Archimandrite Sofronii. "Saint Silouan, the Athonite".
'The enemy fell through pride.' Pride is the source of sin, comprising every aspect that evil can assume - conceit, ambition, indifference, cruelty, disregard of the suffering of others; day-dreaming, over-fantasising, a demented expression in the eye, in every other feature; gloom, melancholy, despair, animosity; envy, an inferiority complex, carnal desires; wearisome psychological disturbance, rebellious feelings, fear of death or, on the contrary, wanting to put an end to life; and, lastly and not seldom, utter madness.
These are the indications of demonic spirituality. But until they show up clearly, they pass unnoticed for many.
It does not need all these symptoms to denote someone who has let himself be seduced by satanic thoughts or visions or revelations. In some people megalomania predominates, or ambition. With others, nostalgia, despair, hidden anxiety. In still others, it is envy, gloom, hatred. With many it is the desires of the flesh. But they all suffer from unbridled imagination and pride — masked, maybe, by an air of false humility.
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