning of purity occurs when thoughts are not combined with lustful excuses and without dreams, outflows occur from time to time in a dream; and the middle of purity is when, from the contentment of food, there are natural movements, but without dreams; The end of purity is the mortification of the body (i.e., bodily movements), preceded by the mortification of unclean thoughts... Great is he who remains dispassionate in the sense of touch; the greater one, who is not wounded by the vision and thought of heavenly beauties, quenches the fire that kindles at the sight of earthly beauties.”
But if someone achieves such a state, he should not think that he achieved it through his own labors: “Let none of those who have learned to maintain purity impute to themselves 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.”
Also, those who have achieved chastity never, even until death, need to relax, because, as the monk warns, “the fox pretends to be sleeping, and the demon pretends to be chaste; she wants to deceive the bird, and this one wants to destroy the soul. Do not believe in this mortal body throughout your entire life and do not rely on it until you stand before Christ. Do not think that you cannot fall because of abstinence, for someone who ate nothing was cast out of heaven.”
The reasons for falling into prodigal sins can be different. “With beginners, physical falls usually occur from enjoying 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.” The monk sees a deeper reason for prodigal sins in self-love: “I have my father in me - self-love. External kindlings come from pleasing me and from excessive peace in everything, and internal ones - from former peace and from voluptuous deeds.”
Other ascetics see the cause of prodigal sins in the development of sensuality, which is associated with the natural growth of the human body. Later this passion develops through thoughts and imagination. Moreover, mental sins are worse than actual sins, because a person, considering himself innocent, constantly exposes his soul to exhaustion and corruption, and it ceases to be capable of goodness and power over itself. Another reason for the development of prodigal passion is excessive interest in bodily movements (natural and from satiety and indiscriminateness in food and drink), and this leads to withering of mental and bodily strength, changing the entire spiritual attitude of a person.
Doubly guilty is the one who not only falls into prodigal sins himself, but also involves others in them: “Cursed is he who falls; but he is more wretched who falls himself and drags another to fall, because he will bear the weight of two falls, and the weight of another’s sweetness.”
Climacus describes the extreme degree of corruption as follows: “In voluptuous people (as one of them who experienced this confessed to me after his sobering) there is a feeling of some kind of extreme attraction and love for bodies and such a shameless and inhuman spirit, clearly nesting in the very feeling of the heart, that he who is overcome by this spirit during battle feels a bodily burning, similar to fire from a blazing furnace; he does not fear God, he regards the memory of torment as nothing, he disdains prayers... The sufferer becomes as if mad and frantic, being intoxicated by the everlasting passionate desire of verbal and wordless creatures, so that if the days of this painful battle did not stop, he could not no soul can be saved, clothed in this clay, dissolved in blood and phlegm.” “If the sign of true purity is to remain motionless even in sleepy dreams, then, of course, the limit of fornication means to endure the outflow from thoughts alone.” Those who take upon themselves extreme ascetic deeds, the devil can drag them into unnatural carnal sins: “Often the devil directs all his effort, diligence, cunning, cunning and all his intrigues so that those undergoing monastic life and struggling in this field, full of temptations, were fought by unnatural passions. Therefore, often, being in the same place with the female sex and not being overcome by carnal lust or thoughts, some please themselves; But the unfortunate ones do not understand that where there is great destruction, there is no need for less.”
Climacus sees the reason for this in the fact that a person can commit such sins anywhere and thereby doom himself to great torment: “I think that the all-damned murderers for two reasons usually plunge us, the poor, into unnatural falls: because we have convenience everywhere for such sins and because they expose us to greater torment. The one who had previously commanded wild donkeys, and then was himself mocked and enslaved by hellish donkeys, learned what was said; and he who once fed on the bread of heaven was later deprived of this good; What is most surprising is that even after his repentance, our mentor Anthony said with bitter sorrow: “The great pillar has fallen!” But the image of the fall was hidden by the wise man, for he knew that bodily fornication can happen without the participation of another body. There is in us a certain death and destruction of the fall, which we always carry with us and within ourselves, and most of all in our youth. But I did not dare to commit this destruction to writing, because he restrained my hand and said: “For it is shameful for you to be removed from some, to eat and to speak (Eph. 5:12), and to write, and to hear.”
