Orthodox Spirituality
02.02.202521:59
This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.” [Matthew 17:14-23]
If this kind goes out by the prayer and fasting of another person, then it is even less able to enter one who fasts and prays.
What protection!
Although there are a slew of demons and all the air is packed with them, they cannot do anything to one who is protected by prayer and fasting.
Fasting is universal temperance, prayer is universal communication with God; the former defends from the outside, whereas the latter from within directs a fiery weapon against the enemies. The demons can sense a faster and man of prayer from a distance, and they run far away from him so as avoid a painful blow.
Is it feasible to think that where there is no fasting and prayer, there already is a demon? Yes, it is.
The demons lodging in a person, do not always reveal their presence, but lurk there, stealthily teaching their host every evil and turning him away from every good thing; so this person is certain that he is doing everything on his own, but meanwhile he is only fulfilling the will of his enemy.
Just commence prayer and fasting and the enemy will immediately depart, then wait on the side for an opportunity to somehow return again. And he truly will return, as soon as prayer and fasting are abandoned."
+Saint Theophan the Recluse
If this kind goes out by the prayer and fasting of another person, then it is even less able to enter one who fasts and prays.
What protection!
Although there are a slew of demons and all the air is packed with them, they cannot do anything to one who is protected by prayer and fasting.
Fasting is universal temperance, prayer is universal communication with God; the former defends from the outside, whereas the latter from within directs a fiery weapon against the enemies. The demons can sense a faster and man of prayer from a distance, and they run far away from him so as avoid a painful blow.
Is it feasible to think that where there is no fasting and prayer, there already is a demon? Yes, it is.
The demons lodging in a person, do not always reveal their presence, but lurk there, stealthily teaching their host every evil and turning him away from every good thing; so this person is certain that he is doing everything on his own, but meanwhile he is only fulfilling the will of his enemy.
Just commence prayer and fasting and the enemy will immediately depart, then wait on the side for an opportunity to somehow return again. And he truly will return, as soon as prayer and fasting are abandoned."
+Saint Theophan the Recluse
31.01.202505:04
29.01.202520:08
Invocation of the Name of God the Savior, uttered in the fear of God, together with a constant effort to live in accordance with the commandments, little by little leads to a blessed fusion of all our powers, disintegrated by the fall. We must never seek to hurry in our ascetic striving. It is essential to discard the idea of achieving the maximum [effect] in the shortest possible time. God does not force us but neither can we compel him to anything whatsoever. Results obtained by artificial means do not last long and, more importantly, do not unite our spirit with the Spirit of the living God.
In the atmosphere of the world today prayer requires super-human courage. The whole ensemble of cosmic energies waits in opposition. To hold on to prayer without distraction signals victory on every level of natural existence. The way is long and thorny but there comes a moment when a ray of divine Light pierces the thick gloom, to make an opening through which we can glimpse the Source of this Light. The Jesus Prayer then assumes cosmic and meta-cosmic dimensions.
+St. Sophrony
In the atmosphere of the world today prayer requires super-human courage. The whole ensemble of cosmic energies waits in opposition. To hold on to prayer without distraction signals victory on every level of natural existence. The way is long and thorny but there comes a moment when a ray of divine Light pierces the thick gloom, to make an opening through which we can glimpse the Source of this Light. The Jesus Prayer then assumes cosmic and meta-cosmic dimensions.
+St. Sophrony
28.01.202516:56
27.01.202511:07
26.01.202504:02
That Jesus should come and be baptized by John is surely cause for amazement. To think of the infinite river that gladdens the city of God being bathed in a poor little stream; of the eternal and unfathomable fountainhead that gives life to all men being immersed in the shallow waters of this transient world!
He who fills all creation, leaving no place devoid of his presence, he who is incomprehensible to the angels and hidden from the sight of man, came to be baptized because it was his will. And behold, the heavens opened and a voice said: This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.
The beloved Father begets love, and the immaterial Light generates light inaccessible. This is he who was called the son of Joseph and in his divine nature is my only Son.
This is my beloved Son. Though hungry himself, he feeds thousands; though weary, he refreshes those who labour. He has no place to lay his head yet he holds all creation in his hand. By his suffering he heals all sufferings; by receiving a blow on the cheek he gives the world its liberty; by being pierced in the side he heals the wound in Adam’s side.
