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.

Source

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.

Source

Elder Ephraim on Spiritual Delusion (video)

How we can distinguish when the Devil wants to deceive us? (at 52:17)

Whenever the devil tries to trick you to things that maybe that was a good sign from Jesus and that really was and was the devil, how can you easily distinguish between the two?

The way to distinguish whether or not these spiritual experiences are from the Lord or from the devil is to see what results of them are, what the fruits of them are in our lives. If the experience that we had is from the Lord, accompanied it will be with humility, peace in our soul, and certain spiritual blessings and fruits that come from that: we feel that it is from the Lord. If on the other hand, if there is something from the devil, the results will be different: there will be an uneasiness about it, there will be a discomfort, there will be a spiritual unrest that will be created by the activity of the devil in our lives and of course that sometimes leads to pride. So when we are not sure about a spiritual experience is to whether or not it is from the devil or not or whether it is from the Lord, we are to go for insurance to our spiritual guide, our spiritual father. We do this in order to check ourselves out. We need to go to somebody who help us make this discernment, to find out whether is something of the Lord. If we only depend on ourselves, if we make our own judgment on this, if we in a sense draw our own conclusions about the validity of the experience, we can easily fool ourselves, thinking that this is from the God while in reality it is not from the God, it could be from the devil. That requires a tremendous amount of spiritual discernment in order to be able to make distinction which one is from the devil and which from the Lord. 

Source

Danger of Prelest

Hieromartyr Bishop Arsenius (Zhadanovsky). "Spiritual Diary".

Hieromartyr Bishop Arsenius (Zhadanovsky) (1874- 27.9.1937)

Not only the people indulging in vices and passions are in the enemy's nets, are the accomplices of the enemy of our salvation, but those who set themselves the task to live piously are not left alone by the same enemy; he is trying to lure these Christians in his nets too, but rather based on their piety - that is, he involves them into so-called prelest, or spiritual delusion. Prelest is a perverted, wrong disposition, supposedly high, spiritual, but in fact false, deceptive, fake, sham, - this is the internal state of our hearts, of which the Apostle Paul says that one can only have a form of godliness, but be denying the power thereof.

Yet everyone in his feeble, sinful nature is more or less susceptible to this delusion. You thought that you said well, did well - that is delusion. You were dreaming about your talents, abilities - again delusion. Accepted praise, took a delight in it - and that is delusion too. The Holy Fathers distinguish two kinds of spiritual delusion in its extreme development. The first kind is when a person begins to imagine that he saw the Lord, the Mother of God, Angels, spirits, and considers himself worthy of such visions. The second kind of prelest is when a person has a high opinion of himself, thinking that he lives a high spiritual life, that he fasts a lot, he is a clairvoyant person, a miracle worker, that he is able to perform great ascetic feats, that he is destined to teach and guide people. This kind of delusion is called “conceit”, because in this case the person conceited opinion about himself.

Evagrios the Solitary on Prelest and Demonic Tricks

Evagrios the Solitary. “On Prayer: One Hundred and Fifty-Three Texts”.

(In Russian Philokalia, this text is attributed to St Nilus of Sinai).

94. Take care that the crafty demons do not deceive you with some vision; be on your guard, turn to prayer and ask God to show you if the intellection comes from Him and, if it does not, to dispel the illusion at once. Do not be afraid, for if you pray fervently to God, the demons will retreat, lashed by His unseen power.

95. You should be aware of this trick: at times the demons split into two groups; and when you call for help against one group, the other will come in the guise of angels and drive away the first, so that you are deceived into believing that they are truly angels.

Who Truly Repents, Is Never Affected by Spiritual Delusion

Hieroschemamonk Sergius (Vesnin). “Letters of an Athonite”.

Hieroschemamonk Sergius (Vesnin)

Only self-willed people are affected by spiritual delusion

That is what Mr.D writes:

3) No one dares, moved either by love or charity, to break into solitude of Athonite hermits, who, as it is to believe, sometimes end up their long repentance with insanity (p.162)

A truly educated and kind person, it seems, fears the very thought of such a mistreat of repentants leave alone the printed word of this kind. Were there any examples in our Church history, in the books of our Holy Fathers, to our knowledge any hermits of far deserts, absorbed in contemplatives lives of their own, having reached purity and chastity, overcoming their own mortal nature, considering all devil’s tricks and fears of the deserts nothing more than a childish game – were there any among those ascetics who ended up their lives in the desert as insane ones?

