It is not Good to Start Speaking before Question

Sts. Barsanuphius the Great and John the Prophet. "Letters".

 

St Barsanuphius the Great (6th cent.)

LETTER 697

Question: “If, however, the discussion concerns the Scriptures, should I still keep silent, or may I then speak? And if they happen to be unsure of something about which I do know, is it perhaps good for me to speak then or not?” Response by John.

Silence is always better. If, however, they are unsure about something, and you happen to know about this, then in order to solve their doubt, you should say what you know with humility. But if you do not know, then do not say anything at all from your own thought; for this is foolishness.

LETTER 698

Question: “If the conversation concerns various matters that are not harmful to the soul, should I keep silent or speak?” Response.

It is never good to speak before being asked. [171] If you are asked to say something, then say what you know with humility and fear of God. Neither feel arrogant if your words are accepted, nor feel grieved if your words are not accepted. For this is the way of God. [172] Moreover, in order that you may not be considered as being silent, say something from what you know, but be brief and avoid too many words or inopportune glory.

[171] Sayings, Euprepios 7, Poemen 45, and Nau 468.

[172] Cf. Mt 22.16.

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False Theological Thoughts from Demons

St. Theophan the Recluse (1815 - 1894)

Apophthegmata Patrum as Translated by St. Theophan the Recluse.

284. The elder said: if a saying comes to the heart of a brother sitting in a cell, and he follows after this saying, having not reached the measure and not attracted by God, then demons appear and interpret that saying to him as he wants.

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How do Saints Tell the Will of God?

Protopriest Konstantin Rovinsky. "Old priest’s conversations with his spiritual children".

Protopriest Konstantin Rovinsky (1862 - 5.9.1942)

About Fr. Alexis Mechev

When everything happened as the Father had said, I asked him once during one of our conversations how he could know exactly the will of God when revealing it to me.

The Father wasn’t a little surprised at my question and answered me: ‘The very first thought that comes to one’s mind after the prayer, comes from God, and one has to follow it [1]. As I noticed that many times and got absolutely sure about this, in certain cases after an ardent prayer, I began to proclaim His will. This was my way with you, too…’

I also heard that from an archbishop, a great man of prayer. He said, when giving me an example, ‘Sometimes, after having prayed, I made my decision to punish a faulty clergyman, but later felt pity for him and didn’t discipline him strictly, which was not good for him, as the future revealed. One must stick to the first thought that comes after one’s prayer.’

[1] The first thought of a person who leads a holy life is meant. St. Alexis (Mechev) was one of such persons. Especially the first thought when the person is asked by another person, not when he thinks something by himself.– Eds.

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A Woman Heals with Prayers

Question to a Priest on the website of the New Jerusalem Monastery.

Hegumen Daniel (Gridchenko)

March 7, 2013

Question: Natalia, Moscow

Hello Father. My question to you is this. I have been able to heal myself and heal my loved ones by reciting prayers. Is it allowed to do this on Great Feast days, on Fasts, and on Sundays?

Answer: Hegumen Daniel

Natalia, that is a bold statement you've made. And what are these "wonder-working prayers" that help you achieve such remarkable results? In fact, there were saints who received the gift of healing from God after a lifetime of rigorous asceticism, sometimes decades, and yet they carefully concealed it because they understood that pride and vanity that might accompany such a gift are the passions that destroy human souls. And let me express my doubt that your "gift," if indeed it is a gift, is the one from God. And so I would strongly advise you not to use it not only on Sundays and holy days, but at all other times. Unless, of course, you prefer to be spiritually damaged...

