On the Secret Diseases of the Soul - Archimandrite Lazar Abshidze

 WHAT IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT AT THE BEGINNING OF SPIRITUAL LIFE?

Anyone who has carefully read the teachings of the Fathers of the Holy True Orthodox Church of Christ will have noticed that these teachings speak most of all about repentance or conversion, humility and weeping before God for one's sins. The Fathers wrote so much about this that on almost every page of the books of the Holy Fathers one can find a similar teaching. But, no matter how strange it may seem in our time, Orthodox Christians most often neglect, distort and violate this very teaching, this most important law of spiritual life. And this is no coincidence!

This world is approaching its terrible end and the time of universal apostasy from the Truth is approaching, the time when the devil and universal deception will rule the world, and therefore people are increasingly straying into their passions, falling into all possible sins and delusions. 

And, the first disease of this world is pride, and it is precisely this that raises its head the most. The Apostle Paul clearly prophesied about the people of the last days: For people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, haughty, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,  unfeeling, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, slanderers, without love of goodness,  traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God. Having a form of godliness, but denying its power. And from these turn away (2 Tim 3:2-5). 

And, even now, every spiritual leader who tries to help the faithful who come to him to heal their spiritual illnesses knows that this is a complex task today, that these illnesses have deeply penetrated human souls, that everyone from the smallest to the greatest is overcome by foolish pride, vanity and self-love, that they are talkative, haughty, offensive, that everyone is willful, disobedient, disobedient and distrustful. And, this is the most difficult thing in spiritual life. Nowadays, few people trust their teachers, everyone listens to their own reason more, people turn to spiritual leaders only seemingly, just because it is customary, and in reality they rely on themselves in everything. In general, the picture of the current spiritual life is very sad, and if one of the ancient Fathers saw it with his purified gaze, he would certainly not be able to bear such a sight and would weep bitterly for our souls. Thus, Pachomius the Great, who lived in the fourth century, was given by God a vision of how the last monks or monks would live. After that, he cried for a long time, suffered, and refused to eat (from the biography of Pachomius, the God-pleasing saint, celebrated on May 15th according to the church calendar). 

However, we have become so accustomed to this situation that we do not even see our misfortune. Many passions are spreading so openly today in the Orthodox Christian environment, and people treat them as if they were completely innocent and even amusing character traits; no one is horrified by them or prevents them, although many of these "mischiefs" directly kill the soul and sow spiritual death around the one who expresses a given passion and infects others with it.

From such a miserable state, due to the abandonment of the correct teaching of the Fathers of the Holy True Orthodox Church of Christ, due to the absence of experienced and careful pastoral supervision over the faithful, a disastrous deviation from the path of salvation occurs, and this is, of course, reflected primarily in the fact that Orthodox Christians lose or do not find the true spirit of repentance, a correct view of their sinfulness, that is, of their fall. In simpler terms: they do not know who they really are, in what relationship they are to God, what they are before Him, how great He is, and what their sinful ugliness is.

This knowledge gives holy true Orthodoxy! This holy word itself already says a lot: to glorify God correctly, that is, to correctly and accurately understand the greatness and glory of God, to express praise worthy of this greatness, to glorify the Creator, the creator of heaven and earth, of all that is visible and invisible. However, this knowledge is inextricably linked with the correct and accurate understanding of our own fall, uselessness and unworthiness, and to pronounce the name of God with fear. Constantly glorifying God and constantly humiliating or humiliating ourselves, this is true Orthodoxy!
Our arrogance, our haughty reason, if we do not immediately begin to tame and trample it as the Archangel Michael tramples the serpent on the icons, that is, Satan, in the words of St. Theophan the Recluse, will necessarily try to distort this correct view of ourselves and to present to us our fall as not so deep, and our good qualities as much more beautiful and reliable than they really are. From this arises the disgusting distortion of spiritual vision, our spiritual eye darkens, and a hellish abyss arises in the soul. How much misfortune this has caused! 

If one carefully analyzes the teachings of all heretics and schismatics, one can see that they have the greatest divergence in terms of repentance or conversion, and in terms of how God views our hearts, how strict He is with us and how tolerant He is. 

Tako, rimokatolici misle da će se spasiti samo izvanjskim dobrim djelima bez očišćenja dubina srca. Nasuprot tome, protestanti smatraju da je dovoljna samo vjera, a da djela pokajanja ili obraćenja nisu važna, da je sve naše grijehe iskupio Isus Krist na križu: samo vjeruj i svoju vjeru ispovijedaj riječju i to je dovoljno. U tom smislu se sve više i više šire odstupanja od pravilnog shvaćanja toga tko smo mi, kako treba da živimo da steknemo milost Božju i što je nužno za spasenje.
Put duhovnog života je neobično složen, kao što, na primjer, nije jednostavno naučiti se slikarstvu ili muzici. Koliko je truda potrebno za to, znanja, navika i raznih vježbi, pri čemu se mnoge navike u umjetnosti razvijaju nekako intuitivno, one se, čak, ne mogu jasno izraziti ili shvatiti razumom. Pritom još puno toga zavisi od učitelja, od škole. Ali, zar duhovni život nije složeniji, nije li tajanstveniji? Ovdje je velika tajna, ovdje je gotovo sve nevidljivo. Pa to je nauka nad naukama i umjetnost nad umjetnostima! Kako čovjek u duhovnom životu može da se prihvati posla naglo, uobraženo, da se po nekom nejasnom zovu duše predaje vlasti nekih nepoznatih osjećaja, da sudi o svojim pokretima i raspoloženjima samo po ukusu koji oni proizvode u nama. U duhovnom životu su i opasnosti puno užasnije, ovdje se ne može izgubiti ugled i imovina kao u bavljenju umjetnošću, ovdje se gubi život i vječnost. Ovdje se susreće vrlo snažno suprotstavljanje zlih sila, i unutar nas i izvana; ovdje onoga koji ide, na putu sreću pokvarenost neprijatelja, lukavstvo za lukavstvom, zamka za zamkom. I, eto bolne slike: veliko je mnoštvo obmanutih pravoslavnih kršćana. Mnogi od njih silaze s uma, čine strašne postupke, propovijedaju bedastoće. To je zato što su ljudi danas počeli da iskrivljuju i zaboravljaju istinsko, pravoslavno i ponizno kršćansko učenje svetih Otaca, te se ovakve obmane danas prihvaćaju kao normalne ''duhovne'' pojave. Čak se i raznorazni zanosi, lažna revnost i fanatizmi, zasnovani na takvoj samoobmani, prihvaćaju kao ''djelovanje milosti'' i smatraju za plod ''preporoda vjere'' odnosno početak ''Novog doba''.

GDJE I KAKO SE NAUČITI SVETOM POKAJANJU ILI OBRAĆENJU?

Čovjek može da se nauči pravilnom pokajničkom raspoloženju duše neposredno, odnosno može da nađe poniznog učitelja koji sam u sebi ima ovaj duh obraćenja ili pokajanja i skrušenost, i da direktno od njega naslijedi ovaj duboki spasonosni i životvorni uzdah zbog svoje jadne i pale duše, a ujedno s tim i radosnu nadu na neizrecivu milost Božju. A, ako ne nađe takvog učitelja, čovjek ovom duhu može da se nauči ako pažljivo čita svete Oce Istinske pravoslavne crkve, uz naročit trud da od njih primi ovu nauku poniznog samopromatranja, krajnjeg nepovjerenja prema sebi u svemu, opreznog odnosa prema svim raspoloženjima svoje duše, prema svim svojim osjećajima, nauku svagdašnjeg poniženja ili uniženja sebe, unutrašnjeg plača zbog sebe, osjećanja vlastite beskorisnosti, saznanja svoje udaljenosti od Boga i nestalnosti života na ovoj zemlji. Zbog toga je korisno čitati drevne svete Oce, a naročito su poučni primjeri iz života redovnika pustinjaka, jer su oni naročito napredovali u stjecanju pokajničkog plača i u poniznoj mudrosti uma. U poukama Bogu ugodnog Ivana Klimaka ili Ljestvičara, sinajskog nadstojnika, puno se govori o tome kako se pod maskom kreposti često skrivaju tajno-djelujuće strasti. Pravilno usmjeravanje u obraćenju ili pokajanju daju pouke oca Doroteja, svetih Barsanufija Velikog i Ivana Proroka. Mnoštvo važnih savjeta može se naći i kod svetih Otaca iz kasnijih vremena, naročito je korisna knjiga ''Nevidljiva borba'' Nikodima Svetogorca. Dostupna su i prekrasna pisma sv. Teofana Zatvornika, a pokajničkim duhom se odlikuju pouke, pisma i život novijih Otaca, koji su živjeli krajem prošlog i u prvoj polovini našeg stoljeća, i koji su pretrpjeli neviđene progone i patnje.

But, the needs of our last times, in terms of spirit, accessibility, beauty and power of words, are best suited to the teaching on conversion or repentance, on the cunning of evil spirits, presented in detail in the books of St. Ignatius Brianchaninov. It seems to represent a concise teaching of all the Fathers of the True Orthodox Church, clarified and applicable to the problems of the last, or rather our times.
Here we will cite some passages from the books of this Father that relate to our topic and speak precisely about the following: how to find the path of salvation, how to distinguish the true feeling of God from the false, from deception, how to protect oneself from the scandalous flattery of the enemy.
To these questions, we find a clear and definite answer in St. Ignatius: "Hear, beloved brother, hear, in what way does the action of deception differ from the action of God! When deception approaches a man, whether as a thought or a fantasy or as a refined opinion, whether as an apparition seen with the physical eyes, or as a voice from the world heard with the physical ears, it never approaches as a master with unlimited power, but as a temptress who demands consent from man and who, after his consent, gains power over him. Its action, whether it is within man or without, is always an action from without, and man can reject it. Deception always meets with some doubt of the heart; only those whom it has finally mastered do not doubt it. Deception never gathers a man distraught by sin, does not deaden the passions in him, does not teach the ascetic to conversion or repentance, does not diminish him before himself; on the contrary, it awakens in him the imagination, makes his blood stir, brings him some tasteless, poisonous pleasure, flatters him cunningly, leads him to pride, raises an idol of the 'I' in the soul.
Divine action is immaterial: it is not seen, not heard, not expected, it is unimaginable, it cannot be explained by any comparison taken from this world, it comes and acts mysteriously. It first shows man his sin, constantly keeps the horror of sin before his eyes, causes self-condemnation in his soul, shows him our fall, the terrible, dark and deep abyss into which our race fell through the sin of our forefather Adam (9, vol. 2, p. 319).
Then holy truth appears in the heart as silence, tranquility, clarity, peace, a penitential mood, self-absorption, self-doubt, comforting hope in God. Lies, even when dressed in the guise of good, are recognized by restlessness, the darkness of indeterminacy, changeability, amusement, imagination, or they only deceive the heart, or bring it false satisfaction, self-intoxication, some vague, hazy delight. And this delight of a deceived heart resembles the apparent silence that covers the surface of a deep, dark whirlpool in which predators live.
The fallen human mind is not able to distinguish good from evil. It will almost always be easily deceived by disguised evil. And this is very natural, because the human mind is 'young', and those who fight against it with evil thoughts have more than seven thousand years of experience in the struggle, cunning and hunting of human souls. Distinguishing good from evil belongs to the heart, it is its job. But, again, time is needed, perseverance in the evangelical commandments is needed for the heart to acquire the refinement of taste to distinguish true wine from false. Until the heart acquires the habit of distinguishing good from evil, the experienced advice of a spiritual father or a pious neighbor, a teacher of the True Orthodox Church, the only holy, the only true, who seeks and finds true freedom in obedience to it, is very useful. Outside of unwavering obedience to the Church, there is neither true humility nor true spiritual discernment; there is the rule of the dark kingdom of lies and self-deception that lies produce.'' (9, vol. 4, letter 11).
'' Just as a diver descends into the deep sea to find a precious pearl, so the holy Fathers went away into the deep deserts, there they immersed themselves deeply, found various precious spiritual pearls: humility that was similar to that of Christ, childlike simplicity and not malice, dispassion similar to that of angels, reasoning and spiritual wisdom, in a word, they found the Gospel. A certain monk said to Sisoes the Great: 'I am in a state of constant remembrance of God.' The God-pleasing Sisoes answered him: 'That is not great, it will be great when you consider yourself worse than all things.'
A sublime occupation is constant remembrance of God! But this height is very dangerous when the scale towards it is not founded on the solid rock of humility.
See how the Holy Scripture agrees with the Fathers! The Scripture says: For you do not desire sacrifice. The sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; a broken and humble heart, O God, you will not reject  (Ps 51:16-17).   The very sacrifices of human burnt offerings should be based on a sense of spiritual poverty, on a sense of conversion or repentance. If this is not present, God rejects them.

No one, it seems, has penetrated the Gospel as the holy desert dwellers did. They tried to realize the Gospel in their very lives, in their very thoughts and feelings. They were distinguished by the deepest humility; the fall of man was a constant subject of their thoughts, their constant occupation was weeping over sin.
The ascetics and writers of the Western Church took a different course after the separation of this Church from the Eastern, True Orthodox Church, and its fall into the pernicious darkness of heresy. They immediately drag themselves and their readers to heights inaccessible to beginners, carrying away both themselves and them. A flaming, often mad imagination replaces in them that which is truly spiritual, of which they have no idea. They consider this fantasy of theirs to be grace.
The Holy Fathers of the Eastern, or True Orthodox Church, do not lead their reader into the arms of rosy "love" or to the heights of "visions," but rather lead him to contemplate his sin, his fall, to confess Christ as the Redeemer, to weep for himself before the merciful Creator. They teach us to first tame the impure desires of our flesh, which then makes us spiritually open and capable of spiritual activity. Then they turn to the mind, correcting its way of thinking and its reasoning, cleansing it of the thoughts it adopted after our fall and replacing them with the thoughts of the renewed nature of man, vividly depicted in the Gospel.
Along with correcting the mind, the Holy Fathers are concerned with correcting the heart, changing its habits and feelings. It is more difficult to purify the heart than the mind, because the mind, having convinced itself of the correctness of a new thought, easily rejects the old, easily adopts a new one, but to replace a habit with a habit, a property with a property, a feeling with another opposite feeling, this is effort, this is tense and long-lasting work, this is an indescribable struggle. The strength of this struggle is expressed by the Fathers in the following way: 'Shed your blood and receive the spirit.' Therefore, one must mortify all sinful desires of the body and blood, all movements of the mind and heart, which depend on the body and blood. Both the body and the mind and the heart must be subordinated to the spirit. Blood and nerves are moved by many passions: anger, avarice, lust, and vanity or vanity. These last two especially inflame the blood of ascetics, who do not perform the asceticism as they should, making them crazy fanatics. Vanity wants to attain spiritual states before the time for which a person is incapable due to his impurity, and since he cannot reach the truth, he invents and fantasizes. And, voluptuousness, joining its action to the action of vanity, produces in the heart seductive, false joys, delights, and intoxication. Such a state is a state of self-deception. All those who wrongly perform a feat are in this state.
There is no fanatical agitation of blood in the Fathers of the True Orthodox Church. They never fall into unhealthy ecstasies, which, since they were caused by agitated blood in the West, provoked bloodshed in that same West. The works of the holy Fathers exude self-denial, the fragrance of the Holy Spirit, which mortifies passions.'' (9, vol. 4, letter 44).
St. Ignatius testifies that from deception and arrogance came destructive heresies, schisms, godlessness and blasphemy. It is obvious that the most unfortunate consequence of deception is irregular and harmful activity both for the person himself and for his neighbors, that is, that evil, regardless of its obviousness and prevalence, is little noticed and poorly understood. Such deceived people also suffer misfortunes that are obvious to everyone and very tragic.
'' On the island of Valaam,'' says the bishop, ''in a remote house in the desert lived the monk Porphyry. He was performing a prayer feat. I don't know exactly what kind of feat it was. Judging by the favorite reading of the monks, it can be assumed that it was irregular. Namely, that monk highly valued the book of the western writer Tom Kempenc "On following Jesus Christ" and was guided by it. This book, as is well known, was written in deception.
That Porphyry visited the Scythian elders one evening in autumn, near which his desert was located. When he said goodbye to the old men, they warned him, saying: 'Don't accidentally walk on the ice, the ice has just caught and is very thin.' Porphyry's desert was separated from Scythia by a deep bay of Lake Ladoga, which had to be bypassed. The monk spoke in a low voice and with apparent modesty: 'I have become very light.' He left, and after a while a desperate cry was heard. The elders of the hermitage became agitated and ran out. It was dark, they didn't quickly find the place where the accident happened, they didn't quickly find a way to pull out the drowned man: they pulled out the body, which the soul had already left." (9, t. 1, p. 253-254).
" Blessed is the soul that saw the sin that nested in it! Blessed is the soul that saw in itself the fall of the first parent, the weakness of the old Adam! Such seeing of sin is spiritual seeing, mind seeing, healing from blindness by God's grace. Fasting and on its knees, the Holy True Orthodox Church begs God to forgive this sin.
Blessed is the soul that has fully realized that it is unworthy of God, that has condemned itself as cursed and sinful! She is on the way to salvation, there is no self-deception in her. Conversely, the one who considers himself ready to receive mercy, who considers himself worthy of God, expects and prays for His mysterious coming, says that he is ready to receive, hear and see the Lord, he is deceiving himself, he has reached the high ridge of pride from which he falls into the dark abyss of perdition.
The feeling of weeping and repentance is the only thing needed by the soul that has approached the Lord with the intention of receiving from Him the forgiveness of its sins. This is a good portion! If you have chosen it, let no one take it away from you! Do not exchange this treasure for empty, false and violent feelings of false grace, do not ruin yourself by flattering yourself.
' If some of the Fathers wrote,' says Isaac the Syrian, who is pleasing to God, 'that there is purity of the soul, that there is its health, dispassion, that there is a vision of God,' they did not write this so that we would seek them ahead of time with expectation. Those in whom such expectation lives have acquired pride and fall. The Church of God has rejected seeking with the expectation of the high gifts of God. This is not a sign of love for God, it is a disease of the soul.'
All the Saints considered themselves unworthy of God and thereby showed their dignity, which consists in humility.
All self-deceited people considered themselves worthy of God and thereby showed the pride that had taken possession of their souls and the demonic deception. Some others received evil spirits who appeared before them as angels, and followed them; to others the evil spirits appeared in their true form and deceived them, showing themselves as, supposedly, defeated by their prayer, thereby inducing them into pride; some gave free rein to their imagination, stirred their blood, aroused nervous movements in themselves, and then accepted this as a gracious delight and fell into self-deception, into complete darkness, and in their spirit they ranked among the rejected spirits.
If you have the need to talk to yourself, do not flatter yourself but self-reproach. Bitter medicines are useful to us in our fallen state. Those who flatter themselves have already received their reward here on earth, that is, their self-deception, praise, and the love of the world that is opposed to God, and in eternity they have nothing to expect but condemnation.
The Holy Fathers of the True Orthodox Church, especially the inhabitants of the deserts (hermits), reached spiritual heights and then everything in them flowed precisely into conversion or repentance. Repentance encompassed their entire life, all their activity, and it was the consequence of seeing and perceiving their own sin.
One great Father was asked what the activity of a solitary monk should consist of. He replied: "Your murdered soul stands before your eyes, and you still ask what your activity should be? Crying is the essential activity of a true ascetic of Christ, crying is his activity from the beginning of the asceticism to the end of the asceticism.  Seeing one's sin and the repentance or conversion that it gives rise to are activities that have no end on earth. The sight of sin provokes repentance, repentance brings about purification, the eye of the mind, which is gradually being cleansed, begins to notice shortcomings that it had not noticed at all before in its obscurity'' (9, vol. 2, pp. 122-127).
''The better a person looks at his sin, the more he immerses himself in weeping for himself, the more open and accessible he is to the Holy Spirit, who as a physician approaches only those who are aware that they are sick and, on the contrary, turns away from those who are rich in their vain pride. Look and look at your sin! Do not take your eyes off it! Deny yourself, do not have your honorable soul before you . Immerse yourself completely in looking at your sin, in weeping for it! Then in due time you will see that your rebirth under the action of the Holy Spirit is incomprehensible, and even less explainable. He will come to you when you do not expect him, he will work in you when you admit that you are completely unworthy of him! But if there is an expectation of grace hidden in you, beware, you are in a dangerous state! Such an expectation testifies to the hidden vanity in which pride is hidden. Pride will easily follow and deception will easily cling to it. Deception is a deviation from the Truth and the Holy Spirit who cooperates with the Truth, a deviation in the direction of lies and rejected spirits who cooperate with lies. Deception already exists in vanity, it exists in attaching great importance to oneself, in the very expectation of grace.'' (9, vol. 2, pp. 320-321). '' In your prayers, completely enter into repentance or conversion. There is a state of spiritual renewal, you know that, and you are in the state of the old man, and therefore be constantly in holy sorrow and saving sorrow. Deny yourself! Do not have your soul honorable before you according to the example of the holy apostle Paul. Evaluate yourself only with condemnation. Be unselfish before God. Do not allow yourself to expect grace at all, that is the state and teaching of those who are in self-deception and who have fallen away from the Truth. Strive to see your sin and to weep over it, that is your job. And, God will do His own thing, because He is faithful, He has made a promise and will fulfill it. Grace is His! Yes is yes, that is His. Do not think that your shirt is clean and worthy of a spiritual marital castle, no matter how much you wash it, your judge is God'' (10, letter 87). '' Hurry and bow down to the Truth, which heals man's constant betrayal with the commandment of constant repentance. Repent when you lie down in bed, and repent when you get up. As in a chain link holds on to link, so in your life let sigh follow sigh. Thus spend your days, months and years. Let your weaknesses be the subject of your contemplation. In the feeling of your heart, be as if you were imprisoned in a dungeon for the rest of your life, as if infected, exiled from the settlement. Suffering will end when life ends, the last sigh will be exhaled with the last exhalation'' (10, letter 12).  

  

To these excerpts from the books of Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov, it would be appropriate to add a few words taken from the works of his contemporary, also the newly glorified Holy Father Bishop Theophan the Recluse, dedicated to the question: "Why do we so often and so persistently not see our sins? What is it that blinds us so and so much?"
Describing our inner passions in the form of the image of a sinful tree whose trunk branches into three main branches, and then further branches into a multitude of branches and twigs that penetrate all our activities, St. Theophan says that a sinner himself, as a rule, does not notice this tree at all.
" And what is the reason why we most often do not notice this tree of sin in ourselves, and why we often think, and are even not ashamed to say out loud: "Am I bad, have I done anything wrong?" We do not notice because we cannot notice, because sin does not allow us to do so. Sin is very cunning and cunning. This tree of evil and sin that we are talking about is so ugly that if a person saw it in its ugliness with their mental eyes, it would repel everyone, and therefore it tries to clothe itself with 'leaves', to hide its ugliness, and it hides it so successfully that the soul of the person in whom this tree grows cannot distinguish not only the roots and the trunk, but also the branches. This covering of leaves is absent-mindedness and worry.
A absent-minded person does not like to live within himself, and a worry-free person has no free time or moment. The former cannot, and the latter does not have time to notice what is happening within him. When they first wake up from sleep, their soul immediately leaves itself: with the former it goes into the world of imagination, and with the latter it plunges into a sea of ​​supposedly necessary tasks. The present does not exist for them, and this is actually a characteristic of their entire activity. The distracted person prefers to live in a world that he has created himself and only partially comes into contact with the real world, and that only accidentally and superficially, and he is preoccupied with both his mind and heart completely in the future, he rushes to finish every job as soon as possible in order to take on the new one. Then he starts another and rushes to the third, in general, only his hands, legs, tongue and other things are occupied with the present, and all his thoughts are directed towards the future. How, with such a flow of internal movements, can they notice what is hidden in the heart?
But sin is not satisfied with a mere cover of leaves: it can still somehow penetrate through it, it is possible to part the dense leaves with the wind of suffering and inner turmoil of conscience and expose all the ugliness of sin: therefore sin creates around itself a kind of impenetrable cover, similar to stagnant, murky water in which it immerses its tree with leaves. This cover is created by ignorance, insensitivity and carelessness. Thus we are not aware that we are in danger and do not feel it, and since we do not feel it, we surrender to carelessness. And, no matter what is done to reason with such a sinner, it is all in vain. You can make very loud sounds above the water, but, in vain, the one who is in the water will not hear anything. You can try to shake the lazy sinner with whatever you like, he will not be startled at all. If you describe to him his own inner state, he will say: 'That is not me.' If you warn him of the ultimate danger that threatens him, he will assure you that it has nothing to do with him. If you wake him from sleep, he will not be ashamed to declare: ‘Behold, you see me working.’ So strong is the covering by which this sin is hidden from the sight of him who is in his power!'' (Saturday Sermon of the 1st Sunday of Great Lent).
In the letters of St. Theophan we also find such thoughts:
'' We should guard our heart and get used to noticing the thoughts and feelings that arise from it. Then we will see what a corrupt substance this supposedly good heart of ours is. And then will come constant repentance and confession to the omnipresent and all-visible God.
Here is what we need: not to measure ourselves, that is, to what height we have risen from the earth, it is better to completely forget this measure. Let it be only this: ‘We are good for nothing.’ Here is our measure: when we feel that we are completely unclean and that our salvation is only from the great grace of God, that is good. As soon as we begin to appropriate even a fraction of righteousness for ourselves, it is bad. We should immediately enter into a fierce struggle against ourselves.
Not seeing successes is not bad, but good. It is misfortune when you see them. Regardless of successes, increase your zeal and prayer for success and do not give in to carelessness.
It is misfortune when a person is full and satisfied in his heart, and when he is hungry and poor in his heart, it is very good. The poor will run from window to window and beg even in severe frost. It is the same with the heart! When it is touched by the feeling of misfortune, misery and hunger, it gives no peace to either body or soul. And hunger and misfortune (that is, the awareness of his miserable condition) the Lord sends to the one who prays and who prays. This is a sign of health. The sick person has no appetite, he is full. Therefore, one should inflame misfortune around him.
You ask what it means to 'stir up trouble around you'? It means to awaken a deep sense of danger because of the state in which a person finds himself and from which there is no other salvation than in the Lord Jesus Christ. This feeling will drive you towards the Lord and will make you constantly cry out: 'Help, protect!'. All the Saints had this feeling and it never left them. The opposite feeling is a feeling of satisfaction with one's condition that lulls a person to sleep and extinguishes in him any concern for salvation. I am full and what more do I need?
The cry of the unrepentant brings upon themselves the judgment of the Lord like Sodom, and the cry of repentant sinners brings upon themselves mercy like Nineveh. How will we be among the righteous? And woe to us when we think that we have become righteous. How evil is this thought! It kills the soul as harmful salt or icy wind kills a delicate flower. And what about the sinner who repents? The Father's embrace is extended to him. Falling on his chest, he kissed him , it is said in the story of the return of the prodigal son. A contrite heart God will not despise , says the Psalmist. Let us do so. When we taste the sweetness of repentance, we will not desire anything else" (14, letters 14, 3, 4, 25). We will cite here a few more lessons from the book "The Invisible Struggle" by Nicodemus the Holy Mountain, which clearly define the correct and soul-saving internal action and the goal of external virtues or virtues and feats. This Father begins the book by explaining what Christian perfection consists of , " for if you do not know this," he says, "you can deviate from the right path, and thinking that you are going towards perfection, in fact you are going in the opposite direction. The most perfect and greatest thing that a person can desire to achieve is to draw closer to God and dwell in communion with Him.'' The elder goes on to say that not everyone understands this correctly, but many think that the perfection of a true Orthodox Christian life consists in the fulfillment of the virtues themselves or of particular feats (such as fasting, vigils, kneeling, various physical austerities, standing at church services, mental prayer, seclusion or silence). However, these virtues are not the sought-after Christian perfection, but are only means and ways to achieve it. It is true that it is salvific for the soul to practice all these virtues with the aim that through them a person gains strength and power against his sinfulness and wickedness, in order to draw courage from them to oppose the temptations and deceptions of our three main enemies: the sinful flesh, the world and the devil. Each virtue or virtue can make its spiritual contribution, which is necessary for the servant of God in his spiritual struggle. ''    

  
However, on the other hand,'' continues the elder Nikodim, ''the newly acquired virtues can bring greater harm to those who consider that the whole essence of life and their hopes consist in them than their obvious violation, that is, not in themselves, because they are good and holy, but through the fault of those who do not use them as they should. And this is precisely when such people, paying attention only to these good deeds that they perform externally, leave their hearts to continue to act according to their own desires and the desires of the devil, who, seeing that they have deviated from the right path, not only does not hinder them in their joyful performance of feats in these bodily feats, but also encourages them to multiply and intensify these feats according to their vain thought. While feeling some spiritual movements and comforts, such workers begin to think that they have already ascended to the state of angelic ranks and supposedly 'feel' within themselves the 'presence' of imaginary, supernatural things, and fantasize that they have completely stepped out of the realm of this world and that they have, ostensibly, ascended to the third heaven.
They usually want to assume them to others anyway; they like to live according to their will and are always persistent in their decisions. They are blind in everything that concerns themselves, but they see very well and are very careful in judging the actions and words of others. And if people start respecting someone the way they think they should be respected, they can't stand it and become clearly hostile towards that person. If someone disturbs them in their pious occupations and ascetic activities, especially in the presence of others, God forbid!, they immediately resent it, immediately seethe with anger and become completely different, not at all like themselves. No matter what sorrow befalls them, they do not want to bend their necks under the yoke of God's will.
Since their inner eye, that is, their mind, is in darkness, they look at themselves with it, and look in the wrong way. Reflecting on their outward acts of piety and how they have succeeded in them, they think that they have already attained perfection, and, becoming haughty about it, begin to judge others. After this, there is no longer any possibility for any of the people to convert such people except with the special help of God. It will be easier for someone whom everyone knows to be a sinner to be converted for good than a secret sinner who hides under the cover of apparent virtues or virtues.
If, being enthusiastic with zeal, you conquer and mortify your chaotic passions, your lusts and desires, you will please God more and work more beautifully for Him than if you scourged yourself to the point of bleeding and tortured yourself with fasting more than all the ancient hermits. Even if you redeem hundreds of Christian slaves from the slavery of the wicked, this will not save you if you yourself are in the slavery of passions. And, no matter what work you undertake, even if it were the greatest, and no matter with what effort and what sacrifices you accomplish it, it will not lead you to the goal you wanted to achieve if you do not pay attention to your passions, giving them freedom to live and act in you.
Since the time of the transgression of our first parents, we usually have a high opinion of ourselves, regardless of the weakness of our spiritual and moral forces. Although everyday experience convincingly convinces us of the falsity of such an opinion about ourselves, we, in an incomprehensible deception, do not stop thinking that we represent something, and something important. However, this spiritual illness of ours, which we hardly notice in ourselves, is abhorrent to God because it is the fruit of our sinful self and self-love, and as such represents the source, cause and root of all passions and all our falls and debauchery. It closes the door of the mind or spirit through which the grace of God usually enters us, not allowing this grace to enter inside and settle in man. And grace departs from such a man. For how can grace, for the sake of enlightenment and help, enter a man who thinks of himself as something great, that he knows everything himself and that he does not need anyone's help? May the Lord deliver us from this satanic illness and passion!
Hating this evil arrogance in us, God, on the contrary, loves nothing and does not want to see in us so much as our sincere knowledge of our nothingness and the complete conviction and feeling that every good deed in us, in our nature and in our life comes exclusively from Him, as the Source of all treasure and that nothing truly good can come from us, neither a good thought nor a good deed.
UpKnow your nothingness and constantly keep in mind that by yourself you cannot do any good for which you would prove yourself worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven. Listen to what the wise Fathers say in God! Thus St. Peter of Damascus assures that 'there is nothing better than for a man to know his own weakness and ignorance, and that there is nothing worse than not to be aware of it'. St. Maximus the Confessor teaches that 'the basis of all virtue is the knowledge of one's own, human weakness'. And St. John Chrysostom claims that only 'he knows himself who thinks of himself as nothing'. So deeply rooted in us and so strongly attached to us is the idea that we are something, and something great, that it always secretly lives in our heart like some subtle and imperceptible movement, even when we are convinced that we do not trust in ourselves at all, but that, on the contrary, we are filled with hope only in God. "So that as much as you can avoid this pride of heart and act without any hope in yourself, but only with hope in God, prepare yourself every time so that your consciousness and feeling of your own powerlessness precede the knowledge of God's omnipotence in you, and that both precede your every action." (7, pp. 12, 15, 17, 18, 20, 25).
Therefore, these few passages from the teachings of the Holy Fathers, who are close to us in time, convey to us in precise and understandable language the teachings of all the ancient Fathers of the Church of  Christ and clearly show the main features of the inner, true Orthodox Christian life, as well as "that in repentance or conversion lies the whole secret of salvation" (10, letter 86). 