Can our God be so strict and unfair to crown with folly and insanity (*) any true repentance, labour and seeds of self-denial committed because of love to Him? Should somebody agree with Mr. D.’s wrong position just tell me – we will discuss this in details, considering history, to give the opinion of Mr. D its true value.

St Antony truly said, “A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him, saying, 'You are mad; you are not like us.”

How true are these words of this great beacon to the universe regarding modern enlightened people and monks! The former consider the latter louts for they are not competent in politics or other subjects of the distracted great world.

On Reading Spiritual Books

St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov). "On Prelest". About Discretion in Reading the Patristic Books on the Monastic Life

St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov)

The books of the Holy Fathers on the monastic life must be read with great caution. It has been noticed that a novice can never adapt books to his condition, but is always drawn by the tendency of the book. If a book gives counsels on silence and shows the abundance of spiritual fruits that are gathered in profound silence, the beginner invariably has the strongest desire to go off into solitude, to an uninhabited desert. If a book speaks of unconditional obedience under the direction of a spirit-bearing father, the beginner will inevitably develop a desire for the strictest life in complete submission to an elder.

God has not given to our time either of these two ways of life. But the books of the Holy Fathers describing these states can influence a beginner so strongly that out of inexperience and ignorance he can easily decide to leave the place where he is living and where he has every convenience to work out his salvation and make spiritual progress by putting into practice the evangelical commandments, for an impossible dream of a perfect life pictured vividly and attractively in his imagination.

St John Climacus says in his chapter about silence: “In the reflectory of a good brotherhood there is always some dog watching to snatch from the table a piece of bread, that is, a soul; and taking it in its mouth, it then runs off and devours it in a lonely spot” (Sermon 27).

Questions about Delusion

Questions to Schema-archimandrite Abraham (Reidman) after his conversation about delusion in the Gospel.

Question. What does it mean to "humbly strive for a higher spiritual gift"?

Answer. This means knowing your constitution and striving for improvement, soberly assessing yourself - that is, forcing yourself, but at the same time understanding what you can do. We are unable to compel ourselves to unceasing prayer, we are unable to compel ourselves to dispassion, I am not even talking about miracles. Something else may occur: under the pretext of humility, people lose zeal, this is also wrong. Therefore, you need to force yourself and strive for more, but at the same time know your measure. Although sometimes it happens that the Lord visits a person beyond his measure, one must also have the right attitude to such a state. You need to understand that grace is not given according to merit. If we believe that we are unworthy of grace, then we assume that we have not yet deserved it, and if we do something else, we deserve it. But sometimes the Lord gives grace as if in advance, beyond all merits, therefore, what is given must be evaluated not by one's own worthiness, but focusing on how the holy fathers describe it, to see if this matches their explanation of this or that spiritual experience or not. At the same time, there is no need to ponder whether we are worthy or not (because we are not only unworthy to be in a monastery at all, but not worthy to live), this approach is also a hidden manifestation of pride.

Question. If the schema-nun, about whom you told, was in delusion, how could she, not having the grace of God, lead such a harsh life for years?

Answer. Those who are deceived just lead a harsh life, for example, yogis show more vigorous physical labours than Orthodox ascetics. Yogi is put on glass, and a car is driven on him, and he is buried in the ground, then they take him out - and he is alive. And Porfiry Ivanov, the founder of his own sect, did not eat or drink for 100 days. How can all this be possible? 

About Pseudo-eldership

Hegumen Nektariy (Morozov). Pseudo-eldership: where does it come from and how not to get caught by it?

Not to replace the Lord

Hegumen Nektariy (Morozov)

Spiritual guidance is one of the most challenging tasks for a priest. Therefore, both he himself and the person who comes to him for advice should always remember about precautionary measures. It is even difficult to say for whom they are more important.

Each of us, priests, should very well understand our own spiritual level and be aware of our personal Christian and human imperfection. Then we realize how careful we need to be in all our actions in relation to those people who expect from us a word about God and instruction in following Him.

After all, the priest will give an answer to the Lord not only for himself, but also for those whom God himself has entrusted to him, and sometimes even a stricter answer. Putting a stone in an outstretched hand instead of bread or giving a snake instead of a fish is very scary!

As for the person who follows the advice of this or that priest, he probably needs to look first of all at how much the priest trusts himself.

