He who Truly Believes Will Certainly Have Works

Venerable Seraphim of Sarov. "Spiritual Instructions to Monks and Laity".

St Seraphim of Sarov (1754 - 1833)

First of all, one must believe in God, “that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (Heb. 11:6).

Faith, according to the teachings of St. Antiochus, is the beginning of our union with God: a true believer is a stone of the temple of God, prepared for the building of God the Father, raised to a height by the power of Jesus Christ, that is, by the Cross, [with] the help of a rope, that is, by the grace of the Holy Spirit.

“Faith without works is dead” (James 2:26); while the works of faith are: love, peace, long-suffering, mercy, humility [2] repose from all works [3], just as God rested from His works, bearing the cross and living in the spirit. Only such faith is imputed for righteousness. True faith cannot be without works; whoever truly believes will certainly have works.

[2] Cf. Gal.5:22

[3] This means, of course, not literally rest from all works, but the absence of excessive concern for them, troubles. “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof” (Matt. 6:33-34).

Source

Confusion is the Sign of Devil’s Presence

Extracts from the Life of St Ignatius the Blind, the Athonite (1827-7.11.1927).

Devil also tempted spiritual children of Elder Ignatius. One of them heard very late in the night somebody knocking at the door and a gentle voice saying: ‘My child, do get up! Go down and enter the church. My everburning lamp has blown out.’ The disciple got up, went to the church and saw that it was true that the lamp at the icon of the Mother of God blew out. He lighted it, prayed and got back to the cell. He decided not to say anything to the Elder about this, as he believed it was not a sin. But the Elder saw all this through. He forced the disciple to own up and asked him afterwards, ‘What feeling did you have when lighting the lamp?’ ‘Joy and gratitude’, said he. ‘What else?’ the Elder persevered. ‘There was a kind of worry and confusion’, the disciple specified. ‘That’s the main feature of devil’s presence,’ the Elder said.

Source

The Woman did not Want to Admit and Repent that She Used to Steal While Working in Trade

"I love everybody". Memories of Archimandrite Pavel (Gruzdev).

Archimandrite Pavel (Gruzdev) (1910 - 13.1.1996)

In 1985, I took courses in Yaroslavl. At the beginning of winter, I took a commuter train. A woman sits down next to me and wonders how far it is to the Shestikhino station. I answer her that I go there, and I will tell when to go out. She asks: “They say you have an elder living there?” “We have Father Pavel. I'll explain how to get to him".

The woman was traveling from the Chita region. She said that she was full of all sorts of diseases. She was in hospitals, nothing helped, she decided to go to holy places. She got to Yaroslavl. In Yaroslavl, she was told that such a miracle-worker lives not far from Nekouz. I explained how to get to Nikulskoye, and we said goodbye.

A couple of days later I hear a knock at the door. I open it, that lady is standing. I wonder: "How did you find me?" “I asked where such and such a teacher lives, and they told me.”

Well, you can’t kick her out since she came. I began to find out how she went to the Father in Verkhne-Nikulskoe. “Oh, oh,” she says, “I don’t even know what to say. He scolded me all over, just about beat me.”

She arrived in the evening. Father Pavel let her spend the night in the lodge. In the morning the woman met him and began to talk about her misfortunes, passions and illnesses. He cut her off and asked: “Listen, my dear, and where do you work?” “I don’t work now, I’m retired. And I worked all my life in trade. I worked as a store manager, head of a depot, director of a restaurant. “How he, — she says, — shouted with bad language at me: “You bastard, you stole so much in your life! And now you want the Lord not to punish you yet? You deserve yours, so gulp down now. Take your baggage and get out of here.” She was upset, kept repeating: “What should I do? What to do?"

This woman did not go home immediately. Through acquaintances, I learned that she lived for a month at the Cathedral of the Feodorovskaya Icon in Yaroslavl, cleaned the church and tried to find a person who would solve her problems with one movement of his hand.

Source

The Young Priest Began to Cast out Demons

From an interview with Metropolitan Nifont of Volyn and Lutsk.

Metropolitan Nifont (1948 - 22.03.2017)

There was a young priest who, in his simplicity, began to pray for the possessed. The sick and suffering began to come to him, and he, thinking that he had the power to cast out unclean spirits, continued to admire "his" successes. In the Pochaev Lavra, experienced elders advised him to give up this activity: “This is beyond your power, you have a wife, children, give up exorcisms and pray with a contrite heart.” His fellow priests said the same thing, but he didn't listen to anyone. After he developed a head disease, then Archbishop Damian banned him from the priesthood. When he recovered, he was again allowed to serve, but the priest already thought too highly of himself. The disease progressed, and as a result, an unexpected death (after a cold, the kidneys failed) put an end to everything that this young priest had. To avoid this, one must humbly obey the Gospel commandments, church rules, and one's ruling bishop. But most importantly, in my opinion, you need to do your service humbly and zealously, giving all of yourself with love to God and people.

Source

How to Tell if a Monk or a Priest Has the Gift of Healing

Hegumen Daniel (Gridchenko)

Questions to a priest.

Question: Anastasia

Hello. Bless me, Father. They say that epilepsy is treated only spiritually, not with medicines. Does this apply to all diseases or only to epilepsy? And how to tell if a monk or a priest has the gift of healing? Thank you.

Answer: Hegumen Daniel (Gridchenko)

Hello Anastasia, Some things we are told are not true. And it is advisable to be treated not by some mythical healers and miracle workers, but by ordinary good, and honest doctors. Generally speaking, if a priest or monk advertises his extraordinary healing or other abilities, he is a classic scoundrel, either pursuing his own self-interests or being inflated by an exorbitant sense of his own importance, and that might be even worse. God's true servants are humble people who carefully conceal their gifts of grace, who only manifest them through love, prayer, and in such a way that those who receive help from them do not always immediately realize it.

Source

The Remedy for Vanity is not to Be the First to Speak

Apophthegmata Patrum, as translated by St. Theophan the Recluse.

298. A brother came to an elder and said to him: Abba! Tell me, how to be saved? The elder said to him: if you come to someone, do not start talking before he asks you. The brother, having come to contrition from these words, made a bow to the elder and said: indeed, I read many books, but nowhere did I find such an instruction. And, having received a great benefit, he left.

Source

Where any Pride is, no Divine Visions Can Appear

Archimandrite Seraphim (Aleksiev). "Homily about self-esteem and about false visions".

Archimandrite Seraphim (Aleksiev) (1912-1993)

There are many dark tricks of Satan that bring him closer to the soul, but the path that Satan prefers to follow and tries to lead the humans is pride. For he knows well that even if God’s commandments are fulfilled, pride alone is enough to make an ascetic perish. He himself, having no other sins, has fallen from God through his pride only.

Sinful people are usually proud. They sin only because of their pride, which prevents them from accepting God’s will and obeying God’s commandments. Devil, a cunning tempter, knows how to make a man have a sense of grandeur about oneself. Those who are not of high intelligence, he tries make proud by telling them that they are smart or that they have some other exceptional qualities. He puts an idea to the mind of clever people that they have unique properties of their minds. To the wicked, he gives a proud persistence against the will of God. The pious, following his hints, begin to put on airs because of their execution of God’s commandments. Thus, all get by pride under the power of Satan – all those who have not stood up against his tricks, believers and unbelievers; clever and stupid; and sinful and righteous.

Where there is pride and there are visions - they cannot be from God, but surely from the evil one. Some say: ‘We know that those who have divine visions are virtuous people as they fast, pray, act honestly, visit the sick, give alms, show great love for their neighbours... Can these people indeed have visions from the Satan?’