Anyone who wishes to become more familiar with this teaching can find it in almost all the works of the Holy Fathers. This spirit of penitential introspection and moving prayerful weeping before God is expressed, especially beautifully and in the most subtle poetic nuances, in the liturgical texts of the True Orthodox Church, especially in the hymns of the Great Triodion, which are sung in churches during the days of Great Lent. All our prayer books are abundantly imbued with this holy spirit of repentance with the aim of teaching us to walk before God in a truly Orthodox manner, to cry out to Him from the depths of true humility. And all these prayers, the holy people who wrote them, wrote them down from their spiritual experience, because they considered themselves just such, that is, sinful and useless, and the Church of Christ has preserved these prayers as the best models of our prayerful standing before God and has preserved them to this day so that we too may learn humble and penitential introspection through these prayers. He is deeply mistaken who thinks that the Holy Fathers only gave us a demonstration of penitential weeping, without considering themselves to be utterly sinful. No! There was not the slightest pretense in the Holy Fathers, but it is precisely in this that true Orthodoxy is that man, no matter how much he purifies himself from sin, in the light of divine Truth always sees himself as one who is impure and unworthy before God.

CAN THE SOUL BE HEALED QUICKLY ?

So, it is obvious that the entire work of salvation proceeds through the realization of one's fall, through humility and recognition of oneself as unworthy of any high spiritual gifts, through patiently carrying out the labor of repentance and expecting signs of healing without haste. The last moment is very important - without haste ! This is where many stumble today: we are all in a hurry, we want to see the fruits of our spiritual labor very quickly. For a little repentance, we immediately expect great mercy, and once we weep a little for ourselves, we consider ourselves to be already clean and completely white, we wait for the appearance of angels and signs of God's special favor towards us, as if we are already worthy of many gifts of the Holy Spirit. From this arise frequent deceptions. However, the experience of Orthodox ascetics does not teach us this at all. It is clearly seen from the Fathers that the path of purification of a soul infected with sin is complex, long-lasting and arduous, even in the most favorable conditions for healing, that is, in monasteries and deserts. Aren't the wild mountains, desolate gorges and impassable forests in which many Fathers practiced asceticism, the absence of any connection with the world, and often with people in general, the most strict fasting, constant prayer with deep faith and complete surrender to God, constant weeping for oneself and other highest feats of holy ascetics, aren't these the strongest means for eradicating all the deep roots of sin? It seems that a person who has accepted such a way of life should, in the shortest possible time, completely cleanse himself of all his passions, and even forget about the very existence of sin. But, in reality, this is not so. Many years and decades, the Saints spent in a terrible fight against the snakes of passions that nest in the human heart, before they managed to mortify and free themselves from them, and to gain peace of mind. ''Until death itself, a person's passions have the ability to rebel within him, and he does not know when which passion will rebel. "That is why, as long as he breathes, he must not stop vigilantly watching his heart, he must constantly cry out to God, begging him for mercy," said Father Isaiah (11, p. 128, st. 58).  
Mary of Egypt went to the Jordan Desert for repentance, and for forty-seven years she lived in this desert without meeting any people, without food or clothing, feeding on roots. Of those forty-seven years, for seventeen years she fought against her thoughts as against angry beasts. When she ate scanty food, thoughts of meat and fish immediately came to her, she craved wine or was overcome by the desire to sing lewd songs, she seemed to hear them, they stirred her heart and hearing. She cried and cried out in pain to heaven and begged God for help. The fire of passion flared up in her heart and burned her whole being, causing a burning desire. She threw herself on the ground and lay like that day and night until she repented and until the grace of God drove away the evil unrest. Darkness after darkness, misfortune after misfortune befell her for seventeen whole years. And only after that time did the Most Holy Theotokos appear to her as an Assistant and begin to guide her, driving away every sinful anxiety from Mary's soul (from the biography of the God-pleasing Mary of Egypt, April 1 according to the old calendar).
The God-pleasing John the All-Suffering was performing an asceticism in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra and suffered greatly from lustful lust. Nothing could save him, neither thirst, nor hunger, nor heavy chains. Then he locked himself in a cave, where he began to fight against passion in the fiercest battle. It came to the point that the saint buried himself in the ground up to his shoulders, but the heat of lust did not leave him. From time to time, the devil in the form of a huge dragon attacked the ascetic, terribly tormenting and tormenting him. The Lord finally delivered his servant after thirty years of imprisonment in the cave, after so many sufferings. And only then did passion depart from him and divine light shine upon him (from the biography of the God-pleasing John the All-Suffering, July 18 according to the old calendar).
Father Amon said: "I spent fourteen years in a hermitage, praying to God day and night to grant me victory over anger." (11, p. 50, paragraph 6).
A brother who lived in the desert and was much troubled by lustful desires went to seek instruction and prayerful help from an elder. Since he found there a great ascetic, experienced in reasoning, Father Pamva, he told him about his struggle. He comforted and taught him. He also told him about himself: "You see how old I am, seventy years I have lived in this cell and in care for my soul. At such an old age I still suffer temptations and temptations. Believe me, child, for twelve years the demon of fornication did not leave me day or night, constantly attacking me with lewd thoughts and fantasies.''
And the old man told how difficult and persistent the battle he waged against the evil spirit of fornication was, how many times he suffered great pain and fell into despair, and how after a long time the Lord freed him, teaching him to recognize his powerlessness and to rely on God's help, not on his own strength.
"There is nothing worse than a sinful habit. It takes a lot of time and effort for someone infected with a sinful habit to free themselves from it," said an Egyptian elder (11, p. 346, paragraph 20).
So, we see that passions are not eradicated quickly. However, it should also be noted that it is most often not beneficial for us to get rid of them quickly. Of course, the Lord can cleanse us of all our illnesses in a moment, but the Lord is more pleased with our humility, our penitent prayerful state, while a quick deliverance from illness would cause in us a haughty, complacent and inert mental disposition. The Holy Fathers saw this clearly. Thus, Mother Sarah was attacked by the demon of fornication for thirty years, and she never prayed for this struggle to depart from her, but only prayed to God to give her courage and patience in this struggle (11, p. 328, paragraph 1). The God-pleasing Ivan Kolov asked God to free him from his passionate desires. He felt an untroubled peace. Then he came to a father and said to him: "I see that I am at peace and that I am not waging any struggle." The elder answered him: "Go and ask God to return to you the thoughts you had before, because the soul is advancing from the struggle." Ivan asked God to return his thoughts, and when the thoughts came, he no longer prayed for liberation from the thoughts, but said: "Lord, grant me patience in the struggle" (11, p. 262, v. 11).
Here is the teaching of the truly  Orthodox .  Do not seek peace and quick liberation from everything painful and difficult. A person should not even want to quickly cleanse himself of all his passions, but only to acquire a contrite and humble heart, which God will not despise (Ps 51:17) and which alone is pleasing to God, before whose holiness all ours is "pure" as filth and dirt. Even heaven itself is unclean before Him. How contrary to this spirit are the modern teachings and the widespread "search" for spiritual comforts, sweet, carefree and painless states, the supposed "paradise" bliss, without going through the path of purification from their sinful ulcers. Such religious teachings strive to close man's eyes to his spiritual illnesses, to create in him the illusion of health, to invite him to rejoice and delight in false health and his imagined perfection, to dwell in deceptive tranquility regarding his future destiny, to intoxicate himself with the illusion of happiness and harmony, while in reality they carry within themselves the seeds of the greatest pain, the beginning of the terrible torment that will be revealed when, at the end of this life, the veil of lies that concealed from him the true state of his soul is lifted from man's eyes. And how reasonable, how comforting is our true Orthodox Christian faith! To suffer and suffer here on earth from demons, from people, from one's physical and mental infirmities, to cry, to wail until the end of this life, and may everything sweet and joyful be there, in eternity!Because in a fleeting, changing life, it is not safe to have anything valuable.  


Deceptive people do not look at spiritual illnesses in this way; those who have not accepted the example of repentance from our holy True Orthodox Church, from the Holy Fathers, those who do not believe in true Orthodox teaching boldly "solve" all difficulties; for them everything is "as simple as beans." I had the opportunity to hear a conversation between a Pentecostal sectarian and Orthodox Christians. He reproached true Orthodoxy for its alleged coldness and lack of love for God, for Pharisaism.
He explained the Orthodox Christians' admission that they are spiritually powerless and full of passions by their spiritual inaction, their unwillingness to completely surrender to "grace." He says that the cause of this lies within themselves. If they only wanted to, they could free themselves from all their passions in a minute; all that is needed is determination and a strong repentant movement of the soul, and all sinfulness would immediately evaporate, as if in a fire. "Grace" would immediately free the convert or penitent, even from all inclinations towards sin. Such repentance would immediately drive out every sin from the soul and immediate insight and enlightenment would occur. So everything is just a matter of choice, determination and the like. He himself immediately felt this liberation at the first fiery "penitential" act and received the "grace of the Spirit", from then on he completely changed his life, constantly feels within himself an unusual love for everyone, a determination to always sacrifice himself for the sake of God, he is illuminated by "light" and is unusually happy. And indeed, he was all shining, all burning with some inner fiery enthusiasm. He spoke of the wonderful miracles that constantly happened to him and the members of his family (they were also all "miraculously" transformed after his "baptism" into Pentecostals).
All the remarks of the truly Orthodox Christians, their warnings that such miracles are of a dubious nature, all their attempts to present the true Orthodox teaching about self-doubt and the deep sinful contamination of the human soul to the deceived Pentecostal seemed only as new proof that he was right, and they once again "convinced" him that the truly Orthodox, due to their laziness, little faith and cowardice, attachment to "lifeless canons" and "Pharisaism", have lost all contact with God, and he has remained completely in this.
It should be noted that the external appearance: the vigor, liveliness and fervor that outwardly appears holy; Zeal, self-denial, and readiness to undertake any feat, and other noticeable external traits, give such deluded people an outward appearance of "piety" that captivates and that many people like more than the appearance of a humble, true Orthodox Christian who sighs for himself, who expects nothing good for himself, and who is therefore always reserved and sometimes, even from the outside, looks depressed.

WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF OUR TIME ?

The world today feels an increasing fondness for such a false, hysterical "Christianity". But we should not pay attention to the taste of this world, the more we preserve the spirit of our faith, the more alien we will be to this world, and it will hate and despise us more and more, because we will seem ugly, powerless, even without mercy to it. If true Orthodox Christians today are in some way attractive to the world and it is interested in their faith, this is not yet a reason for us to feign some kind of artificiality and false spirituality to please the world. A poor truth is better than a decorated lie. We are now spiritually poorer than ever, the words of the psalm are more appropriate to us than to Christians of other times: Help, Lord, for the saints are gone (Ps 12:1). We are poor in spirit and we need to see and realize this clearly, and to carry this realization with humility and repentance, and this is, in all likelihood, the only available path of salvation and saving action for us in these times. A clear perception and understanding of the spirit of the times, our spiritual state, the measure of our possibilities will preserve us from improper pursuits, from the futile expenditure of those poor forces that we have, from the bankruptcy of our plans, from unrealizable fantasies and feats that do not correspond to our spiritual state. Our time no longer knows the abundance of spiritual food from the Tradition of the Holy True Orthodox Church of Christ, for that beauty and fragrance with which the life of former true Orthodox Christians was filled and inspired. We are left with only weakness and suffering, and therefore the following is the most saving for us: constant humble prayer and sighing because of our sinfulness; the most modest and most focused view of all our own efforts and actions; a completely tolerant and most merciful attitude towards our neighbors; a humble and grateful acceptance of everything that happens to us; complete trust in the grace of God and not trusting in our own good works or expecting something high within ourselves.  

A powerful and vivid picture is given by the holy bishop Ignatius. He compares the abundance of spiritual treasures of ancient true Orthodox Christians to a sumptuous feast prepared by a rich Host for his numerous friends and acquaintances. At this spiritual table there was an unlimited number of spiritual dishes, and at the end of the meal the guests were generously rewarded with spiritual gifts. When everyone had dispersed, the Host, seeing the crowd of hungry poor people, ordered the servants not to clear the table but to offer everything that was left to the poor. Fearfully and in doubt, they entered the great hall, began to eat everything that was left on the table and under the table, that is, the fallen crumbs. None of them had tasted the real food, nor seen the harmonious serving of the servants or the precious dishes and utensils, nor heard the song or music, so that none of them could even imagine the image of the feast that took place there. When they had eaten, they could only roughly imagine what beauty had been here before them. But they still fell on their knees before the Host, thanking him for the food they had never eaten and never seen. He said to them: "Brothers! When I gave my order to hold the feast, I did not have you in mind, that is why I did not prepare your lunch properly and I do not give you gifts." The poor cried out in one voice: "Master! We do not need gifts! We do not need a luxurious feast! We are indescribably grateful to you that you did not despise us, did not disgust us, tormented by all kinds of shortcomings, you let us into your castle, you saved us from dying of hunger!" The poor dispersed, continuing to thank the merciful Host. Then He said to the servants: "Now clear the table and lock my castle. There will be no more guests, and what food could be offered has been offered. It is finished!'' (9, vol. 5, pp. 384-385).
The poor and needy are a picture of our condition, crumbs and empty plates are the spiritual hunger of our time, humble gratitude and recognition of ourselves as unworthy of any luxurious dishes and gifts is an example of the mood of the soul that is necessary for us.
We need to listen carefully to those premonitions and representations of the Holy Fathers that relate to our, apparently, last time. This knowledge of the spirit of the times, on the one hand, will lead us out of a state of self-deception, will reveal to us the true state of our strengths and capabilities, will make our demands on ourselves and others more modest, and on the other hand, it will encourage us, will encourage us to be vigilant, to be cautious, will not allow us to fall into despondency and lofty fantasies, and thus to separate ourselves from reality.
Let us listen carefully to the painful, but useful words: "The setting sun graphically describes the state of Orthodox Christianity in our time. The same Sun of Truth, that is, Christ, shines, He emits the same rays, but they no longer pour out that brightness or that warmth as in previous times. This is because the rays do not fall directly on us, but go towards us only by an indirect, roundabout way. The rays of the Sun of Truth of Christ are the Holy Spirit: "The Light and Illuminator of men, by whom the Father is known and the Son is glorified and known by all" (stychira at the evening service of Pentecost). 

"Today, when there are many who are rich in learning, art, and all material things, today the Saints are gone (Ps 12:1). The Holy Spirit, looking at the sons of men, judging this crowd of those who call themselves educated, spiritually enlightened, and Orthodox, pronounces a sad judgment on them: There is none who understands, there is none who seeks God. All have gone astray; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one. Their throat is an open grave; they have deceived with their tongues; the poison of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Desolation and misery are in their ways; and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes (Rom 3:11-18). Here are the reasons why the Spirit of God departs from us today, unlike the true Orthodox Christians with whom He truly dwells, as a gift acquired for all the new Israelites by their all-holy Patriarch" (9, vol. 1, pp. 406-407). " The Holy Scriptures testify that Orthodox Christians, like the Jews, will gradually begin to grow cold towards the revealed teaching of God, will cease to pay attention to the renewal of human nature by the God-man, will forget about eternity, will direct all their attention to their earthly life. In this mood and direction, they will be engaged in improving their life on earth as if it were eternal, and in developing their fallen nature in order to satisfy all the harmful and perverted demands and desires of the soul and body. It is understood: The Redeemer who redeemed man for a blessed eternity is alien to such an orientation. Such an orientation is a deviation from Christianity" (9, vol. 1, pp. 457-458). '' In paradise evil appeared under the guise of good for the sake of easier deception. It appears in the bosom of the holy Church of Christ as hidden and adorned, in an attractive variety of scandals, calling them innocent amusements and entertainments, calling the development of the fleshly life and the humiliation of the Holy Spirit the progress and development of humanity. That all might be condemned who did not believe the truth, but loved unrighteousness (2 Thessalonians 2:12). Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these also oppose the truth, men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. Having a form of godliness, but denying its power. And from these turn away (2 Timothy 3:8, 5). For those who have received this power and have rejected it of their own free will, it is difficult for it to return: For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins (Heb 10:26) because of the loss of the good will itself, which is the necessary consequence of the deliberate neglect of the good of God. The appearance of piety can still somehow be encouraged by human wisdom, but the revival of the power of piety belongs exclusively to Him who clothes people with power from above '' (Lk 24:49) (9, vol. 1, pp. 495-496).''    


            
Today, people have dared to introduce their own provisions into the provisions of the Holy Spirit. Because of this, the heavenly provisions have become earthly, holy - sinful, wise - foolish. There are individual Orthodox Christians, but the general knowledge of the Truth has been lost, which would unite everything into one spiritual body, with one way of thinking, in one spirit, under one common head, that is, Christ. Today, everyone has more or less their own way of thinking, their own religion, their own arbitrarily or accidentally accepted path, which is recognized as correct and justified. This countless flock that has lost its connection and unity in Truth and Spirit presents to the spiritual observer a picture of the greatest disorder: each sheep pulls to its own side, not knowing where it is going. No one stops it, no one cares about it. People no longer hear because their hearing has become so weak. The saving voice of the true Shepherd, which is heard in His holy True Orthodox Church, and which still clearly points out their untruth, reveals to them the true path, points to it. They were deafened by the noise of earthly worries, the noise of sensual entertainment, the noise of earthly progress. Their souls clung to the earth , incapable of receiving spiritual impressions" (9, vol. 4, letter 58). " The devil's nets have multiplied in comparison with the times of the primitive Church of Christ, they have multiplied to infinity. Books containing false teachings have multiplied, the number of followers of the Holy Truth has decreased to the extreme. Respect for the natural virtues available to Jews and pagans has strengthened. Respect for purely pagan virtues has appeared, which are contrary to nature itself, which views them as evil. The understanding of true Orthodox Christian virtues has been limited, I am not talking about their decrease, that their implementation in reality has almost disappeared. Material life has developed, spiritual life has disappeared, pleasure and bodily worries devour all time, there is no time, even for the remembrance of God. And all this becomes an obligation, a law for people.'' (9. vol. 1, p. 397). '' In our time, we have come to such a period in the life of the human race when people are saved exclusively by humbly enduring suffering, with faith in God and hope in His mercy. No one can be saved by other means now. For our time, there is only one way left: enduring suffering. '' '' Without humility, a person cannot receive any gift from God without harm to himself. That is why it was prophesied that in the last times, due to increased pride, people will be saved only by enduring suffering and illness, and their feats will be taken away from them'' (16, p. 70, 116). '' Suffering is a special portion of our time, to which neither the feat of martyrdom nor the feat of monasticism have been given. The scene of us, the truly Orthodox Christians of the last times, is the scene of suffering, seemingly small and insignificant. The scales are in God!'' (9,t. 4, str. 462).''  

 


One should understand the spirit of the times and not be carried away by previous heights and experiences, which are impossible to achieve in our time.
One should repent, pray and guard against deception because in our time most of those who want to live piously think of themselves as living piously, but are set on fire by the fire of materialism and are in greater or lesser self-deception. (12, letter 188).
But here is the thought of our contemporary father, the monk Seraphim Rose, who lived in America (he died in 1982): "Because translations of truly Orthodox books are becoming more and more available, and the true Orthodox terminology of spiritual struggle is increasingly in the air, more and more people are talking about hesychasm, the Jesus Prayer, the ascetic life, the sublime states of prayer and the most exalted holy Fathers such as Saints Simeon the New Theologian, Gregory Palamas or Gregory of Sinai. It is very good to know about this truly sublime side of the true Orthodox spiritual life and to revere the great
Saints who truly led it, but if we do not have a very realistic and very humble awareness of how far we are all from the life of the hesychast and how little we are prepared for that life to come even a little closer to it, our interest in it will be just another manifestation of our egocentric life.
We must deeply understand what kind of time we live in, how little we actually know and feel our true Orthodoxy, how far we are not only from the holy people of the Christian past, but even from the simple-hearted true Orthodox Christians who lived only a hundred years ago or, even, only a generation ago, and how much we have to try to simply survive today as true Orthodox Christians.'' (19, p. 61).
So, the Fathers of the latter times very often said that our age would be full of deception and difficult for salvation, that hypocrisy had become widespread, that true piety had almost disappeared, that Orthodox Christians for the most part only lead a seemingly pious and virtuous life, while their hearts were far from God, enslaved by the earth, by this perishable world, that hypocrisy had become universal, that no one was seeking what was God's, but everyone was seeking what was pleasing to him. Now every believer faces a difficult task: to seek and distinguish in this chaos of lying human deeds and words, in this mixture of truth and lies, that Truth that alone can save and heal. This Truth is near, it will never dry up, but a multitude of false truths are trying to hide it, to whisper to us that they are precisely the Truth that we need. Both outside and inside us, a war of enemies is constantly taking place; the enemy is trying to replace the true Orthodox faith and its spirit with a refined and luxurious counterfeit, to force us to take just a small step away from the narrow path of salvation, and then to completely lead us onto the path of apostasy.
Now it is especially important for a person to learn to correctly understand and apply in his life the works of the Holy Fathers, to adopt their spirit, because this is the spirit of the Gospel. The Holy Fathers realized the Gospel teaching with their life, work, word and feelings, they explained it clearly and in detail in their books. We cannot possibly understand, and even less fulfill, the Gospel commandments without this experience of the Fathers; we will certainly get lost at the very beginning of the path. And the very word of the Holy Fathers reaches us with great difficulty today, because we have ceased to understand the Holy Fathers. Their feats today exceed our strength, the steadfastness of the true Orthodox faith that gave them the strength to work miracles is no longer found today, their simplicity, purity of mind and heart seem incomprehensible to us, their renunciation of the world, their selflessness, not paying attention to bodily desires and orientation towards heaven, are almost impossible for us today. But, regardless of this, the spirit of the Holy Fathers, their inner workings, their main direction and the goal of their efforts remain necessary for us as well. We cannot go as briskly as they did, we cannot carry such a burden, we cannot climb to those heights, but we can and must stick to the same direction and have the same goals, to determine the value and benefit of everything by the same patristic standards and to consider as harmful and useless everything that the Holy Fathers were wary of.

SHOULD  A '' ZEALOUS '' CHRISTIAN BE AFRAID OF HELL ? 

An Orthodox Christian who has chosen a false path of inner life, a path that is not based on true conversion or repentance but on some secret pride and other passions associated with it, cannot notice this in himself. The symptoms of this disease are usually so deeply hidden that only an experienced spiritual director can detect them. In this case, it should be noted that those around him always notice something sick in the deceived person before he himself does, so when our loved ones expose us, we should always think about it and check ourselves, because most often their criticism is completely justified.
How often does the enemy try to deceive us!? 

The Holy Fathers say that evil spirits use this method to withdraw from man their weapons with which they incited his passions and as if they move away from man, and thus every struggle, from the outside, is silenced, and mental illnesses cease to be noticed. And, just when a man relaxes and thinks he is safe, the enemy suddenly stabs his poisonous arrow into a vulnerable place of the soul, inflames in it the most frenzied passion that has been latent, and during that time has gathered strength and now longs to be satisfied. And, then the unfortunate man cannot withstand the sudden rebellion of such a dark force within him and easily falls into sin. However, evil spirits also know another trick because they can move away for a long time, even leaving in man after their departure a seemingly very salutary and gracious mental disposition, that is, a supposed zeal for good deeds and holy feats, a fiery enthusiasm for prayer, fasting and vigils; a burning desire to do works of mercy, to love all people, to help the poor and save the unfortunate; the power of suffering, to endure insults and humiliations; the desire to speak of oneself humbly and to repent, and the like. All this then not only works in man without opposition from demons, but they, in addition, imperceptibly inflame and encourage such movements and mental moods, but, in addition to all this, evil spirits cunningly wound our vanity, in the depths of the heart burning with their evil incense the idol of our pride. And, it seems that the demons have moved away from man, but they all the time carefully watch that this flame of pride does not go out in our soul. And so: a man seemingly lives piously, is zealous, modest, just, merciful, unselfish, seems to be conscientious in everything, sometimes he suffers because of his sins, sometimes he experiences some small transgression of his very painfully, he longs for purity and perfection, he endures insults, he does a great many good deeds that seemingly deserve full respect, however, when he worships another god or idol, his "self" does not cease to rise in the depths of his heart, and not only that, but with every feat it becomes denser, with every "good" deed it feeds our pride more and more.
How to avoid this evil? Under every unreasonable, although seemingly good beginning of ours, the demon of pride tries to shove his censer. An inexperienced Orthodox Christian does not always know how to see well what he is actually relying on at the very beginning of his effort, from what source the roots of this asceticism of his draw their juices, who actually encourages him and appropriates all his effort. The thing is that the true good in us should be based only on the evangelical commandments, on the fear of God or obedience or, again, love for God (depending on our spiritual age), but in no way for the sake of anything else: not for the sake of asceticism itself or "spirituality", or some "good", or "morality", or "holiness", or "perfection", or any other sublime virtue. We should strive to perform our actions in such a way as to fulfill the will of God, having one goal, namely, pleasing God. No matter how good a man may do, he cannot rely on any of it, he must always say: We are unprofitable servants, for we have done what was our duty to do (Luke 17:10), and I have done it weakly and lazy.'' The commandments of God are infinitely profound, so that none of us can fulfill them completely: and the more someone tries to fulfill them, the more he will realize his powerlessness, his imperfection, his sinful woundedness and his distance from God. After this realization, all that will remain for him is to humble himself infinitely, to reproach himself until he is able to say, like the apostle Paul: Of sinners, of whom I am the chief (1 Tim 1:15), all that will remain for him is to hope in the grace of God, without knowing any of his own virtues. However, this is not the case when a person does not take the measure of his actions by what is infinite, but by what is limited and earthly, because then he evaluates his actions, their weight and significance by what is earthly. Then a sick zeal is born, an inconsolable suffering, even because of his small stumbles, for fear that a person will lose some of "his" wealth. When such trust in his own efforts, a person becomes a "rich man" in his own eyes, who diligently collects and multiplies good: he immediately measures his every feat, even the smallest good deed, and brings it into his treasury, thereby violating the commandment of poverty, that is, that we should always acknowledge our complete spiritual poverty!    

Such self-satisfied deeds, of course, do not have the depth that works truly dedicated to God have; they, being planted in shallow soil, are not rooted in the depth of true faith, but their roots spread over the surface, from where they draw the impure juices of various passions. Therefore, in order to understand what such asceticism is based on, one should not look at his external feats but at internal self-observation: does a person really consider himself a sinner, powerless, unworthy, not only in words, not even in reason or on the surface of feelings, but in the depths of his heart, does he thus sigh over himself, does he reproach himself, or does he exult in the joy of the victor, the joyful recognition of some of his own significance and divine favor? This can be clearly seen from the following: whether or not such a person believes that he is ruined, that he fully deserves the torments of hell and that he is in real danger of being condemned to eternal torment, that he can be saved only by the grace of God, and not because of any of his virtues, and that all his prayers and all his works are insufficient for salvation.
If, however, a "zealous" Orthodox Christian, although he calls himself a sinner, is nevertheless firmly convinced that it is impossible for him to end up in the dungeon of hell, because he supposedly has many good deeds, then that is unlucky! A completely different example is given to us by the holy Fathers who already on earth reached the angelic state, who could perform wonderful miracles, who had the gift of clairvoyance, who had visions and revelations from God, but at their deathbed, nevertheless wept inconsolably for themselves and sincerely considered themselves condemned to hell.
When the time of death approached for the holy father Agathon, the brothers, noticing the fear on his face, said: "Father! Are you afraid too?'' He replied: ''Since I have tried with all my might to fulfill the commandments of God, I am a man and I do not know whether my deeds are pleasing to God.'' The brothers said: ''Are you not convinced that your deeds are pleasing to God?'' The elder said: ''It is impossible for me to be convinced of this before I stand before God, because one is the Judgment of God, and the other is human'' (11, p. 49, v. 25).
When the time came for Father Arseny to die, the brothers who were with him saw him weeping. The brothers said to him: ''Father! Are you afraid too?'' He answered them: ''I am afraid! The fear I feel now has accompanied me since I became a monk'' (11, p. 42, v. 16).
Poemen the Great said to his brothers: "I assure you, where they cast Satan, there they will cast me also" (11, p. 302, st. 21).
For many  years, Elder Silouan the Holy Mountain endured the sublime labor of asceticism, he endured many painful battles against evil spirits. One night, during the elder's prayer, evil spirits bothered him greatly and did not allow him to pray purely. He, tormented, with pain in his heart, cried out to the Lord, begging Him to teach him how to pray and what to do so that the demons would no longer bother him. And, in his soul, he heard the answer:"The proud always suffer from evil spirits.
"Lord,'' the elder prayed, ''teach me what to do so that my soul may be humbled.'' And again he heard the answer from God in his heart: ''Keep your mind in hell and do not despair.'' After this, Elder Silouan understood that the feat should be aimed at acquiring humility. From that day on, his ''favorite theme'', as he himself said, became: ''Soon I will die, and my damned soul will descend into hell, and I will torment myself alone in the dark flame and cry out to the Lord: ''Where are you, light of my soul? Why have you left me? I cannot live without you''!'' (Archimandrite Sophrony Sakharov, Elder Silouan - life and teachings. M. Minsk, 1991, pp. 40-41).
To convince us of the idea that it is necessary to always be in repentance and contrition, this same Father cites this terrible story. There lived in that area a certain Stephen who, loving the desert life and solitude, spent many years in monastic asceticism. He was adorned with many virtues, especially fasting and tears. This father moved away from the inhabitants of the desert for the sake of the most severe asceticism and the most severe penance, and he lived there for several years without people in the desert. Before his death he returned to his cell. The day before his death he fell into a vision, with his eyes open, he looked now to the right, now to the left side of his bed and as if someone was tormenting him, he said aloud in front of those present: "Yes, it is really true, but that is why I have fasted for so many years," and sometimes: "No, I did not do that, you are lying," then he said again: "Yes, it was really so, but I cried and served the brothers," sometimes he objected: "No, you are slandering me. To the second, he answered: "Yes, it's really so, and I don't know what to say to that, but God is merciful." This scene of invisible and cruel torture was truly terrible and terrible, says St. John, and what's more horrible than anything, they blamed him for what he didn't do. Passionately! The recluse and ascetic used to say about some of his sins: "I don't know what to say about that," even though he spent about forty years as a monk and had the gift of tears. Alas, me! Alas, me! Where was the word of Ezekiel when he said to the tormentors: In what I find, in that I will judge, says God . He couldn't say anything like that. And why? Glory to the Only One who knows. Some said that he fed the leopard from his hand in the desert. During this torture, his soul separated from his body: it remains unknown what the solution was and how this trial ended and what judgment followed (4, fig. 7, p. 50).    
The Holy Fathers tell this story: "A certain clairvoyant father came to a city when a monk whom everyone respected was dying there. All the inhabitants of the city considered him a holy elder, celebrated him greatly, wept bitterly over his death and considered it a great loss for them, many hoped that through his prayers they would be delivered from various temptations. A clairvoyant monk traveler witnessed this event and a terrible vision was revealed to him. He saw that terrible demons with tridents appeared and he heard a voice from on high: 'Give him no peace, because he gave me no peace for a moment.' And so the demons pierced the soul of the deceased with their tridents and dragged him away with them.''
Peter of Damascus, a holy Father who lived in the eighth century, explains this case thus: ''The reason for this was the monk's pride, for if he had other sins he could not have hidden them from people, much less could he have committed them constantly. However, pride itself can, through self-indulgence, be hidden from everyone, and from the one who has it himself, if he is not allowed to fall into temptations by which the soul is exposed and learns its powerlessness and unreasonableness. The Holy Spirit did not find a moment of peace in this poor soul because she always had this thought and rejoiced because of it, as if for some good deed, and from this she became darkened, like a demon. Not seeing that he was sinning, this man certainly cherished one passion in himself instead of others, and this one was enough for the demons, because it could replace other vices” (The Acts of Peter of Damascus, Moscow, 1874, Book 2, word 24).
In the same place, Saint Peter of Damascus says: “No one will benefit from other virtues, even if he were to live in heaven, if he has the arrogance through which Satan, Adam, and many others fell. Therefore, no one should reject the fear of God until he reaches the harbor of perfect love and is outside the world and the body” ( The Acts of Peter of Damascus, Moscow, 1874, Book 2, word 24 ).

