Paisiy Svyatogorets. Spiritual struggle
OF BLESSED MEMORY ELDER PAISIY Svyatogorets WORDS Volume 3 SPIRITUAL Struggle
PART ONE.
ABOUT THE BATTLE OF THOUGHTS PAGES 19-76 One pure, good thought has greater power than any ascetic feat. For example, the devil raised up a battle of unclean thoughts against a young man. To get rid of them, the young man performs all-night vigils, fasts, and abstains from food and drink for three days in a row. However, one pure thought included in his work has greater power than all his vigils and fastings, and provides him with more significant help.
The whole basis is a good thought. It is he who elevates a person and changes him for the better. One must reach such a level that one can see everything as pure. And then a person enters such a state that he sees everything not with human vision, but with spiritual eyes. He finds justification for everything - in the good sense of the word.
I remember how many years ago we came from the Holy Mountain to Ouranoupolis and were planning to move on to Thessaloniki. They gave us a truck already loaded with all sorts of things: suitcases, oranges, fish, empty dirty fish baskets. People began to climb into the same body. One obese layman squeezed onto the bench next to me. Because of the cramped space, he began to feel indignant. And a little further away from him sat a monk, all covered with stinking fish baskets - the poor fellow had only one head left on the outside. The truck set off along a broken country road, shaking and swaying over potholes. The baskets, inserted one into the other, fell on the monk, and in order to protect his head, he pushed them away with his hands. And my obese neighbor on the bench continued to loudly express displeasure that he was sitting a little cramped. “Why are you still shouting? – I reasoned with him. - Look what it’s like for your neighbor! How are you doing there, father? - I asked the monk. “It’s better here than in hell, Geronda,” he answered with a smile. One sat and suffered at the same time, and the other rejoiced, despite the fact that mountains of stinking fish baskets were falling on him. But the road was not close - about two hours' drive. The layman's mind imagined how, how comfortable a bus ride would be, and he was ready to smash everything to smithereens. And the monk rejoiced, thinking about the suffering that he would experience in hell. “In two hours we will reach the place and get out of this body,” the monk reasoned. – And unfortunate sinners suffer in hell forever. And the torment there is hellish - nothing like all these baskets and crush of people. Glory to You, God, it’s not as bad here as there.”
CHAPTER TWO
About blasphemous thoughts
When bad pictures come to our minds about Christ, the Mother of God, the Saints, something divine and holy, or even about our spiritual father and the like, then these are blasphemous thoughts. All these blasphemies and sins are not ours - they come from the devil. Therefore, we do not need to be upset because of the sins of the devil.
When I was a new monk, the devil brought blasphemous thoughts to me for some time - even in church. I was very upset. “These thoughts are from the devil,” my confessor admonished me. “If a person gets upset because of the bad thoughts that he has about the saints, this already proves that they are not his own, but come from outside.”
The devil usually torments reverent and very sensitive people with blasphemous thoughts. He exaggerates their fall (in their own eyes) in order to plunge them into sorrow. The devil seeks to drive them into despair so that they commit suicide, and if he does not succeed, then he seeks, at least, to drive them crazy and incapacitate them.
CHAPTER THREE
About trusting thoughts
If a spiritual person trusts his thoughts, then this is the beginning of delusion. His mind is clouded by pride, and he may fall into delusion. In order for a person in such a state to benefit from someone’s help, he must help himself. He must understand that believing his own thoughts, which inspires him that he is better than everyone else, that he is holy and the like, is a charm.
The most terrible disease is when a person believes his thoughts that he is sick with something. This thought suffocates a person with anxiety, upsets him, deprives him of appetite and sleep, forces him to take medications and, in the end, being healthy, the person actually gets sick.
The biggest egoist is the one who lives according to his own thoughts and does not ask anyone. Such a person destroys himself. If a person has self-will, self-confidence and self-indulgence, then, even if he is smart - even seven spans in his forehead - he will suffer constantly.
CHAPTER FOUR
About the fight against thoughts
Good thoughts need to be cultivated. You must take care of yourself, control yourself, when the enemy brings you bad, evil thoughts, you must try to drive them out and replace them with good, kind thoughts.