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The Elder Convicted a Woman Who Caused a Whole Village to Burn Down

"By the God-created caves." Pskov-Caves ascetics of the 20th century. "

St. Simeon (Zhelnin) (1869 - 18.1.1960)

The servant of God Anna, a resident of Pechory (from Ovrazhnaya street) told:

“I happened to be a witness to the following case. Once in the summer, leaving the St Michael Cathedral, we, all worshippers, saw a woman lying on the stones near the temple and crying. To our question, what happened with her and what she cries about so bitterly, she told the following:

“I came to Pechory and went to Fr. Simeon for a blessing. I knocked once and I hear the answer: “Go out!” I knocked a second time and looked into the cell. Father Simeon stood at the lectern and, not looking at me, shouted a second time: “Go out!” And when I knocked again, Father Simeon said again: “Go out!” And added: “You have a mouthful of firebrands”. Then I immediately recalled my grave sin. I confess to you that I committed a great crime in my life: offended by my neighbor, I set fire to his bathhouse, and the whole village immediately caught on fire from it. ” And then she burst into tears even more. We were stunned and surprised by the clairvoyance of Fr. Simeon and immediately began to pray to the Lord, asking him to forgive the great sinner, weeping over her sin.”

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The Snares of the Devil have Increased Enormously

St Ignatius (Brianchaninov). "On prelest". On the Snares of the Prince of This World.

St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov) (1807-1867)

With the sign of the Holy Cross I lead you, brother, to a spiritual vision. Our guide will be the great Father among the saints, Anthony the Egyptian desert dweller. Through the power of divine revelation, he once saw the traps of the devil that were set all over the world to lure mankind into perdition. Having seen that there were an infinite number of these snares, Anthony implored the Lord with tears: “Lord! Who can avoid these traps and attain salvation?” (Skete Paterikon. — St Abba Dorotheus. Homily 2).

I contemplate these traps of the devil. They are set both outside and inside a person. One net is tightly bound to another. In some places, these nets stand several layers deep; in other places the traps are set over great pits that lead most convoluted nets, from which deliverance seems impossible. Seeing these numerous nets, I begin to cry bitterly. Involuntarily, I also ask question of the blessed dweller: “Lord! Who can be delivered from these nets?”

Traps intended for my mind are set in various books that pretend to be illuminating but instead contain the teaching of darkness, written under either the overt or implicit influence of devil, from the source of the fallen reason, damaged by sin, “by the trickery of men, in [their] cunning craftiness” (Eph 4:14) as the Apostle said; writers, who are “vainly puffed up by [their] fleshy mind” (Col 2:18). My brother, whose salvation I desire, can also become a trap for me. Leading me to damnation, when his mind is caught in the nets of false teaching and so-called wisdom. My own mind is stamped with the fall; it is enveloped in murk, it is infected with poison of lies. My own mind, fooled by prince of this world, lays traps for itself. Even in Eden, the mind tried to acquire knowledge without wisdom and attentiveness, and the knowledge proved to be lethal! After the fall, it became even less discerning, even more careless. Brazenly, it drinks the cup of poisoned knowledge, and so even more confidently it destroys in itself the taste and desire for the divine cup of the knowledge that gives salvation.

Patriarch Alexy Really Sacrificed himself and Died for the Church

Patriarch Alexy II (23.2.1929 - 5.12.2008)

From the "Islands. Alexy II" documentary film (2009).

The schism was supposed to occur this summer. During the celebration of the 1020th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus'. Bartholomew, Archbishop of Constantinople, Ecumenical Patriarch was already ready to consecrate it. Viktor Yushchenko greeted him with an escort of motorcyclists, huge photomontage billboards and straight columns of Ukrainians along the entire route. Portraits of the Patriarch of Moscow were hastily removed from everywhere.

Archpriest Vladimir Vorobyov:

Archpriest Vladimir Vorobyov

Doctors categorically forbade him this trip. Because they knew that due to his poor health condition, he could not endure it. It was associated with great agitation, and this agitation was not just contraindicated for him, but was, so to speak, a mortal threat. He felt that he had to do this. If he did not go, then there was a serious threat that Ukraine would separate from the Russian Church.

<…>

Archpriest Vladimir Vorobyov:

And when His Holiness Patriarch Alexy returned from Ukraine, having fulfilled his duty, the doctors' words came true. On August 4, the heart of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy stopped. Clinical death occurred. Thanks to the doctors who were nearby, they managed to bring him back to life. But it was precisely death. That is, Patriarch Alexy really sacrificed himself in a true way and died for the Church.

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