When Father Macarius the Great came to the hermitage of Nitrian Mountain, a large brotherhood gathered around him. The elders begged him to say something instructive to the brotherhood. He, weeping, said: "Brothers, let your eyes shed tears before you go there!"

SELF-HUMILIATING HUMILITY IS INSEPERSIBLE FROM INNER PEACE !

Mnogi, kad čuju sve što je rečeno, mogu da se zbune u duhu i da kažu: ''Ako čovjek tako razmišlja o sebi, ako je potrebno da uvijek tako osuđuje sebe samoga, ako uvijek treba da odbacuje svako samouvjerenost i nimalo da se ne uzda u svoja dobra djela, onda će sigurno pasti u očajanje, postat će lijen i neće poželjeti da više išta radi.'' Ali, ne, nije tako! Jer, sveti Oci, koji su toliko unižavali sebe u svojim očima, koji su čitavog života lili suze zbog svoje duše i koji nisu imali želju da razmišljaju ni o čemu drugom osim o svojoj beskorisnosti, nisu nikada očajavali, već su ulagali sve veće napore, i ni za tren nisu napuštali brigu o svojoj duši i nikada nisu gubili žustrinu i odlučnost da se bore do kraja. I, pri svemu ovome, sveti Oci su imali istinski unutrašnji duhovni mir i duhovnu radost.
Iako sveti Oci u svojim djelima ponekad objašnjavaju ovo pitanje, njega, ipak, nije moguće shvatiti umom, jer se ovo tajanstveno pokazivanje mira i slatkoća u duši, pokazivanje koje je plod pokajanja i samo-osuđivanje, iskazuje se samo u djelatnom pokajničkom životu. Teško je riječima objasniti kako su sveti Oci koji su živjeli najvišim podvižničkim životom i koji su stalno pazili na svoje srce, trudeći se da u svemu izvršavaju volju Božju, sebe smatrali najnekorisnijim, najnepotrebnijim i najnedostojnijim grešnicima. Tako otac Dorotej navodi ovakvu priču: ''Neki starac po imenu Zosima inače veoma duhovnog života, razgovarao je s nekim filozofom i govorio o grijesima. Filozof ga je upitao: 'Reci mi kako to da ti sebe smatraš grešnim, pa zar ne znaš da živim svetim životom? Zar ne znaš da posjeduješ kreposti? Vidiš da izvršavaš zapovijedi, pa kako onda ti, koji tako postupaš, smatraš sebe grešnim?' Starac nije mogao da odgovori već je samo govorio: 'Ne znam što bih ti rekao, ali smatram sebe grešnim.' Filozof je nastavio da ispituje starca, a starac je bio u nedoumici što da mu odgovori, i tada je otac Dorotej stupio u razgovor i rekao filozofu: 'Nije li isto tako i u filozofskoj i medicinskoj vještini? Kad se netko dobro obuči nekoj vještini i bavi se njome onda on u tome stiče naviku, i ne može da kaže niti umije da objasni kako je postao iskusan u toj stvari, jer duša je stekla naviku postupno i neosjetno. Tako je i kod poniznosti jer od izvršavanja zapovijedi stiče se neka navika u poniznosti i ovo je nemoguće izraziti riječju.' Čuvši ovo objašnjenje otac Zosima se vrlo obradovao potvrdivši da je to stvarno tako. Filozof je također bio zadovoljan odgovorom'' (5, str. 46).

Tako je i u odnosu na gore navedeno: ono što je teško shvatljivo za razum i, naizgled, nespojivo jedno s drugim u stvarnosti se tajanstveno sjedinjuje, divno surađuje i djeluje spasonosno po dušu. Ovome nas uči samo iskustvo jer svaki istinski pravoslavni kršćanin koji je okusio i malo gorčine pokajanja i samo-uniženja, koji je iskusio osjećaj bola zbog svoje grešnosti sigurno je primijetio da je s gorčinom pokajanja i osjećajem bola uvijek sjedinjena neka duboka unutrašnja, mirna i tiha radost i nada; sigurno je primijetio da duša poslije takvih bujica samo-ukora, ponizivši se pred Bogom, bude milostivo utješena od Njega; i sigurno je zapazio da samo-osuđivanje, priznavanje sebe za najgoreg prijestupnika, za najvećeg grešnika, koji zaslužuje paklene muke, na neki neshvatljiv način u dubini srca učvršćuje nadanje u milost Božju. Kad sami sebe iskreno iz dubine duše osuđujemo i prekorijevamo, tada nas sam Gospodin opravdava i oprašta grijehe. Kad se gorko kajemo i uzdišemo zbog svojih grijeha, tada sam Bog unosi u naša srca radost pomilovanja.
''Bol zbog Boga ne baca čovjeka u očajanje, naprotiv, tješi ga, savjetujući mu: 'Ne boj se, pribjegni ponovo Bogu, On je blag i milostiv, On zna da je čovjek nemoćan i pomaže mu.' Bog zbog samog sebe donosi radost i učvršćuje čovjeka u volji Božjoj,'' govori otac Izaija.
''Prekorijevajte sebe, prekorijevajte svoju nemoćnu volju. Okrivite sebe i osudite sebe, a Bog će vas opravdati i pomilovati.'' 

''Pripremite se za patnje i patnje će se umanjiti: odrecite se utjehe i ona će doći onome koji sebe smatra nedostojnim nje'', poučava isti svetac (10, pisma 12, 18).
Također se događa i suprotno ovom, odnosno čovjek koji sebe smatra grešnikom, bez ikakvog dobra u sebi, ovakvim samo-ukorom i poniznošću, približava se Bogu i utvrđuje se u istinskom dobru, i obratno, onaj koji sebe smatra revnosnim i pobožnim pravoslavnim kršćaninom, sposobnim za mnoga dobra djela i podvige, ustvari je daleko i od Boga i od istinskog dobra, i često bude ismijan od strane demona.

KAKO DEMONI, PREDLAŽUĆI ONO ŠTO JE NAIZGLED DOBRO, MOGU DA NAS ULOVE U SVOJE MREŽE?

Iako i posve prekrasna djela mogu da ne donesu duši nikakvu korist pa, čak i da joj naštete, ipak treba reći da se bez izvanjskih djela i bez prisile sebe, na za dušu korisne podvige i napore, nikako ne može u pravoslavnom kršćanskom životu, jer unutrašnji život je bez ovih djela nemoguć. Potrebno je pronaći onu svetu i tajanstvenu vezu između izvanjskog i unutrašnjeg djelovanja, tako da se oni uzajamno dopunjavaju, a ovo se također stiče iskustvom, kroz molitvu, i daje se onome koji to iskreno traži i moli od milosti Božje. Da naša djela dostignu glavni cilj, odnosno ispravljaju i liječe našeg unutrašnjeg čovjeka, i da ne budu besmisleno udaranje po vjetru (1 Kor 9, 26), treba pažljivo da pratimo svaki pokret srca, da se uvijek trudimo da primijetimo kakva misao i kakvi osjećaji su nikli u duši i naveli nas na ovaj ili onaj postupak, riječ ili želju, i tek na osnovu toga da sudimo o tome što je za nas duhovno korisno, a što štetno. Ako tako budemo pazili na sebe, otkrit ćemo da nije svako ponašanje koje je, izvana gledano, pohvalno zaista i dobro, i da ponekad neugledan i jednostavan život bez ikakve privlačnosti može u stvari da bude vrlo duhovno koristan.
Pod naizgled korisnim djelima i dobrim namjerama često se krije ono što je vrlo opasno i štetno. Kralj Salomon u izrekama govori: Neki se put čini čovjeku prav, a kraj mu je put k smrti (Izr 16,25), i kralj David u psalmima: Na putu kojim idem sakriše mi zamku (Ps 142,3), odnosno ''na putu kojim sam išao oni su mi tajno postavili zamke''. 

"They" are evil souls who most often try to catch us by offering us something seemingly useful, sublime and heroic. And, Orthodox Christians fall much more often deceived by false virtues than future deceived by obvious sins. In addition, it is much more difficult to get out of this deception than to rise from an obvious fall into some sin, because here the damage is not always obvious.
How many examples of this type, of the most varied cunning tricks and evil deeds of the devil, we meet in the teachings of the holy Fathers and the biographies of the Saints. How often, almost every day and hour, such cunning counsels and whisperings of the devils try to drag every Christian to the side, to mislead him on a false path.
Demons easily enter into a conversation with our mind and hide themselves while passing their advice as our own thought. Because of this, we are often exposed to the danger of accepting some bright or subtle thought and impulse of the soul, fiery feelings as something true, as some saving and gracious illumination. Evil spirits usually try to deceive us with cunning thoughts and false feelings, and ascetics, monks and Those laymen who undertake special feats, as well as those who, having no feats, nevertheless have a high opinion of themselves, are often deceived by demons with false visions and revelations, appearing to them either in the form of bright angels or in the form of men. However, all these are tricks of the same kind, which have as their secret passage into a man's soul his hidden and deep conviction in his own righteousness and sense of his own dignity.
For the sake of special caution and sobriety of mind towards various "bright" and fiery phenomena within us and outside us, we will cite here some very instructive stories from the works of the Holy Fathers which reveal the diversity, cunning and corruption of demonic deceptions.
St. Ignatius of Briancon says that ' 'demons do not always try to draw a person into communion with them and to dominate him with obviously sinful thoughts. They first suggest actions that seem to have nothing suspicious in them, often seemingly good, and only then, when they have already gained influence and power over a person, they push him into the iniquities which are thus the consequence of the original following of the suggestions of the demons. This shows how narrow and full of suffering the path of thought is and with what sobriety of mind one must walk it'' (11, s. 472, p. 117).
An old man told the following story: "A young man, having asked his father for permission, entered a monastery where he began to perform many feats, and even to amaze the abbot with his austere life. Then he soon began to beg to be released." into the desert for the purpose of a solitary life. Having finally received permission, he went into the desert and settled in a place which the Lord had shown him in a wonderful way. There he settled down and began to perform asceticism, and thus lived as a hermit for six years, not seeing no one.
Once the devil came to him in the form of an old man and his face was terrible. The brother, seeing him, was afraid and fell prostrate on the ground and began to pray, then got up. The devil said: 'Let us pray, brother, some more.' They prayed and when they had finished praying the devil asked him: 'How long have you lived here?' He replied: 'Six years.' The devil said: 'You are my neighbor! And I only found out four days ago that you live here. My cell is not far from here, I have not left it for eleven years and I only came out today when I found out that you live in the neighborhood. When I found out about this, I thought to myself: I will go to that man of God to talk to him about what is useful for our souls. I will also tell him that our hermit life does us no good because we do not partake of the holy Body and Blood of Christ, that I am afraid that we will become strangers to Christ if we move away from this Holy Mystery. You should know, brother, that three miles from here is a monastery where there is a priest. Let us go there on Sunday to receive the Body and Blood of Christ and return to our cells.' The brother liked this advice.
When Sunday came, the devil came again and they went together to that monastery, entered the church and stood to pray. After the prayer, the brother did not find the one who brought him, he began to look for him, he asked the brothers where the father who had entered the church with him was. They answered him: 'We did not see anyone, we saw only you.' Then the brother realized that it was a demon and said to them about himself: 'See with what cunning the devil dragged me out of the cell! However, do not worry, I came here for a good thing, I will receive the Body and Blood of Christ and return to my cell.' The brother took communion, then was forced to share the table with the monastery brothers and finally returned to his cell.
And now, time passes, and the devil comes to him again, now as a young layman, begins to look at him from head to toe and says: 'Surely, it is he!' Then he begins to look at him again. The brother asks him: 'Why are you looking at me like that?' He replies: 'I don't think you recognize me. After all, how could you recognize me after so long a time! I am your father's neighbor, the son of so-and-so. Really! Isn't your father's name that? And wasn't that your mother's name? Your sister's name was so-and-so, you used to be called so-and-so. Your mother and sister died more than three years ago, and your father just died today and made you his heir, saying: 'To whom should I leave my property if not to my son, a holy man who has left the world and is leading a desert life, for God's sake. I will leave all my wealth to him.' Then he asked us to find his son and inform him to come and receive the property and distribute it to the poor for their souls. Many have sought you and have not found you, but I, having come here on my business, have learned about you. Do not hesitate! Go, sell everything and fulfill the will of your father.' The brother answered him:'I should not return to the world.' The devil said to him, 'If I do not
If you go, your property will perish, and you will have to answer before God. What wrong am I saying to you if I tell you: 'Go and distribute the property to the poor, like a good steward, so that harlots and debauched people do not plunder what was left for the poor?' And having deceived his brother with these words, the devil brought him back into the world, accompanied him to the city and left him there. The monk thought that he would enter the house of his already dead father, and behold! His father himself came out to meet him. When his father saw him, he did not recognize him and asked him sternly: 'Who are you?' The monk was confused and could not answer anything. The father began to question him, and then the confused monk answered him: 'I am your son.' To this the father asked him: 'Why did you return here?' The monk was ashamed to explain the real reason for his coming, but he said: 'Love for you made me return, because I grieved greatly for you.' He remained in his father's house, and after a while he fell into fornication, and his father severely punished him. The unfortunate man did not repent, but remained in the world" (11, pp. 453-435, p. 9).
Commenting on this history, St. Ignatius indicates that the main reason for the monk's fall was his premature and arbitrary entry into the desert life, for which he was not ripe. He also notes that the devil often acts on hermits publicly, and on those who live in a monastery usually through thoughts, but this action is essentially one and the same. In order to destroy a person, the devil often uses the most appropriate excuses, presents abundant good and benefit, and pushes a person into grave sins and danger.
How cunning and cautious the enemy is! The hermit's first departure seemed to have nothing wrong with it, and even ended with seemingly abundant benefit. However, the harm was that the soul was deprived of the saving caution, it was shown the harmlessness of his departures from the desert. Thus the devil, often leading his victim on a perilous path, can prepare her for a long time, hiding any harm from her and presenting her with many apparent advantages of this path, until he finally seizes the opportunity to irreparably harm a Christian who has lost his spiritual vigilance.
St. Ignatius recalls the temptation that befell the God-pleasing Peter of Mount Athos. This father was also cunningly tempted by an evil demon who appeared before him as his relative and with beautiful words persuaded him to leave his life in solitude and go to his native land and there save his people from danger. St. Peter rejected this flattery and put the devil to shame. St. Ignatius says: "The saints could defend themselves from the devil's attacks only by the grace of God, with the help of the grace of God, which lives in the saints and enlightens them. But how can one withstand these demonic attacks with blind conceit, with a complete lack of reason, with a pride that always flatters and deceives itself? How can one withstand these attacks if the inner man is in spiritual darkness, in captivity and slavery to the devil?'' It will not be superfluous to note that the ''truth'' of carnal wisdom preached by evil spirits is identical to the ''truth'' preached by the world hostile to God and which is contrary to the gospel truth (11, p. 458).
He also cites another case of demonic temptation: ''Demons, taking the form of angels, appeared to a brother, woke him up, showed him light and called him to divine service. However, he, having asked the elders for advice, put the demons to shame and did not listen to them, although they suggested a seemingly good thing. Then the demons began to slander the elder who revealed their intrigues to the brother. They said to the brother: 'Your elder is a hypocrite, he had money, and did not lend it to a brother, saying that he did not have it.'' The brother told this to the elder earlier in the morning. The old man said: 'Yes, it is true that I had money, and I did not give it to the brother who asked me to lend him, knowing that I would harm his soul if I gave it to him. I considered it better to break one commandment than to break ten. This could have caused a great confusion, the cause of which would be this money. And do not listen to the demons who want to deceive you.''
''We must not engage in good deeds that demons suggest,'' St. Ignatius comments on this story, ''no matter how sublime and brilliant these virtues may be. We must reject everything that demons suggest, without exception. Yielding to demonic suggestions subjects a person to demons, deprives a person of spiritual freedom, makes him their tool. It is a great misfortune to become a slave to demons and their tool! A misfortune that grips the world, but which the world does not understand.'' (11, pp. 466-467, p. 110).
Interesting and very instructive cases are described by a monk from Mount Athos who lived on Mount Athos in the nineteenth century and visited many famous places on Mount Athos and described his impressions in letters to his friends in Russia.
The author of the letters went with a monk from Mount Athos to the monk's cell, and as they passed by a huge rock that towered over the precipice, the latter told him the following story about the place: "Until the last Turkish war, a Greek who was from a famous family used to take refuge here, but, renouncing all his rights to worldly fame and honor, chose a life in the desert. It must be assumed that he was particularly strong in asceticism, otherwise he would not have provoked the demon. When all attempts at mental struggle against the hermit remained in vain, the demon found a weak spot in him and used the hermit's own heart and mind as tools for his extraordinary downfall.
The demon bewildered the hermit with thoughts about the alleged height, variety, severity, and multitude of his exploits, and, in this way, gradually led the unfortunate man into such delusion that he began to desire mysterious visions and obvious indications from the spiritual world. When pride and arrogance had thus taken root in him, the demon began to act decisively! He began to appear to the hermit in the form of an angel and to speak with him. The unfortunate man believed the angel's words and his own thoughts to such an extent that he began to desire to serve the Church in the episcopal vocation, for which, according to the angel, he had long been worthy and for which he had been predestined by the Lord Himself. The importance of his parents in the world occupied his imagination too much, and the glory of their name tickled the mind of the enthusiastic ascetic. All that was missing was a chance that could summon him from the desert into the world. But this did not pose a great problem to the demon. Once, when the hermit was very busy thinking about his alleged higher predestination and was deeply thinking, devising ways to achieve his goal, suddenly someone rang a bell on the porch. The hermit trembled, crossed himself, and, whispering a prayer, approached the door.
'Who is it?' he asked.  'You and you,' they answered from behind the door, 'we are from your homeland, we bring you greetings from your people and something else. We have come to you with an important message, allow us to enter your house and talk to you, holy father.'  The hermit opened the door and two unknown men greeted him respectfully.

'Dobro došli', skromno reče pustinjak, otvarajući vrata. Nepoznati uđoše. Domaćin smjesti goste na divan od trske i sam sjede preko puta njih. Na kraju ih pustinjak upita za cilj njihove posjete i nepoznati počeše da govore: 'Evo što ti moramo reći, sveti oče: ti znaš kako mi stradamo pod vlašću Porte, kako smo potlačeni, mi i naše porodice, naša vjera i sama naša Crkva. Ti, naravno, to i sam znaš.'
'Da, tako je', suosjećajno reče pustinjak, 'što to treba da znači'?
'Ti sigurno znaš i to', nastavi nepoznati, 'da se rat Turaka s Rusijom završio mirom, koji je za nas vrlo povoljan, sada imamo mogućnost i slobodu da živimo kršćanski. Ali, evo u čemu je nesreća, nema kod nas, u tvome zavičaju, biskupa. A, može li biti Crkva bez biskupa, imamo li mi snage sami sobom da upravljamo? Tko će nas obraniti od turske pljačke? Međutim, znamo tvoje rođake, znamo i tvoj život i zato smo te, oprosti nam što smo to učinili bez tvog pristanka, izmolili za svog biskupa. Evo ti za to i turskog fermana, a uz njega je i povelja patrijarhova.'
Nepoznati tada izvadiše papire i predadoše ih pustinjaku. 'Molim vas', usprotivio se pustinjak ponizno pognuvši glavu, a u stvari spreman da skače od radosti. 'Zar ja da primim žezlo pastirskog upravljanja kad nemam snage ni sam sobom da vladam? Zar ja da preuzmem na sebe breme apostolskog služenja kad osjećam svoju vlastitu nemoć i mnoštvo grijeha? Ne, djeco, odričem se onoga što premašuje moje snage! Osim toga, pustinja je za mene raj, dao sam zavjet pred Bogom da ću umrijeti ovdje.'
'Misli o sebi kako hoćeš, sveti oče,' odgovarali su nepoznati, 'a glas naroda je glas Božji, volja vlasti je volja Božja! Ti znaš da je opća korist prije naše pojedinačne. A, na što ferman? Ne, oče, ne odriči se! Crkva te zove. Ako te ništa ne dira, ni jadi naroda, ni naše obiteljske nesreće, zar za tebe ni nužda Crkve ništa ne znači?' 'Kad je tako,' odgovori pustinjak na kraju, tek poslije nekog razmišljanja, 'pristajem'.
'Dakle, oče, požuri', primijetiše gosti. 'Što prije krenemo, tim bolje, nedaleko odavde na putu nas čekaju mule i pratioci.'
Dok se pustinjak spremao i nešto stavljao u svoju vreću, nepoznati nisu prestali da ga požuruju. Na kraju počeše da se penju tom stazom k samom vrhu stijene: teška tuga i nejasan predosjećaj pritiskali su grudi podvižnika, bio je žalostan zbog rastanka sa svojom pustinjom. Kad su se popeli tamo na sam vrh, nesretnik nije htio da ode, a da još jednom ne pogleda na ljepote svoje surove pustinje. Svo troje su stajali na stijeni, a ispod njihovih nogu je bila provalija. Pustinjak je bio tako neoprezan da je u razgovoru se nepoznatima, došao s njima na najstrmiji dio stijene. I tu ga snažan udarac u leđa zbaci u bezdan, a sa stijene se sotonski smijeh razliježe nad pustinjom.
Nesretnik međutim, nije odmah umro. Bog mu je dao vrijeme za pokajanje i poslao mu je redovnika iz susjedne isposničke ćelije. Nesretnik koji je pao bio je potpuno izlomljen, lubanja mu je bila razbijena, krv je u potocima tekla iz rana, ali je, ipak, imao dovoljno vremena i snage da ispriča detalje iz svog života i iskušenja, i molio je redovnike koji su ga poznavali da ga spominju i da se mole za njega. Na rukama redovnika koji je plakao ispustio je dušu. Poslije ovog svog užasnog iskušenja nije živio više od tri sata.
Svetogorac koji je čuo za ovaj strašni slučaj, stojeći na litici s koje je onaj nesretnik pao, čudio se kako nesretni redovnik nije odmah poginuo, pavši s takve visine. Sigurno je imao neke kreposti zbog kojih ga Gospodin nije ostavio da umre bez pokajanja'', zaključuje autor pisama ovu povijest (8, dio 2, pismo 11).
Iz pisama ovog svetogorca, opet, očigledno je da se demoni ne boje uvijek naših molitava, nego ponekad mogu čak i da podstiču naše nepravilne molitvene napore.
''Demon nije toliko moćan koliko je lukav i domišljat u iskušenjima,'' govori svetogorski redovnik i navodi ovakvu priču. Kod njih u samostanu je živio neki ruski redovnik, koji je imao iskrenu sklonost k molitvi, ali nije razumio veličinu i važnost poslušnosti, i počeo je da izbjegava zajedničke samostanske poslušnosti i da se udaljuje u šumu radi molitve. Pomisao mu je sve češće i češće ponavljala da je molitva svojstvo anđeoskog duha i hrana za dušu, a da je rad potreba svakodnevnog života, svjetska i sujetna, tako se on sve više približavao samovolji, dok konačno nisu počele u njemu da se rađaju misli o uzvišenosti njegovog podviga i života.
Na kraju je počeo da mu se javlja svijetli anđeo i da blagoslivlja njegov molitveni podvig. Najuvjerljivijim argumentima je hvalio njegovu molitvu i ponižavao bratsku poslušnost. Ne zna se čime bi se ovo završilo da na redovnikovo ponašanje nije obratio pažnju jedan Grk koji je činio podvig. On je podrobno ispitao ruskog redovnika i uplašio se za njega, čuvši za njegova priviđenja. Onda mu je dao strogu pouku i rekao ovakve riječi: ''Upropastit će te demon, izludjet će te zbog tvojih samovoljnih molitvenih podviga, molitva ti je na grijeh i omogućava demonu slobodan pristup k tebi. Tebi se javlja sotona, a ne anđeo. Ispitaj to ako hoćeš: ne odlazi u šumu, radi s braćom, ćelijni kanon čitaj u svojoj ćeliji (sobi), a kad se ovaj ''anđeo'' pojavi pred tobom nemoj obraćati nikakvu pažnju na njega i strogo se drži svoje molitve.'' Još je puno toga u istom ovom duhu rekao podvižnik ruskom redovniku, da se ovaj ozbiljno uplašio i poslušao ga.
So he did. Since he was working with the brothers, he went to his cell to pray. And sure enough, the "angel" appeared again, but the old man paid no attention to him at all, he didn't even look at him. And the "bright angel" became furious, instead of the beautiful young man bright as lightning, a hideous Ethiopian suddenly appeared with eyes that shone like fire, and began to jump in front of the praying brother. In vain, the brother crossed himself and bowed more often, hoping to drive away the demon. But the demon would not leave and would not let him read the canon. In the end, the monk, enraged with all his might, incited the evil spirit with his rosary, and the demon struck him in the ear with his paw and disappeared like smoke. Since then, the unfortunate brother has been deaf and to this day he has not heard anything, says the monk from Mount Athos.
Immediately after this story, the author of the letters also notes that the temptations of monks in the desert are even more dangerous, and for this reason a rule was adopted on Mount Athos that anyone who goes to the desert for silence or solitude resolutely rejects any visions and, with a humble awareness of his nothingness and sinfulness, rejects visions from the spiritual world, no matter what they may be. He goes on to cite the following cases.
A hermit of a sublime life and rare feats was praying quietly in his cell one night. Suddenly, a blinding light spread before him and a young man of angelic beauty appeared before him. Since he had accepted the rule to stay away from sensual visions of any kind, the hermit remained calm in his place and, praying, did not pay attention to the vision. However, the young man did not disappear. This astonished the hermit all the more because the one who appeared was not afraid of either the cross or prayer.
"Who are you?" the hermit finally asked him sternly.
"Your guardian angel," the newcomer answered meekly.
"Why have you come?" asked the hermit.
"I have been commanded by the Lord God," he said, "to visit you in my present form, and I have come to you." "
I have no need of that," the hermit observed, stood up and began to pray.
The angel did not disappear, and it seemed as if he were praying with the old man who was praying. The hermit did not understand what a strange phenomenon this was.
"How will you convince him," the hermit asked the newcomer in some perplexity, "that you are really an angel of God?" "
Whatever you wish," replied the latter. "You know," continued the angel, "that demons fear the power of the cross and the sign of the cross, but I am not afraid. I worship God, and I worship, as you see, the cross." Here the angel crossed himself and fell in touching awe before the image of the cross of Christ. The hermit hesitated.  "What more do you ask of me?" the angel asked him, rising from the ground. "You see that not only am I not afraid of the cross, but I also worship it: so,I am your guardian angel.'
' ''Perhaps you are,'' the hermit said calmly, ''but I still don't need you in your sensual form, our guardian angels are invisible!''
"So, you still don't believe me?" the angel asked the hermit again.
"I will never believe you," the old man replied firmly. "Go away from me with God, whoever you are, even if you are an archangel yourself, I don't need you in your visible form. You distract me from prayer, and that alone proves that you are not an angel." "
In vain," the latter objected, "I will not leave you because I have been commanded to stay with you." "
As you wish," the monk said coldly, "without the priest's questions and advice, I will not know about you, go away from me! I do not need you in this form," and the monk stood to pray while the angel became invisible, promising that the next night he would appear again in the same way.
When dawn broke, the monk went to his priest and told him about the vision. The priest thought to himself: to bow to the cross, to cross himself and not be afraid to pray, this is not the quality of a demon. However, the spiritual father forbade the hermit to speak or to deal with the apparition if it repeated, but only to pray and not to pay attention to this apparition from the spiritual world. The hermit did so.
However, in order to resolve his doubts regarding the monk's apparition, the spiritual father turned to one of the elders who is known here on Mount Athos for his experience in monastic life, his gift of discernment, and his strict discrimination of demonic suggestions, and asked him for advice: "What should a monk do in the event of similar phenomena?" "
Nothing," he replied, "for he knows nothing about anything other than himself and God."
"What do you think about the young man who appeared bowing to the cross: is he really an angel?" the spiritual father asked the old man.
"Maybe," the latter replied, "but he is most likely a demon." "
And the fact that the young man is not afraid of the cross, nor kissing the cross?" the spiritual father remarked. "What do you say to that?"
"The same as the apparition itself," the old man replied. After some thought, he continued: "Of course, you know and agree that the higher our path to God is, the more dangerous and subtle our fight against Satan is. In order to show his power in us and at the same time expose Satan's powerlessness, God sometimes allows Satan to act and fight against us, as only the cunning one wants and can. Because God allows this, the cross itself may not be terrible for the evil spirit, so that everything that is terrible and deadly to him in other cases, such as God's wrath, may not be terrible."
"What is left for the hermit to do if the apparition repeats?" the spiritual father asked the old man. "Perhaps an angel really appears to him."
"Even if the one who appears takes the form of Christ himself," said the elder, "we should not pay attention to him. After the Ascension of the Lord, faith in Him is more useful to us than any apparition. Here only one thing is required: that we do not pay attention to the appearance, but rather to engage in our own business, that is, prayer. Let an angel appear, is that not our business? We have business and prayerful relations with God, with our Master and Lord; and an angel is nothing more than His slave and servant. Judge for yourself: is it good to interrupt the conversation with the Lord and engage in His servant? If an angel of God really appears to your monk, let him not receive him! The angel will never be offended by our inattention to him during prayer, because he knows the divine importance of our prayerful relations with God and not only will he never distract us from them, but, on the contrary, he should even encourage us to constantly carry them out. And if an angel is offended by our not paying attention to him and if he disturbs us in our prayerful conversations with God, even if such an angel were all in crosses, and not just kissing the cross, do not receive him because he is an enemy! So, my advice is the same: not only should we not receive, but we should not even desire sensual manifestations from the spiritual world, because they are neither necessary nor useful to us, and there are countless dangers. And, from our mental struggle, we know well what Satan is like in the shamelessness of the lewd thoughts he whispers to us, and we clearly know how bright, pure and blameless angels are in the manifestation of peaceful and serene thoughts in our hearts, while Satan, on the contrary, besieges us with all possible filth of proud, selfish and lustful fantasies, in a frenzy of anger. What more can be said? Why is a sensory apparition of angels or Satan necessary when we know them well without it?''
''To convince you of the correctness of my words,'' continued the old man, ''that we should not accept apparitions because they are dangerous, listen to what I will tell you about a hermit neighbor of mine. At night, as soon as he stood up to pray, it seemed to him that the cross hanging in the front corner of his cell suddenly shone with a blinding light, brighter than the sun. This radiance of the cross had such an effect on the heart of the prayer-giver that he was beside himself with joy. When my neighbor confided this to me, I immediately attributed this apparition to demonic cunning, but I wanted to verify this apparition by experience. That is why I went to spend the night with my neighbor.''
"Listen, brother," I said to the host, "I think that because of my unworthiness the light coming from your cross will be invisible to me, therefore, when you notice this miracle as usual, tell me." The host said: "Good." And we began to pray in silence in the deep darkness of the desert evening. Not even an hour had passed when my host exclaimed in a jubilant voice: "Father, the light comes from the cross, I cannot even look at it. The joy of my heart is indescribable. I am beside myself with delight at this vision, from the warmth of the divine light!" "Cross yourself!" I whispered to him. "I cannot, father," he cried, "I am so weak with joy that I cannot even raise my hands!" "Unfortunate one," I said bitterly and throwing myself at him, I crossed myself, "what have you brought yourself to with your recklessness and arrogance! Is there still light or is it gone?” I then asked my neighbor. “There is nothing,” he replied, “it is as dark now as before.” “You see what is happening to us,” the elder remarked to the spiritual father.
“When the spiritual father told me about his conversation with the elder,” says the author of the letters, “I remembered Saint Nikita the Prisoner of Kiev (celebrated on January 31). Experienced ascetics also warned this hermit about the satanic temptation he had fallen into. A supposed angel appeared to Nikita, and Nikita asked him to cross himself, pray, and bow before the icon in the room (cell). The supposed angel did so. If he had not done so, the prisoner would have immediately recognized the action of an angel of darkness beneath the bright apparition. So, there are such temptations where God allows Satan to act in such a way that for the time being neither prayer nor the cross frighten or disturb him. Of course, these are already the unfathomable ways of God. From this we can only conclude one thing: that everything the Lord does with us, regardless of what He allows Satan to do, is so that, as we go through various degrees of temptation, we may experience the truth of His words:  For my power is made perfect in weakness  (2 Cor 12:9). (8, d. 2, letter 3).
''Starcu Ilarionu Gruzijcu dogodilo se slijedeće: (ovaj otac je činio podvig na Svetoj gori u devetnaestom stoljeću), kad je živio u potpunom zatvorništvu na kuli, nikoga nije primao i nikuda nije izlazio, demoni su vodili protiv njega najljuću borbu. Jednom prilikom su neki hodočasnici probali da se uvuku kroz prozor da dobiju od njega blagoslov, ali se starac i od njih sakrio. Demoni su, pak, ovo što se dogodilo iskoristili za svoje ciljeve i izvršili svoj napad. Jednom su se, javivši se kao hodočasnici, uvukli kroz prozor i počeli da govore starcu da su bili prisiljeni da pribjegnu ovome zato što on nikoga ne pušta, a oni vrlo žele da vide svog zemljaka. Radi njega su, navodno, doputovali iz daleke zemlje da bi se posavjetovali s njim o raznim stvarima. Misleći da su oni stvarno hodočasnici, on je stupio s njima u razgovor, a to je sve što je demonima i bilo potrebno. Oni započeše dugu priču o nesreći svoga naroda i Crkve, a na kraju jako izvrgnuše ruglu starca i tako ga pretukoše da je on dva mjeseca ležao bez glasa'' (15, str. 56).
Ovakvim jakim iskušenjima, koja često imaju dugotrajne teške posljedice, podvrgavaju se ne samo redovnici i pustinjaci koji vode usamljeni život, nego i kršćani u svijetu kada nerazumno uzimaju na sebe velike podvige. Ovim svojim naporima oni razdražuju demone, ali zbog toga što su njihovi podvizi nepravilni oni ne donose ono glavno, odnosno unizujući tijelo ne unizuju dušu nego čine da u njoj neprimjetno zavlada oholost i umišljenost. Takve revnosne, koji se revni ne po razumu, milost Božja ne čuva nego im dopušta da radi urazumljivanja budu prevareni i ismijani od zlih duhova da ih kroz ovo ponizi ili smiri.
Sv. biskup Ignjacije opisuje ovakav slučaj iz svog doba: ''Dolazio je u Aleksandro-Nevsku lavru kod oca Joanikija radi duhovnih pouka neki vojnik (a u to vrijeme se i sam sv. Ignjacije obraćao ovom nastavniku radi duhovnih savjeta). On se zvao Pavle, bio je novo-obraćeni raskolnik, a prethodno je bio čak i nekakav nastavnik kod raskolnika, jer je bio pismen čovjek. Pavlovo lice je sijalo od radosti. Međutim, on se, iz vatrene usrdnosti koja se u njemu razgorjela, predao neumjerenom i spram svog tijela neodgovarajućem podvigu, nemajući pritom dovoljno znanja o duševnom podvigu.
Jedne noći Pavle je stajao na molitvi. Odjednom se oko ikona pojavila svjetlost u obliku sunca i, usred svjetlosti, golub koji je blještao od bjeline. Od goluba se začuo glas: ''Primi me, ja sam Sveti Duh i došao sam da načinim u tebi svoju obitelj.'' Pavle je radosno pristao. Golub je ušao u njega kroz usta, i Pavle izmučen postom i bdijenjem odjednom u sebi osjeti izuzetno jaku bludnu strast: on ostavi molitvu i otrča u javnu kuću.
Njegova strast je postala nezasitna. Sve javne kuće i sve bludnice koje su mu bile dostupne, postale su njegov stalni brlog. Na kraju se osvijestio. Svoju obmanu demonskim priviđenjem i oskrnavljenost posljedicama obmane je izložio u pismu redovniku Leonidu.'' Sam sv. Ignjacije je imao prilike da pročita ovo pismo.
''Treba se napomenuti,'' govori sv. Ignjacije, ''da pali duh, želeći da zavlada Kristovim podvižnikom, ne djeluje zapovjednički nego traži način da čovjeka navede da pristane na predloženu obmanu i, poslije dobivanja pristanka, zavlada onim tko je dao pristanak. A, Sveti Duh, s neograničenom vlašću, kao Bog, dolazi onda kad čovjek, koji se ponizio ili unizio sebe, uopće ne očekuje Njegov dolazak. Duh Sveti odjednom mijenja um čovjekov, mijenja srce čovjekovo. Svojim djelovanjem, On obuzima svu volju i sve sposobnosti čovjeka koji ne može čak ni da razmišlja o djelovanju koje se u njemu događa'' (9, t. 5, str. 49-50).
A, evo slučaja koji se dogodio sasvim nedavno, njega je ispričao jedan redovnik. Ova tragična priča se dogodila njegovom rođenom bratu, s kojim je on ne tako davno postao vjernik, počeli su da idu u hram, da zajedno idu na hodočašća po svetim mjestima, da borave u samostanima. Braća su počela da čitaju Svete Oce i da tvore Isusovu molitvu. Međutim, očigledno je da je brat ovoga redovnika u ovim vježbama skrenuo s pravog puta i pao u oholost, zbog čega se dogodilo slijedeće: jednom kad je bio sam u kući i bavio se molitvom pred njim se pojavio odvratni demon i počeo da ga ometa u molitvi, brat se nije uplašio nego je hrabro stupio s njim u razgovor. Počeo je da nagovara demona da se pokaje i počeo da mu govori o neizrecivoj milosti Božjoj i o tome da, čak, i njega (demona) Bog može da pomiluje, ako se on (demon) pokaje. I još nešto je savjetovao demonu u istom tom duhu. Demon je, tobože, pažljivo slušao, zatim se ozbiljno zamislio, i na kraju, počeo da se pravi da se kaje, počeo je da se moli, da uzdiše, klanjao se pred ikonom i uopće, čitavim svojim izgledom je odavao duboku skrušenost i pokajanje zbog svih zala koje je učinio, iskazujući žudnju za brzim pomilovanjem. Brat je očarano pratio njegova djelovanja (očigledno likujući u sebi). I, gle, ubrzo, na demona silazi kao neki svijetli oblak, kao neka svjetlost, kao neka milost, i on se pred mladićevim očima pretvara u svijetlog anđela. I taj anđeo počinje vatreno da zahvaljuje bratu, da mu se klanja do zemlje, naziva ga svojim spasiocem zato što je on, zahvaljujući njegovoj riječi, spašen, opet je postao svijetli anđeo. Demon mu, zatim, predlaže da postane njegov svagdašnji vjerni čuvar, da uđe u njega i da ga uvijek čuva i pomaže mu svojom preporođenom anđeoskom silom. Brat je u neopisivom ushićenju, van sebe je od sreće, i naravno pristaje! Lažni anđeo ulazi u njega, i brat odmah postaje bjesomučan, počinje da viče, da psuje strašno, da lomi ikone, da ih izbacuje kroz prozor i čini druge užasne stvari. Sada se taj mladić nalazi u psihijatrijskoj bolnici. Ponekad živi kod kuće s roditeljima, ali kad se bolest pogorša moraju da ga voze u bolnicu, jer tada čini odvratne postupke. Međutim, kad mu bude bolje može pomalo i da se moli. Njegov brat redovnik je u mnoge samostane poslao molbu da se mole za njegovog nesretnog brata.
A, evo primjera kako istinska poniznost lako izbjegava slične zamke.
Nekom bratu se javio đavao, preobrazivši se u anđela svjetlosti i rekao mu: ''Ja sam arkanđeo Gabrijel, poslan sam tebi.'' Redovnik je na to odgovorio: ''Pazi! Da ti slučajno nisi poslan nekom drugom, zato što sam ja nedostojan da mi se šalju anđeli.'' Đavao je istog trenutka nestao.
Starci su govorili: ''Ako ti se zaista javi anđeo, nemoj ga primiti lakovjerno nego se ponizi govoreći: 'Ja živim u grijesima i nedostojan sam da vidim anđele'.'' (11, str. 480, str. 134)
Pričali su za drugog starca da je tihovao u svojoj sobi (ćeliji), trpeći demonska iskušenja. Njemu su se, očigledno, javljali demoni, ali ih je on prezirao. Đavao vidjevši da ga je starac pobijedio javio mu se i reče: ''Ja sam Krist!'' Starac zatvori oči. Đavao mu ponovi: ''Ja sam Krist, zašto si zatvorio oči?'' Starac odgovori: ''Ne želim da vidim Krista ovdje nego u budućem životu.'' Poslije ovoga đavao se više nije javljao (11, s. 481, str. 135).
Treba napomenuti da se sveti anđeli od Boga javljaju samo onim poniznim i krotkim istinski pravoslavnim kršćanima koji se već nalaze van opasnosti da postanu oholi, padnu u sujetu i ovim sebi smrtno naštete.
Jednom, kad je sveti Makarije Veliki sjedio u svojoj sobi (ćeliji), pojavio se anđeo, od Boga poslan i rekao: ''Makarije, ne boj se napada nevidljivih neprijatelja zato što te naš blagi Vladar neće ostaviti i neće prestati da te podržava, budi hrabar, budi čvrst, smjelo pobjeđuj odvratne sile i vlasti. Međutim, nemoj se nikada ponositi svojim djelima da te božanska pomoć ne napusti, i da ne padneš iznenada.'' Blaženi Makarije je, sav obliven suzama, odgovorio: ''Čime da se ponosim kad se moja duša kao razvratna bludnica hrani smradom nečistih pomisli koje donose demoni.''
''Do tako duboke poniznosti'', govori sv. Ignjacije Brjančaninov, ''došao je bogougodni dubokim samopromatranjem koje mu je bilo dato u umnom djelovanju. U sebi je vidio čovjekov pad i čovjekovo općenje s demonima'' (11, s. 284, str. 8).
''Čovjek koji se još nalazi u oblasti tjelesnog mudrovanja,'' piše sv. Ignjacije, ''i nije dobio duhovni vid da vidi palu ljudsku prirodu, ne može da ne pridaje neki značaj svojim djelima i da ne priznaje da ima neke kreposti, ma koliko da takav čovjek izgovara poniznih riječi o sebi i bez obzira kako da izvana izgleda ponizan. Istinska poniznost nije svojstvena tjelesnom mudrovanju i nemoguće ju je steći tjelesnim mudrovanjem, poniznost pripada duhovnom rasuđivanju.''
Bogu ugodni Marko Podvižnik govori ovako: ''Oni koji ne smatraju sebe dužnicima u pogledu svake zapovijedi Kristove, poštuju Božji zakon samo tjelesno, ne razumijući ni ono što govore niti ono na što se oslanjaju, zato i misle da ga izvršavaju djelima.''
Iz riječi bogougodnog Oca je očigledno da se onaj koji misli da ima bilo kakvo dobro djelo nalazi u stanju samoobmane. Ovo stanje samoobmane služi kao osnova za demonsku obmanu: pali anđeo u kršćaninovoj oholosti nalazi utočište i njoj lako pridodaje svoju obmanu, a posredstvom obmane podčinjava čovjeka svojoj vlasti, bacajući ga u takozvanu demonsku obmanu.
Iz gore navedenih iskustava je očigledno da nijedan od onih koji su bili obmanuti nije za sebe smatrao da je nedostojan pojave anđela, a to znači da je mislio da ima neke kreposti ili vrline. Tjelesni i duševni čovjek ne može ni da sudi o sebi drukčije.''
Dakle, ne smije se imati povjerenja u svaku naizgled dobru pojavu ili poriv, nego treba precizno razlikovati istinsko pravoslavno kršćansko i evanđeosko dobro od dobra lažnog, koje je štetno po dušu čovjekovu i koje čovjeka udaljuje od Boga.