And now, please pay close attention, for I want to return to that fountain of life and contemplate its healing waters as they gush out.
The Father of immortality sent his immortal Son and Word into the world, to come to us men and cleanse us with water and the Spirit. To give us a new birth that would make our bodies and souls immortal, he breathed into us the spirit of life and armed us with incorruptibility. Now if we become immortal, we shall also be divine; and if we become divine after rebirth in baptism through water and the Holy Spirit, we shall also be heirs along with Christ, after the resurrection of the dead.
So I cry out, like a herald: Let peoples of every nation come and receive the immortality that flows from baptism. This is the water that is linked to the Spirit, the water that irrigates Paradise, makes the earth fertile, gives growth to plants, and brings forth living creatures. In short, this is the water by which a man receives new birth and life, the water in which even Christ was baptized, the water into which the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove.
Whoever goes down into these waters of rebirth with faith renounces the devil and pledges himself to Christ. He repudiates the enemy and confesses that Christ is God, throws off his servitude and becomes an adopted son. He comes up from baptism resplendent as the sun and radiating purity and, above all, he comes as a son of God and a co-heir with Christ.
-Hippolytus
He who fills all creation, leaving no place devoid of his presence, he who is incomprehensible to the angels and hidden from the sight of man, came to be baptized because it was his will. And behold, the heavens opened and a voice said: This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.
The beloved Father begets love, and the immaterial Light generates light inaccessible. This is he who was called the son of Joseph and in his divine nature is my only Son.
This is my beloved Son. Though hungry himself, he feeds thousands; though weary, he refreshes those who labour. He has no place to lay his head yet he holds all creation in his hand. By his suffering he heals all sufferings; by receiving a blow on the cheek he gives the world its liberty; by being pierced in the side he heals the wound in Adam’s side.
And now, please pay close attention, for I want to return to that fountain of life and contemplate its healing waters as they gush out.
The Father of immortality sent his immortal Son and Word into the world, to come to us men and cleanse us with water and the Spirit. To give us a new birth that would make our bodies and souls immortal, he breathed into us the spirit of life and armed us with incorruptibility. Now if we become immortal, we shall also be divine; and if we become divine after rebirth in baptism through water and the Holy Spirit, we shall also be heirs along with Christ, after the resurrection of the dead.
So I cry out, like a herald: Let peoples of every nation come and receive the immortality that flows from baptism. This is the water that is linked to the Spirit, the water that irrigates Paradise, makes the earth fertile, gives growth to plants, and brings forth living creatures. In short, this is the water by which a man receives new birth and life, the water in which even Christ was baptized, the water into which the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove.
Whoever goes down into these waters of rebirth with faith renounces the devil and pledges himself to Christ. He repudiates the enemy and confesses that Christ is God, throws off his servitude and becomes an adopted son. He comes up from baptism resplendent as the sun and radiating purity and, above all, he comes as a son of God and a co-heir with Christ.
-Hippolytus
02.02.202513:58
“Prayer in church is important. The best thoughts and feelings come in church, yes, and the enemy attacks more violently in church, but with the sign of the Cross and the Jesus Prayer, you drive him away. It is good to stand in some dark corner in church and to pray to God. “Let us lift up our hearts!” the priest exclaims, but our mind often creeps along the ground, thinking about indecent things. Fight against this.”
+Saint Barsanuphios of Optina
+Saint Barsanuphios of Optina
30.01.202520:12
If you find your intellect wanders,
then reading, nighttime vigils, and prayer
will bring it to stillness.
Fasting, hard manual work, and quiet solitude
calm the fires of desire.
To calm your restlessness,
sit and recite the book of psalms
and have pity and compassion
for all those around you.
If you do excessive and inappropriate exercises,
it will all come to grief very quickly,
and this will cause you more harm than good.
—Evagrios of Pontus
then reading, nighttime vigils, and prayer
will bring it to stillness.
Fasting, hard manual work, and quiet solitude
calm the fires of desire.
To calm your restlessness,
sit and recite the book of psalms
and have pity and compassion
for all those around you.
If you do excessive and inappropriate exercises,
it will all come to grief very quickly,
and this will cause you more harm than good.
