When the soul learns love from the Lord, then it feels mercy for the whole universe, every creature of God, and it prays that all people will repent and accept the grace of the Holy Spirit. But if the soul loses grace, then love departs from it, for it is impossible to love enemies without the grace of God, and then evil thoughts come from the heart, as the Lord says (Matthew 15:19, Mark 7:21-22).
Question:
I have often noticed that during prayer, deep thoughts about events, people or God come to me. But Ignatius Brianchaninov wrote that demons try to instill in us imaginary spiritual thoughts in such a way. To induce arrogance and vanity. Does it always happen like this, or is it possible to receive some kind of admonition from God during prayer? (19:59)
Archpriest Dimitry Smirnov answers:
Not always. But in 99.9% of cases. Demonic in 99.9%.
Archpriest Alexander Berezovsky:
Because people really say: suddenly the solution to the problem has come. They say, I am standing in the church, and what I have been struggling with for a week seems to have opened up.
Archpriest Dimitry:
Seems to.
Archpriest Alexander:
People perceive that this is an answer from God.
Archpriest Dimitry:
I don't need to be told what people perceive. People generally perceive all sorts of nonsense. From any completely insane person. Who speaks self-confidently, with aplomb, with mockery.
Archpriest Alexander:
The more assertive, the more convincing. Oh, how assertive demons can be! And they will present it so colorfully!
Archpriest Dimitry:
Of course. Therefore, Bishop Ignatius is absolutely right. Not only did he read everything, all the Holy Fathers, he himself was a person with mathematical thinking. All his such characteristics - they are simply impeccable and beautiful in form. A truly brilliant person.
St. Nektarios had his own measure for each person. He often said: "You cannot demand from a fly to do the work of a bee. Each must be given according to his measure; not everyone can have the same." [1]
Similarly, St. Sevastian blessed the sick to drink a cup of tea and a bun the night before Communion, so that they would not weaken in the morning. After Communion, during Lent, he allowed milk, or tea with milk, as a tonic. He severely reprimanded those who undertook strict fasts for two or three days without a blessing before Communion, eating nothing. He did not even allow such people to receive Communion. He said: “Moderation, abstinence, discernment, timeliness, gradualness are useful to everyone and in everything. It is not the beginning or middle that is precious, but the end. One who goes gradually from the very beginning, without making leaps from the first step after two or three, but gradually moving from one to the next to the end without haste, he is saved <…> We must adhere to the royal path, that is, adhere to the golden mean in everything, and most importantly – rely on the will of God and His Divine Providence.” [2]
[1] Venerable Optina Elders. P. 420.
[2] Karaganda Elder Venerable Sevastian. P. 308
So what to do then? How to confess everyone? And all the people are unknown. They came up with General or Communal Confession. The priest reads the prayers, then reads a list of sins: "We have sinned with pride, lust, and avarice," then: "We have sinned with murder, theft, violence, fornication, and adultery," and all the people stand and say, "We have sinned, Father, in everything!" And then the priest says, "Do you repent of all your sins? If any of you have any other sins that I haven't mentioned, you can come and tell me when I read the prayer of absolution. But since I have listed all the sins, it's better to say nothing." Then the priest stands at the lectern and reads the prayer of absolution, covering everyone with the epitrachelion.
I have experienced the “benefits” of such a General Confession myself many times. I ask some old woman: “Have you been to confession long ago?” – “No, Father, recently. Three weeks ago I confessed at General Confession.” – “Good. Do you have any sins?” – “No, Father. What sins do I have? I don’t have any sins, after all, I confess and go to church.” – “But maybe you have forgotten some sins? Well, for example, have you had abortions?” – “Yes, Father, I have.” – “And how many abortions have you had?” – “Twenty.” – “Have you repented of that?” – “No, Father. And how would I do? I stood at the Communal Confession.” She believes that she has no sins. When you “corner” the parishioners: “Yes, Father! "I'm a sinner, Father, in everything!" but there's no real repentance.
That is, this General Confession is a fiction, and completely unacceptable for a priest. In Soviet times, it could be justified by the times, by persecution. But still, it's unacceptable.
Now, when there are so many communicants on a feast day—400, 600, 800, 1,000—it's impossible for everyone to confess, and it's not necessary. I go to Confession and say, "There are so many people today, it's impossible to confess in detail today. Therefore, those who confessed recently, who don't have any serious, unconfessed sins on their conscience, I bless them to receive Communion." Some old women will come; they can't live without the Epitrachelion. I read them the Prayer of Absolution and that's it. "And if you have any sins, stay. If there's time, then we'll talk." If there's no time left, then you won't receive communion. Then you need to choose a more convenient and favorable time—to come and talk, to confess."
Serapion, the writer of the life of the Saint, adds the following, which he heard from Saint Paphnutius, one of Saint Macarius’ disciples. When the holy soul of Macarius was taken by the Cherubim and was ascending to heaven, some of the fathers saw with their mental eyes that the demons of the air stood in the distance and cried out:
– What glory have you been granted, Macarius!
The saint answered the demons:
– I am afraid, for I do not know of anything good that I have done.
Then those of the demons who were still higher up on the path of Macarius' ascending soul cried out:
- You have truly escaped our hands, Macarius!
But he said:
- No, but I should escape even more.
And when the saint was already at the gates of paradise, the demons cried out with a loud cry:
- You have escaped us, you have escaped.
Then Macarius answered the demons with a loud voice:
- Yes! Protected by the power of my Christ, I have escaped your wiles.
Such is the life, death, and passage into eternal life of our venerable father Macarius.
– Father Vladimir, in your opinion, should we have impeccable obedience only to the elder or to the spiritual father – a simple priest – too?
– Now, I think, yes – we should have impeccable obedience only to the elder. It is good to have a desire to obey the spiritual father too. But spiritual fathers, who are as blind as I am, should not demand this obedience from their spiritual children. How can I, a blind person, demand obedience that can ultimately lead a person into a pit? Where will the blind lead the blind? Into a pit. Both will definitely fall. Therefore, I show the most reasonable, in my opinion, condescension to my spiritual children and do not demand obedience from them. I demand obedience to the commandments of God, obedience in relation to the established rhythm of Confession and Communion.