Sins against chastity are one of the most criminal and unforgivable sins, for lustful passion parasitizes the most sublime feeling of love. Sins that are generated by prodigal passion:
– prodigal kindling and prodigal sensations; – acceptance of unclean thoughts, conversation with them, delight in them, permission for them, slowness in them; – failure to preserve the senses, especially the sense of touch, which is insolence that destroys all virtues; – foul language and reading voluptuous books, newspapers and magazines; viewing voluptuous illustrations, paintings in publications, on television and on the computer; – natural prodigal sins: fornication and adultery; – sins of prodigal unnatural: homosexuality, lesbianism, bestiality, fornication, the use of various means to obtain prodigal pleasures.
In order to entice a person into such sins, “our inhuman enemy and teacher of fornication suggests that God loves mankind and that He grants quick forgiveness to this passion, as natural,” writes St. John. – But if we begin to observe the cunning of demons, we will find that after committing a sin, they present God to us as a righteous and implacable Judge. They say the first to draw us into sin, and the second to plunge us into despair. When sadness and despair in us intensify, then we cannot bring proper repentance, neither reproach ourselves, nor reproach ourselves, although in a sad disposition of soul we do not indulge in sin. When they fade away, then again our tormentor inspires us with the mercy of God, so that we fall again.”
The only sins considered more criminal than fornication are murder and renunciation of Christ, therefore special conciliar definitions were adopted in relation to fornicators. According to the rule of St. Basil the Great, a layman is excommunicated from Communion for 15 years for adultery:
"58. Let him who has committed adultery for fifteen years not partake of the Holy Mysteries. The distribution for these fifty years for him is as follows: for four years he will be weeping, five years he will be listening to the Scriptures, four years he will be falling down, and for two years he will stand with the faithful without communion.
59. Let a fornicator not partake of the Holy Mysteries for seven years: let him cry for two years, listen for two, fall for two, and only stand with the faithful for one summer; on the eighth he will be admitted to Holy Communion” (St. Basil the Great. Third Canonical Epistle of St. our father Basil, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, to Amphilochius Bishop of Iconium).
According to the rule of St. Gregory of Nyssa, “...since the Fathers showed a certain condescension towards the weakest, there is a general difference in this sin: the fulfillment of lust is called fornication, done with someone without offending another, and adultery is slander and insult to someone else’s union. This includes bestiality and sodomy, because these sins are adultery against nature... With such a division of species, and this sin, the general healing is that through repentance a person may become clean from passionate frenzy for such carnality... May there be some difference in the image repentance for sins of voluptuousness. He who aroused himself to confession of sins, as having already begun to heal his illness by the very fact that he decided on his own impulse to be an exposer of his secrets, and as having shown a sign of his change for the better, may he be subject to more lenient penance, and those caught in evil or on some suspicion or accused, the one involuntarily convicted is subjected to the most lengthy correction, so that he is cleansed with severity and is thus accepted into the communion of the Holy Mysteries. The rule about this is this: those defiled by fornication should be completely removed from church prayer for three years, for three years they should participate only in listening to the Scriptures, in other three years they should pray with those who fall in repentance and then let them partake of the Holy Mysteries. For those who undergo repentance more zealously and show by their life a return to good, it is permissible to arrange something useful in the church’s economy, shorten the time of hearing and more quickly lead them to conversion; It is also possible to shorten the time of this, and to quickly allow it to communion, in accordance with how he finds out through his own testing the condition of the person being treated. For just as it is forbidden to cast beads before swine, so it would be inappropriate to deprive one of the precious beads of one who, through removal from sin and purification, has already become a man” (Canonical Epistle of Gregory of Nyssa to Litoius of Melitene. Rule 4).