KAKO SE EVANĐEOSKO DOBRO RAZLIKUJE OD LJUDSKOG DOBRA?

People who do not understand the spiritual foundations of life and what is happening in the world judge human actions superficially, they divide human activity into obviously evil, on the one hand, and good and praiseworthy, on the other, only according to its external manifestation, using, in doing so, very vague and unstable worldly standards for distinguishing good from evil. And, the world itself does not have the truth that would reveal to it the true value of things, because only one single law provides a clear definition of what is sin and what is good. This is the law of the Gospel. The laws of this world can sometimes, in some of their aspects, resemble the true Orthodox Christian law, but this is only in appearance: in fact, they are completely different. Although man after his fall completely submitted to sin and became perverted, sick and evil, the seeds of natural good that the Creator sowed in him at the time of creation are still preserved in him, although they no longer have that original purity and holiness, but are defiled by the poison of sin. However, this natural human "truth", which is defiled by the impurity of sin, cannot teach man true good, cannot revive and heal his soul. People who do not believe do many beautiful, seemingly praiseworthy deeds, perform many good deeds, feats of mercy, love, self-sacrifice, sometimes even give their lives for their people or for their neighbor, give their last piece of bread to the hungry, help each other in need, sacrifice their property for various good deeds, perform amazing, even heroic deeds, and there are many shocking examples of this. But, all these good deeds, if they are not based on the Gospel, if they do not grow from the depths of a believing, truly Orthodox Christian soul, all of them, although praiseworthy, are essentially impure and defiled by the fall, and do not have the value before God that people attribute to them. Many people today simply cannot accept this important truth. Hearing what has been said, many are in doubt, many are offended, many are angry. And indeed, strange as it sounds, a man performs a sublime feat, sacrifices his life for the sake of his neighbor, dies so that another can live happily, and is it even possible to doubt that the soul of such a hero is saved? Doesn't this act of man cleanse all his sins? It sounds cruel, however, let's look at the whole thing from the other side. If this hero was not a hero for the sake of Christ, if he did not live according to the teachings of the Gospel, if he did not draw strength for his feats from the holy true Orthodox Christian faith, if this self-sacrifice was not performed by the power of Christ and was not in the Name of God, then it turns out that a man can be saved even without the redemption completed by Christ, then this means that in fallen man himself that strength and purity have been preserved that are sufficient for him to revive himself, to pull himself out of the chains of sin. Then, why was the terrible sacrifice of Golgotha ​​necessary, why then the teaching of Christ, the Gospel and the Church? Why secret prayers,truly Orthodox Christian feats? Then only our desire and effort of will would be enough, even faith would not be needed. The thing is that it is not the same to do good, beautiful and praiseworthy deeds, and to do deeds for the sake of faith! Good deeds that are done without faith, without God, are dedicated to this world by this world and receive reward, glory, honor and respect. They are alien to eternal heavenly glory. And, the deeds of the true Orthodox faith have an internal dedication to God, they are done with prayer, with an appeal to God, in the greatest possible secrecy, so that only God knows them. Such deeds leave a smaller external impression, but the Lord accepts them and will grant glory for them in the future life. And in general, it is incorrect to think that the salvation of the soul and the inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven directly depend on our good deeds. God caresses a person and saves him not because of his good deeds, but because of his faithful, contrite and humble heart. Of course, this faith must not be without works, and it cannot be, it will necessarily be embodied in concrete works, and these works will necessarily be very good and holy, because the Lord Himself teaches every true Orthodox believer through these works. Therefore, it is incorrect to preach to people abstract goodness, to teach them to love their neighbor, to be merciful and good, without telling them that they cannot possibly do this correctly, holyly and pleasing to God without the Gospel teaching, without the True Orthodox Church, without the grace of the Holy Spirit, which they can receive only in the temple through the Holy Mysteries. If this is not said, people will think that if they wish, they can solve their problems themselves perfectly well without the Church of Christ, without the Holy Mysteries, without the grace of the Holy Spirit, without Christ. Good deeds are often done in the world, however, bad deeds are even more common. And the sins of the world are often more subtle and diverse than the good deeds in it. Worldly sins are so close to worldly good that there seems to be no essential contradiction between them. The same man, who is praised by all for his good deeds, at the same time commits a multitude of abominable deeds to which no one pays attention. A worldly hero at one moment performs some astonishing act of self-sacrifice, and before and after it he does something very vile and base. Such are the virtues or virtues of this world. Here love and hatred are side by side: self-sacrifice, heroism and charity, right next to egoism, self-love and pride. In fact, both are based on destructive passions. Good there seems to exist in order to give a shadow and greater sweetness to sin, to sharpen the taste for it. Worldly good draws dirty water with its roots, proud and vain thoughts instantly drown out every sincere and, to a certain extent, sublime effort of the soul. St. Ignatius says: ''The worker of human justice is full of conceit, conceit and self-deception; he preaches and trumpets both himself and his works, paying no attention to the Lord's commandment which forbids it (Mt 6:118).He repays with hatred and vengeance those who dare to open their mouths for a well-founded and well-intentioned contradiction to his truth, considering himself worthy and pre-deserving of earthly and heavenly rewards. On the contrary, the doer of the gospel commandments is always immersed in humility: comparing his fulfillment of the most holy commandments with their sublimity and purity, he constantly recognizes that this fulfillment is extremely insufficient and unworthy of God, he sees that he deserves temporal and eternal punishments for his sins, for unbroken communion with Satan, for the fall, which is common to all people, and finally, for the insufficient and frequent, incorrect fulfillment of the commandments” (9, vol. 5, p. 36). “If a gentle thought comes to you, wait, do not in any way direct yourself to fulfill it quickly and thoughtlessly. If you feel a gentle inclination in your heart, wait; do not let it overwhelm you. Compare it with the Gospel. Consider whether your good thought and your good inclination of the heart are in accordance with the all-holy teaching of the Lord. You will soon see that there is no agreement whatsoever between the good of the gospel and the good of fallen nature. The good of fallen nature is mixed with evil, and therefore this good itself has become evil, just as delicious and wholesome food becomes poison when mixed with poison. Beware of doing the good of fallen nature! By doing this good you will deepen your fall, you will develop conceit and arrogance in yourself, you will attain the greatest similarity with demons. On the contrary, by doing the good of the gospel, as a true and faithful disciple of the God-man you will become similar to the God-man" (9, 7, 5, p. 35)."as a true and faithful disciple of the God-man you will become like the God-man" (9, 7, 5, p. 35)."as a true and faithful disciple of the God-man you will become like the God-man" (9, 7, 5, p. 35). 

U svakom djelu je važno pogledati u dubinu srca, u tajne odaje naših skrivenih pomisli. Svako djelo, prije nego što se odlučimo na njega, treba da bude odmjereno i ocjenjeno našim unutrašnjim mjerilom: u nama se uvijek zbiva ono što sliči na nekakvo tajno savjetovanje, srce govori svoje ''za'' i ''protiv'', um govori svoje ''za'' i ''protiv'', osjećaji, tijelo, naše strasti, navike i slabosti, sve ovdje daje svoju riječ ''za'' i ''protiv'', i ako se na ovom unutrašnjem savjetovanju donese pravedan sud, čovjek će djelo učiniti po Kristovom zakonu, na spas svoje duše. Ako, pak, čovjek bude postupio po lukavosti neke strasti, s tajnom pomišlju da se nahrani neka strast, onda će djelo koje učini, bez obzira na to kako ono izvana izgledalo lijepo, duši nanijeti štetu i neće joj donijeti nikakvu korist. Svaki, i najmanji postupak ili korak naš, uvijek činimo iznutra ga posvećujući u nečije ime, činimo ga ili radi zemaljskog ili radi nebeskog, ili radi Božjeg ili radi ljudskog. I često samo ovo posvećenje, ova namjera ima veći značaj nego izvanjsko djelo koje se čini, jer u toj namjeri i posvećenju u njemu je sadržana i sva vrijednost onoga što činimo pred Bogom.

KAD NAŠA REVNOST ZA KRŠĆANSKE PODVIGE NIJE UGODNA BOGU?   

Drvo kreposti koje nije ukorijenjeno u životvornom i dubokom tlu Kristovih zapovijedi uvijek bude iznutra izjedeno i rastočeno crvom sujete i licemjerja. Mi često, ni sami toga ne bivajući svjesni, podsticaje i snagu za vršenje vidljivih i značajnih djela dobivamo od tajne želje da steknemo pohvalu i slavu od ljudi. Ova želja tako duboko leži u nama, i tako se  često i svuda sreće u ljudima da se s pravom može reći da rijetko koje naše djelo bude čisto od ove licemjernosti. Nju je vrlo teško uočiti u sebi. Ali, kad se situacija oko nas promijeni, kad odemo iz sredine u kojoj su se naši podvizi ljudima koji nas okružuju činili uzvišenim i izazivali njihovu pohvalu na naš račun, odmah se pokazuje da zajedno s tim naglo opada i naš interes da te svoje podvige nastavimo. Mnogi su to jasno primjećivali kad odu u samostan: samostanska samoća i ''monotonost'', odsustvo pažnje ljudi iz svijeta, bivšeg svjetovnjaka, koji je do dolaska u samostan u svijetu živio podvižnički, vrlo često natjeraju da se ostavi svojih prijašnjih podviga. I uskoro on jedva i na jedvite jade nosi čak i najjednostavnije poslušnosti, težak mu je i najmanji trud, nestrpljivo stoji na molitvi u hramu itd. Međutim, kad u samostan dođu gosti, kad se pojavi mnoštvo novih lica (na primjer, na velike blagdane dolaze vjernici svjetovnjaci), ovaj iskušenik odjednom nekako kao da oživljuje, postaje hrabar i snažan, nema u njemu više nikakve tromosti i spreman je da učini sve što mu se naloži. Što je uzrok takvoj promjeni raspoloženja? Zar nije u tome što mi, čineći podvig u okruženju mnogih ljudi, iz njihove pažnje i pohvale crpimo onaj sok i snagu, koja iznutra hrani i pokreće svu našu svjetovnu i grešnu djelatnost, a to je životna oholost iz koje vrlo često izrasta i naša revnost za podvige, i puno toga drugog što navodno činimo Boga radi. A, koliko je samo puta sam Gospodin Isus Krist upozoravao svoje učenike i svoje sljedbenike da se  čuvaju ovog licemjerja, da ne čine pobožna djela da bi ih ljudi vidjeli, nego tajno, pred Ocem nebeskim. Vrlo poučne priče o ovome sreću se u Otačniku. Otac Jevstatije je pričao o sebi: ''Dok sam živio u svijetu nikada nisam okusio hranu prije zalaska sunca. Kad sam sjedio u prodavaonici nisam ispuštao knjigu iz ruku. Moji robovi su prodavali i primali robu, a ja sam stalno čitao. Srijedom i petkom sam dijelio milostinju siromašnima. Kad bi zvona počela da zvone, žurio sam u crkvu i nitko prije mene nije u nju stizao. Kad sam izlazio iz crkve pozivao sam sa sobom uboge, koji su tu bili, u svoj dom i oni su sa mnom dijelili trpezu. Kad sam stajao u crkvi na bdijenju, nikada nisam zadrijemao i smatrao sam sebe za velikog podvižnika. Svi su me slavili i poštovali. Kad mi je umro sin, od velike tuge sam se razbolio i jedva sam se oporavio. Poslije toga sam činio podvig koliko sam mogao i nisam se više doticao svoje žene: živio sam s njom kao s duhovnom sestrom. Kad bi se dogodilo da vidim redovnika iz skita, pozivao bih ga u svoju kuću da podijeli kruh sa mnom. Ove redovnike sam pitao za čuda koja čine sveti starci i malo po malo u meni se pojavila želja za redovništvom. Svoju ženu sam odveo u ženski samostan, a ja sam pošao u skit kod oca Ivana kojeg sam poznavao. Od njega sam primio redovnički postrig. Blaženi je osim mene imao još dva učenika. Svi su me, vidjevši da sam naročito marljiv u crkvi, vrlo poštovali. U skitu sam proveo oko pet mjeseci i vrlo je počeo da me uznemirava demon bluda, podsjećajući me ne samo na moju ženu nego i na robinje koje sam imao u svome domu. Borba mi nije davala da predahnem ni za trenutak. Svetog starca sam gledao kao đavla i njegove svete riječi su mi izgledale kao strijele koje me ranjavaju. Kad sam stajao u crkvi na bdijenju nisam mogao da otvorim oči od sna koji me je obuzimao, tako da sam ne jednom, nego nekoliko puta padao u očaj. Mučio me je i demon proždrljivosti, mučio me je toliko da sam često uzimao ostatke kruha i tajno jeo i pio. Ne treba puno govoriti, pomisli su me navodile da iziđem i pobjegnem iz skita, da odem na istok, nastanim se u gradu u kojem me nitko ne poznaje i da se tamo predam bludu ili oženim. Obzirom da sam u takvoj opsjednutosti prljavim i lukavim pomislima proveo petnaest mjeseci, jednom sam sanjao da se nalazim u Aleksandriji i dolazim da se poklonim svetom apostolu Marku. Kad gle, odjednom me je susrelo mnoštvo demona. Oni me uhvatiše i okružiše, pa kao da se razdijeliše na dvije grupe. Donesoše crnu zmiju, njome mi svezaše ruke, a drugu zmiju saviše u krug i staviše mi je oko vrata. Još su mi druge zmije stavili na ramena i one su mi se prilijepile uz uši, a zmijom su me također i opasali. Zatim dovedoše žene robinje koje sam nekada imao u svom domu i one počeše da me ljube i da mi pljuju u lice. Njihov neugodan miris mi je bio neizdrživ! Zmije počeše da mi jedu noge, lice i oči, a demoni koji su stajali oko mene otvoriše mi usta i guraše u njih žlicom nešto vatreno, a zatim me napojiše vrelom smolom sa sumporom. Budući da sam od ovih priviđenja vikao u snu, braća su došla i probudila me. Bio sam sav obliven suzama. Ustavši, požurio sam kod Bogu ugodnog starca, i pavši pred njegove noge, ispričah mu sve po redu. Starac mi je objasnio značenje svih mučenja koja sam vidio i naveo mi je njihov razlog odnosno moje strasti i skrivene pomisli. Zatim reče: 'Znaj, sine moj, da su dobra djela koja si činio u svijetu bila pomiješana s uznositosti i ohološću. Tvoja bdijenja, tvoj post, tvoji stalni odlasci u crkvu, milostinja koju si davao, sve je to činjeno pod utjecajem ljudske pohvale. Zbog toga ni đavao tada nije htio da te napada. Danas, pak, vidjevši da si se naoružao protiv njega on je ustao protiv tebe.' Starac mi je zapovjedio da uvijek govorim o pomislima koje me uznemiruju i poučivši me tako, pustio me je da idem. Od tada sam počeo da otkrivam svoje pomisli i da budem potpuno spokojan'' (11, str. 102-105). 

U napomeni uz ovu povijest sv. Ignjacije govori: ''Redovnički podvig se zasniva na istinskoj poniznosti, sjedinjenoj prirodno s odricanjem od svog 'ja' pri čemu redovnik uznosi Boga nad čovjekom i svu nadu na spasenje polaže u Boga. Nasuprot tome, podvig svjetovnjaka, koji se sastoji od izvanjskih djela, prirodno njeguje svoje 'ja' i uznosi čovjeka nad Bogom. Zbog toga vidimo da su mnogi grešnici stupivši u redovništvo postali veliki sveci, a da su poznati podvižnici iz svijeta, stupivši u redovništvo, pokazali vrlo umjeren uspjeh, a neki su, čak, i propali.'' ''Treba ispitati,'' govori sveti Ivan Ljestvičar, ''zbog čega svjetovnjaci koji su provodili svoj svjetovni život u bdijenju, postu i podvižništvu, kad pređu u redovnički život, na poprište duhovnog iskustva, daleko od očiju ljudskih, ostavljaju svoje ranije nečasno i lažno podvižništvo. Vidio sam mnogo raznorodno drveće kreposti koje su zasadili svjetovnjaci, a koje se hrani sujetom kao gnojem s đubrišta, koje se gaji da bi ga drugi vidjeli i koje se hrani gnojem pohvala ljudskih. Ovo drveće se, budući presađeno na pustu zemlju redovništva koju ne posjećuju svjetovnjaci i u kojoj nema smradne vode sujete, odmah osuši. Drveću koje je učeno u svjetovnoj ugodnosti nije svojstveno da raste i donosi plod na surovom tlu redovništva'' (Ljestvica, pouka 2). U Konstantinopolju su živjela dva rođena brata. Bili su vrlo pobožni i puno su postili. Jedan od njih je otišao u Raifu, odrekao se svijeta i zaredio se. Poslije nekog vremena njegov brat svjetovnjak je poželio da posjeti redovnika. Došao je u Raifu i ostao s redovnikom neko vrijeme. Uočivši da redovnik jede u devet sati (tri popodne) on se sablaznio i rekao mu: ''Brate, kad si živio u svijetu, nisi dozvoljavao sebi da jedeš prije zalaska sunca.'' Redovnik mu odgovori: ''Kad sam živio u svijetu hranio sam se sujetom, slušajući ljudske pohvale: one su mi olakšavale težinu podviga posta.'' Jedan brat je došao na Hermejsku goru kod oca Teodora, starca velikog života i punog kreposti, i rekao mu: ''Oče, što da radim? Duša mi propada.'' Starac će na to: ''Zašto tako, sine moj?'' Brat odgovori: ''Kad sam vodio život kao svjetovnjak, puno sam postio i vježbao se u bdijenju, imao sam obilne suze i raskajanje srca, osjećao sam revnost u sebi, a danas, pak, kad sam se odrekao svijeta i postao redovnik, ne vidim više u sebi nijednu krepost.''  Starac mu reče: ''Vjeruj mi, sine moj, to što si napredovao u svjetovnom životu napredovao si zbog oholosti i ljudske pohvale, oni su ti pomagali, djelujući u tebi prepredeno. Tvoje djelovanje nije bilo ugodno Bogu i đavao te nije uznemiravao i nije se borio protiv tebe i nije ometao tvoj uspjeh. A danas, kad vidi da si krenuo u rat protiv njega, on se naoružao i krenuo protiv tebe. Ali, Bogu je ugodniji jedan psalam koji danas izgovaraš s poniznošću nego tisuće psalama koje si izgovarao dok si bio u svjetovnom životu.'' Brat na to reče: ''Oče, ja danas uopće ne postim, sve kreposti su mi oduzete!'' Starac: ''Brate, dovoljno ti je ono što imaš, sa zahvalnošću trpi i bit će ti dobro.'' Međutim, brat je ostao uporan: ''Zaista, poginula je duša moja.'' Tada mu starac reče: ''Brate, čuvaj se da ne oslabi poniznost tvoja, nisam htio da ti kažem ono što sad vidim da sam prisiljen da kažem zato što si u stanju očaja do kojeg te je đavao doveo. Slušaj pažljivo moje riječi. Tvoje mišljenje da si imao kreposti dok si bio svjetovnjak pripada oholosti: tako je i farizej uništio sva svoja dobra djela. A, sada kad misliš da nemaš nijedno dobro djelo, već sama ova ponizna misao je dovoljna za tvoje spasenje. Tako je bio opravdan i carinik koji nije učinio nijedno dobro djelo. Grešan i lijen čovjek, ali koji se kaje skrušenog srca Bogu je ugodniji od čovjeka koji čini mnoga dobra djela i koji je zbog njih zaražen ohološću.'' Brat, čuvši ovo, osjeti u svojoj duši utjehu i razrješenje svoje nedoumice. Pokloni se starcu do zemlje i reče: ''Danas je tvojim posredstvom spašena duša moja'' (11, str. 336-337, s. 1). Sve što je rečeno naravno ne znači da se u svijetu ne mogu činiti istinski dobra djela niti da svi istinski pravoslavni kršćani trebaju ići u samostan da bi se spasli. Ovo, također, ne znači ni da nam je bolje da ostavimo sve izvanjske podvige da ne padnemo u oholost i sujetu. Ovo treba da nas otrijezni, treba da nas navede na duhovni oprez i stražarenje, jer u svijetu vladaju razne strasti, kao što i govori apostol Ivan: Požuda tjelesna, i požuda očiju, i uznositost življenja (1 Iv 2,16). Svijet je oduvijek živio ovim duhom, ali ove pogubne strasti su naročito ojačale u ljudima našega vremena. Zbog toga se svakom našem djelu, koje može da nam donese pohvalu ili poštovanje, ukoliko ga ne osolimo duhom poniznosti i samouniženja, obavezno prilijepi pogubne strasti sujete i oholosti. Naravno, treba činiti podvig u svijetu i vrlo brižljivo se truditi u svom izvanjskom ponašanju, izvršavati mnoštvo tjelesnih dobrih djela i podviga, ali čovjek svo vrijeme treba budno da prati svoje srce, da izvanjsko ne bi bilo činjeno na štetu unutrašnjeg. Da u ovome uspijemo nužno je da stalno i pravilno procjenjujemo vrijednost svekolikog našeg unutrašnjeg i izvanjskog djelovanja, da stalno utvrđujemo cilj i jednog i drugog, i stalno pronalazimo ravnotežu jednog i drugog u svome životu.

