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

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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 

If You Teach, Then Don’t Say That It Is From Your Own Experience

Hegumen Nikon (Vorobiev) (1894 - 7.9.1963)

Hegumen Nikon (Vorobiev). "Unpublished letters".

Don’t lecture anyone, and if you see someone in need of spiritual help and feel that you could help at least a little, then talk about spiritual things as if you had read or heard this and that from knowledgeable people, and not as if from your own experience or knowledge. It will be easier for you, and you will block the demon’s access to you through vanity. Do you understand this idea?

Source

Don’t Be Too Right

Archimandrite Seraphim (Krechetov)

From a conversation with the elder Archpriest Valerian Krechetov (now Archimandrite Seraphim).

When a person learns to think, reason and at the same time prays, relies on God, checks his feelings, thoughts and intentions with the commandments - this is the process of purifying his heart. This is a very big job. Here Abba Dorotheus said: "I do not know of any other fall for a monk, except when he believes his heart." Yes - until it is purified. And it also seems to me that this is said in the sense that one must always keep  such a thought - but maybe I am wrong. Allow such a possibility, recognizing the limitations of any private opinion. "Don't be too right" - there is such a saying. If Sisoes the Great, dying, said: "I do not know whether I have begun repentance," it means that he did not trust his heart to the end in this regard. Man is mistaken. Apostle Peter confessed Jesus Christ as the Son of God, but when Christ said that He must die on the cross, he retorted: “…May this not happen to You!” (Matthew 16:22).

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If Left Unchecked, People Will Receive Communion Several Times a Day

Archpriest Vladimir Vorobyov.

Archpriest Vladimir Vorobyov

It must be said that in the East, in Greece and other Balkan countries, Confession has long been separated from Communion. This rule that one cannot receive Communion without Confession no longer exists there, and this sometimes has very bad consequences because people do not prepare at all, come from the street and receive communion without any repentance. Some even, I was told, receive communion several times. They go to every church and receive communion. The priest does not know them, he has not taught them anything and does not control anything.

But if we do the same, it will be a terrible excess. This is absolutely unacceptable for us. The priest is obliged to exercise control over Communion anyway. That is, one cannot receive Communion without the priest's blessing. That's what I would say: not without Confession, but without a blessing. And I bless those whom I know, in whom I have confidence. That's it. And if I don’t know the parishioner: “let’s confess normally.”

Source

The Spiritual Father and Visions

Archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov). "On Prayer".

Archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov) (1896- 11.7.1993)

When a spiritual father meets people who tell him about their visions, he is concerned first of all with correctly recognizing the source of the vision: whether it was truly given from Above, or it is only a product of an excited fantasy, or a consequence of the influence of hostile spirits. It is sometimes a difficult and extremely demanding challenge. If we attribute what is given by God to an opposing force, then we risk falling into blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (cf.: Matt. 12:28-31). And vice versa: if we recognize demonic action as Divine, then we push the confessing person who trusts us to worship demons. Hence, all spiritual fathers without exception need fervent and constant prayer in general and in each individual case, so that the Lord Himself will protect him from errors in his judgments.

When the state of affairs is unclear to the spiritual father, he has a "psychological technique" at his disposal: to suggest that the confessing person be distrustful of any kind of special phenomena. If the vision was truly from God, then humility will prevail in his, the person's, soul, and he will calmly accept the advice to be sober. Otherwise, a negative reaction is possible, as well as a desire to prove that the vision could not have been otherwise than from God. Then there is some reason to doubt this. Of course, such a method is nothing more than a palliative, and one should not resort to it frivolously. Experience has shown that when someone tempts his brother, he thereby pushes him to irritation and grief.

Source

The Girl Fell into Fornication and Became Ashamed to Confess

Priest Mikhail Vorobyov

Question to the priest.

I am 19 years old. I go to the church weekly, sing on the kliros and love everything connected with the church. I fell into fornication, and, the strangest or most terrible thing, I cannot leave him: he is a good person, kind, but not very religious, we are former classmates with him. Father, help! Not only that I can’t go to confession, I'm ashamed to look at icons. What should I do? I can't tell anyone about this.

The priest Mikhail Vorobyov, rector of the church in honor of the Exaltation of the Holy Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, town of Volsk, answers.

There can be found no way out of the current situation, except for sincere and deep repentance. You condemn yourself, condemn your sin, you are ashamed of your ambiguous stay in the church - this is the voice of your conscience, which is nothing but the voice of God in the human heart. The Lord calls you to repentance, to the discovery of your sin at confession, which shall be courageous, precise, ruthless towards yourself.

How to Preach about Christ without Sounding Sectarian

Questions to Archimandrite Raphael (Karelin).