If in some difficult life situation or in some difficult spiritual issue, he says: “Look, this is what the Lord, the holy fathers, said about this in the Gospel. Let's figure out together how you should act in this situation.” Or he suggests doing this and that, but not because this is his pastoral opinion, but because the whole law of spiritual life tells it.

The priest does not reveal any secrets to the believer who turns to him, but simply turns him to face the law of God. The person himself does not want to look into the eyes of his own conscience, to peer into his own heart, and the priest helps him to do this. But the shepherd cannot do something instead of someone.

The Difference Between a True Work of Faith and a Delusional One

Monk Konstantin. “From conversations with the Caucasian hermit”.

Question: How to distinguish correct, saving work of faith from delusional work?

Answer: Of course, only a spiritually experienced person can do this - can determine what work is performed by someone. And for ourselves, we must learn this truth: you do not need to invent works. When a person comes to repentance, he naturally begins to correct his life, his behavior is not invented, not fabricated, but forced by the way of life, by the struggle with his passions. Such work is required by itself and taken for granted. It does not make arrogant, does not give a person a reason for self-conceit and self-exaltation, but only leads him along the path of repentance and correction.

Meanwhile, the delusional work is usually far-fetched and bright. And it is especially necessary to emphasize: it is “great”, but short-lived: it is completely abandoned with the course of time. It alternates with self-indulgence and relaxation: “You worked hard - you can relax! Work hard play hard”. A man has accomplished something: fasting, or vigil, or prayer, or a certain number of bows - that's all, now he is “having a rest”.

These are signs of a harmful deed, leading, to a greater or lesser extent, to delusion.

Question: What is delusion?

Answer: In brief: when we consider to be good something that is not good. When we take the demonic action or our heated blood for the action of the grace.

About the Most Common Types of Delusion

Archimandrite Markell (Pavuk), confessor of Kiev Theological Schools

- Father, what is spiritual delusion? Where does it come from?

- In Russian, the word “prelest” has a positive connotation (it means charm, loveliness), however, from a spiritual point of view, delusion is a deceived state of the soul the person is unconscious of, when, under the influence of the passion of pride, one wants to seem better than he really is. Any excessive adorning of oneself with expensive clothes, cosmetics, ornate words, insincere actions, and smiles are kinds of delusion. Its beauty is deceiving, and it cannot save the world, but on the contrary, deceives and destroys it. However, each person has an internal innate defensive reaction, which allows us to feel the insincerity of others, but you will not always immediately understand what the matter is.

In the state of delusion, a man does not live his own life, but rather that of the stranger he dreams of. For him, life is an ongoing play. It is not accidentally that the programs related to playing have the highest rating in the media. It is also clear why in ancient times the main competitor of the Church was the pagan theater. The Holy Fathers very sharply criticized the actors precisely because they were engaged in play-acting and voluntarily or involuntarily infected their viewers with this.

The church teaches a person to be his true self, not to pose, not to show off, not to play-act, but to live, as they say, breathing freely. It was precisely because of this desire to be real people, personalities, and not faceless mass or limp posers, the first Christians joyfully went to martyrdom. As St. Justin the Philosopher explained the phenomenon of martyrdom, we go to martyrdom because we do not want to live by deception.

According to the Word of God, delusion is the most direct invention of the evil one, who parasitizes on a person’s natural desire to become better. Who of us does not want to grow spiritually, intellectually, physically and materially, who does not dream of a career? It was the promise of the evil one that let the delusion enter the world. The devil, in the form of a serpent in paradise, assured the ancestors that they would be like gods, and by this he tempted them, but instead of the promised things, it resulted in spiritual and physical death.

Liberation from the Delusion of the False Desire for Martyrdom

"The Great Watch". The cell notes of Hieromonk Jerome.