One day the father of a sick child came to see me. I took him to the church of my kaliva, listened to his grief and, wanting to help him, said: “In order for your son to be healthy, you yourself must do something. But what? You don’t bow down, you don’t keep fasts, you don’t have money to give alms either... Turn to God like this: “My God, I don’t have anything worthy to sacrifice for the health of my child, but I’ll try.” "At least quit smoking." These words touched the unfortunate father, and he promised that he would follow my advice.
The fact that bad thoughts pass through a person is not a cause for concern. After all, evil thoughts do not attack only angels and people who have achieved perfection. You should be concerned when a person compacts and straightens a part of his heart and begins to accept demons for landing.
PART TWO. ABOUT JUSTICE AND INJUSTICE PAGES 79 – 124
Those who suffer injustice are God's most beloved children. After all, while suffering injustice, these people carry in their hearts the injured Christ. In exile or in prison, they rejoice as if they were in Paradise, for Paradise is where Christ is.
If a person is unfairly accused of something, then by proving that these accusations are unfounded, he rehabilitates himself and receives satisfaction. In this case, he experiences worldly joy. However, treating injustice spiritually, with a good intention and not caring about proving his innocence, he experiences spiritual joy. That is, in this case he has divine consolation within himself.
One day I received a letter from Koridallu prison. Having opened the envelope, I read the following: “My father, you will, of course, be surprised that after so much advice received from you and promises given to you, I am writing to you again from prison. But know that this time I am serving the time that I have already served before. There was some kind of miscarriage of justice. Thank God that there is no justice among people: after all, if it existed, it would be injustice in relation to spiritual people, who would then lose heavenly rewards.” After reading the last words, I was amazed at this young man who so ardently took up spiritual life and so deeply comprehended the deepest meaning of life in general.
CHAPTER TWO
About how self-justification drives away the Grace of God from us
It is necessary to understand that by justifying myself, I am in a false state. I cut off my connection with God and deprive myself of Divine Grace. From the moment a person justifies something for which there is no justification, he separates and isolates himself from God.
The one who correctly performs spiritual work on himself finds extenuating circumstances for everyone, justifies everyone, while for himself he never seeks justification - even if he is right.
A person must not only not make excuses, but also love the injustice that is committed towards him. After all, what if not self-justification expelled us from Paradise? Isn't this what Adam's fall was all about? When God asked Adam: “Perhaps you have eaten from the tree from which I forbade you to eat?” Adam did not say, “Yes, my God, I have sinned,” but began to justify himself: “The wife whom You gave me, gave me from tree, and I ate." Thus, he is the same as saying to God: “It is You who are to blame, because You created Eve.”
The soul of the one who justifies himself finds no peace. Such a person is deprived of consolation and is judged by his own conscience. How wisely God arranged everything! He gave man a conscience. Terrible thing! With the help of cruelty, cunning, and flattery, a person can achieve what he wants, but at the same time he will be deprived of peace of mind. And if a person is guided by his conscience, then even without outside help he can be convinced that he has lost his way.
CHAPTER THREE
About Divine and Human Justice
Divine justice is when you do what brings peace to your neighbor. For example, if you need to share something between yourself and your neighbor, then give him not half of what you have, but as much as he wants.
There are people who approach everything with worldly logic and truth. “A Christian,” such people say, “must have self-esteem, he must not lose face, he must not appear to be a fool.” Such people treat everything with worldly logic and truth. “I have the right to this! - says such a person. “I don’t offend him and I don’t want him to offend me!” And at the same time the thought reassures him that he is right. In such a person all manifestations of worldly truth are visible. He has no curiosity, he has no sacrifice - he has nothing. He created his own “gospel” and has not the slightest relationship with God. Eh, well, how can Divine Grace overshadow him after all this?