KAKO JE IZVANJSKO KRŠĆANSKO DJELOVANJE POVEZANO S UNUTRAŠNJIM?   

Po učenju svetih Otaca, prokletstvo zemlje koje je Bog izrekao kao kaznu Adamu i njegovim potomcima, do danas leži na zemlji, i zbog toga zemlja rađa i razni korov i drveće koje ne donosi jestive plodove, a sve što niče iz zemlje i čime se hrani ljudsko tijelo, čovjek mora da gaji, prolijevajući znoj i stalno radeći (9, t. 5, str. 206). Međutim, ova kazna se u duhovnom smislu odnosi na naše srce. Zemlja je naše srce poslije Adamovog pada u grijeh, i ona, također, rađa trnje i čičak, odnosno grešne osjećaje i pomisli. Da se u srcu nasadi kruh nebeski odnosno Riječ Božja, da ono oživi i postane sposobno za duhovni život, potreban je veliki trud i podvig. Da zemlja može da primi u sebe sjemena, potrebno je da se ta zemlja obrađuje, sitni, prevrće, omekšava, da se odstranjuje korov i  čisti korijenje. Za ovo je potrebno različito oruđe: plugovi, drljače, lopate. Isto tako i naše srce treba obrađivati postom, bdijenjem, poklonima i drugim tjelesnim naporima da se ukrote njegove tjelesne sklonosti i pomisli uma. Međutim, ako pri ovom obrađivanju srca tjelesnim podvizima, ono ne bude usvajalo evanđeoske zapovijedi, ako se ne bude njima podučavalo, rukovodilo i živjelo, ono će još više nego prije što je počelo da se obrađuje rađati iz sebe korov sujete, oholosti i bluda. I obrađena, nađubrena i isitnjena, ali nezasijana zemlja rodit će još više korova. I obratno: ne sije se sjeme na neobrađeno tlo. Tako i srce, neobrađeno tjelesnim podvizima, zaraslo u neukroćene tjelesne sklonosti, ne može da smjesti u sebe duhovno raslinje. Onaj koji se toga bude prihvatio trudit će se uzalud ili čak može da padne u samoobmanu i demonsku obmanu. Tjelesni napori su nam suštinski nužni. Sveti Oci govore da tjelesni trud unizuje dušu. Međutim, u kakvom je on odnosu s raspoloženjem duše? Otac Dorotej kao odgovor na to pitanje kaže: ''Objasnit ću vam ovo. S obzirom na to da se duša poslije prestupanja zapovijedi predala, kako govori sveti Grigorije, obmani slastoljublja i samozakonja, i da je zavoljela tjelesno i na neki način postala jedno s tijelom, i sva postala tijelo, kao što je rečeno: Neće se duh moj do vijeka preti s ljudima, jer su tijelo (1 Mojs 6,3). I jadna duša kao da strada zajedno s tijelom i suosjeća sa svime što se s tijelom događa. Upravo zbog ovoga i tjelesni trud dovodi dušu u poniznost. Jer, različito je raspoloženje duše zdravog i bolesnog čovjeka, jedno je kod gladnog, a drugo kod sitog. Isto je tako drukčije raspoloženje duše čovjeka koji jaše konja, drukčije je onoga koji sjedi na prijestolju, drukčije onoga koji sjedi na zemlji, jedno je kod onoga koji nosi lijepu odjeću, a drugo kod onoga koji nosi lošu. Dakle, trud ponižava tijelo, a kad se ponizi tijelo, zajedno s njim se ponizuje i duša.'' (5, str. 48). 

Iz ovih riječi se dobro vidi kakav sklad mora biti između unutrašnjeg duhovnog i izvanjskog tjelesnog truda. Nikada ne smijemo da zaboravimo cilj svih naših izvanjskih podviga, a to je: omekšavati, ponizivati naše srce, činiti da ono lako prihvaća Riječ Božju, zatim odmah saditi u njega duhovna sjemena. Prilikom ovog obrađivanja, poravnanja tla srca moramo jasno znati svoju mjeru, mogućnosti i snage da izoremo onoliko koliko možemo da zasijemo i koliko ćemo imati snage da odgojimo i skupimo plodove.

KAKO ČOVJEK PONEKAD OBMANJUJE SEBE MISLEĆI DA IMA LJUBAV PREMA BLIŽNJEMU?   

U naše vrijeme ljudi se vrlo često varaju, misleći da je potrebna samo želja i malo napora da počnu da vole svoje bližnje istinskom pravoslavnom kršćanskom ljubavlju. Puno se i lijepim riječima u naše dane u cijelom svijetu govori o ljubavi, svi pozivaju jedni druge da se ujedine pod zajedničkom zastavom ljubavi, čitav svijet je opijen idejom apstraktne čovječje ljubavi i nada se da će, na taj način, razriješiti sve svoje užasne proturječnosti. U istinskom pravoslavnom kršćanskom učenju se, također, puno govori o ljubavi prema bližnjima. Sam Gospodin je zapovijed o ljubavi prema bližnjemu stavio odmah pored prve zapovijedi o ljubavi prema Bogu, a svi Oci Istinske pravoslavne crkve jednodušno tvrde da bez ljubavi prema bližnjemu nema ljubavi prema Bogu. Međutim, je li ljubav na koju poziva svijet i kojoj uči Crkva Kristova jedna te ista? Ne! One ne samo da nisu slične, već su potpuno različite. Zanimljivo je to da što više svijet uznosi svoju ljubav, ljubav ljudi jednih prema drugima, tim više mrzi ljubav koju propovijeda istinsko pravoslavlje. I, budući da u svijetu vlada krajnje izopačeno shvaćanje ljubavi prema bližnjemu, čovjek danas lako može da se prevari i da osjećaje koji su vrlo tuđi istinskom pravoslavnom kršćanstvu prihvati kao nešto svjetlo, uzvišeno i Bogu ugodno. Otkud to? Otud što ljudi, čuvši za uzvišenost ljubavi, za njenu svetost, za to da je ona iznad svih kreposti i da je bez nje sve mrtvo, počinju da traže ljubav u sebi samima, pokušavajući da je na silu iscijede iz sebe u ''gotovom obliku'' a ne shvaćajući da su naš pad, naše udaljavanje od Boga, sve bolesti, strasti i navike duše koje smo stekli, odnosno zlo u nama, najviše pogodili upravo ovu našu sposobnost odnosno da volimo. Nikakve uzvišene riječi i ideje o ljubavi same po sebi nisu dovoljne da se u nama ovaj nedostatak sam od sebe otkloni. ''Kad bi se istinsko pravoslavno kršćanstvo ograničavalo samo na puko učenje o ljubavi, ono bi bilo beskorisno zato što je sve što postoji u ljudskoj prirodi unakaženo grijehom, i čovjek nema snage da u takvom stanju ovo učenje sprovede u život. O ljubavi je govorio i Stari zavjet, čak i pogani, ali sve je to bilo malo. Razum priznaje da je zapovijed o ljubavi dobra, ali čovjek će stalno u sebi samom sretati s onim o čemu apostol Pavao svjedoči ovako: Ali vidim drugi zakon u udovima svojim, koji se bori protiv zakona uma mojega, i porobljava me zakonom grijeha koji je u udovima mojim (Rim 7,22-23).

Onaj koji budno prati kretanja u svojoj duši, dobro zna da se grijeh i strasti bore protiv razuma i da ga često pobjeđuju. Razum se prigiba pod težinom strasti, a grijeh kao neka magla skriva od nas sunce istine i sputava sve dobre snage naše duše. Može li nam u tako žalosnom stanju pomoći puko učenje o ljubavi? Ali, snaga i značaj Kristovog djela i jest u tome što se ono ne ograničava samo na objavu učenja. Rodu ljudskom su u Kristu dane nove snage. Kristovo djelo je stvaranje ''nove tvari'', odnosno Istinske pravoslavne crkve. Duh Božji koji živi u Istinskoj pravoslavnoj crkvi daje snagu za ostvarivanje istinskog pravoslavnog kršćanskog učenja u život. Bez Istinske pravoslavne crkve nema istinskog pravoslavnog kršćanstva, ostaje samo puko učenje, koje samo po sebi ne može da obnovi palog Adama.'' Dakle, traženje ljubavi van Istinske pravoslavne crkve, među ljudima koji uopće ne vjeruju u Boga ili heretika koji pogrešno vjeruju jest duboka zabluda. Međutim, ni mi sami, istinski pravoslavni kršćani ne smijemo da mislimo da naše srce pristaje na izvršavanje ove zapovijedi. Ne, trebamo proliti puno znoja i suza, puno se potruditi i postradati prije nego što se pojave makar i slabi znaci da je naše srce postalo mekše i milostivije prema bližnjemu. Ako počnemo pažljivo da se zagledamo u svoju dušu, ako stvarno radi zapovijedi Božje poželimo da volimo svog bližnjega, otkrit ćemo u srcu žestoko protivljenje: ono će se čas iskazivati kao kamena bezosjećajnost, čas će se žestiti i rikati kao grabežljiva zvjer, čas će pokazivati mržnju, čas klevetu, čas osvetoljubivost i zavist, čas podsmjeh, čas osudu, čas će se podsmjehivati grijehu i spoticanju bližnjeg, čas će biti ogorčeno njegovim uspjesima. Takvo je naše srce dok se ne očisti dugim trudom samo-ukora, molitvama i mnogim unutrašnjim i izvanjskim podvizima, trpljenjem tuge, uvreda, nepravde itd. Ne smješta uzalud bogougodni Ivan Ljestvičar ljubav na najvišu stepenicu svoje ljestvice kreposti. Kako se mi uopće usuđujemo da maštamo o tome da ćemo je dostići, preskočivši svih dvadeset i devet koje joj prethode? Kakve samo strasti, kakve sve izvitoperene duševne osobine mogu da se zaogrnu u odjeću ljubavi prema bližnjemu. Mnoge najodvratnije strasti djeluju u nama, skrivajući se pod maskom pravoslavne kršćanske ljubavi. Od Krista nas najviše i udaljavaju upravo razne sklonosti i strasne vezanosti za ljude, jer ljudi se vezuju jedni za druge, rukovodeći se svim mogućim strastima i lošim naklonostima. Započinjući pobožni, istinski pravoslavni kršćanski život najveći napor moramo da uložimo da oslobodimo srce od mnoštva takvih bolesnih duševnih naklonosti prema ljudima. I ovdje se lukavi demoni trude da nas obmanu sentimentalnom pričom o ljubavi prema svim ljudima, o milosrđu, o samopožrtvovanju. Na ovaj način čovjek nastavlja da održava nečiste odnose s ljudima, koji skrnave njegovo srce, misleći da je počeo da živi potpuno drukčijim životom, kao i da to što njega vuče k općenju s drugim ljudima jest znak ljubavi prema bližnjima, koja se navodno u njemu rodila. Zbog nerazumijevanja prirode strasti, ugodnosti čovjeku, lažna poniznost koja je zasnovana na uživanju u sebi, lažna skromnost, blud u svojim najistančanijim i skrivenim oblicima i tome slične strasti, mogu da čovjeku izgledaju kao svijetli izvor iz kojeg navodno proizlazi milosrđe. Za spasenje duše je vrlo važno da čovjek ukloni iz nje sve što je vještačko, lažno i strasno. Mi ne treba da glumimo pravoslavnu kršćansku ljubav nego da činimo sve da bi stvarno stekli istinsku ljubav prema bližnjima. Moramo da razlikujemo ono što je duševno i tjelesno od onoga što je duhovno. Sve ono što je istinski evanđeosko, izvršavanje svake Kristove zapovijedi Boga i vječnosti radi, a ne po strasnoj sklonosti, uvijek je skopčano s velikom borbom, s naporom, sa samo-prisilom. Osjećaj mira i lakoće će nastupiti poslije pobjede, poslije izvršenja samog podviga. A strast, naprotiv, oduševljava čovjeka na djela lažne ljubavi i ako se čovjek kojeg pokreće takva ''ljubav'', u svom oduševljenju, susretne s preprekama u vidu crkvenih pravila ili odredaba svetih Otaca, on ih razdraženo odbacuje kao navodno zastarjela ili ''nepravilno shvaćena'', i žuri da izvrši djelo svoje ''ljubavi''. Istinska pravoslavne kršćanska ljubav se ne trudi da se pokaže izvana, ona je uzdržana i traži da stvarno pomogne bližnjem, ne samo u tjelesnoj nevolji, nego se uvijek brine i o duši, a tjelesna ljubav ne razmišlja o vječnosti, za nju se sve što je bitno nalazi u ovom životu, potrebni su joj snažni osjećaji, efekti, utisci, reklama. Duševna ljubav je egoistična, ona ne voli bližnjega nego samu sebe, utvrđujući se u sebi samoj preko bližnjega. I opet se u duši podiže idol odnosno ''ja milosrdni i bratoljubivi'', koji prisvaja sebi slavu za izvanjska milostiva djela koja čovjek čini. Nesreća je kad se čovjek vezuje za bližnjega požudom, tjelesnom strašću, nekom tamnom i nejasnom vezanošću, misleći da je to duhovna veza. A, na Sudu će se pokazati da je puno od onoga što smo mi smatrali svjetlošću ipak bila tama. Upravo o ovome, sv. Ignjacije piše: ''Nemoj, voljeni brate, misliti da je zapovijed o ljubavi prema bližnjem tako bliska našem palom srcu: zapovijed je duhovna, a našim srcem su zavladali tijelo i krv, zapovijed je nova, a naše srce je staro. Naša prirodna ljubav je ranjena padom. I nju, po zapovijedi Kristovoj, treba umrtvljivati, da bi mogli iz Evanđelja zahvatiti onu pravu, svetu ljubav prema bližnjemu, ljubav u Kristu. A, pred Evanđeljem ljubav koja nastaje od krvi i tjelesnih osjećaja je ništa. Evanđelje odbacuje ljubav koja zavisi od unutrašnje uzburkanosti, od osjećaja tjelesnog srca. Evanđelje nas uči: Ne mislite da sam došao da donesem mir na zemlju; nisam došao da donesem mir nego mač. Jer sam došao da rastavim čovjeka od oca njegovog i kćer od matere njezine i snahu od svekrve njezine. I neprijatelji  čovjeku postat će domaći njegovi (Mt 10, 34-36). Sveti Duh nas uči kako da sveto volimo bližnje. Za onoga koji je po prirodi obdaren da vatreno voli bližnjega, potrebna je naročita samo-prisila da bližnjega voli onako kako Evanđelje zapovijeda da se voli. Srce kojim je zavladala pristrasnost sposobno je za svaku nepravdu, za svako bezakonje samo da zadovolji svoju bolesnu ljubav'' (9, t. 1, str. 123-124). ''Umrimo za prirodnu ljubav prema bližnjemu i oživimo novom ljubavlju prema njemu, ljubavlju u Bogu.'' 

''Poniznost umrtvljava prirodnu ljubav. Ona umire od poniznosti, jer njen život je prožet ohološću. Prirodnom ljubavlju vlada idol onoga ''ja'', ustoličen na prijestolju oholosti, koja se poput lopova ušuljala u dušu, zaklanjajući se iza zavjese tobožnje kreposti'' (10, pismo 86). ''Voli bližnjega onako kako zapovijedaju evanđeoske zapovijedi, a nikako ne po sklonosti svoga srca. Ljubav koju je Bog usadio u našu prirodu ranjena je padom i ne može da djeluje pravilno. Nikako se nemoj predavati djelovanjima grešne ljubavi! Njena djelovanja su puna poročnosti, odvratna su pred Bogom, i kao oskrnavljena žrtva, plodovi njenog djelovanja su pogubni po dušu i ubojiti. Zavoli bližnjega na slijedeći način: nemoj se srditi na njega i nemoj biti zlopamtilo, nemoj mu se svetiti ni direktno ni indirektno, u svemu u čemu mu možeš popustiti, popusti mu, oduči se od rasprava i svađe, odbaci ih kao plod oholosti i samoljublja, govori dobro o onima koji o tebi loše govore, uzvraćaj dobrom na zlo, moli se za one koji ti smišljaju različite sramote, uvrede, iskušenja i progone. Gospodin nas uči: Čuli ste kako je kazano starima: Ne ubij; jer tko ubije, bit će kriv sudu. A ja vam kažem da će svaki koji se srdi na brata svoga ni za što, biti kriv sudu; a ako li tko rekne bratu svome: 'Raka!' bit će kriv sinedrionu; a tko reče: 'Budalo!' bit će kriv paklu vatrenome. Ako, dakle, prineseš dar svoj žrtveniku, i ondje se sjetiš da brat tvoj ima nešto protiv tebe, ostavi ondje dar svoj pred žrtvenikom, i idi te se najprije pomiri s bratom svojim, pa onda dođi i prinesi dar svoj. Miri se sa suparnikom svojim brzo, dok si na putu s njim, da te suparnik ne preda sudcu, a sudac da te ne preda slugi i u tamnicu da te ne vrgnu. Zaista ti kažem: Nećeš izići odande dok ne daš do posljednjeg novčića. Čuli ste kako je kazano starima: 'Ne čini preljubu.' A ja vam kažem da svaki koji pogleda na ženu sa željom za njom, već je učinio preljubu s njom u srcu svome (Mt 5,21-28). 

Nikako i ni pod kakvim izgovorom nemoj ni o kome da sudiš, čak, nemoj ni o kome da sudiš je li dobar ili loš, imajući uvijek pred očima samo jednog lošeg čovjeka za kojeg treba da daš odgovor pred Bogom odnosno sebe samoga. Postupaj prema bližnjima onako kako bi želio da se prema tebi postupa. Ne sudite, da vam se ne sudi; jer kakvim sudom sudite, onakvim će vam se suditi; i kakvom mjerom mjerite, onakvom će vam se mjeriti. A zašto vidiš trun u oku brata svoga, a brvno u oku svome ne osjećaš? Ili, kako  ćeš reći bratu svome: stani da ti izvadim trun iz oka tvoga; a eto brvno u oku tvome ? Licemjere, izvadi najprije brvno iz oka svoga, pa  ćeš onda vidjeti izvaditi trun iz oka brata svoga. Ne dajte svetinje psima; niti bacajte bisera svojih pred svinje, da ih ne pogaze nogama svojim, i okrenuvši se, ne rastrgnu vas. Ištite, i dat će vam se; tražite, i naći ćete; kucajte, i otvorit će vam se. Jer svaki koji ište, prima; i koji traži, nalazi; i koji kuca, otvorit će mu se. Ili koji je među vama čovjek od koga ako sin njegov zaište kruha, kamen će da mu da? Ili ako ribe zaište, da mu da zmiju? Kad, dakle, vi, zli budući, umijete dare dobre davati djeci svojoj, koliko će više Otac vaš nebeski dati dobra onima koji mu ištu? Sve, dakle, što hoćete da čine vama ljudi, tako činite i vi njima: jer to je Zakon i Proroci. Otpuštaj i praštaj, iz dubine srca, ljudima njihove grijehe prema tebi da bi i Otac nebeski tebi oprostio tvoje bezbrojne grijehe. Na kraju, nemoj svome bratu nanositi štetu puno-pričljivošću, ispraznim pričama, prevelikom bliskošću i slobodnim ophođenjem prema njemu. Ponašajući se tako prema bližnjem, pokazat ćeš i steći ćeš ljubav koju je Bog zapovjedio i koja je Bogu ugodna; njome ćeš otvoriti sebi ulaz u ljubav Božju.'' (9, t. 5, str. 66).

''Poštuj bližnjega kao lice Božje, poštovanjem u svojoj duši, nevidljivim za druge i vidljivim samo tvojoj savjesti. Poštuj bližnjeg bez obzira na uzrast, spol, stalež i postupno će u tvom srcu početi da se rađa sveta ljubav. Razlog za ovu svetu ljubav nisu tijelo i krv, i nije osjećaj naklonosti, nego Bog.'' (9, 7.1, str. 127). Uspoređujući ovo učenje Istinske pravoslavne crkve o ljubavi prema bližnjemu s ružnom i izvitoperenom maskom ljubavi koju svijet danas proklamira, čovjek se užasava pred nakaznošću svjetovne ljubavi. Jasno je da se istinska pravoslavne kršćanska ljubav u srcu može odgojiti samo u krilu Istinske pravoslavne crkve, pod uvjetom najdosljednijeg izvršavanja njenog učenja i ustava, uz stalno očišćenje, posvećenje i primanje milosti Božje kroz svete Tajne, i nikako drukčije. Zbog toga što ljudi sve više odbacuju ponizno i mudro učenje svetih Otaca o pokajanju, prepuštajući se samo-opravdanju i samo-uznositosti, oni sve više gube, čak, i sam pojam o istinskoj pravoslavnoj kršćanskoj ljubavi, zamjenjujući je izvještačenom i lažnom ljubavlju. Spomenimo ovdje još nekoliko zapovijedi Gospodinovih o milosrđu. Navest ćemo još jednu pouku sv. Ignjacija iz njegovih pisama: ''Razmatram milosrđe koje nam je zapovjedio Gospodin: vidim bezdan neizmjerni, vidim visinu koja izmiče pogledu. On nam zapovijeda: Budite, dakle, milostivi kao i Otac vaš što je milostiv (Lk 6,36). Da se izvrši ova zapovijed čovjek treba da postane milostiv koliko je milostiv beskonačno milostivi Gospodin (Ps 119). Tko ovo u stvarnosti može, zaista, da izvrši? Ali, ja, grešnik, tamni grešnik, kad god pogledam u sebe uvijek vidim u sebi miješanje dobra sa zlom, koje su ljudi naslijedili od praoca Adama, koji je drsko i grešno okusio s drveta spoznaje dobra i zla. Ljudima izgledam milostiv, međutim provjerivši sebe temeljito i ispitavši sebe, nalazim u sebi samo podlu masku milosrđa. Milosrdna djela u meni čini moja sujeta. Milosrdna djela čini u meni pristrasnost. Milosrdna djela čini u meni moja strast, a ne nalazim u sebi da me na milosrđe pokreće zapovijed Kristova, čista i sveta. Kad se ja, tamni grešnik, dozovem k sebi na kratki tren i poželim da budem milosrdan po zapovijedi Kristovoj, vidim da nad svojim srcem treba da učinim užasno nasilje. Sveta zapovijed razobličava bolest mog srca! Kad me ona uvjeri u to, ja vidim sebe, koji sam po prirodi ljudski milosrdan, kao nemilosrdnog mrzitelja čovjeka u svjetlu Evanđelja. Moje srce pristaje da bude milosrdno po mojoj strasti, ali za njega predstavlja razapinjanje da bude milosrdno po zapovijedi Kristovoj. Moram da prisiljavam sebe na milosrđe u skladu s zapovijedima Evanđelja bez obzira na to što je to povezano s nasiljem nad srcem, koje u sebi nosi zarazu grijeha, zajedničku svim ljudima. Prirodno milosrđe, kao proizvod tijela i krvi, ne može biti Bogu ugodna krepost. I to nije sve! Ono je suprotno s evanđeoskim zapovijedima! Da ono stekne milost Božju i bude umrtvljeno, Krist je na zemlju donio evanđeoski mač. Oni, pak, koje vodi prirodno milosrđe ostaju u tami pod vlašću ljutog posve zlog vladara svijeta odnosno đavla. Gospodin Spasitelj svijeta je za vrijeme svog boravka na zemlji objavio svojim učenicima da treba da ide u Jeruzalem, da će tamo puno da postrada, da će biti ubijen i da će u treći dan da uskrsne. Tada je prvi po časti među apostolima, sveti Petar, pokrenut prirodnim milosrđem, počeo da proturječi Gospodinu. Bože sačuvaj! govorio je, to neće biti od Tebe. Na ovaj izliv prirodne samilosti i milosrđa Gospodin je svetom apostolu Petru odgovorio: Idi od mene sotono; ti si mi sablazan, jer ne misliš što je Božje nego što je ljudsko (Mt 16,23). Zar je u ustima Bogočovejka riječ ''sotona'' bila samo riječ prijekora? Sačuvaj Bože od takvog bogohulstva! Ovom riječju Gospodin pokazuje da su misli i osjećaji palog čovjeka u vlasti sotone, iako su naizgled dobri. Ono što čovjek čini po želji svog grešnog srca slijeva se u jedno s djelovanjima sotone. Tako je žalosni pad u grijeh unakazio našu prirodu! Treba da umrtvimo milosrđe koje je prouzrokovano palošću i treba da nađemo ono milosrđe čiji je uzrok, i izvor svjetla i sveta zapovijed Kristova. Ona je Duh, ona je život vječni. Tada će se pred nama otkriti nepregledno poprište duhovnog podviga. Bez obzira koliko uspijete u prirodnom milosrđu, ono  će vam izgledati kao ništa u poređenju s milosrđem čija je slika dana u Evanđelju. Onaj koji se ne odrekne sebe, tko ne izgubi život svoj (Lk 17,33), živi po grešnim željama srca i po kretanju krvi, i ostvaruje isključivo svoje ''ja'', vidjevši dobro u svim svojim aktivnostima, postupno stječući visoko mišljenje o sebi. Takav čovjek, misleći da duhovno napreduje, napreduje samo u svom ljutom padu.'' 

Ove riječi svetog Oca su za nas posebno dragocjene, jer se mogu primijeniti i na izvršavanje svih drugih zapovijedi, i ostvarenje svih istinskih pravoslavnih kršćanskih kreposti. Ovdje je jasno ukazano na glavni preduvjet za njihovo pravilno izvršavanje i uzrok nastanka obmane. Ovdje je kratko i točno iskazano sve ono o čemu smo već govorili.

KAKO DUŠEVNA I TJELESNA LAŽ ODNOSNO REVNOST IZVANA MOŽE DA IZGLEDA KAO SVETA I POBOŽNA REVNOST!

Ljudi koji imaju visoko mišljenje o sebi i koji sebe smatraju zaista vjernim slugama Božjim često se rasplamsavaju tjelesnom i duševnom revnošću, počinju pažljivo da promatraju ljude iz svoje okoline, da ih osuđuju i otkrivaju razne njihove prijestupe i grijehe protiv crkvenog reda i poretka. ''Obmanuti lažnim poimanjem revnosti, nerazumni revnitelji misle da, predajući se toj i takvoj revnosti, nasljeduju svete Oce i svete mučenike, zaboravivši da oni, nisu sveci već grešnici. Ako su sveci i razotkrivali grešnike i nečasne ljude, razotkrivali su ih po Božjoj zapovijedi, po svojoj obavezi, po zapovijedi Svetoga Duha, a ne po zapovijedi svojih strasti i demonskih našaptavanja. Onaj koji samovoljno riješi da razotkriva brata ili da ga kritiziraju, pokazuje da sebe smatra razumnijim i vrlijim od onog kojeg razotkriva, a on tako postupa zato što ga je obuzela strast ili su ga obmanule demonske pomisli'' (9, t. 5, str. 275). U svakom od nas vrlo duboko skriva se duh osuđivanja. Iz oholosti, uobraženosti, sujete, zloće i drugih strasnih pobuda mi stalno kod bližnjih tražimo i pronalazimo mnoštvo nedostataka, grešaka i pogrešaka. Ako, pritom, sebe počnemo da opravdavamo, govoreći da to činimo iz tobožnje revnosti, mi tada ustvari postupamo rukovođeni strastima. Mi počinjemo ostrašćeno da preuveličavamo nemoći i nedostatke naših bližnjih, da prikazujemo njihove pogreške u najužasnijem i najodvratnijem svjetlu, da raspaljujemo u sebi i negodovanje i srdžbu prema drugima, nestrpljivu želju da razotkrivamo i ''ispravljamo'' druge; upinjemo se da ih ''opamećujemo'', ponekad,  čak, i da ih ponižavamo, misleći da nas na to pokreće naša ''pobožnost''. Ovakva lažna, vatrena revnost uvijek vodi k podozrivosti, sumnjičavosti, kleveti, surovosti, mržnji i šteti po vlastitu dušu. Kad bližnji ne prihvaćaju razotkrivanje s naše strane, ovakva slijepa revnost izaziva u nama zlopamćenje i osvetoljubivost prema njima, a kad nam se bližnji pokore, u nama se rađa sujetno zadovoljstvo. Velika je nesreća kad se lažni revnitelji drznu da se miješaju u crkvene stvari, kad po želji svog strasnog srca i raspaljenog uma namjeravaju da ''isprave'' ono što može da se ispravi samo djelovanjem naročite milosti Božje, posredstvom najdostojnijih svetih ljudi, kojima su jasno otkriveni putevi Božji. Kako puno nesreće u duhovnom životu prouzrokuje ovakva umišljena, bolesna ''briga'' za pobožnost bližnjih, drska ''briga'' za duhovno stanje vjernika iz naše okoline, kad ni sami ne živimo zaista istinski pravoslavno kršćanski, nemamo mira u svojoj duši i udaljeni smo od ljubavi prema Bogu i bližnjima. 

JE LI ZA KRŠĆANINA POČETNIKA KORISNO DA BLIŽNJE UČI DJELIMA VJERE?

Na tlu ovakve neduhovne revnosti, sujetne ''vatrene pobožnosti'' i unutrašnje uobraženosti često niče strast za držanjem prodika bližnjima. U naše vrijeme je postalo uobičajeno da svatko savjetuje i uči moralu bližnjeg, iako se vrlo često za učitelje samo-proglašavaju oni koji ne samo da su načinili tek par koraka u istinskom pravoslavnom kršćanskom životu, nego tek što su zavirili u njega kroz odškrinuta vrata. Kako često se danas događa da čovjek koji je čitav život proveo u nevjeri i grijesima odmah poslije pokajanja i promjene načina života, poslije nekoliko odlazaka u crkvu ili nekoliko dana boravka u samostanu, poslije upoznavanja najosnovnijeg istinskog pravoslavnog kršćanskog učenja, pravila i crkvenog poretka, odmah počinje da uči i razotkriva svoje bližnje odnosno prijatelje i rođake, da ih prekorijeva zbog nevjere, necrkvenosti, i čak, da ih optužuje da služe Sotoni i tome slično. Često se može vidjeti da novovjerujući, koji tek što je ostavio svoj grešni život, odmah počinje da uči, savjetuje i ispravlja svoje bližnje, da ih ''obraća'' u vjeru, da ''spašava'' njihove duše, a sam se uskoro sapliće, pada i vraća se ranijem grešnom životu, te oni koje je on ispravljao, onda samom istinskom pravoslavnom kršćanstvu počinju da pripisuju beskorisnost i nemoć, čime se još više odvraćaju od Crkve i Boga. Većina nas čim pročita nešto poučno ili zapamti neku zanimljivu misao iz duhovnih knjiga, odmah žuri da je prenese bližnjemu da ga poduči, da ga urazumi, žuri da mu da savjet o tome kako da primjenjuje ovo ili ono pravilo svetih Otaca, iako ni sam još nije u svom životu primijenio ova pravila, niti ima namjeru da ih primijeni. Vrlo često se danas događa da oni koji su povjerovali u Boga ne žive zaista istinskom pravoslavnom vjerom kršćanskom, već razumom usvojivši samo pojedine aspekte kršćanskog učenja, prepričavaju iste bližnjima, a da sami zapravo i ne koriste ovo bogatstvo. Danas je vrlo rasprostranjena pojava da čitav čovjekov religijski život započinje i završava se samo u glavi, ne dolazeći uopće do srca. Religijska znanja ulaze preko sluha, preko razuma, čovjek ih intelektualno analizira i promišlja, ''prevodi'' na svoj jezik i svoju mjeru, i onda ih odmah potom iznosi napolje, kao nešto što je plod njegovog duhovnog iskustva i samog života. Ali, takvo znanje, koje čovjek nije sam iskusio, za koje nije postradao i stekao ga djelatnim životom i borbom jest prazno znanje. Čovjek koji se ne uči iz duhovnog iskustva, nego iz knjiškog znanja je, po riječima bogougodnog Izaka Sirijskog, sličan umjetniku koji, obećavajući vodu žednome, crta vodu bojama na zidu. Nesreća je i u tome što onaj koji je sebe prerano posvetio poučavanju drugih sam ostaje bez duhovnog ploda, jer je strast poučavanja drugih velika prepreka da se čovjek bavi sobom, da vidi sebe, svoje nemoći i da traži izlječenje najprije za sebe samog. U osnovi ovakvog nepravilnog učenja drugih pameti opet leži sujeta, uznositost i oholost uma. Također, to mogu da budu sklonost k besposličarenju, težnja da čovjek izbjegne težak rad na unutrašnjoj borbi protiv grešnog sebe i da ovaj rad zamijeni lakim odnosno da savjetuje druge. Svijet je uvijek bolovao i danas boluje od ove strasti.