Once he [the monk Paisius] came to me for confession and said: “Father! I have a great desire to become a martyr, bless me to go to Thessaloniki or to Smyrna to be tormented for Christ, I really want this, my heart burns day and night, everything draws me to lay down my life for Christ.” Hearing this from him, I was surprised and asked him: “Where did such a strange thought come to you from? What is this for?” “So that,” he answered, “Firstly, by these means I can sooner be saved, and secondly, I will be forever in the rank of martyrs who are most glorified in the Kingdom of God. That’s why I want to be a martyr.” I told him a lot from the Scriptures regarding this; I tried to convince him that every Christian, especially a monk, should be ready, if necessary, to sacrifice his life for God, and this is Christian selflessness. But we are forbidden to go into temptations without permission, but, on the contrary, we are commanded to pray so that we are not led into temptation. “And you,” I continued, “you needlessly dare to do such a terrible thing. Your desire is correct, but bringing it into practice is not God-pleasing and it is very dangerous for your salvation because of the weakness of our nature. Remember the example of Peter the Apostle, and besides him, there were many unfortunate examples of people who dared for such a great thing without a high calling and could not stand the torment and fell away from Christ. It can easily happen to you.” But he was little convinced by my exhortations. After our conversation with him, the thought of martyrdom bothered him for more than a year, and he himself did not understand that it was not the love of God that attracted him to martyrdom, but his love for himself, in order to become famous and in order to surpass others. And this idea was born in him from a misunderstanding of the essence of selflessness. But, when I invited him to make sure by his own experience in small and even insignificant matters of the difficulty of selflessness, or of cutting off his own will, then he was quite convinced that cutting off his will is a true torment.

On Living According to the Advice

Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov). "On Prelest". On Living According to the Advice.

St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov)

The previous chapter compares spiritual life, provided by the Divine Providence to our time, with grains. Such life is based on the guidance to salvation by the Holy Scripture and the works of the Holy Fathers, with advice and edification borrowed from modern fathers and brethren. In the proper sense, this is the obedience of the ancient monks, just in a different form adapted to our weakness, mainly spiritual. Spiritual guides announced the will of God to the ancient novices immediately and directly; currently, the monks themselves must seek the will of God in the Scriptures, and therefore they must face frequent and prolonged perplexities and errors. Previously, success was achieved quickly according to the properties of the activity: now it is inert, again according to the properties of the activity. Such is the favor of our God for us: we must obey Him, and worship Him with thanksgiving.

Our modern monastic life according to the Scripture and the advice of fathers and brethren is consecrated by the example of the head of monasticism, the Venerable Anthony the Great. He was not in obedience to the elder, but being novice, he lived separately, and borrowed the guidance from the Scripture and from different fathers and brothers. He obtained temperance from one person; meekness, patience, humility were gained from the other, from one more person he got strict vigilance over himself, in silence, trying to embrace the virtue of every virtuous monk, obeying everyone as much as possible, humbling himself before everyone and praying to God unceasingly (Menaion Reader, January, 17th).

On Danger of Delusion in Relation to Prayer

On the Prayer of Jesus. From the ascetic essays of Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov.

The Danger of Delusion

St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov)

I offer fathers and brothers my poor advice, begging them not to reject my poor advice. Do not force yourself prematurely to the discovery within yourself of the action of the Prayer of the Heart. Prudent caution is most necessary, especially in our time when it is almost impossible to find a satisfactory guide in these matters, when the ascetic must himself force his way gropingly by the direction of the writings of the Holy Fathers to the treasury of spiritual knowledge, and also must gropingly select for himself what is suited to his needs. While living according to the commandments of the Gospel, attentively practice the Prayer of Jesus according to the method of St. John Climacus, combining prayer with weeping, having as the beginning and end of prayer repentance. In its own time, known to God, the action of the Prayer of the Heart will be revealed of itself. Such action, revealed by the touch of the finger of God, is more excellent than that which is acquired by vigorously forcing oneself by means of material aids. It is more excellent in many respects. It is far more extensive and voluminous, far more abundant. It is quite safe from delusion and other dangers. He who receives in this way sees in what he receives only the mercy of God, a gift of God, while he who attains by the vigorous use of material aids, though seeing the gift of God, cannot fail to see his own effort and labor, he cannot fail to see his own mechanical aid which he has used, he cannot fail to ascribe to it special importance. This in the subtle way of the spirit is a considerable defect, a considerable obstacle, a considerable hindrance to the development of spiritual proficiency. For the development of spiritual proficiency there is no end, no limit. An insignificant, unnoticed hope or trust in something outside God can stop the advance of progress and proficiency, in which faith in God is leader, guide, legs and wings. “Christ for the believer is all,” said St. Mark. (Mark the Ascetic, “On the Spiritual Law” 4, Philokalia 1, p. 110)

Communion When Concealing Sins

Schema-archimandrite Abraham (Reidman). Unworthy communion as an aspect of spiritual life.

Report at the conference "Life of the Eucharistic Community".