If Christ had that worldly logic that is present today in many “spiritual” people, then He would not have left His Heavenly Throne to descend to earth, suffer and undergo crucifixion from us - accursed people. However, in this – according to humanity – “failure” of Christ, the secret of the salvation of all people was hidden. And we strive for a Christianity without the crucifixion, for a “Christianity of the momentary resurrection. We are remaking Christianity and monasticism the way we want. We do not want to limit ourselves in anything.
PART THREE. ABOUT SIN AND REPENTANCE PAGE. 128-192
Real repentance consists in the fact that first, having realized his wrongdoing, a person feels pain, asks God for forgiveness, and only after that confesses. Thus comes divine consolation. That's why I always advise people to repent and confess. But I never advise them to confess.
Through sin, man turns earthly paradise into earthly hellish torment. If the soul is stained with mortal sins, then the person experiences a demonic state: he rears up, suffers, and has no peace within himself.
When a person returns to the state in which Adam and Eve were in Paradise before the Fall, the animals again recognize him as their master and reverently obey him. However, today there are people who are worse than animals, worse than snakes. They use street children for personal gain, take their money, and when they see that clouds are gathering over them, they call the police, put all the blame on the minors, and even hand them over to mental homes.
CHAPTER TWO
About the need to take care of conscience
The good God gave conscience to the primordial people - the first divine law. God wrote conscience deeply into human hearts, and since then everyone inherits conscience from their parents. If a person does something wrong, then his conscience, working inside him, convicts and leads him to repentance. However, one must engage in correct spiritual work and examine one’s conscience in order to always be able to hear its voice. Without examining his conscience, a person will not receive benefit either from reading spiritual books or from the advice of the holy Elders. And he will not be able to keep even the commandments of God, without testing his conscience.
There is nothing more important for a person than a clear conscience. If your conscience does not convict you that you could have done something else and did not do it, then this is a great thing. In this case, a person has constant inner joy and his whole life is a triumph, a holiday. This inner joy gives a person spiritual strength.
An uncorrupted conscience gives false information. In this case, a person feels confidence, hope and humbly says: “I am not fit for Heaven, I deserve eternal torment, but I believe that God’s love and mercy will not leave me.” He feels this because he strives, he does not sit idly by, calming his thoughts with the words: “God will save me.”
CHAPTER THREE
About the need for self-observation and self-knowledge
Self-examination is the most useful of all other explorations. A person can read many books, but if he does not take care of himself, everything he reads will not bring him any benefit. But if he takes care of himself, then the benefit he receives is great, even if he reads a little. In the latter case, a person’s actions and behavior become more refined, no matter what he does.
In examining yourself, it will be very useful for you to look at your life from time to time: step by step, starting from childhood. This is necessary in order to see where you were before, where you are now and where you should be. Without comparing the past with the present, you will not understand that even if you are in more or less good condition, you are still not where you should be... You will not understand that you are upsetting God. When a person is young, he has the excuse that he is not in very good condition. However, he has no excuse if, having already left his young age, he remains in the same state or does not correct himself enough.
In spiritual warfare, it is necessary to determine the “coordinates” of the weak points of our character - our shortcomings - and then try to strike at these places. Like in a war: when reconnaissance of a certain area, we mark on the map the places where the enemy is located or bridgeheads from which he can attack us. And then we monitor these places with special attention.
A person who does the work necessary to know himself is like someone who digs deep into the earth and finds minerals in it. The more we delve into self-knowledge, the lower we see ourselves. Thus, a person humbles himself, but the right hand of God constantly exalts him.
CHAPTER FOUR
That our awareness of our sinfulness brings God to tenderness
If a person realizes his sinfulness, then this is a great power, a great deed. Then the person begins to abhor himself, humbles himself, attributes everything good to the love of mankind and the goodness of God and feels great gratitude to Him. Therefore, God loves sinners who realize their sinfulness, repent and live with humility, more than those who struggle a lot, but do not admit their sinfulness and have no repentance.
In order for the spiritual struggle to be correct, we must turn the wheel (of our spiritual machine) in the direction opposite to that in which the devil turns it. Does the devil inspire us to believe that we are something of ourselves? We need to cultivate self-reproach within ourselves. Does it suggest that we are nothing? We will say: “God will have mercy on me.” If a person behaves in this way - with integrity, trust in God and trust in Him, then repentance and humility enter into his life and he ascends to spiritual heights.
