You Cannot Trust Yourself either During Peace or During Temptations

Venerable Isaac the Syrian of Nineveh. "Spiritual Alphabet".

Venerable Isaac the Syrian (~ VI - VIII cent.)

Distrust. In yourself during peace of mind.

If before entering the city of humility you notice in yourself that you have calmed down from the rebellion of passions, then do not trust yourself: for the enemy is preparing some kind of net for you; on the contrary, after peace, expect great anxiety and great rebellion. If you do not pass through all the abodes of virtues, then you will not find peace from your labor and will not have rest from the enemy's wiles until you reach the abode of holy humility.

(Word 73, p. 370).

In temptations, do not trust yourself.

Do not trust yourself that you are strong until you are tempted and find yourself unchanged. So test yourself in everything.

(Word 57, p. 294).

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A Priest was Suspended for Excessive Asceticism

From the memoirs of Hegumen Nikon (Vorobyov).

Hegumen Nikon (Vorobyov) (1894 - 7.9.1963)

“I began serving as a priest, and the better I thought I served, the more my self-esteem grew deep down. Spiritual matters are not so simple. To know what's going on deep down, you need to be very attentive and pray a lot, with your own personal prayer. So, one time, an idea came to me, perhaps from the enemy. I began doing a hundred prostrations with the Jesus Prayer in the evening, after evening prayers—perhaps until two o'clock. Now I'm saying all this, not to boast, but so you understand a little. And in the morning, before the service, I had to do another hundred prostrations, get up at four o'clock, and do them. So what? Was it good for me? The nuns saw it from the outside—they're curious people. But the Lord saw that I was doing the devil's work, not God's. And so, I had a conflict with Father Raphael. And I not only wasn't rewarded in some way, I was expelled from the priesthood, banned from serving (the ban was imposed by Bishop Onisifor of Kaluga – ed.). This is the judgment of God and the judgment of man. Of course, it was the power of God that expelled me, and it also reinstated me. But one might have thought I suffered for some good deed, for my exploits. But the Lord made it clear that this was demonic, that it was vanity, a self-importance: "Look, I'm a priest, I serve all the time, I come home—prayers, reading the Word of God, and even though I'm not young anymore, almost 55, I make a hundred prostrations in the evening, a hundred prostrations in the morning—with attention! This is how complex the spiritual matters are."

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One shouldn't Choose a Priest as a Spiritual Father, if he Disobeys or Strongly Criticizes his Superiors

Bishop Kirill (Zinkovsky)

Question to the bishop.

Bishop Kirill (Zinkovsky), Sergiev Posad. From the answer to the question "How should a priest choose a spiritual father?"

If we are to speak of any signs of the spiritual father under whose guidance one should not come, I think, first and foremost, it is their attitude toward the virtue of obedience. Because some spiritual fathers who call for obedience to themselves are often, unfortunately, unwilling to obey higher church authorities themselves. In such a case, this is evidence that such a pastor has not fulfilled the virtue of obedience in his own life. This is fundamental for us: obedience to the Law of God, the Church, and the hierarchy. Accordingly, any people who pretend to be spiritual priests, and perhaps are even called "elders", but, let's say, strongly criticize the church authorities, or do not show, as I already said, an example of obedience, this is the first criterion, which, despite any talk about some spiritual gifts, should stop us from coming into obedience to this person, into spiritual guidance.

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Bishop on Daily Communion

 

Metropolitan Longin of Saratov and Volsk

Question to the Bishop.

Dear Vladyka! I ask for clarification on how to properly prepare for Holy Communion if you partake during several Liturgies in a row. Is it necessary to read the canons [3 canons: canon of repentance, to Mother of God, to the Guardian Angel] each time, or is the canon to Communion and prayers to Communion sufficient? And how often and correctly can one partake of Communion during Holy Week and Bright Week? I have not received a clear answer, the respected priests answer differently. One allows partake of Communion on Easter and Bright Week without confession, but first read the Easter canon three times, another does not recommend Communion at all during Bright Week, since repentance is replaced by rejoicing, and one cannot partake of Communion without confession. And I have also received different instructions regarding preparation and frequency. It has even gotten to the point that, by listening to the advice of one, I have confused another. I ask for your blessing and prayers, Natalia

Metropolitan Longin of Saratov and Volsk answers.

Father Dimitry on how to Get Rid of Vanity

Russian Hour with Archpriest Dimitry Smirnov (October 3, 2005). Radio Radonezh.

Archpriest Dimitry Smirnov (1951 - 21.10.2020)

Listener's question:

How to get rid of vanity?

Archpriest Dimitry Smirnov in the studio:

Nothing could be simpler. For this, there is a technique developed by the ancient Fathers: first, you must get rid of talkativeness. Never initiate a conversation and answer only when asked a direct question and not beyond what is asked. That is, answer as briefly as the question itself was asked. That's the first thing.