According to the thought of St. John Climacus, penance for the same prodigal sin is not the same: “Often the same sin, when committed by one person, deserves a hundredfold greater punishment than when it was committed by another, judging by the character of the sinner, according to the place where the sin occurred, the spiritual age at which the sinner was, and for many other reasons.”
Thus, the measure of penance depends on the state of the penitent and the period of penance can be different. In practice, when applying the canons, the Church takes into account the current spiritual and historical situation, the state of society and each individual person. Clerics who have fallen into fornication are defrocked.
The sin of unchastity is the most vile and destructive, for it defiles a person’s entire body: a fornicator sins against his own body (1 Cor. 6:18). The body of a Christian must be a pure vessel of the Holy Spirit. A Christian must be one spirit with the Lord, and falling into fornication, he becomes one with the fornicator and, thus, drives away Divine grace far from himself, falls far from saving unity with the Lord. That is why the apostle commands you to mortify your earthly members: fornication and uncleanness (Col. 3:5).
Nevertheless, the strict canonical decrees regarding fornicators were not accidental, since, according to pastors, secular doctors and Orthodox psychologists, the consequences of fornication sins are: Rapid growing up and aging, girls lose their femininity (hence the addiction to men's clothing), they cruelty, despair, and disappointment in life develop. 1. Diseases: syphilis, AIDS, mental destruction, infertility, neurodermatitis, eczema, heart attacks, tachycardia, stomach disorders. 2. Weakness of men, slobbering or, conversely, deceit, revenge, hatred, murder, suicide, despondency, vanity, jealousy, envy. 3. Social consequences: difficulty starting a family, calculated relationships in marriage, lack of support, infidelity. 4. Spiritual consequences: lack of courage in prayer and in all one’s affairs, despair. 5. Disasters on a global scale (death of cities and countries).
The demon of fornication can act very insidiously: “Just as foods harmful to the body produce illness in us after some time or a day later, so very often causes that defile the soul act. I saw those enjoying and not suddenly struggling; I saw that some eat and stay with women and at that time do not have any evil thoughts; but when they were deceived by arrogance and dreamed that they had peace and affirmation, they suddenly suffered destruction in their cell. And what kind of destruction it is, physical and mental, to which a person can be exposed alone, is known to those who were in this temptation, and those who were not tempted do not need to know.”
It happens that the demon of fornication tempts a person even more cunningly under the guise of spiritual enlightenment: “All of you who want to learn purity, hear about one more cunning and deceit of the seducer of the soul and be careful. Someone experienced this deception of him with his own experience and told me that the demon of carnal voluptuousness very often completely hides itself, brings extreme reverence to the monk and produces sources of tears in him when he sits or talks with women, and incites him to teach them the remembrance of death, about the Last Judgment and the preservation of chastity, so that these damned ones, seduced by his words and feigned reverence, would resort to this wolf as a shepherd; but this most wretched one, having received boldness from close acquaintance, finally suffers a fall.”
The Venerable John Climacus, relying on the experience of other ascetics, teaches that most often temptation by evil spirits occurs in five stages: “According to the definition of the prudent fathers, one is a pretext, another is a combination, another is a combination, another is a captivity, another is a struggle and another - the so-called passion in the soul. These blessed ones define that a preposition is a simple word or image of some object, again appearing to the mind and brought into the heart; and the combination is a conversation with the appeared image through passion or dispassionately; condolence is the agreement of the soul with the presented thought, combined with pleasure; captivity is a violent and involuntary attraction of the heart or prolonged mental intercourse with an object, ruining our good dispensation; struggle refers to the equality of strength between the fighter and the one being fought in battle, where the latter arbitrarily either wins or is defeated; Passion is the name given to the very vice that has been ingrained in the soul for a long time and through habit has become, as it were, a natural property of it, so that the soul already voluntarily and by itself strives for it. Of all these, the first is sinless; the second is not entirely without sin; and the third is judged according to the disposition of the ascetic; struggle is the cause of crowns or torment; captivity is judged differently during prayer, differently at other times, differently in relation to indifferent objects, that is, neither bad nor good, and differently in evil thoughts. Passion, without a doubt, is subject in all to either proportionate repentance or future torment; but whoever thinks first (i.e., the preposition in thought) dispassionately, cuts off everything that follows at once.” As you can see, it is best to catch the temptation at the preposition stage, or, as a last resort, at the interview stage. At subsequent stages, it is virtually impossible to cope with temptation, unless circumstances beyond our control or God Himself interfere.