Svaki koji se imalo isticao po intelektu uvijek je težio da uči i preobraća druge svojim izmišljotinama. Filozofi, religijski mislioci, propagandisti hereza su snažno pokušavali da rasprostrane svoja zabludna učenja. Svaka religijska sekta želi da ulovi u svoje mreže kojeg god može. Dakle, postoji mnoštvo bezmilosnih pobuda da čovjek propovijeda i druge uvlači u svoju lažnu vjeru. I upravo zbog toga ne smijemo da imamo povjerenja u ovaj svoj unutrašnji poriv za ''revnošću'' i ''obraćanjem'' bližnjih na ''pravi put'', jer mi nismo sveti apostoli niti sveti Oci svjetlonosci Istinske pravoslavne crkve, koji su to činili milošću Božjom. Uvijek će prije biti da nas na tu ''revnost'' podstiču zle strasti koje se kriju u nama, koje nas time obmanjuju da brigu o spasenju svoje duše zamijenimo navodnom brigom za druge i da, na taj način, ''spašavajući'' ustvari sami duhovno poginemo. Braćo moja, ne budite mnogi učitelji, znajući da ćemo više biti osuđeni, upozorava apostol Jakov. Evo što o tome govore sveti Oci: ''Nemoj početi da učiš druge prije vremena, jer ćeš inače svo vrijeme svoga života oskudijevati u rasuđivanju'' (11, str. 368, st. 134). Otac Pimen Veliki savjetuje: ''Učiti bližnjeg je podjednako proturječno s poniznošću, kao i obličiti ga.'' Otac Izaija opominje: ''Opasno je učiti bližnjeg prije vremena da sam čovjek ne upadne u ono na što učenjem upozorava bližnjeg. Onaj koji pada u grijeh ne može da uči drugoga kako da u njega ne pada'' (11, str. 131, st. 74). Isti dalje upozorava: ''Čovjekova želja da uči druge, priznajući samim time sebe sposobnim za to, prouzrokuje pad njegove duše. Oni koji se rukovode umišljenošću i koji bližnjeg žele da ''dovedu'' u stanje bestrasnosti, vode ustvari svoju dušu u jadno stanje. Znaj i budi uvjeren da, učeći bližnjega svog da učini ovo ili ono, djeluješ kao oruđe kojim rušiš svoju kuću, dok istovremeno pokušavaš da sagradiš kuću bližnjega'' (11, str. 122, st. 217). Bogougodni Izak Sirijski: ''Dobro je svjedočiti radi Boga, ali je bolje da čovjek sebe učini čistim za Boga. Bolje ti je da, pošto znaš i imaš iskustvo, šutiš nego da zbog oštrine uma tvoga, kao rijeka, iz tebe izvire učenje. Korisnije ti je da se potrudiš da grijehom umrtvljenu svoju dušu uskrsneš usmjeravanjem svojih misli k božanskome nego da uskrsavaš mrtve. Mnogi su činili čuda, uskrsavali mrtve, trudili se da obraćaju zabludjele i činili velika čuda: njihovim rukama mnogi su bili dovedeni do spoznaje Boga, ali i poslije svega toga isti ovi, koji su oživljavali druge, padali su u mrske i gnjusne strasti, pogubljivali sebe same i mnogima su postajali sablazan kad su njihova djela postala javna, a to se zbilo zato što su još uvijek bili bolesni dušom i nisu se brinuli za zdravlje svojih duša'' (2, sl. 36). ''Čak i ako otkupiš stotine robova kršćana iz ropstva zlih ljudi i daš ovim ljudima slobodu, to te neće spasti ako pri tom sam ostaješ u ropstvu svojih strasti'' (7, gl. 1). ''Tek kad  čovjek stekne mir, on iz sebe na druge može da izlijeva svjetlost prosvjetljenja razuma'' (iz životopisa bogougodnog Serafima Sarovskog, čiji je blagdan 19. srpnja po crkvenom kalendaru). ''Prva obaveza vjerujućeg je da očisti sebe od strasti.'' ''Sujeta i umišljenost vode ljude da uče i podučavaju druge. Ali, oni se ne brinu za vrijednost svog savjeta! Oni ne pomišljaju na to da bližnjemu lošim savjetom mogu da nanesu neizlječivu ranu'' (9, t. 5, str. 77). ''Ali, za savjet, za rukovodstvo nije dovoljno da čovjek bude pobožan, on uz to treba da ima i duhovno iskustvo, a ponajviše duhovno pomazanje'' (9, t. 4, pismo 18). ''Ako se čovjek, prije nego što ga Istina očisti, bude rukovodio svojim nadahnućem on će i sebi i drugima svijetliti ne čistom svjetlošću, već svjetlošću pomiješanom, obmanjujućom, zato što u srcu njegovom ne živi čisto dobro nego dobro koje je, više ili manje, pomiješano sa zlom'' (10, pismo 51). Otac Izaija je ovako govorio: ''Kako mogu da znam jesam li ugodio Bogu da mogu da kažem bratu postupi ovako ili onako. Sam se još uvijek nalazim pod jarmom pokajanja zbog grijeha svojih'' (11, str. 121, st. 79). ''Dobri osjećaji su šutljivi. Izlijevanje kroz riječi više traže egoistički osjećaji da iskažu ono što laska našem samoljublju i što može da nas pokaže, kako nam se  čini, u boljem svjetlu.'' ''Svatko od nas više treba da se brine o sebi samom, o svojoj duši i o svojoj vlastitoj duševnoj koristi, zato što će, po riječima apostola Pavla, svatko od nas sam za sebe dati odgovor Bogu. Kod nas se sve zamrsilo upravo zbog toga što smo svi mi skloniji da učimo druge i što pokušavamo ne samo da ih uvjerimo nego i da ih razuvjerimo'' (Bogougodni Ambrosije Optinski, Iz pisama). ''Još nisam ni počeo podvige pobožnosti, a već sam se zarazio sujetom. Još nisam stigao da stupim ni u predvorje, a već maštam o unutrašnjem svetištu. Još nisam ni počeo da živim bogougodnim životom, a već učim svoje bližnje. Još nisam saznao što je Istina, a želim da budem nastavnik drugima. Dušo moja! Sve ti je darovao Gospodin: misao, razum, znanje, rasuđivanje, saznaj onda što je korisno za tebe. Kako maštaš o tome da svijetliš drugima kad si sama još uvijek zaronjena u tamu? Izliječi najprije samu sebe, a ako ne možeš, oplakuj svoje sljepilo''. Dakle, kao što se vidi iz riječi svetih Otaca nije za svakoga korisno da poučava, savjetuje i rukovodi, iako nam to izgleda vrijedno i pohvalno. Od najveće važnosti za svakoga je zadubljivanje u sebe, spoznaja svojih nemoći i traženje lijeka za njih.

JE LI ZA KRŠĆANINA POČETNIKA KORISNO DA RAZMIŠLJA O UZVIŠENIM DUHOVNIM STVARIMA?

Onome koji počinje da ide putem vjere predstoji i ova opasnost: umjesto da izučava jednostavna pravila koja su mu nužna, kao i osnove djelatnog istinskog pravoslavnog kršćanskog života, on može da skrene u visokoumlje, da počne da izučava složene duhovne stvari, pokušavajući svojim nemoćnim razumom da shvati ono što se ne saznaje razumom; može da se drzne da sam detaljno proučava Sveto pismo, da tumači tajanstvena biblijska proročanstva. Naš um je toliko grijehom bolestan i grijehom izopačen da mu se zapravo ne smije davati sloboda da sam rješava duhovna pitanja, već ga treba učiti da, prostosrdačnim i gotovo djetinjim stavom, prihvaća već gotovu, podrobno razjašnjenu duhovnu nauku koju mu predaju Istinska pravoslavna crkva i sveti Oci. Vrlo je opasno da se čovjek sam, svojim neočišćenim razumom, ne shvaćajući još uvijek same osnove istinske pravoslavne kršćanske vjere, usudi da proniče u dubine tananih i uzvišenih duhovnih istina. ''Vjera koja vidi i koja nije slijepa nije ona koja rasuđuje o stvarima vjere, nego ona koja iskreno i neustrašivo vjeruje, oslanjajući se na tvrdnju da je Bog zapovjedio da se tako vjeruje kao što dijete bez rasuđivanja vjeruje riječima oca i majke. U suštini, naše rasuđivanje ništa ne pridaje snazi nje, naprotiv, onaj koji u stvarima istinske pravoslavne kršćanske vjere počne da pridaje veći značaj svom shvaćanju i rasuđivanju, on samim tim umanjuje značaj svoje vjere pred Bogom kao što se snaga vina smanjuje kad se u njega sipa voda. Onaj koji svojem rasuđivanju pridaje veliki značaj, vjeruje svom razumu, a ne Bogu. U stvari, tu više i nema vjere'' (13, pismo 2). ''Kad se um, koji još nije očišćen pokajanjem i koji još luta pod vlašću tame i u tami luta, jer još nije prosvijetljen i rukovođen Duhom Svetim, drzne da sam od sebe, vlastitim snagama iz tame svoje oholosti rasuđuje o Bogu, on obavezno pada u zabludu. Takva zabluda je bogohulstvo. O Bogu možemo da znamo samo ono što nam je On po velikoj svojoj milosti otkrio'' (9, t. 1, str. 495). ''Ne budite puno razumni i puno znalci. Bogu je ugodnije dječje tepanje duše koja se ponizila viđenjem mnogih svojih nemoći od krasnorječivog raspredanja duše, prezasićene uznositošću'' (10, pismo 3). 

''Onaj koji se bavi razmišljanjem o uzvišenim stvarima ne može da izbjegne zabludu i vodeći, po svom mišljenju duhovni život, zalutat će daleko od puta spasenja. Manje je korisno detaljno upoznati Nebo i zemlju, nego spoznati svoje nedostatke i sagrješenja'' (12, pismo 84). ''Đavao često sugerira misli uzvišene, tanane i potresne, naročito onima koji su oštroumni i brzi na pametovanje. I oni, prepuštajući se zadovoljstvu da imaju i razmatraju tako uzvišene misli, zaboravljaju da paze na čistoću svog srca i da čuvaju svoju poniznost i istinsko samo-umrtvljenje svojih strasti. Tako, budući sputani nitima oholosti i nadutosti, oni od svog uma prave idola, a zbog toga ih, malo po malo, a da sami to ne osjećaju obuzima pomisao da više nemaju potrebe za savjetom i poukom od drugih, jer su navikli da u svakoj potrebi pribjegavaju idolu vlastitog razuma i suđenja''. A, nas stalno obuzima uznositost. Pritom je iznenađujuće to što razum suvremenih ljudi nikako ne želi da se zadovolji onim objašnjenjima duhovnih istina koje im daje istinsko pravoslavno učenje, one mnogima izgledaju pretjerano čudno i nemoguće, te zato lako prihvaćaju izmišljotine i laži koje su tuđe istinskom pravoslavnom kršćanskom učenju i koje zapanjuju svojim fantastičnim besmislom i potpunim odsustvom zdravog razuma. Svojstvo palog razuma je da on bezumlje često smatra za najvišu mudrost, a istinsku mudrost ismijava. Zato je za istinski pravoslavnog kršćanina izuzetno važno da svoj razum nauči jednostavnosti i poniznosti uma. Tako duhovne knjige treba izučavati samo s ciljem da čovjek koristi ova znanja za svoju dušu, da razbukta srce i dovede ga do osjećaja raskajanja, a ne da se ovim znanjem pokaže kao učen pred ljudima. Vrlo je opasno da čovjek sam tumači Sveto pismo, da pokušava da sam svojim razumom shvati misli koje su mu nejasne u knjigama svetih Otaca. U tom slučaju demoni nam često sugeriraju izvitopereno shvaćanje tih misli, koje može da nam pričini veliku duhovnu štetu, a i drugima da, preko nas, našteti. Sve što nam nije jasno treba da saznajemo od onih koji su dobro proučili svete Oce. Treba primijetiti da su gotovo sve hereze počele upravo od nepravilnog tumačenja Svetog pisma. Istinski pravoslavni kršćanin početnik mnoga pitanja, čak, i ne treba da shvaća u svim njihovim nijansama. Uz to, važno je da  čovjek shvati da se duhovna mudrost otkriva samo kroz iskustvo djelatnog istinskog pravoslavnog kršćanskog života, da se saznaje po mjeri duhovnog uzrastanja, po mjeri u kojoj čovjek očisti svoj um i svoje srce, a ne naporima razuma kao u zemaljskim naukama i mudrovanjima. Zbog toga treba pribjegavati poukama svetih Otaca, koji su u životu prošli ovaj put, i u djelima iskusili svu ovu tajanstvenu duhovnu nauku.

KAD POSLUŠNOST NIJE UGODNA BOGU?

Svi dobro znaju da je poslušnost od ključne važnosti u duhovnom životu, i da su opasni samovolja i uzdanje samo u sebe. Otac Dorotej kaže: ''Ne znam za drukčiji pad osim onog kad čovjek sluša sebe samog. Vidiš li nekoga koji je pao, znaj da je slušao sebe. Ništa nije opasnije, nema ničeg pogubnijeg od ovoga. Nema nesretnijih ljudi i ljudi bližih pogibelji od ljudi koji nemaju nastavnika na putu Božjem. List ispočetka uvijek bude zelen, svjež i lijep, ali zatim počinje da se suši, otpada i na kraju ga gaze. Tako i čovjek kojim nitko ne rukovodi spočetka uvijek ima revnost za post, bdijenje, tihovanje, poslušnost i druge kreposti, a zatim se kod njega ova revnost malo po malo hladi, i on se nemajući nikoga koji bi ga duhovno upućivao, podržavao i razbuktavao u njemu ovu revnost neosjetno suši, pada i postaje, na kraju, rob u vlasti neprijatelja koji rade s njim što hoće'' (5, pouka 5). Međutim, poslušnost može biti istinska i duhovna, a može biti tjelesna i čovjekougodnička. ''Istinska poslušnost je poslušnost Bogu, Bogu jedinome. Onaj koji ne može sam po sebi da bude poslušan Bogu, treba da sebi uzme za duhovnog pomoćnika čovjeka kojemu je poslušnost Bogu bolje poznata'' (10, pismo 90). Duhovnik kojeg slušamo treba, zaista, jasno da razumije volju Božju i da ima trezven pogled na duhovni život, jer u suprotnom može da nam našteti. I opet, treba praviti razliku između podčinjavanja, odsijecanja svoje volje i poslušnosti. Trebamo se podčinjavati ne samo crkvenim vlastima nego i građanskim, naravno kad to ne narušava zakone naše istinski pravoslavne kršćanske vjere. Trebamo uvijek i u svemu, koliko je god to moguće, truditi se da odsijecamo svoju volju, ne samo pred ljudima već i pred okolnostima, vjerujući da se sve što se oko nas događa, događa po promislu Božjem. Naravno, da ovo uvijek treba činiti s rasuđivanjem, treba razlikovati stvari koje su štetne po dušu od onih koje nisu, i ako duši prijeti opasnost ne samo da ne treba da se povinujemo tuđoj volji nego treba i odlučno da joj se suprotstavimo. Isto ovakvo odsijecanje svoje volje je potrebno i u odnosima s neduhovnim rukovodiocima, kojima treba da se povinujemo isključivo u onome što nije štetno po nas. Ali, kad je riječ o važnim pitanjima, koja usmjeravaju sam naš duhovni život, ovakvim neduhovnim nastavnicima se ne smijemo prepuštati, već po ovim pitanjima trebamo da se obraćamo samo duhovnim osobama, koje su zaista (u to moramo biti sigurni) vjerne i iskusne u istinskom pravoslavlju, koje imaju jasan duhovni pogled i dobro poznaju učenje svetih Otaca. Samo prema takvim duhovnicima može da postoji istinska poslušnost. Slijepo se prepustiti čovjeku s izvitoperenim shvaćanjem istinskog pravoslavnog učenja znači i sam prihvatiti ovu izvitoperenost, znači da čovjek time postaje izvršilac ne Božje volje već bolesne ljudske volje, i to bez obzira na to da li je ovaj neduhovni nastavnik redovnik, pastir ili nadpastir. Sveti Oci govore: ''Budi svima poslušan u svakom dobrom djelu, samo nemoj da slijediš pohlepne niti srebroljupce niti ljubitelje svijeta da tvoja poslušnost ne bude djelo đavlovo'' (2, sl. 9). ''Slušaj onog savjetnika koji, kad sve ispita, umije sa strpljenjem da razmotri ono što treba da se razmotri u tvojoj stvari, i koji može točno da ti ukaže na ono što je zaista korisno za tebe''. ''Za savjetovanje drugih, za duhovno rukovođenje drugima nije dovoljno da čovjek bude pobožan; on treba da ima duhovno iskustvo, prije svega duhovno pomazanje. Takvo je o ovom predmetu učenje Svetog pisma i svetih Otaca. Pobožan, ali neiskusan savjetnik prije može da zbuni nego da donese korist''(9, t. 4, pismo 18). ''U ovom smislu ostavlja i zapovijeda apostol Pavao: Ne budite robovi ljudima (1 Kor 7,23). On zapovijeda da se i samo služenje sluga gospodarima izvršava duhovno, ali ne u smislu ''čovjekougađanja'', već u smislu tvorenja volje Božje kroz izvanjsko služenje ljudima.

I još: Ne radeći samo prividno kao da ugađate ljudima, nego kao sluge Kristove, tvoreći volju Božju od srca (Ef 6,6); i: Zar ja sad nastojim da ljude pridobijem ili Boga? Ili tražim ljudima da ugađam? Jer kad bih još ljudima ugađao, ne bih bio sluga Kristov (Gal 1,10). ''Od istinske poslušnosti rađa se i istinska poniznost: milost Božja posjećuje istinsku poniznost. Od nepravilne i čovjeku ugodne poslušnosti, rađa se lažna poniznost, koja čovjeka udaljuje od darova Božjih i čini ga posudom sotone'' (11, str. 116). Naročito je žalosno kad se iskušenik trudi da nasljeduje potpunu poslušnost, da u potpunosti odbaci rasuđivanje i da se podčini riječi nastavnika kao što je to bilo kod drevnih Otaca, kad je i nastavnicima i učenicima rukovodio Duh Sveti. U naše, pak, vrijeme gotovo da se ne mogu naći ljudi koji bi pravilno mogli da duhovno rukovode i upućuju druge, tim prije što ima puno učitelja koji su i sami u zabludi i to u vrlo bitnim pitanjima istinske pravoslavne kršćanske vjere. Nesreća je kad učenik takvog neiskusnog učitelja počne da prihvaća svaku učiteljevu riječ i pouku kao savršenu istinu i da ih do kraja slijedi.'' ''Poslušnost je čudo vjere! To može da učini samo Bog. I ostvarili su ga oni ljudi kojima je Bog dao ovaj dar. Međutim, kad ljudi vlastitim naporom požele da dostignu ono što jedino Bog daje, njihov trud bude bezuspješan i jalov: tada oni sliče ne one zidare tvrđave koji se spominju u Evanđelju i koji započinju zgradu, nemajući sredstava da je završe'' (9, t. 4, pismo 54). ''Izučavaj božansko Pismo,'' govori sv. Simeon Novi Bogoslov, ''i knjige svetih Otaca, naročito one koje se bave kršćanskom praksom, da sve možeš usporediti s njihovim učenjem i vidjeti sve kao u ogledalu, i da ono što je kod tebe u skladu sa Svetim pismom usvojiš i zadržiš, a ono što je lažno i loše da prepoznaš i odbaciš da ne budeš prevaren. Znaj da se u naše vrijeme pojavilo puno prevaranata i lažnih učitelja'' (1, t. 5, str. 33).

Sv. Ignjacije Brjančaninov je puno govorio o poslušnosti, o tome kakvo je ono bilo u drevnom redovništvu, kao i o tome da takva poslušnost nije dana našem vremenu. Bogougodni Ivan Kasijan kaže da su egipatski Oci tvrdili da je dobro duhovno rukovoditi i biti dobro duhovno rukovođen svojstveno mudrima, i kažu da je to najveći dar i milost Svetoga Duha. Nužan uvjet za takvu poslušnost jest duhonosni nastavnik koji je u stanju da, voljom Svetoga Duha, umrtvljava palu volju onoga koji mu se podčinjava u Gospodinu, i u ovoj paloj volji, sve strasti. Očigledno je da umrtvljenje pale volje, koje se tako veličanstveno i pobjedonosno izvršava voljom Duha Božjeg, ne može biti izvršeno palom voljom nastavnika, odnosno kad je sam nastavnik još uvijek porobljen strastima'' (9, t. 5, str. 71). Pod maskom poslušnosti mogu se skrivati razne pristrasnosti, čak, i strast požude. Uopće, sve što je prekomjerno i nije osoljeno duhom istinske poniznosti i ugađanja Bogu obavezno bude oskrnavljeno nekom nečistoćom i podvrgnuto demonskom ismijavanju.

KAKVE SE OBMANE DOGAĐAJU PRILIKOM NEPRAVILNOG UPRAŽNJAVANJA MOLITVE?

Gorka sudbina pada u samoobmanu, obmanu i pod vlast zlih duhova predstoji onima koji maštaju o tome da dostignu visoka molitvena stanja, a nemaju pritom istinsku već tjelesnu i duševnu revnost. Takve podvižnike đavao lako hvata u svoje mreže. Nepravilno prakticiranje molitve je put u samoobmanu iz koje zapravo i nastaje demonska obmana. Razne vrste obmana koje se događaju prilikom nepravilne molitve vrlo podrobno razmatra sv. Ignjacije u svojoj ''Pouci starca s učenikom''. Ovdje ćemo navesti osnovne misli iz ovog spisa. ''Sve vrste demonskih obmana u koje upada onaj koji se nepravilno moli nastaju zbog toga što u temelj molitve nije položeno pokajanje, što pokajanje nije postalo izvor, duša i cilj molitve. Pokajanje i sve od čega se ono sastoji (skrušenost ili ožalošćenost duha, plač srca, suze, samoosuđivanje, sjećanje na smrt, sud Božji i vječne muke, osjećaj prisustva Božjeg i strah Božji) jesu darovi Božji, dragocjeni darovi, darovi prvenstveni i osnovni, zalog najviših i vječnih darova. Ako se prvo ne steknu ovi osnovni darovi, nemoguće je zadobiti darove koji slijede poslije ovih prvih.''

''Bez obzira kako uzvišeni bili naši podvizi,'' rekao je bogougodni Ivan Ljestvičar, ''ako, ne steknemo samilosno srce ovi podvizi su lažni i uzaludni'' (sl. 7). Najopasniji i najnepravilniji način molitve se sastoji u tome da čovjek koji se moli snagom svoje mašte stvara zamišljene slike ili predstave, uzimajući ih naizgled iz Svetog pisma, a u stvari iz svog vlastitog palog stanja, iz svoje palosti, iz svoje grešnosti, iz svoje samoobmane. Ovim zamišljenim slikama, on zapravo laskajući svojoj nadutosti, svojoj sujeti, svom visokom mišljenju o sebi, svojoj oholosti, obmanjuje sebe. Sv. Simeon Novi Teolog ovako opisuje molitvu onoga koji mašta i njene plodove: ''On podiže k nebu ruke, oči i um, zamišlja u svom umu nebeska blaga, činove svetih Anđela, obitelji Svetih, ukratko, oživljuje u svojoj mašti sve ono što je pročitao u Svetom pismu, razmatra ovo za vrijeme molitve, upravlja pogled k nebu, i svim ovim podstiče svoju dušu na navodno ''božanske'' želje i ljubav, a ponekad, čak, prolijeva suze i plače. Tako se malo po malo oholi u svom srcu, ne shvaćajući umom da je pao u oholost. On misli da je to što čini plod Božje milosti koja mu je dana na utjehu i moli Boga da ga udostoji da uvijek bude u ovom djelovanju. To je obmana. Ovakav čovjek, čak i ako bude tihovao u savršenom životu u tišini ne može da se ne podvrgne silasku s uma i ludilu. Čak ako mu se to i ne dogodi, za njega je nemoguće da dostigne duhovno rasuđivanje i kreposti. Na taj način su pali u obmanu ljudi koji su navodno vidjeli ''nebesku'' svjetlost i sjaj ovim tjelesnim očima, osjetili ''nebeski'' miomiris svojim tjelesnim nosnicama, čuli ''nebeske'' glasove svojim ušima. Jedni su postali opsjednuti zlim dusima i sumanuti tumarali s jednog mjesta na drugo. Drugi su prihvatili demona koji se preobrazio u svijetlog anđela, pali u obmanu i ostali neizliječeni sve do smrti, ne prihvaćajući ničiji savjet. Treći su, po đavlovu nagovoru, izvršili samoubojstvo, bacajući se u provaliju ili duboku vodu. Ne mogu se ni nabrojati sve različite i bezbrojne obmane đavlove, kojima đavao obmanjuje ljude. Naša pala slobodna volja prirodno teži i nastoji k obmani, i to zato što svaka obmana laska našoj uznositosti, našoj sujeti i našoj oholosti.'' Sv. Ignjacije nam izlaže poučne primjere ovakve demonske obmane do kojih je došlo uslijed razvoja maštanja u molitvi: ''Neki činovnik koji je živio u Petrogradu, bavio se velikim molitvenim podvigom i dospio je zbog toga u neobično stanje. Obratio se za duhovni savjet u samostan jednom starcu redovniku. Činovnik počne da mu priča o svojim ''viđenjima'', o tome kako on u molitvi stalno vidi svjetlost koja se širi od ikona, osjeća čudni miomiris, osjeća u ustima neobičnu slast i tako dalje. Redovnik, saslušavši ovu priču upita činovnika: ''Je li vam padalo na pamet da se ubijete?'' ''Kako da ne,'' odgovori činovnik. ''Već sam htio da se bacim u Fontanku, ali su me izvukli.'' Ispostavilo se da se činovnik nepravilno molio kao što je to i opisao sv. Simeon Novi Teolog, rasplamsavao maštu i krv, pri čemu je postao vrlo sposoban za veliki post i bdijenje. Stanju samoobmane koje je sam u sebi proizveo, đavao je pridodao svoje djelovanje srodno ovom, i činovnikova ljudska samoobmana je ubrzo prešla u očiglednu demonsku obmanu. Činovnik je vidio svjetlost tjelesnim očima: miomiris i slast koje je osjećao, također su bili čulni. Suprotno ovome, viđenja i natprirodna stanja koja su imali Sveti, u potpunosti su duhovna: podvižnik nije sposoban za njih prije nego što mu duhovne oči za to ne otvori Božja milost. I, spomenuti redovnik je počeo da nagovara činovnika da se ostavi načina molitve, koji je upražnjavao, objašnjavajući mu svu nepravilnost tog načina i nepravilnost stanja koje takva molitva izaziva. Činovnik se srdito usprotivio tom savjetu: ''Kako da se odreknem očigledne milosti?''. Izgledao je žalosno i nekako smiješno. Tako on postavi redovniku slijedeće pitanje: ''Pa zar je to grešno to što pljuvačka, kad mi se od obilne slasti nakupi u ustima, počne da kaplje na pod?'' I zaista, ljudi koji se nalaze u demonskoj obmani izazivaju sažaljenje, jer ne pripadaju više sebi samima i njihov um i srce su u vlasti lukavog, bogoodbačenog duha. Oni predstavljaju jadan prizor, jer ih ismijava lukavi duh koji je njima ovladao i doveo ih u stanje poniženja, obmanuvši ih sujetom i uobraženošću. Oni koji se nalaze u obmani uopće ne shvaćaju da su duhovno zarobljeni, niti da se čudno ponašaju bez obzira na to koliko je očigledno ovo njihovo ropstvo i njihovo čudno ponašanje. Kad je činovnik otišao, drugi redovnik koji je prisustvovao razgovoru, upita starca: ''Kako ti je palo na pamet da pitaš činovnika je li pokušao da se ubije?'' Ovaj mu odgovori: ''Kao što u plaču po Bogu dolaze trenuci neobičnog spokojstva savjesti, u čemu se i sastoji utjeha za one koji plaču, tako i u lažnoj nasladi koju daje demonska obmana dolaze trenuci kad obmana kao da se razotkriva i daje čovjeku da iskusi kakva ona u stvari jest. Ovi trenuci su užasni! Njihova gorčina i očajanje koje ova gorčina rađa su neizdrživi. I upravo po ovom stanju, do kojeg ga dovodi obmana, obmanuti najlakše i može da je prepozna i da poduzme mjere za svoje izlječenje. Početak obmane je oholost i plod obmane je, također, izobilna oholost. Obmanuti čovjek, koji misli za sebe da je postao posuda Božje milosti, prezire spasonosna upozorenja svojih bližnjih. Međutim, napadi očajanja postaju sve jači i jači: na kraju očajanje prelazi u sumanutost i završava samoubojstvom.''

''Dogodio mi se,'' pripovijeda dalje sv. Ignjacije Brjančaninov, ''jedan neobičan slučaj. Jednom prilikom me je posjetio svetogorski redovnik, koji je u Rusiju došao da skuplja prilog. Sjeli smo u moju sobu za goste i on je počeo da mi govori: 'Pomoli se za mene oče, puno spavam i puno jedem.' Dok mi je on ovo govorio, osjetio sam neku vrelinu koja je od njega dolazila i zato mu rekoh: 'Ti ne jedeš puno i ne spavaš puno, ali da li u tebi ima nečeg naročitog?', i zamolih ga da uđe u moju unutrašnju sobu. Idući pred njim i otvarajući vrata, u mislima sam molio Boga da daruje mojoj gladnoj duši nešto korisno od svetogorskog redovnika, ako je on zaista sluga Božji. Istina, od samog početka primijetio sam u njemu nešto neobično. U mojoj unutrašnjoj sobi ponovo sjedosmo radi razgovora i ja počeh da ga molim: 'Budi milostiv, nauči me molitvi. Ti živiš na posve kreposnom redovničkom mjestu na zemlji, među tisućama redovnika, na takvom mjestu i u takvom mnoštvu redovnika sigurno treba biti velikih molitvenika koji znaju molitveno tajno-djelovanje i prenose ga bližnjima po primjeru sv. Grigorija Sinaita i sv. Grigorija Palame, kao i po primjeru mnogih drugih svetogorskih svjetila'. Redovnik odmah pristade da bude moj nastavnik, i o užasa, s ogromnim žarom počne da mi izlaže način ushićene molitve koja je puna mašte, o kojoj sam već govorio. Vidim da je u strašnom žaru (užareni su mu i krv i mašta), da je zadovoljan sobom, ushićen sobom, u samoobmani, u obmani! Pošto sam ga pustio da kaže sve što je htio, počeh pomalo i kao učenik da mu izlažem učenje svetih Otaca o molitvi, navodeći mu mjesta iz Dobrotoljublja i moleći ga da mi objasni ovo učenje. Svetogorac pade u potpunu nedoumicu. Vidio sam da uopće nije upoznat s učenjem svetih Otaca o molitvi! U nastavku razgovora mu rekoh: 'Vidi, starče! Kad budeš živio u Petrogradu nemoj nikako da stanuješ na najvišem katu, obavezno stanuj u prizemlju.' 'Zašto?' upita me svetogorac. 'Zbog toga što ćeš se,' odgovorih, 'ako anđelima padne na pamet da te uzmu i prenesu iz Petrograda na Svetu goru i ako te ponesu s najvišeg kata, i pritom, ispuste ubiti, a ako te ponesu iz prizemlja i ispuste, samo ćeš se ugruvati.' 'Zamisli,' odgovori svetogorac, 'koliko puta mi je već, dok sam stajao na molitvi, dolazila misao da će me anđeli uzeti i odnijeti na Svetu goru.' Ispostavilo se da redovnik nosi verige, gotovo ne spava, okuša vrlo malo hrane, osjeća u tijelu takvu vrelinu da mu zimi nije potrebna topla odjeća. Pred kraj razgovora, palo mi je na pamet da postupim na slijedeći način: zamolio sam svetogorca da on, kao isposnik i podvižnik, isproba na sebi način molitve iz Predaje svetih Otaca, koji se sastoji u tome da za vrijeme molitve um bude van svake mašte, da se sav uroni u pažnju prema riječima molitve, da se zatvori i ograniči na riječi molitve. Pritom srce obično surađuje umu, spasonosnim po dušu, osjećajem žalosti zbog grijeha. ''Kad ovo osjetiš na sebi,'' rekoh svetogorcu ''obavijesti me o plodu pokušaja; za mene samog ovaj pokušaj nije zgodan zbog rasijanog života koji vodim.'' Svetogorac je rado pristao na moj prijedlog. Poslije nekoliko dana dolazi kod mene i kaže: ''Što si to uradio sa mnom?''. ''A što to?'' ''Pa čim sam probao da se pažljivo pomolim, sva moja viđenja su nestala i više ne mogu da im se vratim''. Dalje u toku razgovora sa svetogorcem, nisam više vidio ono samopouzdanje i smjelost koji su bili vrlo uočljivi u njemu prilikom prvog susreta i koji se obično mogu zapaziti kod ljudi koji se nalaze u samoobmani i misle za sebe da su sveti ili da duhovno napreduju. Svetogorac je, čak, izrazio želju da čuje moj ubogi savjet. Kad sam ga posavjetovao da se potrudi da se po izvanjskom načinu svog života ničim ne ističe u odnosu na ostale redovnike, zato što takvo isticanje vodi u uznositost, on skide sa sebe verige i dade mi ih. Kroz mjesec dana ponovo je došao kod mene i ispričao mi da je nestala užarenost iz njegovog tijela, da mu je potrebna topla odjeća i da puno više spava. Pritom mi je priznao da na Svetoj gori mnogi od onih koji su tamo čuveni po svom svetom životu, upražnjavaju upravo ovaj, pravilni način molitve i njemu uče i druge.''