—Evagrios of Pontus
29.01.202511:12
“There is more mercy in God than there are sins in us. Confess your sins at once, whatever they may be.”
+St. Tikhon of Zadonsk
+St. Tikhon of Zadonsk
28.01.202505:01
“Clerics and, in particular, celibate clerics must be chosen from those of a mature age, with excellent education, extreme piety, shining ethos, sterling character and complete spiritual formation: all those things that are acquired with labors and struggles, prayer and study, fasting and vigils, with voluntary poverty and hardships, and through various deprivations. For asceticism is not the privilege or responsibility of monastics alone, but of all the faithful and particularly of clerics, and especially of unmarried clerics. The Church is deeply ascetic and those who don’t love asceticism and who are friends of luxury and comfort don’t have a place within Her.”
-Elder Epiphanios of Athens
-Elder Epiphanios of Athens
27.01.202505:09
25.01.202520:08
How do we overcome the state of sadness that afflicts the world?
We overcome it by going to church drunk with pain, like the Prophetess Hannah, and by pouring out our hearts to God. God will receive our prayer and grant our petition, according to His will. There is no other way. ‘Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning, says the Psalm. In fact, the people of God take the provocation of every pain or calamity of life and convert its energy into strength for converse with God. This is a well-known practice in the life of monks and of the people of God in general: they strive to transform every energy that assaults them into spiritual energy, which helps them to rise above every affliction of this life.
We must not forget that our Saviour Jesus Christ is the Man Who bore affliction, pain and abandonment more than anyone else on earth. Saint Sophrony writes:
Therefore, when we turn to Him with a suffering heart, it is easy for Him to relate to us and transmit to us the incorruptible consolation of His Holy Spirit. This is the grandiose reality of Christianity: we do not strive to rid ourselves of every pain and every difficulty in order to find tranquillity in our life, but rather, following the example of our Lord, we take on the pain and suffering of the whole world; we bring it before God and we ask Him to spread upon it His incorruptible consolation and blessing.
–Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou
We overcome it by going to church drunk with pain, like the Prophetess Hannah, and by pouring out our hearts to God. God will receive our prayer and grant our petition, according to His will. There is no other way. ‘Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning, says the Psalm. In fact, the people of God take the provocation of every pain or calamity of life and convert its energy into strength for converse with God. This is a well-known practice in the life of monks and of the people of God in general: they strive to transform every energy that assaults them into spiritual energy, which helps them to rise above every affliction of this life.
We must not forget that our Saviour Jesus Christ is the Man Who bore affliction, pain and abandonment more than anyone else on earth. Saint Sophrony writes:
Therefore, when we turn to Him with a suffering heart, it is easy for Him to relate to us and transmit to us the incorruptible consolation of His Holy Spirit. This is the grandiose reality of Christianity: we do not strive to rid ourselves of every pain and every difficulty in order to find tranquillity in our life, but rather, following the example of our Lord, we take on the pain and suffering of the whole world; we bring it before God and we ask Him to spread upon it His incorruptible consolation and blessing.
–Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou
31.01.202520:14
Many saints went like sheep to the slaughter without raising their voices. Is it right to ask God for help when we are suffering?
But that is precisely what we do! Of course we ask for help because we accept suffering without trusting in our own strength. It is His strength that is made perfect in our weakness, it is in His strength that we will be victorious.
Prayer itself will indicate the length and intensity we should have in our presentation. Humility and patience will improve our prayer, and quantity will bring quality.
Is there a connection between 'Keep thy mind in hell and despair not' and 'My strength is made perfect in weakness'?
The Lord offered hell to Saint Silouan, and as soon as he began to do as the Lord commanded him, he felt that his mind was cleansed from every foreign thought and the Holy Spirit witnessed to salvation in his heart. To Saint Paul too, the Lord offered suffering, a thorn in the flesh, and the effect was that through pain he triumphed over every difficulty. The similarity between the two statements is that they both indicate the way of Christ. The magnificence of this way lies not so much in the miracles the Lord works, but in His descent to earth and even to hell in order to fill the whole created world with His presence.
How not to fall into despair when suffering becomes overwhelming?