Schema-archimandrite Abraham (Reidman)

I hesitated for a long time which topic of the report I should choose. Today it is no longer necessary to insist on the benefits of frequent communion, because it is becoming a tradition of our Church. At the latest Bishops’ Council, decisions were made both about proper preparation for communion and about the need to receive communion often. For example, by the decisions of this Council, believers are allowed to take daily communion at the Bright Week, which at the time of my youth seemed completely impossible. Reflecting on what may be interesting and important for all of us, I decided to raise a question, perhaps reflecting the negative aspects of the Eucharistic life, however, relevant and useful. This is a question of unworthy communion.

First of all, I want to remind you of the famous words of the Apostle Paul from the First Epistle to the Corinthians about how the sacrament of the Eucharist was established and with what feelings and thoughts we should receive it.

This is what the apostle Paul says: For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. [1 Cor. 11, 23–26].

About the Rites of Renunciation of Sectarianism and Occult

Monk John (Adlivankin) and Hegumen Ephraim (Vinogradov). "Pastoral care of the people coming from sects and the occult. The canonical practice of accession and renunciation rites as an instrument of spiritual struggle. The strategies of demonic forces".

Video of talk (in Russian): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTkL8bQSmm4

Monk John: To continue the conversation that took place on February 22 in the Monastery of Optina and dealt with the problems of pastoral care, the practice of accession rites, the problems of the boundary of the Church and the contemporary attitude towards modern children of the Church fallen away from the Church, we asked the famous contemporary writer to participate in our conversation. He is well-known to Orthodox audience as a confessor, it is father Ephraim (Vinogradov) known to the Orthodox public and readers as Hegumen N.

Thank you, farther, that you agreed to take part in this conversation. It seems to us extremely relevant. Those questions that have arisen in this conversation on the part of the clergy, on the part of the Optina brotherhood, and on the part of the priests, require more detailed study and clarification. Therefore, in today's talk, we will be able to give some answers to emerging questions.

Father Ephraim, this is a rather difficult topic: the pastoral care of people who come from sects, or damaged by sects and the occult. The topic, in general, is not so new in the Church, but nowadays, it becomes extremely relevant. You are well-acquainted with the work of the pastoral care center, you are familiar with the materials, documents, we closely cooperate in discussing some problems, developing solutions, and I know that recently you have been often using the canonical approach of accession and renunciation rites for people who for one reason or another were harmed or even fell away from the Church. Undoubtedly, in the vast experience of your pastoral work ... How long have you been a priest, how much have you been doing spiritual work?

Hegumen Ephraim: Well, almost 30 years.

Monk John: Well, in 30 years, probably, many things have come before your eyes. How do you feel about this approach? I know that you, too, have received the blessing to perform the accession rite with regard to people who have fallen away from the Church. It is such a difficult act; it needs a special blessing of the archbishop, the bishop. And, probably, you see from your experience that it gives really positive results. People who for many years for one reason or another could not be healed, did not come to senses and had completely obvious, and sometimes some hidden diseases that can be seen by the confessor, in general, after such an approach, after the implementation of such a practice, they obviously came to their senses. It is true, isn’t it? 

The Thought "from God" Began Dictating what to Do

From the book of Hieromonk Joachim (Sabelnikov) "The Great Watch".

Own cell notes of hieromonk Jerome Solomentsov. The events before the death of the monk Claudius.

Monk Claudius was a native of the Kherson Governorate, Nikolayevsky district, a son of an Orthodox peasant; his secular name was Kodrat Ivanovich Moshkov. When he was 20 years old, he asked his parents for allowing him to become a monk, and after receiving their blessing, he went to Jerusalem in 1864 and lived there at the Russian mission for three years, performing the duties of a church reader in the mission’s church. Tired of the local rumor, he left Jerusalem and went to Athos, where he decided to join the Russian monastery of St. Panteleimon, and there he performed various obediences: he was an archondar (the monk helping to accommodate guests of the monastery), sang in the choir, wrote commemorative lists. Later, he was sent to Constantinople, where he stayed at the metochion. Tested with monastic obediences carried out by him well and flawlessly, he was tonsured to the lesser schema and named Claudius during the Great Lent of 1871 before his departure to Constantinople. At the end of 1873, he was transferred from Constantinople to a monastery, where he began as usual, with the blessing of the elders, to go to the choir, where he was an assistant to the senior choir singer, and during his free time from worship services, he continued to record names in commemoration lists. Thus, he lived quietly and calmly, continuing to perform the monastic obediences assigned to him until the beginning of 1876, and at the beginning of that year, he fell into great temptation from the lack of advice and concealing his thoughts, and this happened in the way described below.