Not only monks, but also lay people living married life are called to chastity: “Some say that after experiencing carnal sin it is impossible to be called pure, but I, refuting their opinion, say that it is possible and convenient for someone who wants to graft a wild olive into a good one. And if the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven were entrusted to a virgin in body, then perhaps this opinion would have validity. But may he who had a mother-in-law, but was pure and carried the keys of the Kingdom, put to shame those who think in this way.”
There are different ways to fight the spirit of fornication, but the most effective weapon is humility: “Whoever fights with this opponent with bodily labor and sweat is like one who binds his enemy with a weak rope; whoever fights against him with abstinence and vigilance is like one who has surrounded his enemy with iron shackles; and whoever arms himself with humility, lack of anger and [spiritual] thirst is like one who killed his adversary and hid him in the sand. Under the name sand, understand humility, because it does not grow pasture for passions, but is earth and ashes. Another bound this tormentor with exploits, another with humility, and another with the revelation of God. The first is like the morning star, the second like the full moon, and the third like the bright sun, but all have their residence in heaven. And just as the light comes from the dawn, and the sun shines through the light, so what has been said can be understood and seen in reality.” “He who drives away a voluptuous dog with prayer is like one who fights a lion; and whoever overthrows it by contradiction is like one who is already driving away his enemy; the same one who completely destroys the pretext, although he remains in the body, has already risen from the grave.”
In addition to humility, in the fight against the spirit of fornication, abstinence in food and drink, as well as obedience, are important: “If you torture the larynx with abstinence, you will bind my feet so that they will not move forward. If you unite with obedience, you will free yourself from me, and if you acquire humility, you will cut off my head.”
Also, to defeat lustful passion, it is recommended to avoid immodest conversations (bad or ambiguous words), viewing voluptuous paintings or films and reading erotic books. Likewise, one should avoid visiting nightclubs, etc., and preserve the senses, especially sight and hearing, and even more so, the sense of touch. Modesty, rejection of lustful thoughts and dreams, serving the sick and crippled, silence, silence in turn help fight this passion.
However, no matter what feats a person undertakes in the struggle for chastity, everything can be in vain if (he) does not turn in prayer for God’s help: “Whoever wants to fight his flesh and overcome it with his own strength struggles in vain; for if the Lord does not destroy the house of carnal lust and build the house of the soul, then he who thinks to destroy [it] watches and fasts in vain.”
The highest degree of chastity is when, at the sight of a woman, a person not only is not tempted by lustful thoughts, but also praises the Creator for his beauty: “Someone told me about an amazing and highest degree of purity. Someone, seeing an extraordinary female beauty, greatly glorified the Creator about her, and from this one vision he was inflamed with love for God and shed a source of tears. Truly an amazing sight! What could have been a ditch of destruction for another, supernaturally served him to receive a crown of glory. If such a person in such cases always has the same feeling and action, then he is resurrected, incorruptible before the general resurrection.”
Chaste people experience similar feelings when listening to worldly songs: “We should do the same when listening to chants and songs. God-loving souls, when they hear the singing of worldly or spiritual songs, are filled with the purest consolation, divine love and tears, while completely opposite feelings are aroused in the voluptuous.”