Saint Sophrony used to say that for a tree to grow tall, it must dig deep roots into the earth:
When we look at an ancient tree reaching high up to the clouds, we know that its roots, deep in the ground, must be correspondingly powerful. If the roots did not stretch down into the dark depths of the earth, as deep, perhaps, as the tree is high; if the mass and strength of the roots did not parallel the size and weight of the visible part of the tree, they could not nourish the tree or keep it upright - the lightest breeze would blow it down. So it is in man's spiritual life.
Therefore, if we want to be strong in suffering, we must become strong in humility and surrender entirely to the will of God. Then we can truly become invincible, because when we surrender perfectly to Him, God becomes our servant. The greater the suffering, the deeper the humility and surrender needed to overcome it, not by our strength, but by the strength of God.
What does it mean: ‘By the Cross is joy come in all the world'?
We do not endure the cross simply because we like pain, but out of gratitude and love for Christ, the first and great Bearer of the Cross. Then the Lord rewards us with the joy of salvation. On the contrary, if we put to shame the joy brought by the Cross because we lack seriousness in our relationship with God, the Prophet Joel says that all the natural sources of joy that this world can give will also dry up.
-Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou
But that is precisely what we do! Of course we ask for help because we accept suffering without trusting in our own strength. It is His strength that is made perfect in our weakness, it is in His strength that we will be victorious.
Prayer itself will indicate the length and intensity we should have in our presentation. Humility and patience will improve our prayer, and quantity will bring quality.
Is there a connection between 'Keep thy mind in hell and despair not' and 'My strength is made perfect in weakness'?
The Lord offered hell to Saint Silouan, and as soon as he began to do as the Lord commanded him, he felt that his mind was cleansed from every foreign thought and the Holy Spirit witnessed to salvation in his heart. To Saint Paul too, the Lord offered suffering, a thorn in the flesh, and the effect was that through pain he triumphed over every difficulty. The similarity between the two statements is that they both indicate the way of Christ. The magnificence of this way lies not so much in the miracles the Lord works, but in His descent to earth and even to hell in order to fill the whole created world with His presence.
How not to fall into despair when suffering becomes overwhelming?
Saint Sophrony used to say that for a tree to grow tall, it must dig deep roots into the earth:
When we look at an ancient tree reaching high up to the clouds, we know that its roots, deep in the ground, must be correspondingly powerful. If the roots did not stretch down into the dark depths of the earth, as deep, perhaps, as the tree is high; if the mass and strength of the roots did not parallel the size and weight of the visible part of the tree, they could not nourish the tree or keep it upright - the lightest breeze would blow it down. So it is in man's spiritual life.
Therefore, if we want to be strong in suffering, we must become strong in humility and surrender entirely to the will of God. Then we can truly become invincible, because when we surrender perfectly to Him, God becomes our servant. The greater the suffering, the deeper the humility and surrender needed to overcome it, not by our strength, but by the strength of God.
What does it mean: ‘By the Cross is joy come in all the world'?
We do not endure the cross simply because we like pain, but out of gratitude and love for Christ, the first and great Bearer of the Cross. Then the Lord rewards us with the joy of salvation. On the contrary, if we put to shame the joy brought by the Cross because we lack seriousness in our relationship with God, the Prophet Joel says that all the natural sources of joy that this world can give will also dry up.
-Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou
30.01.202512:13
Humility consists in constant prayer combined with tears and suffering. For this ceaseless calling upon God for help prevents us from foolishly growing confident in our own strength and wisdom, and from putting ourselves above others. These are dangerous diseases of the passion of pride.
+St Maximos the Confessor
+St Maximos the Confessor
29.01.202505:04
28.01.202500:11
Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep: such is the sign of purity.
+St Isaac the Syrian
+St Isaac the Syrian
26.01.202520:07
In preparing for battle do not think that you will always be victorious. Often there will be only hardship that will bring nothing but affliction. You will often see that with each desire to be careful, slips and blunders steal by and creep in. Know ahead of time that this is the way things are. You will encounter them, but do not be afraid. You are seeing all of this now beforehand; do not expect the life ahead to be anything other than one in the midst of all kinds of hostility, worries and misfortunes.