''Pažljiva molitva zahtijeva samoodricanje, a na samoodricanje se rijetko tko odlučuje. Onaj koji se pažljivo zagleda u sebe i nalazi se u stanju nedoumice, vidjevši svoju grešnost, ne može puno da govori i nimalo nije u afektu i ne glumi, i neupućenima u tajanstveni podvig izgleda čudan i zagonetan, kao da sa njim nešto nije u redu. Ali, kako bi svijet uopće mogao da prepozna podvižnika istinske molitve, kad je sam taj podvig svijetu potpuno nepoznat? Sasvim drukčije stoje stvari s onim koji se moli u samoobmani! On ne jede, ne pije, ne spava, zimi ide samo u mantiji, nosi verige, ima ''viđenja'', svakoga podučava i razotkriva s drskom bezobraznošću, bez ikakve točnosti i rasuđivanja, sa strasnim žarom u krvi i tijelu koju rađa ova žalosna i pogibeljna užarenost. Takav se ponaša kao ''svetac''! I odavno je primijećeno da je ljudsko društvo sklono ovakvim ''svecima'' i da ga takvi ''sveci'' privlače.

Veliki dio podvižnika Zapadne odnosno rimske crkve, koje je ona pošto se odvojila od Istočne, Istinske pravoslavne crkve i pošto ju je zbog toga napustio Sveti Duh proglasila za svoje najveće svece, molio se i dostizao ''viđenja'', razumije se, lažna, upravo na spomenuti način. Ovi umišljeni sveci su bili u užasnoj demonskoj obmani. Ponašanje zapadnih podvižnika obuzetih obmanom je uvijek bilo posve ludo uslijed neobične tjelesne strasne užarenosti. U takvom stanju se nalazio Ignjacio Lojola, osnivač isusovačkog reda. Njegova mašta je bila toliko užarena i izoštrena da je bilo dovoljno da samo poželi i da uloži mali napor, pa da po svojoj želji ugleda pakao ili raj. Ali, javljanje raja i pakla kod njega nije nastajalo samo pod djelovanjem ljudske mašte. Ovo javljanje je bilo plod djelovanja demona koji su svoje djelovanje dodavali nepravilnom ljudskom djelovanju. Sveti Ignjacije opisuje i drugu vrstu nepravilne molitve: ''Kao što nepravilno djelovanje uma vodi u samoobmanu i obmanu, isto tako u njih vodi i nepravilno djelovanje srca. Kao što su suludom ohološću ispunjeni oni koji imaju želju i nastojanje da vide duhovna viđenja umom koji nije očišćen od strasti i koji nije obnovljen i preporođen Svetim Duhom, takvom istom ohološću i bezumljem su ispunjeni oni koji imaju želju i nastojanje srca da se naslađuju svetim, duhovnim i božanskim osjećajima, a da njihovo srce uopće još nije sposobno za takvu nasladu. Srce koje pokušava da osjeti božansku slast i druge božanske osjećaje, ne nalazeći ih u sebi: vara, obmanjuje i uništava sebe, ulazeći u oblast laži, u zajednicu s demonima, podčinjavajući se njihovom utjecaju, potpadajući pod njihovu vlast. Samo jedan osjećaj od svih osjećaja srca u njegovom palom stanju može biti upotrijebljen u nevidljivom bogoslužju: žalost zbog svojih grijeha, oskvrnjenosti, palosti i propasti, a to je žalost plača, pokajanja i skrušenosti duha. Svima je poznato kakva je duševna nesreća zadesila židovske književnike i farizeje zbog njihovog nepravilnog duševnog raspoloženja: oni su postali ne samo tuđi Bogu, nego i Njegovi posve ludi neprijatelji i ubojice Boga. Sličnoj nesreći bivaju podvrgnuti podvižnici molitve koji su iz svog podviga isključili pokajanje i koji se primoravaju da osjete nasladu i oduševljenje: oni produbljuju svoj pad, udaljavaju se od Boga, stupaju u zajednicu sa sotonom, zaraze se mržnjom prema Svetom Duhu. Ova vrsta obmane je užasna: ona je podjednako pogubna po dušu kao i prva, ali je manje očigledna, rijetko se završava ludilom i samoubojstvom, ali potpuno uništava i um i srce. Po stanju uma koje ona rađa Oci su je nazivali ''umišljenošću''. Čovjek koji je obuzet ovom obmanom umišlja nešto o sebi, ''umišlja'' da ima mnoga dobra djela i kreposti, čak i da u izobilju posjeduje darove Svetog Duha. ''Duhovno razmišljanje ne dopušta čovjeku nikakvu umišljenost,'' rekao je sv. Simeon Novi Teolog. Onaj koji umišlja da je bez strasti, nikada se neće očistiti od strasti. Onaj koji uobražava da je ispunjen milošću, nikad neće zadobiti milost. Onaj koji misli da je svet, nikada neće dostići svetost. Neobična uobraženost se uočava kod ljudi koji pate od ove obmane: oni kao da su oduševljeni sobom, svojom samoobmanutošću koju smatraju za milosno stanje. Oni su prožeti i ispunjeni uznositošću i ohološću, iako izgledaju ponizni mnogima, koji sude po vanjštini i ne mogu da čovjeka ocijene po plodovima. Nema spasenja bez pokajanja, a pokajanje od Boga dobivaju samo oni koji, da bi ga primili, prodaju sve svoje imanje, odnosno odreknu se svega što su lažno stekli ''umišljenošću''. Vrlo često se mogu sresti ljudi zaraženi ''umišljenošću''. Svaki koji nema skrušenog duha, koji misli da ima bilo kakve kreposti i zasluge, svatko tko se ne pridržava neustrašivo učenja Istinske pravoslavne crkve, već o dogmama i Predaji razmišlja proizvoljno, po svom nahođenju ili po nepravilnom učenju, nalazi se u ovoj obmani. Treba budno pratiti sebe da se ne bi sebi pripisalo neko dobro djelo ili pohvalna osobina ili neka naročita prirodna sposobnost, ili čak, milosno stanje ukoliko ga je čovjek bio udostojen. Jednom riječju, čovjek ne treba da smatra da ima bilo kakvu krepost. Naravno, ima duhovnih stanja koja su zaista posljedica Božje milosti, u kojima čovjek osjeća duhovnu slast i radost, u kojima u srcu osjeća prisustvo Svetoga Duha, u kojima kao podvižnik Kristov bude udostojen duhovnih viđenja, ali ovo bude samo s onim istinskim pravoslavnim kršćanima koji su dostigli istinsko pravoslavno kršćansko savršenstvo, prethodno se očistivši i pripremivši se pokajanjem. Postupno djelovanje pokajanja se ogleda u svakoj vrsti poniznosti, naročito u molitvi koja se prinosi iz siromaštva duha, iz plača, i koja postupno slabi u čovjeku djelovanje grijeha. Ali, za to je potrebno puno vremena. Borba protiv strasti je od neobične koristi, jer ona najspasonosnije dovodi do osjećaja siromaštva duha. Kad strasti znatno oslabe, a ovo se najčešće događa pred kraj života, tada postupno počnu da se javljaju istinska duhovna kršćanska stanja koja se neizmjerno razlikuju od stanja koja rađa ''umišljenost'', jer ova na kraju uvijek dovodi do malodušja ili duhovne lijenosti. Duhovne darove čovjeku daruje božanska Premudrost, koja vrlo brine o tome da razumna posuda odnosno čovjek koji treba da primi dar u sebe izdrži bez štete po sebe jačinu dara, jer novo vino probija mješine stare (Mt 9,17). U naše vrijeme duhovni darovi daju se vrlo umjereno, tek onoliko koliko je potrebno za spasenje, a prema slabosti kojom je obuzeto svekoliko pravoslavno kršćanstvo. Nasuprot ovome, ''umišljenost'' rasipa svoje ''darove'' u bezumnom izobilju i s velikom žurbom. Opća odlika istinske pravoslavne duhovnosti je duboka poniznost i poniznost uma, sjedinjena s krajnjim poštovanjem svih bližnjih, s otvorenošću i evanđeoskom ljubavlju prema svim bližnjima i s težnjom da čovjek bude nepoznat, da se udalji od svijeta.'' (9, t. 1, str. 230‐ 258). Iz ovog vrlo bitnog, dubokog i detaljnog spisa sv. Ignjacija ovdje su navedeni samo neki odlomci s ciljem da se ukaže na najopćije opasnosti i moguća odstupanja s kojima se čovjek sreće na molitvenom putu. Onaj koji podrobnije želi da upozna uzroke obmana neka obavezno pročita čitav spis. Ukazat ćemo ovdje na još jednu zapanjujuću pojavu, koja će nas primorati da budemo još oprezniji u duhovnom životu. Sv. Ignjacije, kao vjerojatno niti jedan od svetih Otaca, naročito detaljno i točno proučava prirodu obmane u njenim različitim oblicima. On koristi svekoliko iskustvo drevnog redovništva da razotkrije mnoštvo raznovrsnih demonskih zamki i upozori na njih posljednje istinski pravoslavne kršćane, kojima predstoji duhovna borba u vrijeme naročitih iskušenja, kad će čovjeku biti potrebna izuzetna razboritost i opreznost da duhovno ne pogine. Međutim, evo dokaza da samo znanje bez poniznosti srca ne pomaže čovjeku da izbjegne ovu opasnost: ispostavlja se da zli duhovi čak i iz samog učenja o poniznosti mogu da izvuku oruđe za sebe. Nedavno se dogodio ovakav slučaj: naš samostan je posjetio jedan redovnik koji je nekoliko prethodnih godina proveo u gotovo pustim mjestima među podvižnicima u poslušnosti kod nekog starca. Ovaj starac se bavio neobičnim podvigom plača i ovom djelovanju je naučio svog učenika. (U ovoj pustinji je bilo još nekoliko redovnika koji su prihvatili ovo učenje i vršili iste ovakve eksperimente.) Dakle, ovaj redovnik je počeo da prenosi svoja iskustva samostanskom bratstvu, počeo vatreno da govori o značaju pokajničkog plača, o tome da je to glavno djelovanje redovnika, da je samo u plaču spasenje, itd. Citirao je mnoge izreke svetih Otaca o suzama, naročito se pozivao na učenje sv. Ignjacija o plaču i pokajanju, napamet je znao cijela njegova pisma, ukratko, izložio je opširno i detaljno učenje svetih Otaca Istinske pravoslavne crkve o ovom pitanju. Uvjeravao je redovnike da čovjek treba da se prisiljava na suze, da se suze zadobivaju naročitim molitvenim trudom i podvigom samoodricanja i surovosti prema sebi. Braća koja su slušala redovnika nisu mogla da se ne slože s njegovim riječima, ali nisu baš imala povjerenja u ovakvu redovnikovu vatrenost. Na kraju, on im ponudi da im pokaže ovaj način pokajničkog plača koji upražnjavaju njegov starac u pustinji. Pri tom se ispostavilo da zbog toga treba da se udalji od obitelji u planinu, da se ostala braća u samostanu ne bi uznemirila. Ovo je učinilo da redovnici postanu tako oprezni i da odbiju da se upoznaju s tako čudnim eksperimentima. Razgovor se završio. Redovnik je potom otišao u planinu. Prošlo je neko vrijeme i svatko se u samostanu bavio svojim poslom. Odjednom po brdima oko samostana začulo se neko strašno zavijanje, krikovi i ridanje od kojeg se ledila krv. Ovi zvuci su odjekivali klancem. Braća ostaviše svoje poslove i počeše da osluškuju u nedoumici. Tek poslije nekog vremena su shvatili da je upravo to onaj ''podvig plača'' kojemu se obmanuti redovnik odavao. Živeći u pustinji bez ljudi, u gorama i planinskim šumama, redovnici, o kojima je gost pričao, obitavajući u međusobno udaljenim ćelijama, predavali su se satima ovim očajničkim vapajima svakodnevno, ispunjavajući okolinu ridanjem i krikovima, lijući mnoge suze, padajući na kraju od iznemoglosti. I ovakvo histerično prakticiranje molitve zasnovano na iscrpljivanju nerava i samo-opijenosti, oni su smatrali za istinski pokajnički podvig po predaji svetih Otaca. Čudno je što je ovakav, najteži vid obmane svio gnijezdo upravo tamo gdje je naizgled sve bilo usmjereno direktno protiv nje. Sjetimo se ovdje kako je sv. Antonije Veliki duhovnim očima vidio đavlove mreže opletene oko svijeta i uzviknuo: ''Teško ljudskom rodu! Tko još može da izbjegne ove mreže?'' Na to mu je bilo rečeno: ''Poniznost uma spašava od njih i one, čak, ne mogu ni da dodirnu poniznoga'' (11, str. 43). 

KOJI SU RAZLOZI ZA SUZE I KAD SU ONI ISPRAVNI?

We find many of the most sublime words and teachings about weeping in the Holy Fathers. They consider the gift of weeping and tears to be one of the greatest gifts of God, which is essentially necessary for our salvation. "The reason for tears is the contemplation of one's sins and the awareness of one's sinfulness and poverty of spirit. Tears are a gift of God and serve as a sign of God's grace, as a sign that God has received and is receiving repentance. However, weeping, like other spiritual actions, can have an irregular basis, it can stem from a wide variety of passionate thoughts and feelings. Tears, too, as a property of fallen nature, are infected with the disease of the fall, like all other properties. Someone is by nature particularly prone to tears and sheds tears at every convenient opportunity: such tears are called natural. There are also sinful tears. Sinful tears are tears that are shed from sinful motives. Such tears are shed abundantly and with particular ease by people who are given over to sensuality. Tears similar to the tears of the voluptuous are shed by people who are in self-deception and deception; tears are also shed abundantly because of vanity, hypocrisy, prudence, and man-pleasing. Finally, there are tears shed by wickedness" (9, vol. 1, p. 194). The God-pleasing Ivan Ljestvičar says: "The nature of tears, especially for beginners, is difficult to understand, because they arise for many different reasons: from nature, from God, from improper sadness and from true sadness, from vanity, from lustful passion, from love, from the memory of death, and from many other motives (4, fig. 7, p. 32). Very often, with God-pleasing tears, the disgusting tears of vanity are intertwined: and we recognize this well in experience when we see ourselves crying and giving in to anger" (4, fig. 7, p. 26). "If we see anger and pride in those who think they are weeping for God, we should consider their tears as irregular, for what do light and darkness have in common?" (4, fig. 2, p. 29). "He who is proud in himself because of his tears and judges in his mind those who do not weep, resembles a man who begged a king for weapons against his enemies, and with them kills himself (4, fig. 7, p. 44). It often happens that these tears make the arrogant and frivolous, which is why they are not given to some. Such people, trying to find them and not finding them, reproach themselves, condemn themselves and torment themselves with sighs and longing, sorrow of soul, deep depression and confusion. All this is a substitute for tears, although they, fortunately for themselves, do not consider this to be anything (4, fig. 7, p. 47). Do not trust your tears before you are completely cleansed of passion, because the wine that has been sealed in the vessel straight from the tap is not yet secured against spoilage'' (4, fig. p. 35). St. Teofan the Prisoner says: "There are tears that arise from weakness of heart, from great distraction of character, from illness, and some deliberately force themselves to cry. There are also tears of mercy. The value of tears is not determined on the basis of the water that flows from the eyes, but on the basis of what happens in the soul during and after the tears. Not having the grace of tears, I will not reason about them,I only assume that the tears of mercy are connected with many changes in the heart. The main thing is that the heart must then burn in the fire of God's judgment, but without pain and burning, with repentance that comes from a merciful God who, although condemning sin, caresses the sinner. I also think that these tears come already towards the end of true Orthodox Christian efforts, not external, but internal, to cleanse the heart, as the final washing and whitening of the soul. And yet, this is not achieved in an hour, in a day or two, but over many years. And they also say that there is a kind of crying of the heart without tears, but just as precious and powerful as tears. This is better for those who live with others, that is, that others cannot see it" (14, letter 2). Let us note that the Holy Fathers are very careful not to be vain in any spiritual activity: even such a great ascetic, recluse and prayer-maker as Bishop Theophanes, who lived in seclusion for 28 years, the last 11 of which he served the Holy Liturgy every day, says of himself that he does not have the gift of tears and teaches about this activity with such humility as if he himself had not acquired weeping, but knew about it only from others. Of course, this Holy Father had this gift, and it is precisely the humble statement that he does not have this weeping that is a testimony to his truly penitent spirit. Those who are truly contrite for their sins do not value their weeping very much. Father Moses said: "When we weep, let us not raise the voice of sighing, lest the left hand know what the right hand is doing. The left hand is vanity." (11, p. 287, p. 2). The Holy Fathers also give the following important advice: those tears that do not have a spiritual basis arise from nature, or even from sinful motives, and they should be immediately transformed into a godly and proper disposition, changing the very thoughts that provoke the tears, that is, remembering one's own sinfulness, inevitable death and the judgment of God, and weeping for these reasons (9, vol. 1, p. 194). But at the same time: "How strange things!", as St. Bishop Ignatius observes, "when those who from natural inclination easily shed streams of meaningless and fruitless tears, as well as those who shed them from sinful motives, desire to weep in a godly way, suddenly see in themselves an unusual dryness, they cannot squeeze a single drop of tear from their eyes. From this we learn that the tears of fear of God and repentance are a gift of God, and that in order to obtain them a person must first make an effort to obtain their cause.'' And, ''the reason for tears is the vision and consciousness of one's sinfulness'' (9, vol. 1, p. 194), as has already been said. We will cite a few more words of the same Fathers. St. Theophan the Recluse: ''Deliver us, Lord, from ecstatic prayers. Ecstasies, strong movements of the soul with excitements are the mental movements of the blood that occur as a result of an inflamed imagination. People fall into these ecstasies, but they are all soap bubbles. True prayer is quiet and peaceful, and it is such at all levels. In the God-pleasing Isaac the Syrian, the highest degrees of prayer are listed, but no ecstasies are mentioned.'' (14, letter 14). St.Bishop Ignatius teaches us: "One should maintain a state of spiritual balance, silence, tranquility and poverty of spirit, carefully avoiding all conditions that cause the blood and nerves to become inflamed. Do not beat yourself in the chest or head to provoke tears, such tears are from nervous stress, from agitated blood, and they do not enlighten the mind at all and do not soften the heart. Wait with submission for the tears from God. The tears will come, quiet and pure tears, they will change your soul, they will not disfigure your face, they will not make you feel any pain.će pocrveniti oči, već će ti se krotko spokojstvo izliti na lice'' (10, pismo 88).

ŠTO ZNAČI ''TRUDITI SE NERAZUMNO''?

A few more words should be said about physical labor, such as, for example: physical labor, performing some obedience in a monastery or temple, fasting, standing in prayer, giving alms, and other external feats. Every true Orthodox Christian should clearly recognize his condition, both physical and spiritual, and find for himself the method of spiritual struggle that is most salutary for him. The difficulty is that in order to choose the right and appropriate medicines for the soul, with which its diseases can be cured, an experienced spiritual doctor, or spiritual director, who knows his spiritual skill well, is needed. However, there are very few of such today, and therefore many people take spiritual medicines at their own discretion and apply them without any idea of ​​their purpose and application. People thus accept fasting, prayer, vigils, and physical labor, thinking that they will achieve success faster if they apply them more and more intensively. However, these works are good only when they are performed in the right way and in the right measure, with the right focus, and when the one who practices them is vigilant about the effect they have on his heart: whether it is humbled by these works, becomes softer and more suitable for spiritual life, or, on the contrary, is inflamed with passionate desires, intoxicated with self-satisfaction, feeds his vanity, becomes haughty before people, puffed up and cruel because of these feats. External feats can easily lead a person to self-exaltation in front of others, because they are obvious, noticeable, because we ourselves cannot help but notice our external feats, and vanity sings “praise” to us for such our “merits”. Incorrect feats, which are not in accordance with the goal of true feats, that is, with humility of heart, give rise to self-infatuation and egoism. St. Theophan the Recluse says: “Egoism arises from external feats if a person does not pay attention to his thoughts. He who does only external feats and does not take care of himself falls into egoism: he makes a certain number of offerings, sits and fantasizes: oh, we did our best today. You see, we honored God. Or he does not overeat and thinks: so did all the Saints: that is, we can immediately get into the biographies and the like. External feats are essential, but dwelling only on them is a misfortune!'' (14, letter 28). First of all, a person should try not to let others see what he does; this is how, for example, the Egyptian monks acted when some of their virtues became known, they no longer recognized it as a virtue, but as a sin (11, p. 185, paragraph 1). Father Isidore of Pilus told the monks: ''When you successfully perform feats in fasting, do not be proud of it. If you become vain because of your fasting, it would be better for you to eat meat. It is not so harmful for a monk to eat meat as it is to be arrogant and haughty" (11, p. 222, paragraph 6). "Be zealous, but in your soul," says the God-pleasing John of the Ladder, "not at all showing this in your outward conduct, neither in appearance nor in word,not even by hint. And do not follow, even, a hidden zeal unless you have already ceased to humiliate your neighbor. If you do not refrain from this, be like your brothers and do not differ from them by conceit” (4, fig. 4, pp. 81-82). “Since vanity feeds on everything that is exceptional, and sometimes even good deeds themselves make us arrogant, then what is in fact a saving medicine for us becomes a deadly poison” (4). Father Isaiah said: “If you pray and do asceticism with humility of mind, as if you were unworthy, it will be pleasing to God. If you remember someone else who is sleeping or lazy and if you exalt yourself in heart, your efforts are in vain” (11, p. 119, v. 10). Father Jephthimije teaches: “If one of the novices openly and before everyone tries to surpass his brother in fasting and contrition of heart, he falls into the worst sin. The first fast is the avoidance of self-will and self-law, when a person does not proclaim his good and does not do it publicly. Abstinence does not consist in a person abhorring food in order to reproach his brother for what he eats. It is better not to renounce eating at the common table, to keep a vigilant watch over the heart and to secretly fight against secret passions. The example for external and visible action is the Old Testament, it does not make anyone perfect. And the Holy Gospel is an example for internal watchfulness, that is, for purity of heart. An old man said: "Many have burdened their bodies with feats, but since they did it without reasoning, they have departed this life without any fruit, without anything. Our mouths stink from fasting; we know the entire Holy Scripture by heart, we have so much mastered the Psalms of David that they have become our work, but what good is that to us if we do not have what God requires of us, i.e. humility" (11, pp. 362-362). St. John the Ladder warns: "No matter how lofty our efforts may be, if we have not acquired a merciful heart, these efforts will be false and vain" (4, fig. 7). "What does it mean to strive unreasonably?" asks St. Bishop Ignatius and answers: "It means to strive with bodily fervor, with vanity, boastfulness, and humiliating other brothers who cannot bear such effort. Such effort, no matter how great and long it may last, no matter how useful it may be for the family in a material sense, is not only useless for the soul, but also harmful, because it fills a person with a loftiness that leaves no room in the soul for any virtue" (9, vol. 1, pp. 310-311). For a person to act rationally, the Holy Fathers advise that he should measure his exploits according to his strength and not blindly follow the asceticism of the ancient Fathers, but rather, by adopting the very essence of their exploits, their goal, their principle, find, on the advice of a spiritual father, his own measure. "If you force a powerless body to do deeds that exceed its strength, you thereby bring darkness into your soul and bring it anxiety, not benefit," said the God-pleasing Isaac the Syrian (2, fig. 85). Father Evagrius transmitted the saying of an elder:"Every feat should be timely and proportionate. A feat that is not undertaken in time and in proportion to one's strength can only be sustained for a short time, and every action that is performed briefly and then abandoned is more harmful than beneficial" (11, p. 98, paragraph 6). Describing the wonderful feats of the holy Fathers in a monastery, St. John of the Ladder concludes: "It is a praiseworthy thing if a man admires the efforts of these Saints, it is salutary if he has zeal for them, and it is unreasonable and impossible if he wants to suddenly become an heir to their life" (4, fig. 4, p. 42). "Our virtues necessarily have an admixture of impurity that comes from our weaknesses. A man must not demand more from his soul and from his heart than they can give. If you demand from them excessively, they will go bankrupt, and if you make moderate demands of them, they will give moderate interest until you die, and if you are satisfied with that, do so until you die and you will not die of hunger,'' wrote St. Ignatius (10, letter 21). Here we will mention another very important lesson about the external and internal feat of St. Ignatius, which he presented in a letter in which the essence of this question is particularly clearly presented: "Some people were created by the Creator in such a way that they have to tame their strong body and blood through severe fasting and other feats, in order to enable the soul to function properly. There are, however, people who are not capable of great physical feats: with them, the soul, by itself, without any preparation, is in constant activity. She only needs to use spiritual tools. God appears to man in purity of thought, regardless of whether man reached it through physical and mental feat, or only mental. A spiritual feat can achieve purity on its own, without a physical feat, but a physical feat, if it does not pass into a spiritual feat, is completely fruitless and is more harmful than useful: it, satisfying a person, does not give him humility, on the contrary, it arouses in him a high opinion of himself, as an ascetic who is different from other, weak people. After all, a physical feat performed with true spiritual discernment is necessary for all those who are endowed with health and a strong physical constitution, and the general monastic rule is to begin with it. Most of Christ's laborers only after long practice and getting used to physical feat begin to understand the mental feat, with which those who perform physical feats should be crowned, because without it the physical ascetic remains like a tree without fruit, which has only leaves on it. "'You and I need another way,'" continues St. Bishop Ignatius, addressing the monk to whom he is writing (and the bishop himself was very ill and suffering from great physical weakness), "as for the body, we should maintain a reasonable moderation, without exhausting our bodily strength, which is not sufficient to carry out the general monastic feats. We should direct all our attention to the mind and heart:mind and heart should be directed according to the Gospel. If we exhaust the physical strength from the barren, bloody zeal for physical exploits, the mind will weaken in the fight against the spirits of the air, the rulers of the darkness of this world, against the heavenly fallen forces, the angels who have been overthrown from heaven. Due to the impotence of the body, the mind will have to deprive itself of powerful weapons, which it essentially needs, because of which it will suffer immense damage'' (10, letter 92). It is a very valuable piece of advice that we should use physical feats to prepare the ground for instilling mental and heart activity, and above all, to try to preserve moderation. Fasting, vigil and prayer, everything should be done in moderation, in measure, calmly, without falling into any extremes. And it is precisely this that creates wonderful opportunities for proper inner action, for attention and reasonableness. In this same letter, we also find this advice to this same monk: "In the feat of prayer, be free. Do not chase after the number of prayers, but see that they are of good quality, that is, that they are said with care and fear of God. You should preserve the body in moderation and health by a moderate external life, and you should express self-denial by rejecting all thoughts and feelings that are contrary to Gospel. Violation of moderation will disrupt the entire order and balance in the occupations that are necessary for the ascetic." Similar advice regarding fasting is found in St. Theophanes: "Do not avoid fasting. It is an exceptional thing. Only always be moderate. Act in such a way that "After eating, everything in the soul remains as it was before, that is, the same warmth of the heart and the same light of thought. That is the measure" (14, letter 27). It is most likely that we should measure all our other spiritual activities with such a measure. " It is obvious that our time is not given to extraordinary and active external feats. Many of the last Fathers of the True Orthodox Church speak of this, and we also find such prophecies among the ancient Fathers about the last Orthodox Christians: that they will lead a very poor life, that even the monks will perform little feats, but everyone will be saved by patiently enduring misfortune and temptations. Of course, even today there are many courageous people who are capable of high feats, but will there also be those who are capable of drawing spiritual benefit from them?! External feats are increasingly being replaced by internal, no less difficult, and Internal feats are increasingly being replaced by severe misfortunes and trials that surround the true Orthodox Christian from all sides. The position of true Orthodox Christians will increasingly resemble the position of the Jewish youths in the furnace of Babylon, who, in the midst of the terrible flames, by a miracle of God, remained alive and completely unharmed by the fire. . To keep one's prayer life regular, to live meekly and not murmur, to preserve one's heart from the impurity of the frenzied world, to never betray True Orthodoxy, that is the great feat of truly Orthodox Christians in our time.Now it is no longer a question of whether a person will be a "good" or a "bad" Orthodox Christian, now the question is: will a true Orthodox Christian preserve his faith at all? For many, faith will not be preserved," wrote our contemporary monk Seraphim Rose. Another of our contemporary, Father Abbot Nikon, said: "The holy saints explain to us that in the last times there will be no monasticism at all, or that in some places there will still be external monasticism, but without true monastic asceticism. Those who seek the Kingdom of God will not have any personal asceticism. People will be saved only by enduring misfortunes and illnesses. Why will there be no asceticism? Because there will be no humility in people, and without humility asceticism brings more harm than good, and can even destroy a person, because they inadvertently arouse in the ascetic a high opinion of himself and give rise to deception. Some asceticism may be permissible, but only under the guidance of very experienced spiritual people, but today there are almost none, and I cannot find them. The spiritual leader is the Lord Himself and the Holy Fathers, for the one who has their writings and can understand them. How does the Lord spiritually guide people? He allows them to suffer persecution, insults, illnesses, and long and difficult old age. Without humility, a person cannot, without harm to himself, obtain any gifts of God. This is precisely why it was prophesied that in the last times, because of great pride, people will be saved only by suffering misfortune and illness, and their feats will be taken away from them" (16, fig. 116, 132-133). It is obvious that the one who today truly seeks the salvation of the soul and wants to protect himself from various scandals and deceptions should lead an extremely modest life, do everything very carefully and moderately, hate vanity in himself, and if possible hide his feats from people. We are returning again to the times of secret, hidden true Orthodox Christianity, we have to hide our virtues, but not because of persecution from the pagans, but because we are driven by passions and lies both outside and inside us. After what has been said, we should warn about one more thing: many of us, who have clearly recognized in ourselves our weaknesses, our inability to properly carry out extraordinary and effective external feats, when the original false spiritual enthusiasm, which is based on pride, cools down in them, can fall to the other extreme, to completely abandon external effort and practice. And, whenever effort and struggle against the sinful self are required, cutting off our will, self-denial, they run away from this spiritual struggle, making excuses for their weaknesses, and saying: "We are weak, these are no longer those times, if we start forcing ourselves to do something great, we will fall into deception"; or: "Today not much is required of us. We should be careful not to fall into grave sins, and everything else will somehow take care of itself!'' Lazy,A sluggish and willful man can happily invoke the above-mentioned words of the Holy Fathers to justify his laziness and to surrender to false tranquility and carelessness with a clear conscience, thinking that only this supposedly "humble" view of himself is sufficient for his salvation. But, in fact, such humility is false. Only he who does not pity himself, who is strict with himself, who watches over himself, and in doing so, learns his weakness and through it his fall, humbles himself because of his weaknesses. It is to such that the above advice is addressed, to support their zeal in it to the extent that it is beneficial for them. The lazy who constantly seek peace and carefreeness, justifying themselves by their weaknesses, we will remind other sayings of the Holy Fathers. St. Anthony the Great teaches: "Constantly watch over yourself, so that you are not deceived and led into error, so that you do not fall into laziness and inactivity, so that you are not rejected in the world to come. Woe to the lazy! Their end is near and there is no one to help them, they have no hope of salvation” (11, p. 18, p. 135). Father Isaiah the Hermit advises us: “Hate everything worldly, even physical tranquility, because it makes you an enemy of God. Just as a soldier who has an opponent fights against him, so we too must fight against the body, not allowing it to become disoriented and sluggish from excessive tranquility” (11, p. 130, p. 65). St. Ignatius of Brianchanin says: “He who performs a feat should maintain health and physical strength to the extent that allows the body to preserve its ability to serve God. Excessive development of health and obesity in the body leads a person to a difficult physical condition, awakens in him animal instincts and inclinations, so that he can no longer overcome them, thereby depriving him of any ability for spiritual feelings. He who makes his body easy by moderate fasting and vigil will give him very strong health and will make him capable of receiving spiritual actions, that is, the actions of the Holy Spirit” (11, pp. 132-133). St. Theophan the Recluse teaches: “He who correctly performs the feat, who strives without pitying himself, watching himself and kindling piety in his heart. As soon as he begins to shy away from the effort to please God, this is immediately followed by wandering thoughts and cooling of the heart. If he does not stop, he will quickly fall into inactivity and carelessness, insensitivity and absent-mindedness. And this is mental paralysis or the immersion of the soul in death” (13, letter 86). “Everywhere we need,” says St. John Chrysostom, “diligence and great ardor of the soul, a readiness to fight against death itself, for otherwise the Kingdom of God cannot be gained” (Lesson 31 on the Acts of the Apostles). "Not only bodily sin, but every indulgence of the body in food, drink, sleep, rest, and life either arrests spiritual growth or diminishes the force of its momentum" (13, letter 14). "Self-pity goes hand in hand with self-indulgence and self-love, and it is the root of every transgression, sin,indifference and carelessness. You have heard of the expression: the sin that lives in you! This is precisely self-pity with all its attendant retinue. If you ever give in to it, it will always paralyze every good that has been acquired by previous effort” (13, letter 49). “It is true that self-pity and self-indulgence do not lead everyone directly to a bad life, but regardless of that they make the whole life barren. He who suffers from them is neither hot nor cold.” (13, p. 286). “The sin that lives in us as the root and source of all sins is selfishness or self-love. Its first-born daughters are self-pity and self-indulgence. Through the first it always leads to the second, thereby establishing an order and character of life that are contrary to pleasing God. Self-pity and self-indulgence allow a person to do God-pleasing deeds, but only if they do not disturb his peace and if they nourish him. In this way, a person can appear outwardly pious and virtuous, while in reality, inside, he is consumed with self-indulgence. Such people will hear in judgment: Ne poznajem vas.'' We decide to do something because we see that it is necessary for salvation and that it is therefore pleasing to God, and then we renounce it only because we feel sorry for ourselves, we feel sorry for depriving ourselves of a little more sleep, we feel sorry for not eating a little more food, we feel sorry for forcing ourselves to a similar deprivation. Having felt sorry for ourselves, we give up the works that we consider necessary for our salvation in conscience. So, in these actions we pass from pleasing God and achieving salvation to pleasing ourselves, we act contrary to how we decided to act. We hope to gain the Kingdom of Heaven and, at the same time, continue to live in peace and enjoyment, which are incompatible with each other. The holy ascetics everywhere speak of the fact that he who wants to walk the path of salvation correctly should prepare for death, not only for some minor deprivations, but also for the deprivation of life itself. In order not to deviate from the path of salvation that he has embarked on, a person should be ready to lay down, even his life, if necessary. If you give in to regret, you have not yet renounced yourself, you have not yet taken a single step on the path of following the Lord Christ. All you have done is to think and talk about it, but you have not yet really done anything.” God-pleasing Isaac the Syrian: “The beginning of the darkening of the mind is, first of all, expressed in laziness for God’s service and prayer. For the soul’s falling away from this is a shortcut to spiritual deception; and when it is deprived of God’s help, the soul easily falls into the hands of its adversaries.” (2, fig. 2). “Beware of laziness, for in it lies certain death; through laziness we fall into the hands of those who try to capture us. God will not judge us because we did not sing psalms or read prayers, but because when we leave psalms and prayers, demons easily enter us.'' (1, vol. 2, p. 516, st. 229). ''Beware of pleasing yourself in small things, lest you please yourself in big things, and thus fall into great sin. And small carelessness, as someone said, often leads to great dangers. Wisdom is always to be reasonable in small and insignificant things!'' (1, vol. 2, p. 239). St. Ignatius of Brianchanin teaches us: ''The nature of human desires is such that it is necessary for a person to learn to conquer them in small things. If a person learns to conquer small desires, he will tame even big ones. And he who is conquered by small desires will certainly be conquered by big ones. A person cannot overcome the passion of lust or the passion of anger unless he first learns to conquer his desires, for only in this way can the general corruption of the will be corrected" (11, p. 449). St. Theophan the Recluse advises: "Zealous pleasing to God is a joyful step towards God, which encourages the spirit of man. Everything should be done for the glory of God despite the sin that lives in us. If we do not do this, then everything we do will be done only out of habit, either because decency requires it of us, or because it has been done "that way" since ancient times and because others do it that way. Therefore,It is clear that an Orthodox Christian without zeal is a bad Orthodox Christian, sluggish, distracted, lifeless, neither hot nor cold, and that such a life is not a true Orthodox Christian life. Knowing this, let us strive to show that we are truly zealous for good works, in order to truly please God.''