It is very important for boys and girls to maintain chastity before marriage. Anyone who enters into fornication before marriage, according to canonical rules, cannot be a priest. The 61st Apostolic Canon speaks about this: “If a faithful person is accused of fornication, or adultery, or any other forbidden act, and is convicted, let him not be brought into the clergy,” as well as the 9th and 10th canons of the Neocaesarea Cathedral.
Entering into intimacy is an event that greatly changes a person. People become one flesh. In particular, the being of a woman undergoes such changes that their painlessness and naturalness suggest an atmosphere of marriage. If you need to sow the seed in prepared soil and on time, then why should the essentially sacred intimacy between a man and a woman take place anyhow and at any time? Muslims, to our shame, are convinced that someone who marries a non-girl will never give birth to a real warrior.
The problem of unnatural carnal sins
Currently, the opinion is being propagated that unnatural sins (Sodom) are innate, that a person is born with a predisposition to them. Thus, a person’s moral guilt is, as it were, softened and these sins themselves are presented as natural. In 1981, the American Psychiatric Association removed sodomy from its list of mental illnesses. And since then the question has been discussed: should homophobia (fear of sodomy) be included in this list? Now these discussions have intensified, and, most likely, it will end with normal people who do not want to engage in homosexuality being declared crazy. In 2003, the European Parliament already adopted a resolution on homophobia, in which it is equated with anti-Semitism, racism, and where it is written that disdain, even ridicule of sodomites, is unacceptable. And in some countries they even criminalize this. That is, any person who advocates for a traditional family, for preserving the concepts of “mom” and “dad”, “parents” (those who give birth to children, and not perverts who call themselves that), will be considered as a representative of a dangerous pathology, which must be isolated from society (from the report of MGIMO Associate Professor Olga Nikolaevna Chetverikova).
The Monk John Climacus does not consider the passion in question to be natural and writes: “God is neither the culprit nor the creator of evil. Therefore, those who say that some of the passions are natural to the soul are mistaken; They do not understand that we ourselves have turned our natural qualities for good into passions. By nature, for example, we have semen for childbearing, but we use it for lawless voluptuousness. By nature, we also have anger at the ancient serpent, and we use it against our neighbor. Jealousy was given to us so that we would be jealous of virtues, and we are jealous of vices. By nature there is a desire in the soul for glory, but only for heavenly glory. It’s natural to be proud, but over only demons. In the same way, it is natural for the soul to rejoice, but about the Lord and about the good deeds of one’s neighbor. We also received remembrance of malice, but only against the enemies of our soul. By nature we desire food, but in order to support life, and not for voluptuousness.”
Many observers notice that a vice or some passion begins to operate in a person very early, when he is not yet aware of it, and the people around him unfairly conclude that the person was born with a vice. Indeed, a person is born with a general tendency to all sins, which remains with him even after Baptism. A predisposition to a particular sin develops through the inherited general mental-physical composition and under the influence of the environment.
There is another factor in the development of such passions - the machinations of demons. Bishop Varnava (Belyaev) writes about this: “The devil is a subtle and great psychologist, with whom, of course, all the scientists of the world, taken together over all centuries, cannot be compared. Immediately, as soon as a person is born, he takes into account many things that a person cannot foresee. And by the slightest spiritual manifestations in a small child, the devil unmistakably determines what passion is most convenient to develop in him, depending on his personal temperament, heredity, etc., and begins to act.” The devil throws in thoughts and attractions of this kind like some kind of bait. As soon as the soul has become entrapped, the demon begins every minute from childhood to arrange and direct circumstances, as far as providentially possible, in such a way that the passion that is beneficial to him is nourished in every possible way, develops and increases, unlike other passions; and it seems that this passion is innate, a skill is created in a person, and all this long before the time when he realizes what is good and what is bad. When he begins to understand what sin is, he sees himself entangled hand and foot and does not find within himself the possibility of deliverance.