Archimandrite Raphael (Karelin)

[01/29/2006] Andrey asks:

Fr. Raphael! How should an Orthodox person preach the message about Christ, the Church, etc. in the world? Where should you start so that preaching about Christ does not sound sectarian?

Is it necessary to take a special blessing from the priest for this or is it a self-evident duty of every Orthodox person?

Archimandrite Raphael answers:

Andrey! We should talk about Christian teaching to those who ask us, or, in any case, express their interest. To do this, you need to engage in constant self-education. Before such a conversation, you should pray to God in your heart and ask Him to teach you how to give an answer. You should warn that you are not speaking on behalf of the Church, but to the best of your knowledge, and if your answer does not satisfy your interlocutor, then he can turn to other, more competent people. If the conversation turns into confrontation and argument, then it is better to stop it. If you find it difficult to answer a question, then you need to say directly that you will think about it and then, at the next meeting, give an answer. I think that a special blessing is not required because the Apostle Paul writes that a Christian must give an answer of a reason of the hope that is in him. We need to beware of the sectarian practice of forcing a conversation about Christianity on people who are not inclined to do so. The most effective sermon is preaching not with words, but with the example of your life, which attracts the hearts of people. For more specific questions, you should consult with the priest to whom you confess and from whom you receive communion. God bless you.

Source

If You Feel Ready for Communion, It Is Better To Abstain

Archimandrite Seraphim (Krechetov)

Archimandrite Seraphim (Krechetov), spiritual father of the diocese.

I was honored to know Fr. Vsevolod Shpiller personally. He was a man with a sense of humor. When one woman told him: "Father, I always feel unready for Communion," he replied: "If you feel that you are ready, then it is better not to go." You need to prepare, but not consider yourself ready.

Source

On the Desire to Develop Supernatural Gifts in oneself

Question to the priest.

Hegumen Nektary (Morozov)

Why does the church not welcome the presence and development of paranormal abilities in a person (prediction, clairvoyance, etc.)?

Hegumen Nektary (Morozov), rector of the Bishops' Church of the icon of the Mother of God "Satisfy my Sorrows" answers.

Saints of the Orthodox Church performed many amazing miracles, including seeing the future, healing incurable ailments, and resurrecting the dead. But all these miracles were not the work of their hands, a manifestation of their "abilities", but were performed by the action of power, the grace of God, of which the saints were living vessels. The grace of God is not something that can be "developed" in oneself. This is a divine gift given to a person who zealously fulfils Christ's commandments, tirelessly striving to please God, to purify himself from all filthiness, from all passions. However, gifts of grace are by no means a goal, but only a consequence. Many saints of God, having been honored with the gift of miracles, prayed that the Lord would take away this gift from them, because they knew how easy it is to become haughty and fall away from God out of pride.

When a person strives to "develop abilities in himself", then it is quite obvious that he is on a dangerous path. On the dangerous, because in this case these abilities can really be given to him, but not by God (since a person has not reached the measure of saints and has not “deserved” it), but by a serpent who promised our forefathers in paradise that they would be like gods ( Gen. 3:5) and then deprived them of paradise itself.

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Simply Speaking without being Asked will not Always be Helpful

Bishop Alexy (Polikarpov)

From the article by Archimandrite Alexy (Polikarpov) “Confession. Answers to questions from parishioners.”

A disciple came to the elder Joseph from the Optina Monastery and talked about his weaknesses and shortcomings, and the elder listened to him and, apparently, made some comments, but nothing more. And when asked why he, knowing so much, being so experienced, did not tell him more, the elder answered: “Good must be voluntary. But what you asked me, I answered you. You've got it understood. If I just talk without your asking, it won’t always be helpful.”

Source

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.

Source

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.

Source

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.

Confusion is the Sign of Devil’s Presence

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

Elder 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.

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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.

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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?’

A Monk Had Untrue Tears

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

 

St Barsanuphius the Great (6th cent.)

Letter 461.

A brother asked the Great Old Man: “Tell me, father, whether the compunction that I think I possess is genuine, and whether I should live here on my own. Also, pray for me because I am troubled by bodily warfare.” Response by Barsanuphius.

Brother, your weeping and compunction are not genuine at this time; rather, they come and go. For genuine weeping, which comes with compunction, becomes like a servant submitted to us without separation; and a person who possesses this does not experience warfare. It even wipes away one’s former faults and washes away all spots. Moreover, in the name of God, it continually protects the person who has acquired it. It also expels laughter and distraction, while at the same time unceasingly maintaining one’s mourning. For weeping is a large shield that deflects all of the fiery arrows of the devil. The person who possesses it experiences absolutely no combat, whether that person is with others or even with prostitutes! [Such a gift] is always with us and fights for us.