Provide yourself with only one thing, strong courage: no matter what happens, stay with what you have begun. This alone must now be established and set for life by commitment and by steadfast perseverance. No matter how life goes, whatever successes and failures there are, you should give all of this over to God’s will.
+St. Theophan the Recluse
Provide yourself with only one thing, strong courage: no matter what happens, stay with what you have begun. This alone must now be established and set for life by commitment and by steadfast perseverance. No matter how life goes, whatever successes and failures there are, you should give all of this over to God’s will.
+St. Theophan the Recluse
25.01.202511:58
Remember God, that He too might always remember you; and when He has kept you in His memory and preserved you safe to the end, you will receive every blessing from Him. Do not forget Him, your mind being distracted with futile concerns, lest He forget you in the time of your warfare. When you enjoy abundance, be obedient to Him, so that in the time of your afflictions you may have boldness before Him through the heart’s persevering prayer to Him.
+St. Isaac the Syrian
+St. Isaac the Syrian
31.01.202512:12
God performs a miracle when we wholeheartedly participate in the pain of others.
+St. Paisios
+St. Paisios
30.01.202504:59
The monk flees far from the world, not because he detests the world, but because he loves the world and in this way he is better able to help the world through his prayer, in things that don’t happen humanly but only through divine intervention. In this way God saves the world.
+St Paisios
+St Paisios
28.01.202522:08
Glory to Thee, O Lord! Once again we greet the awaited bright days of Christ's Nativity. Let us be glad and rejoice. In order to raise our festivities to a higher level in these days, the Holy Church has intentionally instituted a fast before them - a certain amount of constraint, so that as we enter the festive period we might feel as though we were coming out into freedom. Nevertheless, the Church in no way desires that we give ourselves over to mere sensual delights and fleshly pleasures. Since the Church has from olden times called these days sviatki ("holy days"), they require that our very rejoicing on these days be holy, as they are holy. So that those who rejoice might not forget themselves, the Church has placed a short hymn upon our lips to glorify the newborn Christ, by which flesh is settled down and the soul is uplifted, showing the proper occupations for these days: "Christ is born, give ye glory." and the rest. Glorify Christ; glorify Him, so that by this doxology your heart and soul might delight, and thereby silence any urge for various other deeds and occupations that might promise some kind of pleasure.
I would like to see everyone rejoicing with this very joy, and not wanting to know any other joys; but not everything that comes from Israel is Israel. Now there will begin empty, wild merriment that inflames the passions ... No matter how much you tell people to calm down, they only shut their ears and pay no heed. And they always bring these bright days of the Feast to such a point that the merciful Lord is compelled to turn His eyes from us and say: "All of your solemnities are an abomination unto Me". Truly many of our social festivities are really pagan abominations; that is, some of them are brought to us straight from the pagan world, while others, though they appeared later in time, are penetrated with the spirit of paganism. And it is purposely contrived for such festivities to appear in great quantities during the Feasts of Nativity and Pascha. By getting caught up in them we give the prince of this world - our tormentor, the enemy of God - an excuse to say to God, "Look what You've done for me with Your Nativity and Resurrection! They're all coming to me! But let the words of the Fiftieth Psalm be repeated more often in the depth of our hearts: "That Thou mightest be justified in Thy words, and prevail when Thou art judged."
Enlightenment Europe is attracting us. Yet, the abominations of paganism that were almost completely cast out of the world were first restored there; they have now come from there to us. Having breathed in that hellish poison, we run around like madmen, forgetting our own selves.
Know that God is not mocked. And knowing this, make merry and rejoice during these days with fear. Illumine the bright Feast with bright deeds, occupations, and festivities, so that all who look upon us would say, "They have holy days - not the kind of amusements practiced by impious profligates who don't know God."
+St. Theophan the Recluse
I would like to see everyone rejoicing with this very joy, and not wanting to know any other joys; but not everything that comes from Israel is Israel. Now there will begin empty, wild merriment that inflames the passions ... No matter how much you tell people to calm down, they only shut their ears and pay no heed. And they always bring these bright days of the Feast to such a point that the merciful Lord is compelled to turn His eyes from us and say: "All of your solemnities are an abomination unto Me". Truly many of our social festivities are really pagan abominations; that is, some of them are brought to us straight from the pagan world, while others, though they appeared later in time, are penetrated with the spirit of paganism. And it is purposely contrived for such festivities to appear in great quantities during the Feasts of Nativity and Pascha. By getting caught up in them we give the prince of this world - our tormentor, the enemy of God - an excuse to say to God, "Look what You've done for me with Your Nativity and Resurrection! They're all coming to me! But let the words of the Fiftieth Psalm be repeated more often in the depth of our hearts: "That Thou mightest be justified in Thy words, and prevail when Thou art judged."
