Saint Sergius Drove Away a Demon That Came to a Woman in the Guise of Her Husband

Saint Anthony of Radonezh. "Letters from the Monastery".

Saint Anthony of Radonezh (1808 - 1873)

March 20, 1851

<...>

Last week a young peasant widow was brought by her father-in-law asking for help. No more than two months had passed since her husband died. They loved each other. The father-in-law says that soon after the death of his son and her husband, the neighbors began to see a fiery streak flying down on their house in the dead of night. Some even saw it from inside of that house. They conducted prayer services, but the phenomenon did not cease. Rumors multiplied. They began to ask the widow if she saw it; she decisively said: "No", but added that her husband came to her every night.

The frightened household advised her father-in-law to take her to Saint Sergius [i.e. to Holy Trinity St Sergius Lavra in Sergiev Posad near Moscow]. The deceased husband rode with her the whole way, invisible to her father-in-law, but visible to her. And she did not want to part with him, and rode to the saint only out of obedience to her father-in-law.

At the sight of the monastery, the demon departed from her, speaking to her from afar, and at that time she felt fear of him. And when she entered the monastery, he disappeared completely; and then she realized that it was the devil who came to her in the form of her husband, began to cry and began to want to pray for deliverance. She fasted, confessed and received the Holy Mysteries. On the last day, as she was going home, she saw him at night in the apartment standing at a distance, all wounded and covered in blood. However, on the advice, she refrained from talking to him, but only prayed, and he disappeared. Probably, with this appearance the demon wanted to entice her thoughts through compassion.

Lord, have mercy! What nets surround a man on his path!

Source 

Elder Silouan about the Signs of Grace and Delusion

Archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov). "Saint Silouan, the Athonite".

Saint Silouan the Athonite (1866 - 24.9.1938)

In our desire to learn from the Elder if there is a criterion that allows to distinguish in a certain way between the true spiritual path and ‘illusions of truth’ that are found when we turn away from the path, we talked to him about this issue. His words were precious. He said:

"When the Holy Spirit fills the whole man with the sweetness of his love, the world is completely forgotten and the soul contemplates God with unspeakable joy. But when the soul remembers the world again, it cries then, full of love for God and compassion for men and prays for the whole universe.

Given over to tears and prayer for the world that love inspires in her, the soul, full of the sweetness of the Holy Spirit, can forget the world again and rest in God. And when the memory of the world returns, she prays anew, shedding tears, imploring, submerged in affliction, the salvation of all men.

This is the true way that the Holy Spirit teaches.

The Holy Spirit is love, peace and sweetness. The Holy Spirit teaches to love God and neighbour. But the spirit of delusion is a spirit of pride; it forgives neither man nor other creatures, for it has created nothing. He acts as a thief and predator; his path is strewn with ruins.