From the moment you begin to feel like you are in debt to God and humbly say “I have sinned, my God,” God forgives you, helps you and gives you His Grace. And if death finds you in this state, you will be saved.
CHAPTER FIVE
That repentance has great power
God is very close to us, but at the same time very high. In order for a person to “bow” God to descend and abide with him, he needs to humble himself and repent. Then, seeing the humility of this person, the Most Merciful God exalts him to heaven and has great love for him.
Spiritual life does not require many years. Having repented, a person can be transported from hellish torment to Paradise in an instant. Man is flexible. He can become an Angel, or he can become a Devil. Oh, what power repentance has! It absorbs Divine Grace. If a person brings one single humble thought to his mind, then he is saved.
In order to stop falling into sin, a person must try to avoid everything that provokes him to this sin. For example, if a drunkard wants to get help and stop drinking, then he should not go even close to the pub. A little diligence and good disposition are needed, and then the Good God will help us overcome difficulties.
PART FOUR. BLACK FORCES OF DARKNESS PAGE. 195-270
CHAPTER FIRST
About witchcraft
- Some of those who practice magic use a cross, icons...
From this you can understand what kind of deception lies behind all their actions! Using sacred objects, they deceive unfortunate people. People see themselves lighting candles, “praying” in front of icons, and performing similar actions—and they trust deceivers.
One person told me that in the city where he lives, some Turkish woman placed an icon of the Most Holy Theotokos on one stone and now calls this stone “the stone that helps people”! She does not say that the Blessed Virgin Mary helps people, but she says that the stone helps them. Christians who see the icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary are confused by this. Those of them who are not in good health go to this stone with the thought that they will receive help from it, and then the devil does whatever he wants with them.
Unhappy people wear various amulet, talismans, supposedly in order to get help, and in the end they suffer. Those who, having cheated with sorcerers, received such magical objects from them as a “blessing”, must burn these objects and bury the ashes in the ground or throw them into the sea. Then such people need to go and confess.
A sorcerer can “heal” a person who is tormented by a demon by sending this demon to another person. After all, the sorcerer and the devil are friends—comrades. The sorcerer says to the devil: “Get out of this man and enter that one.” That is, when casting out a demon from a person who is under demonic influence, the sorcerer usually sends it to one of his relatives or acquaintances who has given the devil rights over himself. Then the person who had a demon in him says: “I suffered, and such and such a healer healed me.” So the sorcerer creates advertising.
The black forces of darkness are powerless. People themselves, moving away from God, make them strong, because by moving away from God, people give the devil rights over themselves.
CHAPTER TWO
About those possessed by unclean spirits
Once, when I lived in the Kaliva of the Holy Cross, a visitor came to me and knocked with an iron rivet near the gate. When I looked out of the window, a terrible sight met my eyes! I saw a man followed by a whole phalanx of demons. He was surrounded by a whole black demonic swarm! For the first time I saw a person under the power of so many unclean spirits. This unfortunate man was a psychic. Between the words of church prayers he inserted invocations of demons, mixed Christian books with occult literature, and after all this the demons gained power over him. Terrible thing! When I saw him, I was very upset.
The possessed person reacts to any sacred object. Even a simple reverent doctor can understand this. People suffering from demons, approaching the shrine, become excited and begin to shake. From this it is absolutely clear that they have a demon. If you offer such people to drink a little holy water or want to cross them with holy relics, then they resist, because the Grace of God constrains the demons within them.
Whatever you say, those who have a demon within them suffer greatly. After all, such people humble themselves, but they also suffer from the devil! Once in the Stavronikita monastery I met a twenty-three-year-old guy possessed by an unclean spirit. Skin and bones! It was terrible cold, the stove was burning in the temple, and a young man, dressed in a thin shirt with short sleeves, was sitting in the vestibule of the temple. I couldn’t stand it, I went up and gave him a warm woolen sweater. “Put on this sweater,” I told him. “Aren’t you cold?” “It’s so cold there, father,” he answered me. “I’m burning all over!” You see how: this is real torture.