Once you've mastered this, you need to move on to another exercise. This is something more serious: you must get to love reproach. That is, the average person is usually a rather proud creature: you can't say anything to them, you can't make a remark to them, you can't correct them—they'll immediately get offended, pout, and sometimes even quarrels break out. The usual response is, "Look who's talking!," and so on. If someone wants to get rid of vanity so seriously—like you, I feel — they need to learn to love being criticized. That is, every time someone points out our shortcomings, or judges us in some way, we need to drink these moments in our lives like nectar. Like cool water—well, not cold, icy, so as not to catch a cold, but cool on a hot day. So, with pleasure. And when you learn this, vanity will completely leave you.

Because vanity is a derivative of pride. And pride takes all such attacks, especially undeserved ones (usually deserved, but sometimes undeserved), very hard. A person is always in a state of self-justification. And when a person is humbled, humiliated, constantly shown their place, it's extremely beneficial. But still, it's precisely in this order that you need to move from one exercise to the next. If you begin with the second, then, of course, nothing will work. First, you need to teach yourself not to push forward, not to assert your "I," not to say "I'm a professor" at every turn, so to speak, but rather to be as modest as possible. The fight against vanity begins with cultivating humility. First, externally, and then it will become internal.

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The Girl Did Not Listen to the Elder Not To Get Married, and Her Husband Killed Her

Saint elder Sebastian of Karaganda (1884 – 19.4.1966)

Alexey Fomin. "Holy Seers. The Gift of Clairvoyance".

Elder Sebastian of Karaganda, secular name - Stepan Vasilyevich Fomin (1884-1966), predicted the events of one woman's life. She had a daughter who was dating a young man and wanted to marry him. The mother and daughter decided to go to Father Sebastian for a blessing, but the groom refused to go. The elder asked: "Why didn't you bring your future husband?" After the conversation, the priest told the girl: "Don't marry him." At first, he did not explain why. The second time the saint strictly warned: "Don't marry him, he will kill you." The girl did not believe and became his wife. Later the elder's prediction came true. The spouses lived for a short time, the husband drank, beat his wife and, in the end, killed her.

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Fear of the First Confession After a Dissolute Lifestyle

Question to a Priest. SPAS TV, September 17, 2024

Archpriest Alexander Nikolsky

Archpriest Alexander Nikolsky is in the studio.

Viewer question: “I led a vile and dissolute lifestyle, committed many sins with consequences, and I can’t bring myself to confess. It’s scary and disgusting to say this to someone. But I feel that confession is necessary.”

Archpriest Alexander answers:

This, as I understand it, is a woman. You just need to understand that you’re not coming to a priest. You’re coming to God. Not to a priest as God, but to God Himself. And you’re revealing your whole soul to Him. A priest is merely an unworthy witness.

And so many women came to me: escorts, prostitutes, and so on. Bandits – I was a prison chaplain for 16 years. People with a very dissolute lifestyle. And they all said, “How wonderful! How wonderful it is after confession!” Because sins weigh heavily, sins destroy a person from within. And when you’ve taken the right step in this direction—come to God and confess your problems to Him—God surely begins to heal you. This is definitely felt. This is especially felt during the first confessions. After the first confession, after the second, third, fourth—at the very beginning, it’s especially felt, simply by contrast. When a person was sick, and suddenly this strong, aching pain in his soul went away. And you suddenly felt: “yes, a different life.” A different life opens up. And some people say: “I didn’t live before.” People who achieved great social heights, had large salaries, families, everything was good for them. But when God reveals Himself to them, when the sins that tormented them, this man or woman, pass away, it is unforgettable. Even I (I was baptized in adulthood) remember my first confessions. You simply walk away renewed, transformed, resurrected. Birds sing in your soul. That's why I advise everyone not to dwell on this decision. And I repeat to make it clear, the priest isn't in charge here; God is. You need to go and speak to God. Some parishioners, when they confess to me, say, "Lord, God..."—that is, they're not even addressing me.

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At the Sight of the Terrible Demon, the Elder Continued His Prayer Rule

Hegumen Philaret (Danilevsky) (1777 - 1841)

Lives of Russian Ascetics of Piety of the 18th-19th centuries. March. Hegumen Philaret from the Glinsk Monastery.

One day, the rassophore monk Fr. Joel (later the elder-schema-archimandrite Iliodor), having come to Fr. Philaret, explained to him the night fear that had happened to him. The Hegumen answered to this: “That’s how it is; we, monks, must always be ready to meet our adversary. Last night I was also tempted. I was standing during prayer, the door to the cell was on the hook. Suddenly, I heard as if the door was opening; I turned and saw the following: a terrible Arab was standing at the door; his head was curly, his teeth were bared, and his eyes were like fiery coals. Having protected myself with the sign of the cross, I continued my rule, and he went out the same way. So, brother, do the same: if the enemy appears to you in any form, protect yourself with the sign of the cross paying no attention to anything and continue your work; without God's permission he will do nothing." How many similar cases happened with Fr. Philaret, God and the God-loving soul of the ascetic know.

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How to Avoid Moralizing when Giving Instructions

St. Theophan the Recluse (1815 - 1894)

Apophthegmata Partum as translated by St. Theophan the Recluse.

139. The elder said: when you give someone instructions on how to live, then speak to the listener with contrition and tears. Moreover, if you want to save others, do not speak in words that are alien to salvation or not your own, so that you do not remain fruitless until your death.

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