Dakle, svatko od nas treba da nađe svoj put, svoju mjeru, imajući u vidu sve što je rečeno.

KAKO PONIZNOST MOŽE BITI LAŽNA?

Here we have often repeated: one should humble oneself, strive for humility above all else. However, it should be said that humility can also be false. First of all, one should make a correct distinction between true humility and humble wisdom, on the one hand, and between humble wisdom and humble words, on the other. True humility is one of the greatest evangelical virtues, which is inaccessible to human understanding. True humility is divine, it is the teaching of Christ, the attribute of Christ, the activity of Christ. The God-pleasing John of the Ladder says that only those who are led by the Spirit of God can reason satisfactorily about humility. He who wants to acquire true humility should study the Gospel very carefully and with great care fulfill all the commandments of our Lord Jesus Christ. The doer of the gospel commandments can realize his own sinfulness and the sinfulness of the entire human race, and in the end gain the consciousness and conviction that he is the most sinful and the worst of all people. Humility is a feeling of the heart. Humble wisdom is a way of thinking that is taken entirely from the Gospel of Christ. A person must first learn humble wisdom, and the more he practices humble wisdom, the more the soul acquires true humility (9, vol. 1, p. 306). Humility is given to the soul by God, it is already an action of God's grace, and with humble wisdom we prepare for humility, we show the Lord our desire to acquire holy and true humility. Being humbly wise, a truly Orthodox Christian tries to do everything as if he already has humility in his relations with his neighbors, in all his activities and in his thoughts, although the soul has not yet humbled itself, he should adhere to a humble disposition through the force of the will, to refrain from his impudent impulses all the time. However, this is not pretense or a lie, because the goal is to truly acquire humility through this behavior, and of course, for this reason a person should behave modestly, speak quietly, walk calmly, not argue, not emphasize himself, etc. However, humble speech is very similar to humble wisdom. Its actions are seemingly the same, they look that way on the outside, but inside it is something completely different. Humble speech from the inside has a different goal, it wants to show itself to people as humility, with this goal it takes on the mask of humility, lowers its gaze, speaks quiet and modest words, silence and restraint are reflected in the whole appearance of a person, or it speaks revealing phrases about itself, and all this to show itself as humble before others and for people to have a good opinion of it. ''As much as it is useful to reproach oneself and blame oneself for sinfulness before God in the secret of the heart, it is as harmful to do so in front of people. Otherwise, we arouse a flattering opinion of ourselves as humble people,'' says St. Ignatius. He notices an interesting thing: the world does not like true humility in people at all, and it is always attracted to false and flattering humility. The saint writes: "Those people who have acquired a special freedom and simplicity of heart in the monastic life,"Those who cannot pretend in their dealings with their fellow men are not liked by the world! It considers them arrogant. The world seeks flattery, and in them it sees sincerity that it does not need, and encounters a revelation that it hates" (9, vol. 1, p. 317). It has been observed that truly humble people, who love their fellow men, do not care at all about the external impression they make on others; they take care of their souls and are busy with the true fulfillment of Christ's commandments in regard to their fellow men. The external dealings of these people are very restrained, sometimes even seem excessively harsh or strict. However, later it is always revealed that these people sincerely cared about their fellow men, that they were truly compassionate and provided them with help. Hypocrites, flatterers and falsely humble people are often very accommodating, kind and helpful, but if a person is beset by sadness, misfortune or difficulty, it will be seen that they are distant, cold and alien, that they are completely indifferent to all the sufferings of their fellow men. This is precisely the Pharisaic leaven from which our Lord Jesus Christ commanded his disciples to beware.

KAKO ČOVJEK DA NAUČI DA RASPOZNAJE SPLETKE I ZAMKE LUKAVIH DUHOVA?

Kod mnogih svetih Otaca koji su iskustveno prošli kroz sve faze duhovne borbe nalazimo vrlo važne, pronicljive i iskusne opaske koje otkrivaju raznovrsne maske strasti, njihove spletke i prikrivene zamke lukavog demona, koje ako čovjek ne zna gotovo da nikako ni ne može da ostvari uspjeh u duhovnoj borbi. Ili moramo imati duhovnog rukovodioca koji dobro poznaje svu prepredenost i spletke neprijateljske, ili sami, izučavajući djela svetih Otaca, moramo imati u vidu sve ove svakovrsne zamke naših neprijatelja odnosno strasti i demona, jer je inače nemoguće da ne padnemo u njihove mreže. Vrlo je važno da u duhovnom životu slijedimo svete Oce, da stalno i pažljivo usvajamo njihovo učenje o ovim pitanjima, koje su oni, na osnovu osobnih podvižničkih iskustava, opisali u svojim za dušu korisnim spisima. Na primjer, iz ''Ljestvice'' bogougodnog Ivana Ljestvičara saznat ćemo tri izuzetno važne stvari: saznat ćemo da nam demoni obično postavljaju tri zamke. Kao prvo, oni pokušavaju da spriječe naše dobro djelo. Kao drugo, kada u ovom prvom pokušaju budu pobijeđeni, onda pokušavaju da ono što je urađeno ne bude po volji Božjoj. A, ako ni u ovome ne ostvare uspjeh, oni neprimjetno pristupaju našoj duši i počinju da nas hvale kao ljude koji u svemu živimo Bogu ugodno (4, sl. 26, str. 8). Kao što kad zahvatimo vodu iz izvora ponekad neprimjetno zahvatimo i žabu, isto tako, izvršavajući dobra djela, često tajno udovoljavamo strastima koje su s njima povezane, na primjer: s gostoljubljem se prepliće proždrljivost, s ljubavlju blud, s rasuđivanjem pokvarenost, s mudrošću lukavost, s krotkošću tajno lukavstvo, sporost i lijenost, svadljivost, svojevoljnost i neposlušnost; s šutljivošću se prepliće hvalisanje i pametovanje, s radošću uobraženost, s nadom popustljivost, s ljubavlju osuda bližnjih, s življenjem u tišini malodušje ili duhovna lijenost, s čistoćom osjećaj ogorčenosti, s poniznom mudrošću drskost. Za sve ove kreposti kao otrov se lijepi sujeta (4, sl. 26, str. 58). Duh sujete se raduje kad vidi mnoštvo kreposti, jer umnožavanje truda često predstavlja vrata za ulazak sujete (4, sl. 22, str. 5). Sujetni smo kad postimo, ali i kad kršimo post da od ljudi sakrijemo svoju uzdržanost opet smo sujetni, smatrajući sebe mudrima. Sujeta nas pobjeđuje kad se lijepo oblačimo, ali ako se i loše oblačimo, opet smo sujetni. Ako počnemo da govorimo, pobjeđuje nas sujeta, ako zašutimo opet nas ona pobjeđuje. Bez obzira na to kakao da baciš trorog, opet će jedan rog biti nagore (4, sl. 22, str. 5). Odvratna sujeta nas uči da se pretvaramo da imamo krepost koju nemamo, uvjeravajući nas da je to potrebno radi koristi bližnjih, jer je rečeno: Tako da se svijetli vaša svjetlost pred ljudima, da vide vaša dobra djela (Mt 5:16) (4, fig. 22, p. 37). Vanity makes angry people meek before people. It very easily joins natural talents and often through them ruins its servants (4, fig. 226, p. 26). Pride often thanks God and finds food for itself in this gratitude, because at first it does not reject God openly, but under the guise of such gratitude justifies its own arrogance. Many proud people, not knowing themselves, think that they have achieved dispassion and only when they leave this world do they see their poverty (4, fig. 23, p. 3, 36). Sometimes passions do not disturb a person who is in the world because he has already had enough of them, seeing and hearing what is sinful; or because demons deliberately depart, leaving behind the spirit of pride which successfully replaces all others (4, fig. 15, fig. 62). However, there is also false humility when people call themselves sinners, and perhaps even think so, but when others humiliate them it shows that they had a high opinion of themselves (4, fig. 25, p. 34). Demons often transform themselves into bright angels, and take on the guise of saints and martyrs, and in dreams they show us how we approach them, and when we wake up they make us joyful and haughty from the impressions of the dream (4, fig. 7, p. 48). Also, from frequent singing of psalms and during sleep, the words of the psalms sometimes come to our mind, but sometimes the demons also present them to our imagination so that we fall into arrogance because of this (4, fig. 20, p. 20). Demons are prophets in dreams: since they are insightful, they draw conclusions about the future based on circumstances and reveal this to us in a dream so that we are amazed when we see that what we dreamed has come true, and we are amazed and think that we have already become clairvoyant (4, fig. 3, p. 27). Sometimes the demon of vanity suggests some thoughts to one brother, and reveals these thoughts to another and encourages him to tell him what is on his heart, and thus praises him as clairvoyant (4, fig. 22, p. 22). Sometimes the passion of vanity suggests to a man to demonstrate the virtue of abstinence in food, and the passion of gluttony drives him to violate it, and a whole quarrel arises between them because of the poor man (4, fig. 14, p. 9). To a monk who has renounced the world, demons often bring thoughts that praise people who carry out the feat of compassion and mercy in the world, and present his life in the monastery as devoid of such virtues and therefore worthless: through this false humility they draw him into the world (4, fig. 2, p. 3). Or, again, the cunning thought comes that one should not leave the world, but rather lead an honest life there, finding oneself in temptations but not giving in to them, because this is supposedly a greater feat than the monastic one and is worthy of a greater reward, and the enemy's goal is to ruin a person as quickly as possible among these scandals (4, fig. 36, p. 10). When a monk moves away from his relatives and acquaintances for a year or a few years and gains some joy in his heart and soul, awe and restraint begin to come to him, the vain thoughts of going to his homeland to teach those who had previously seen his demeaning behavior to teach and save them by his example, and in fact,to fall into the same passions again, such is the devil's trap (4, fig. 3, pp. 11, 26). Demons often show him in dreams the sufferings of relatives or their illnesses, to draw the monk into the world and deprive him of a reasonable life (4, fig. 7, p. 68). And, when some monks come to cities and are among people, tears well up in their hearts with joy, and the demons give them this so that they think that they can pray wonderfully there too, without harm to them, and that they can draw closer to the world without fear (4, fig. 4, p. 118). The demons of fornication attack the one who lives in silence and solitude with particular ferocity, suggesting to him that he will not benefit from his desert. But they often withdraw from the monk who is in the world, so that he, seeing that he is free from the struggle, chooses to remain with the worldly people (4, fig. 5, p. 61). To the ascetics, the devil suggests a desire for a life of solitude and silence, extreme fasting, concentrated prayer, perfect modesty, constant remembrance of death, daily contrition of heart, and primal purity, and he tempts them to skip the necessary steps that lie before them, to seek perfection before its time, and thus not to attain it in due time. And to him who lives in silence and solitude, this flatterer praises življenje iskušenika, njihovo služenje, bratoljublje, njegu bolesnika itd., da ih tako učini nestrpljivima (4, sl. 4, str. 118). Kad netko koji živi u samostanu pada u iskušenje, demoni odmah počinju da mu savjetuju da ide na život u samoći i tišini. Poslušnike ponekad prljaju tjelesnom nečistoćom, čine da im srce okameni i postane puno-brižno, stvaraju suhost i jalovost, lijenost za molitvu, uspavanost i potamnjenost, da im sugeriraju da nikakve koristi neće dobiti od svoje poslušnosti, već da naprotiv, idu u suprotnom smjeru da ih time odvoje od podviga poslušnosti. A, one koji su se zahvaljujući svojoj poslušnosti ispunili radošću u srcu, postali krotki, uzdržani, marljivi, slobodni od borbe i strasti, revni; one koji su takvi postali zahvaljujući rukovođenju i zaštiti svog duhovnog oca, demoni navode na pomisao da su već postali jaki i da mogu da žive u tišini i samoći i da tako mogu da dostignu savršenstvo i bestrasnost. Tako ih iz sigurnosti zaljeva odvode na uzburkano more i utapaju (4, sl. 4, str. 69, 57, 58).

Demoni nam često brane da učinimo ono što je vrlo lako i korisno i podstiču nas da učinimo nešto vrlo teško (4, sl. 26, str. 164), ali onaj koji je sebe upoznao nikada ne bude ismijan i nikada ne poduzima nešto što prelazi njegove snage (4, sl. 25, str. 50). Raznovrsno je i teško shvatljivo lukavstvo nečistih duhova, i mali je broj ljudi koji ga vide, a ni oni ga ne vide u potpunosti. Na primjer, zašto se događa da ponekad, budući siti, bdijemo budno, a ponekad nas kad postimo i patimo, jako muči san? Zašto u samoći i tišini osjećamo suhoću srca, a kad smo s drugima ispunjava nas radost u srcu? Zašto kad smo gladni trpimo iskušenja u snu, a kad smo potpuno siti budemo slobodni od svih iskušenja? Zašto u oskudici i uzdržavanju budemo tamni i bez radosti srca, a nasuprot tome, kad pijemo vino budemo radosni i lako dolazimo u radovanje iz srca? (4, sl. 26, str. 127). Za vrijeme molitve lukavi demon nas podsjeća na nužne stvari i na sve načine pokušava da nas odvoji od razgovora s Gospodinom pod bilo kakvim izgovorom koji izgleda dobar ili izaziva u nama drhtavicu, glavobolju, vrućicu i bol u trbuhu. Čim se završi vrijeme molitve sve ovo nestaje (4, sl. 13, str. 78). Onoga koji se nalazi u bludnom iskušenju ovaj vuk obmanjuje izazivajući u njegovoj duši nerazumnu radost, suze i utjehu, i ovaj misli da je to milost, a ne sujeta i obmana.

When a person sings psalms, sometimes the sweetness does not come from the word of the Spirit, but from the demon of fornication. Some pray from the soul for their loved ones, since they are moved by the spirit of fornication, and they think that they are fulfilling the spirit of remembrance of their neighbors and the law of love. Those who are inclined to sensuality are often compassionate and merciful, quick to tears and tender, but those who care for purity are not like that (4, fig. 15, pp. 42, 48, 49, 46). Demons sometimes depart from the soul to make it carefree, and then suddenly attack the poor soul, plunder it and accustom it to vices to such an extent that it slanders itself and fights against itself (4, fig. 26, p. 64). The devil often directs his efforts and care to torment monks with unnatural passions. For this reason, some of them, when in the company of women, are not tormented by lustful thoughts towards women, and they boast within themselves, not understanding that where there is a greater misfortune, there is no need for a lesser one. The demon of carnal lust very often hides itself completely, so that it causes streams of tears in the monk while he sits among women or talks to them, and it also encourages him to teach women to remember death, the Last Judgment, and the preservation of chastity, to attract them at first as a shepherd, but then, when, as a result of close acquaintance, he gains boldness and is suddenly seized by a seething passion, he, in the end, is subjected to a cruel fall. Sometimes, when a monk sits at table with women or is in their company, he has no bad thoughts, but when afterwards, confident in himself, imagining that he already has "peace and security", he comes to his room (cell), he unexpectedly falls into sin, having been caught by the devil (4, fig. 15, pp. 29, 63, 50). It happens that demons in us have joy in our hearts when we eat, and when we fast they make us cruel, bitterly mocking us so that, being deceived by false tears, we give in to pleasure (4, fig. 7, p. 48). Demons make us eat and drink without measure when someone comes to us in order to supposedly hide the virtue of fasting (4, fig. 14, p. 8). When demons see that we, having heard ridiculous words, want to get away from the harmful narrator as soon as possible, they give rise to falsely humble thoughts in us: "Do not grieve him", they suggest to us, or "Do not show that you love God more than others", etc., but we should not believe them, but should flee as soon as possible (4, fig. 1, p. 5). Sometimes the cunning demons quickly depart from us while we are angry, so that we become carefree regarding this harmful passion, for some say: "Although I am easily inflamed, it quickly passes me," and in this way this disease can become incurable (4, fig. 8, pp. 9, 21).

Isto tako mnogim takvim ljudima đavao daje snage da marljivo upražnjavaju bdijenje, post i život u samoći i tišini, i pod maskom pokajanja i plača protura im stvari koje hrane njihovu strast (4, sl. 15, str. 62). Srebroljublje često započinje maskom razdavanja milostinje siromašnima, a završava se mržnjom prema njima itd. Među nečistim duhovima ima i takvih koji nam na početku duhovnog života tumače božansko Pismo. Oni to obično čine u srcima sujetnih i još više onih koji poznaju izvanjske nauke da ih, varajući ih malo po malo, na kraju uvuku u herezu i hulu. Ova demonska ''teologija'' ili bolje rečeno bogoborstvo možemo da prepoznamo po uznemirenosti, po neskladnoj i nečistoj radosti koja obuzima dušu za vrijeme ovih tumačenja. (4, sl. 26, str. 151). Za takva i mnoga slična razotkrivanja demonskih spletki često saznajemo iz spisa svetih Otaca Istinske pravoslavne crkve. Evo zbog čega je tako važno proučavanje i poznavanje svetootačke asketske nauke, naravno radi same njene neposredne i praktične primjene u našem životu. Dakle, u vrlo dubokoj zabludi su oni koji smatraju da izučavanje svetih Otaca, život po njihovom rukovodstvu više ne odgovaraju našem vremenu. Mi smo bez tog svetootačkog znanja jadniji od slijepca koji se nalazi u gustoj šumi bez vodiča. Druga stvar je to što nije nimalo jednostavno pravilno primjenjivati ovo učenje. Opet su potrebni velika opreznost i razum. Sveti Oci u svojim savjetima i poukama često kao da proturječe jedan drugom, govore i savjetuju razne pa, čak, i suprotne stvari, ali nije tako. Odrediti i ukazati put svakom čovjeku uopćenim savjetima nije moguće. Put duhovnog života svakog pojedinca je vrlo osoban. Ali, sveti Oci nam daju opća usmjerenja, koja ukazuju na sigurnu stazu, upozoravajući nas na moguće jame i provalije. Pozivajući nas da idemo tom stazom, oni nam otvaraju siguran prolaz, čuvajući nas od svih krajnosti. Izbor samog puta, kao i različitih načina da se ovo duhovno putovanje ostvari, zavisi od svakog osobno, u skladu s njegovim osobnim osobnostima i sposobnostima. Ali, bez ovog iskustva svetih Otaca sigurno ćemo se izgubiti! ''Nitko za nas nije tako opasan kao mi sami!'' (9, t. 4, pismo 7).

ZAKLJUČAK

Therefore, from all that has been said here about the various spiritual virtues and feats, it becomes obvious that we should have little confidence in our reason and heart, in our good deeds, and in general in everything that may seem praiseworthy to us in ourselves. It remains to warn of one of the possible extremes. The danger lurks for us that just when we subject ourselves to analysis and all our virtues to a re-evaluation, and find that most of them or all of them are impure and defiled, and as such are not pleasing to God because of their impurity; the danger that when, having set out on the path of distrust in ourselves, we begin to discover so many secret diseases of our soul and realize that we are absolutely incapable of anything in such a spiritual state, we will then fall into discouragement or laziness and lethargy, and we will not surrender spiritually because of the sight of this ugly picture of ourselves that has been revealed in our heart. In spiritual warfare, this is a well-known weapon of evil forces, because those whom they cannot trap with a false and complacent state, on the contrary, drag into a state of helplessness, coldness, insensitivity and resentment. Almost every sincere and self-sacrificing true Orthodox Christian who seeks true humility necessarily goes through this difficult, desolate and waterless stage of the spiritual path. And it is precisely in this trial that true courage, faith, prayerful seeking of God, trust in Him are manifested. Often, to our natural weaknesses, illnesses of the soul, its sufferings, difficulties and sorrows, evil spirits add even more excruciating suffering, torment, sadness and exhaustion so that this state is extremely difficult and unbearable. However, one cannot do without these torments on the path to salvation. The Holy Fathers speak so much about the good-natured suffering of these inner sorrows, about the immense benefit that the soul derives from them, about the need to endure these difficulties, that there is no need to repeat it here. We will only mention a few words about being tolerant of one's weaknesses and not demanding too much of oneself. In Nicodemus the Holy Mountain we read: "Do not only go eagerly to Tabor, but also to Golgotha, that is, not only when you feel divine light and spiritual comfort and joy within yourself, but also when you are attacked by darkness, sorrow, grief and bitterness, which the soul sometimes has to taste from demonic temptations, both internal and external. Sometimes, this coldness is accompanied by such darkness and anxiety that you do not even know what to do and whom to turn to, but do not be afraid even then, but stand firm in your feat. It sometimes happens that the soul is tormented by this coldness, this indifference to everything spiritual, and the enemy attacks it more strongly, provoking bad thoughts, shameful movements and dreams full of deception. His goal is that a person, who loses hope because of the feeling that God has abandoned him, surrenders and gives himself over to something passionate, because after this it is easy for him to be caught again in the whirlpool of a sinful life. Knowing this, stand firm. Let the waves of sin rage around your heart, but as long as you have the desire to reject sin and the desire to remain faithful to God, your little boat is whole" (7, d.2, ch. 7). "Much benefit is given to the soul by such sorrow and dryness of heart or by the lack of spiritual joy and sweetness, when we accept and bear them with humility and patience. For when the soul finds itself in a state of such dryness, feeling bitterness and suffering from temptations and thoughts, which are such that the very memory of them makes a person tremble, and poisons the heart, and almost completely kills the inner man, the soul ceases to have confidence in itself and does not rely on its good intentions and acquires true humility, which God so desires of us." (7, d. 2, ch. 24). "If you happen to fall into some forgivable sin, by deed or word, or if you are disturbed by some chance, or if you judge someone, or if you hear others judge, or if you argue about something, or if you feel the impatience, vanity or suspicion of other people, or if you neglect something, you should not be disturbed by this, nor should you suffer and despair by thinking about what you have done, and still less should you add to it sorrowful thoughts about yourself, thinking that you will certainly never be free from such weaknesses, or that your desire to strive for the Lord is weak, or that you are not walking the path of God as you should, burdening your soul with a thousand other fears due to discouragement and sadness. And all this happens because we forget our natural weakness and lose sight of how the soul should relate to God, precisely when the soul falls into some forgivable sin that is not mortal, it should turn to God with humble repentance and hope, and not be tormented by excessive grief, sadness and bitterness. (7, d. 2, ch. 26). The one who, when he falls, does not rely on himself but trusts in God, is not much surprised by this and does not indulge in excessive grief, because he knows that this must have happened to him because of his weakness, and even more because of the weakness of his trust in God. Because of this, as a result of the fall, his lack of trust in himself is strengthened and he tries even harder to increase and deepen his humble trust in God and to calmly carry the effort of repentance. The darker and more inconsolable the sorrow of the fallen, the more it is seen that they have relied excessively on themselves and very little on God, and therefore their sorrow for their fall is not alleviated by any consolation" (7, d. 1, ch. 4).or to neglect something, you should not be disturbed by it or suffer and despair by thinking about what you have done, and still less should you add to it sorrowful thoughts about yourself, thinking that you will certainly never be free from such weaknesses or that your desire to make an effort for the Lord is weak, or that you are not walking the path of God as you should, burdening your soul with a thousand other fears due to discouragement and sadness. And all this happens because we forget our natural weakness and lose sight of how the soul should relate to God, precisely when the soul falls into some pardonable sin that is not mortal, it should turn to God with humble repentance and hope, and not torment itself with excessive sorrow, grief and bitterness. (7, d. 2, ch. 26). He who, when he falls, does not rely on himself but trusts in God, is not much surprised at this and does not give in to excessive sorrow, because he knows that this must have happened to him because of his own weakness, and even more so because of the weakness of his trust in God. Therefore, his lack of trust in himself is strengthened by the fall, and he strives even more to increase and deepen his humble trust in God and to calmly bear the labor of repentance. The darker and more inconsolable the sorrow of the fallen, the more it is seen that they have trusted excessively in themselves and very little in God, and therefore their sorrow for the fall is not alleviated by any consolation" (7, d. 1, ch. 4).or to neglect something, you should not be disturbed by it or suffer and despair by thinking about what you have done, and still less should you add to it sorrowful thoughts about yourself, thinking that you will certainly never be free from such weaknesses or that your desire to make an effort for the Lord is weak, or that you are not walking the path of God as you should, burdening your soul with a thousand other fears due to discouragement and sadness. And all this happens because we forget our natural weakness and lose sight of how the soul should relate to God, precisely when the soul falls into some pardonable sin that is not mortal, it should turn to God with humble repentance and hope, and not torment itself with excessive sorrow, grief and bitterness. (7, d. 2, ch. 26). He who, when he falls, does not rely on himself but trusts in God, is not much surprised at this and does not give in to excessive sorrow, because he knows that this must have happened to him because of his own weakness, and even more so because of the weakness of his trust in God. Therefore, his lack of trust in himself is strengthened by the fall, and he strives even more to increase and deepen his humble trust in God and to calmly bear the labor of repentance. The darker and more inconsolable the sorrow of the fallen, the more it is seen that they have trusted excessively in themselves and very little in God, and therefore their sorrow for the fall is not alleviated by any consolation" (7, d. 1, ch. 4).

St. Ignatius of Brianchanin says: "We should not grieve excessively over such daily and frequent falls, for this is the trick of the enemy who wants to paralyze the soul with immense sorrow. Regarding such sins, St. Seraphim of Sarov says that we should not condemn ourselves when we stumble, but rather consider ourselves capable of all sins, that our stumbling is not something new or unusual, that we should go before God in contrition of spirit, full of penitential thoughts. This is precisely what God will not despise, that is, He will place a contrite and humble heart above falls (10, letter 51). This applies not only to the body but also to the soul, that not everything is as we wish, but that most things depend on circumstances. Therefore, if possible, eliminating the causes of disquietude that depend directly on us, we should be calm, abandoning ourselves with our weaknesses to the ocean of God's mercy (10, letter 2). Our good works undoubtedly have an admixture of impurity that originates from our weaknesses. We must not demand from our soul and from our heart more than they can give (10, letter 21). Be tolerant towards your soul and its weaknesses, excessive severity distracts from repentance, leads to despondency and despair (10, letter 15).

While we are on the journey, until we arrive at the haven of God's eternity, we should expect in ourselves and in our lives both ups and downs, and reversals, and sorrows both ordinary and unexpected. And may it be with us as a God-pleasing father said: "Thank God for everything, even for our very weaknesses, for it is better to be sinners and consider ourselves sinners, than to have the outward appearance of the righteous and consider ourselves righteous" (10, letter 18). Amen!

Archimandrite Lazar Abashidze