So I have demonstrated for you the sign of weakness and of courage. Do not think that God could not relieve you from the battle; for he could indeed have relieved you, especially for the sake of the saints who were praying for you. Nevertheless, because he loves you, God wants you to be trained through many battles and exercises in order to reach the measure of good repute. And you cannot reach this point unless you keep all that I have commanded you through my letters, vainglorious teacher that I am. As for staying by yourself, this is a very special gift. When it comes to you, I shall inform you about this myself. Apply yourself now, child, as I have told you, and I believe that you will find progress in Christ. Do not be afraid. May the Lord be with you. Amen.

Source

Abomination for God is the Sacrifice Brought by a Man with Self-assurance and Proud Arrogance

St Ignatius (Brianchaninov). "On Prelest". On Loving God.

St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov) (1807-1867)

Love God in the way that He commanded us to love Him, not in the way that the deluded dreamers think to love Him.

Do not invent ecstasies for yourself, do not agitate your nerves, do not inflame yourself with a sensual fire, a fire of your blood. The sacrifice that pleases God is humility of heart, compunction of soul. God angrily turns away from a sacrifice brought with self-assurance and proud arrogance, even if it were a whole-burnt offering.

Pride agitates the nerves, inflames the blood, awakens the imagination, and stimulates a fallen life. Humility calms the nerves, cools the blood, destroys imagination, eradicates the fallen life, and awakens life in Jesus Christ.

"To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rums," said the prophet to the king of Israel, who dared to offer God an unlawful sacrifice (1 Sam 15:22). If you desire to bring God a sacrifice of love, do not bring it willingly, without preparing it thoughtfully. Bring it with humility, in the time and place that God Himself commanded.

The spiritual place where God commanded us to bring spiritual sacrifices is humility (Alphabetical Patericon. About Abba Poemen the Great).

If we do not See Pride in Ourselves, this is a Sign that we Have it

Saint Macarius of Optina (1788-1860)

Venerable Macarius of Optina. "Edifying Teachings" (from letters).

You also write that you do not see vanity and pride in yourself and would like to know the signs of these. The very fact that you do not notice these passions in yourself is a sign that they wrap your soul, covering it with darkness and gloom, which, both in visible objects and in mental ones, equally prevent you from seeing what is present. There is clear evidence of this in the 23rd Step of the Ladder, how the wise elder taught spiritually his brother not to be proud, and he, blinded in his mind, answered: forgive me, father, I have no pride. The elder continued: yes, child, how can you prove your pride more than with these words that “I have no pride.” Darkness, according to Basil the Great, is the absence of light. And in spiritual things, in the absence of the light of humility, the darkness of pride covers the soul (I, 446, 755).

When one does not notice anything bad in oneself, isn’t he led by the spirit of pride? But the humble see their sins like the sand of the sea (V, 145, 240).

I heartily rejoice at the change in your disposition, that is, keeping away from laughter, idle talk and blasphemy; but you should control that with it, arrogance, vanity, conceit and the most fierce pride do not creep into the heart, which blind the person and do not allow “to see one’s sins” and “to have a contrite and humble heart” (III, 280, 498).

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Woman Thinking that Healing and Biolocation Come from God

Question to a priest.

Hegumen Daniel (Gridchenko)

Question: Anastasia

Hello dear Father,

I have a question that has been bothering me for a very long time: my mother believes that a person can be healed by biolocation, that besides the physical body, a person has other bodies (like the halo of saints, where one can see them), and that if there is a hole in the body, it can be "patched up" and thus heal the person. A book she reads (or rather, has read before) was written by a certain woman who was a mathematician and designed spaceships, she was a Christian, and somehow calculated it all with mathematics, as I have understood it. A pendulum is also used in this system, I don't know if I should call it a science. She used to practice it for a while, then she gave it up (thank God!). The woman who wrote the book left behind her disciples; I think there is even an institute for self-knowledge in Russia that deals with these matters. My mother believes that all this knowledge is given to us by God, and that she thanks Him for His help. I don't know what stimulated her interest, but one day her child (that is me) stopped talking as a result of a strong fright (it happened, as I now reflect at my current age, out of sheer foolishness, to be honest). When she tried everything, and nothing worked, with the help of her friends she found a man who could help her. After a while it helped and the child started talking, but she got hooked on it and became interested. She is a very religious person and believes that all this knowledge only comes from God (we go to church, but not that often, we don't go to confession, but we always ask God's forgiveness and pray and try not to do anything wrong). However, the fact that, for example, when she has inflammation of a gland of her eyelid and immediately takes out a book and reads a "prayer" to "an old man the witch doctor," should be added to this, and also her belief that old women who heal all kinds of diseases are also Christians.