CHAPTER THREE
Scary delights
I knew one monk who, out of pride, was engaged in bodily work, and his thoughts told him that he was a great ascetic. He had already reached the end of his rope: he did not eat, did not wash his clothes at all, and lay in a terrible stench and dirt. His clothes were completely rotten from the dirt. One day he told me: “I have already left St. John Kushchnik behind.” “What are you talking about,” I say? In your opinion, Saint John Kushchnik achieved holiness through dirt?” A few more days passed, he came to me again and said: “I also left the Venerable Maxim Kavsokalivit behind,” “That is, how did you leave him behind?” - I asked. “Yes,” he answers, “it’s very simple: I’m spinning like a top on the Holy Mountain!” “Well,” I say, “give it!” Reverend Maxim reached the state of being incorporeal and flew, and did not spin like you - like a top! Then this man began to “cultivate” the mortal memory in himself and in his thoughts he inspired himself: “Now I am in hell.” A little more time passed, and he - supposedly in order to humble himself - began to say: “Now I have become the devil, I have become Satan and I will go to gather my followers.” This is how this man fell into delusion.
If a person who has not experienced the highest heavenly joy - that is, who does not have spiritual experience (divine visitations) - is inattentive, then he can easily fall into delusion. The devil is wicked. It slightly irritates a person's heart and makes him feel something pleasant. Thus, by creating in a person the impression that this pleasant thing was spiritual and divine, the devil plunges him into delusion.
The devil can appear in the form of an angel or in the form of a saint. A demon, disguised as an angel or a saint, spreads around itself excitement, confusion - whatever it has in itself. Whereas a real Angel or saint always spreads heavenly joy and heavenly joy. A humble person, even if inexperienced, distinguishes the Angel of God from the demon who appears in the form of an angel of light. This happens because such a person has spiritual purity and is related to the Angel.
There is no need to attach importance to dreams. Whatever dreams may be, pleasant or unpleasant, you should not believe them, because there is a danger of falling into delusion. After all, ninety-five percent of dreams are false. Therefore, the Holy Fathers say that dreams should not be given importance. There are very few dreams that come from God, but in order to interpret even such dreams, you need to have purity and other necessary prerequisites - like the righteous Joseph and the prophet Daniel, who had Grace from God.
CHAPTER FOUR
"Deceiving and deceiving"
Having accepted sectarian Pentecostal baptism, unfortunate people fall under demonic influence and begin to make various incomprehensible sounds - supposedly speaking in different languages. “This,” say the Pentecostals, “is the holy spirit of Pentecost speaking.” But this is actually not the Holy Spirit of Pentecost, but a whole bunch of unclean spirits. What kind of speaking in different languages is there? They talk about all sorts of incoherent nonsense: they don’t even understand what they are saying. What they believe is blasphemy (against God), and therefore these people become possessed.
One person told me: “What a miracle! Firewalkers walk on coal with their bare feet and don’t get burned.” - “And this seems surprising to you? – I asked him. – Demons have been in the fire of hellish torment for many years, and now it’s been centuries, and they don’t burn up either! This is what should be surprising, and not the fact that someone does not burn out after walking a little on coals and ashes.”
One young man came to my kaliva late in the evening. “You came to me at such an hour when I was about to read Vespers,” I told him. “And you still do this kind of nonsense?” - he answered and left. The next day he came again and began to tell me about the visions he had. He read a lot about reincarnation, egoism mixed in, and the devil began to show him dreams that a thousand years ago he was a big man! The chickens didn't peck for money! Then in a vision he was “caught up into heaven,” but he was not yet “registered” in heaven, and so he was told to come down. The devil brought him to this state.