What harm are done by those who should tell a person that all this was brought in by himself, through the devil’s deception, and that he needs to cleanse himself of dirt all his life, but they, on the contrary, begin to assure him that this is natural and natural, only it wouldn't throw itself out too much. “What should we do if he was born this way?” say modern “humanists,” and both this man and his teachers perish. What is the child’s fault, they will say, in this whole cunning raid of demons, invisible to him, about which he knows nothing? And why was all this arranged? Couldn’t God have protected from this? But if parents live purely and holyly, then there is hope that their children will be protected by grace and teaching from sins of this kind.
St. Isaac the Syrian writes: “The demon will preside over the passion that the person himself desires. Like connects with like.” These sins are not inherent in human nature and the purpose of his life. On the contrary, by being carried away by shameful sins and replacing natural use with unnatural ones (Rom. 1:26), people become like cattle, for they destroy the feeling of sexual modesty. It is important that a person realizes this, otherwise he will receive due retribution for his error and will never achieve holiness and the Kingdom of Heaven. Do not be deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor wicked people, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9, 10).
St. The Myrrh-Streaming Nile of Athos notes: “If you do not guard against attachment to a young man, if you covet him with your eye, or in word, or in deed, then the grace of the All-Holy Spirit will immediately withdraw from you and a demon will take possession of you. If you don’t see the young man, then you won’t engage in conversations with him. If you do not talk to the young man, how will it be possible for you to do an evil thing to him? Blessed is he who does not look upon the young; Blessed is the one who does not communicate with the young, for communication with the young is fire, the flame of a river of fire; He who associates with young people immediately loses the essence of his soul and is not at all fruitful before God.
I do not tell you that a young person is unclean, but I tell you that your eyes are defiled (that is, from youth a person acquires the habit of fornication and an addiction to beautiful faces). I tell you that you are foolish in your salvation. When you associate with young people, then, looking at the young man in front of you, you immediately become defiled in your disposition. What is the young man’s fault that you, like an animal and like a stallion, are seduced by him, caressing him? The young man, seeing your seduction by him, begins to caress himself towards you, laughing at you like a (stupid) sheep, but you do not understand the young man’s snares and the fact that he is making fun of you, laughing at your hobby. Laughing at you, the young man caresses you, and you give him clothes to caress your eye even more. You betray all your feelings to him, you become insensitive to God in your disposition, with the insensibility of your disposition you become darkened, you do not know your salvation, dreaming of the face of a young man.” In the fight against unnatural passions, the first thing that will help is unhypocritical regular confession, strict fasting and prayer. Metropolitan Nikodim (Rusnak) of Kharkov told a story about how a woman who suffered from unclean love for her friend came to him for confession. Because she quarreled with her, she wanted to commit suicide. The shepherd was not at a loss, but advised her to come to him for confession in a week, as if in order to clarify some details, but in fact he was not praying fervently. A week later, this woman came with a different mood, realizing her sin, and a week later she completely repented of her grave sin.
St. John Climacus, discussing the fight against this passion, advises sowing enmity between those who love each other with unclean love: “Blessed are the peacemakers (Matthew 5:9), and no one can contradict this; however, I also saw the blessed enemy-makers. Two people had unclean love with each other; someone, the most skillful of the prudent, wanting to stop this evil, quarreled them among themselves, telling both of them specifically that his friend was speaking ill of him among people. Thus, this wise man managed, through human cunning, to repel the malice of demons and produce hatred, which destroyed reprehensible love.”
In order not to give temptation to others, even those who love each other with love according to God must be separated from each other for a while: “Sometimes they destroy a commandment for the sake of another commandment. For example, I saw young people bound by a union of love according to God; but, in order not to tempt others and not to hurt their conscience, they agreed among themselves and withdrew from each other for a while.”
Archimandrite Markell (Pavuk), confessor of the Kyiv theological schools