Danger of Delusion When Living in Solitude

St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov). "On Prelest". On Hermitic Life.

St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov)

Let it be known to beloved brothers that the highest types of monastic life, such as hermitage in a desert place or silence in the seclusion, as well as living under the guidance of a spiritual elder with complete obedience to him, were arranged not by chance or human discretion and reason, but by a special providence, determination, vocation and revelation of God. Saint Anthony the Great, the father of monasticism, the founder of the hermitic life, retreated to the desert, when he had been already endued with power from on high and in no other way than being called by God. Though it is not said in the Life of St. Anthony, but further events in the life of this Venerable father clearly prove it. And the description of his life (The Life of Venerable Anthony the Great. Menaion Reader for 17 January and Vitae Patrum Patrologiae coursus complectus, vol. LXXUI) says clearly that he was instructed by God’s voice and command to go to the deepest (inner) desert for the strictest silence. The Cherubim appeared to Venerable Macarius the Great, a contemporary of Saint Anthony, who was a little younger than the latter, showed him a fruitless wild plain – afterwards the famous Egyptian Skete – commanded him to have his dwelling there and prophesized that many hermits will dwell the desert valley (Alphabetic Patericon). St. Arsenius the Great, when he was in the royal palace, prayed to God to show him the way of salvation and heard the voice: “Arsenius, flee from men, and you shall be saved”. Arsenius retreated to the mentioned Skete and there prayed to God again to teach him how to be saved and again, he heard the voice: “Arsenius, flee (from men) and dwell in silence, these are the roots of virtue” (Alphabetic Patericon and Apophthegmata Patrum). Venerable Mary of Egypt was called to the hermitic life in the Transjordanian desert by God’s command (Menaion Reader for 1 April). God, who called to the silent and hermitic life those He had chosen, i.e. those that He foresaw to be capable of living the silent and hermitic life, provided them also with such means and aids for such life, which a man cannot find by himself. And in those times, when the monasticism blossomed, when there were many spiritual elders, only few were considered capable of living in silence, especially of living the hermitic life. St. John Climacus says: “Only a few can live in true solitude (silence); in fact, only those who have obtained divine consolation for encouragement in their labours and divine co-operation in their struggles” (Step 4, par. 120). “Solitude (silence) chokes the inexperienced” (Step 27, par. 5). Recluses and hermits often suffered greatest spiritual adversities: those, who retired into seclusion out of their own will, not being called by God, suffered adversities.

The Ladder about False Tears

St. John of Sinai. "The ladder of Divine ascent".

Step 7. On mourning which causes joy.

29. When we see anger and pride in those who seem to be mourning in a way pleasing to God, then their tears are to be regarded as a repugnant to God. For what fellowship has light with darkness? (2 Corinthians vi, 14.)

30. The fruit of morbid compunction is self-esteem, and the fruit of meritorious compunction is consolation.

31. Just as fire is destructive of straw, so are pure tears destructive of all material and spiritual impurity.

32. Many of the Fathers say that the question of tears, especially in the case of beginners, is an obscure matter and hard to ascertain, as tears are born in many different ways. For instance, there are tears from nature, from God, from adverse suffering, from praise worthy suffering, from vainglory, from licentiousness, from love, from the remembrance of death, and from many other causes.

33. Let us, stripped by the fear of God, train ourselves in all these ways, and acquire for ourselves pure and guileless tears over our dissolution. For there is no dissimulation or self-esteem in them, but on the contrary there is purification, progress in love for God, washing away of sin and the sublimation of the passions to dispassion.

34. It is not surprising if mourning begins with good tears and ends with bad. But it is praiseworthy if reprehensible and natural tears are sublimated to spiritual tears. People inclined to vainglory understand this problem clearly.

35. Do not trust your fountains of tears before your soul has been perfectly purified. For wine cannot be trusted when it is drawn straight from the vats.

68. Our enemies are so wicked that they turn even the mothers of virtues into the mothers of vices, and those things which make for humility, they make into a cause for pride. Frequently the very setting and sight of our dwellings are of a nature to rouse our mind to compunction. Let Jesus, Elijah and John who prayed alone convince you of this. I have often seen tears provoked in cities and crowds to make us think that crowds do us no harm and so draw nearer to the world. For this is the aim of the evil spirits.

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