I'll tell you about one more case. Several years ago, a group of Germans came to Crete to commemorate the German soldiers killed there during the German occupation of Greece. When the Germans were holding their event, a peasant walked past them with a donkey loaded with shopping. Seeing a crowd of people, the donkey began to bray. One of the Germans understood this in such a way that the braying donkey was his murdered brother reincarnated as a donkey! Realizing that his “brother” recognized him and greeted him with his roar, the German snapped to attention and threw his hand forward in a military salute... Both laughter and sin! Without thinking twice, the German ran up to the peasant and asked him: “How much do you want for the donkey? “I’m buying it.” “Fuck off, you know where...” the peasant answered him. However, the German, without listening to him, was already counting out the marks: more, even more... In the end, one of those who observed this scene said to the peasant: “You fool, you fool. After all, he pays you for a donkey the same as for a Mercedes. Well, give it to him." The peasant stood, thought, then unloaded the donkey and handed the animal to the German. The German, with tears in his eyes, took the animal and took it to Germany!
PART FIVE. ABOUT THE POWER OF CONFESSION PAGES 273 – 328
CHAPTER FIRST
On the need for a spiritual leader
In order to experience inner peace, you need to cleanse yourself of debris. This must be done through confession. By opening his heart to his confessor and confessing his sins to him, a person humbles himself. Thus, the heavenly door opens to him, the Grace of God generously overshadows him and he becomes free.
Having withdrawn from the Sacrament of Confession, people suffocate in thoughts and passions. Do you know how many people come to me and ask me to help them with some difficulty they have? But at the same time, these people don’t want to go to confession or church! “Do you even go to church?” - I ask. "No. I came to you so that you could heal me.” - “Have you ever confessed?” - I ask again. "No. I came to you so that you could heal me.” - “But how can I heal you? You need to repent of your sins, you need to confess, go to church, take communion - if you have the blessing of your confessor for this - and I will pray for your health. Do you really forget that there is another life and you need to prepare for it? “Listen, father,” such people object in response, “all that you talk about - churches, another life and the like - does not interest us. These are all fairy tales. I visited sorcerers, I visited psychics, and they could not heal me. And then I learned that you can heal me.” Imagine what's going on!
And many people, tormented by the problems that they have created for themselves through their sins, do not go to a confessor who can really help them, but end up “confessing” to a psychologist. They tell the psychologist the history of their illness, consult with him about their problems, and these psychologists (with their advice) seem to throw their patients into the middle of the river that they need to cross. As a result, the unfortunate ones either drown in this river, or still swim to the other bank, but the current carries them very far from the place where they wanted to be... But having come to confession to their confessor and confessed, such people will cross without risk and fear river over the bridge. After all, in the Sacrament of Confession, the Grace of God acts and a person is freed from sin.
Today, the most necessary thing for people is to find a confessor, confess to him, trust him and consult with him. If, having a confessor, people arrange their lives in such a way that there is a place in it for prayer and reading spiritual books, if they go to church and take communion, then in this life they have nothing to fear.
It is best if spouses have one confessor. It is not so that the husband has one confessor, and the wife another. If two boards are hewn by two different carpenters - each in their own way, then it will never be possible to fit one board to another.
CHAPTER TWO
How to confess correctly
When you come to your confessor for the first time, you need to make a general, general confession for your entire life. When a patient is admitted to the hospital, he gives the doctors his medical history. For example, he says: “In the past I had such and such a pulmonary disease, but now it has passed, I had such and such an operation under general or local anesthesia” - and so on. Likewise, at the first confession, the penitent should try to tell the confessor the details of his life, and the confessor will find the (spiritual) wound of this person in order to heal it.
In addition, someone who has treated a person unfairly or injured someone with his behavior must first go to the person offended by him, humbly ask him for forgiveness, make peace with him, and then he must confess his fall to his confessor in order to receive permission. This is how the Grace of God comes.
During confession you should not justify yourself. Having come to confession and repenting to the confessor that I, for example, was angry with someone - although, by and large, the one with whom I was angry should have been given a blow - I do not tell the confessor that this person I was really guilty, so that my confessor would not justify me. A person who, by confessing, justifies himself, does not receive inner peace - no matter how much he violates his conscience.
CHAPTER THREE
About the fact that a confessor is a spiritual doctor
The work of a confessor is the internal healing of a person. There is no higher doctor than an experienced confessor, who with his holiness inspires confidence in himself, cleanses from God’s sensitive creatures the thoughts that the tangalashka brings to them, and without drugs - with the Grace of God - heals souls and hearts.
During confession, both the penitent and the confessor are responsible. Spiritual freedom is very helpful in guiding the soul. That is, the confessor, guiding the souls of people, must be guided by what the Holy Fathers say, and not by what someone else prescribes. He must act in accordance with man's fall and repentance.
The measure of penance is subject to the judgment of the confessor. The confessor must be uncompromisingly strict towards those who deliberately commit sin. A person who is overcome by passion, but then repents, humbles himself, bowing his head and asks for forgiveness, the confessor must, with reasoning, help him get closer to God again. After all, many saints did just that.
CHAPTER FOUR
About the work of a confessor on the souls of people
In order for a confessor to help two people connected with each other, he must have communication with each of them. For example, hearing that two people do not agree in their thoughts, the confessor must know the soul of each, because everyone can present the matter in the way he understands it. The confessor can take upon himself to resolve the disagreements of these people only when they agree that he will resolve them according to the Gospel.
If a person, having good will, did not receive help in childhood, then telling him about the good that you see in him will not be servility and flattery. After all, from this a person receives help and changes, since he also has the right to divine help. I told one person: “You’re good, after all. What you’re doing doesn’t suit you.” I told him this because I saw a good field and an evil seed thrown onto it. I saw that the man was good inside and the evil he did was external. I told him that he was good not to flatter him, but to help him, so that curiosity would begin to work in him.
A gracious confessor loves the soul and cares for it, because he knows its great dignity. He helps the soul in repentance, relieves it through confession, frees it from mental anxiety and leads it to Paradise. The confessor is called a “spiritual father” - therefore he must try to be a true father: instruct his children with divine love and tenderness. He must put himself in the place of every person who comes to him for confession and experience his pain so that he sees his own pain reflected on the face of the confessor.
Various teachings
Many teachings tell where demons should be sent, how to speak to them correctly, teach how to attack them, and many other original and very understandable things for the flesh. Sometimes this turns into name-calling of these forces. And this doesn't bother anyone.
The Word tells us to renew our minds. So that we do not become like what we see or hear, so that we do not transfer the carnal to the spiritual. Vice versa. They conformed the spiritual with the spiritual. They proclaimed that the will of God on earth should be as it is in heaven. And not the other way around, trying to “adjust the sky” to your understanding. The Bible warns that in the last time there will appear false doctrines and false teachers who have itching people's ears so that they will follow them. True teaching is always opposed to the flesh and carnal things.
Whose side are you on?
It may seem strange, but this question is very important. Remember the example of Balaam (Numbers 22-24 chapters). He tried to help in the war against God's people, but was refused. And then he taught King Balaak how to make the Israelites enemies of God.
And today nothing has changed. Many people think that they are engaged in spiritual warfare with spiritual forces, but in reality they have become enemies of God. And we see a very effective way of attacking believers today. It is impossible to do anything to us while we are IN THE SPIRIT. While WE LIVE IN THE SPIRIT, WE SPEAK, WE THINK. Such a state causes the enemy to flee. When we are in faith. But the opposite is also true.
So, the very first thing you should pay attention to for those who are going to wage hostilities is which side are you on? We all like to say that we are children of God. And yes, we have great and precious promises. If we live according to the flesh, are offended and do not admit it, then we CANNOT wage war with demons. For we stand in opposition to God. If we love this world and want to be part of it, we are in opposition to God. What kind of war can we talk about? If we show love of money, the root of all evil, then what kind of war can we talk about?
Be Transformed by the Renewal of Your Mind
We discussed at the meeting that very often brothers and sisters receive deliverance in difficult situations not when they fight with some spirits, but when they confess their faith in Jesus or confess the Word of God. The fact is that in difficult moments, when no false teachings help, a person has only one thing left - Jesus. Maybe we should pay closer attention to this?
I mean that you received victory and deliverance not by overthrowing someone, not by destroying someone, but by proclaiming Jesus as your Lord, when you spoke about your faith, when you confessed the Word. This does not correspond to the world's idea of war.
If this is not a carnal war, but a spiritual one, then the means, tactics, and goals must be spiritual.
New person
Changing your thinking is only possible if you decide to do it. Decide to participate in the war so that spiritual warfare becomes your life. Decide to believe the Word, God. We made a promise to God of a good conscience when we were baptized, promising that our lives would be consistent with the Word and tested by the Word. When we repented, we abandoned the old life and principles of this world. And, as a result, at the beginning of their walk with God, almost everyone testifies to victories and miracles in their lives.
And then we began to remember about onions and garlic in Egypt , began to compare ourselves with the world and, as a result, accepted worldly thoughts, teachings, and gave ourselves into slaves for obedience. A very simple strategy of the devil to deprive believers of their power, transferring them to the level of the flesh, and do with them what they want, because they have become enemies of God. Spiritual warfare with the enemy is impossible when you are on the side of the enemy, under his power.
If you continue to think about yourself according to the flesh, about what you see and feel, you will remain in the same position as today, and most likely, you will slide lower in the spiritual plane, becoming an enemy of God.
Translator's Preface
Blessed Elder Schemamonk Paisiy Svyatogorets was born in Cappadocia in 1924. He grew up in Greece. From childhood he led an ascetic life. In 1950 he became a monk, working mostly on Mount Athos, as well as in the Stomion Monastery in Konitsa and on Mount Sinai. He carried out exceptional ascetic deeds and was generously endowed by the Lord with various grace-filled gifts. After his divine calling, he spiritually cared for thousands of people, and was one of the most gracious and sensible Elders of modern times. He rested in the Lord on June 29/July 12, 1994. He was buried in the convent of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, which he founded, in the village of Suroti, near Thessaloniki.
In 1998–2001, the first three volumes of the “Words” of Elder Paisius were published in Greek. It was decided to start translating “Words” into Russian from Volume II, since its subject matter is especially topical today. Recent alarming events in Russia and throughout the world once again confirm the justice, importance and poignancy of what Elder Paisius said. We hope that this book will help the Russian people to recover from the sleep of indifference and despondency and will be a good weapon in resisting the evil efforts to plunge them back into this sinful sleep.
In the preface to volume I, the All-Honorable Abbess Philothea talks in detail about how work is being carried out on the publication of the “Words” of Elder Paisius. Let us briefly repeat her explanations. The elder cared for the St. John the Theologian monastery from 1967 until his blessed death.
His spiritual fund remained in the monastery: letters to the nuns - all together and each individually, tape and shorthand recordings of general conversations with him, records of the sisters who, with the blessing of Mother Superior, immediately after each personal conversation with the Elder, wrote down its contents. This spiritual heritage has been systematized and is now published in the form of separate thematic volumes, united in the series “Words” by Elder Paisius of the Holy Mountain. If necessary, the stock material can be supplemented with excerpts from previously published books written by Elder Paisios during his lifetime (see the list at the end of this volume).
Thus, in the Greek edition, each subsequent volume is not a continuation of the previous one, but can be considered a separate book. Therefore, the priority of publishing Volume II in Russian translation will not create difficulties for the reader. If God pleases, then in the near future Russian translations of volumes I and then volume III of Elder Paisius’s “Words” will be published, after which each volume of the Russian edition will fall into place.
The language of the “Words” of Elder Paisius is amazingly lively, figurative, replete with dialectisms, phraseological turns, sayings, etc. In some cases, their stylistically adequate translation into Russian was impossible. It should also be taken into account that when compiling the book, excerpts from different genres were often included in one context: epistolary, hagiological, oral conversation, and others. This presented an additional challenge when working on the translation.
The translator expresses deep gratitude to everyone who worked on this publication and hopes that the spiritual seed of Elder Paisius will find good soil and bear abundant fruit in the responsive hearts of Russian readers, “who hear the word and accept and bear fruit” (Mark 4:20). Amen.
Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen!
Hieromonk Dorimedont Holy Chora, Easter, 2001