Enlightenment Europe is attracting us. Yet, the abominations of paganism that were almost completely cast out of the world were first restored there; they have now come from there to us. Having breathed in that hellish poison, we run around like madmen, forgetting our own selves.
Know that God is not mocked. And knowing this, make merry and rejoice during these days with fear. Illumine the bright Feast with bright deeds, occupations, and festivities, so that all who look upon us would say, "They have holy days - not the kind of amusements practiced by impious profligates who don't know God."
+St. Theophan the Recluse
27.01.202520:07
When the struggle is very fierce, how can we stand and not sink into the sea like Peter? If our crosses increase in number, is it a sign of spiritual progress or spiritual deterioration in our journey?
There is no recipe. Certainly, sometimes when the crosses increase and everything seems to go wrong, it is good for us to stop, examine ourselves and say: 'Lord, what is happening? Enlighten my darkness. And the Lord will help us. If He sees that we have great zeal and that we are eager to fulfil His commandments, He may allow such crosses to help us make quick progress and bring greater fruit of salvation.
The idea is to make voluntary that which is involuntary, as Saint Basil the Great says: let us not spare our life, since we will lose it anyway. Since we cannot avoid death, let us die properly, in accordance with the commandments of God.
When we see that temptations are increasing and multiplying, there is only one path for us, the path of humility, of humbling ourselves to the end and surrendering to the will of God. It is not with human courage that we fight. We will overcome temptations when we humble ourselves and surrender to the Lord, because then He will fight for us.
When the acuteness of the temptations is due to the Power of our passions, we must also have a firm conviction that the Lord provides only good things for our lives. We struggle with a positive asceticism to do God's will, to free our heart so that we can love Christ to the end, as He, 'having loved His own which were in the world, loved them unto the end'. But often our life is imperfect, and therefore the Lord, Who knows what we need to become totally free, allows temptations to come to us as medicine.
When God sees that we have strong attachments from which we need to be liberated, He may allow great temptations. But He does so because He is a God, 'Who knoweth that man's nature is weak and easy to be led captive; Who clearly perceiveth the thoughts of our minds', as a prayer in the Cypriot Euchologion says.
In a monastic community, the grace that comes from the prayer and struggle of one brother blesses the other. The monk lives in a place where there is prayer for one another, where this atmosphere and this state is cultivated, and then he easily attaches himself to the Body, despite his weaknesses or the temptations he endures. The Spirit of God is contagious and anyone can be 'infected' with His wondrous energy. In the monastery we pray for one another, but because we do it in a natural way, without thinking, we are protected from any pride or selfishness.
-Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou
There is no recipe. Certainly, sometimes when the crosses increase and everything seems to go wrong, it is good for us to stop, examine ourselves and say: 'Lord, what is happening? Enlighten my darkness. And the Lord will help us. If He sees that we have great zeal and that we are eager to fulfil His commandments, He may allow such crosses to help us make quick progress and bring greater fruit of salvation.
The idea is to make voluntary that which is involuntary, as Saint Basil the Great says: let us not spare our life, since we will lose it anyway. Since we cannot avoid death, let us die properly, in accordance with the commandments of God.
When we see that temptations are increasing and multiplying, there is only one path for us, the path of humility, of humbling ourselves to the end and surrendering to the will of God. It is not with human courage that we fight. We will overcome temptations when we humble ourselves and surrender to the Lord, because then He will fight for us.
When the acuteness of the temptations is due to the Power of our passions, we must also have a firm conviction that the Lord provides only good things for our lives. We struggle with a positive asceticism to do God's will, to free our heart so that we can love Christ to the end, as He, 'having loved His own which were in the world, loved them unto the end'. But often our life is imperfect, and therefore the Lord, Who knows what we need to become totally free, allows temptations to come to us as medicine.
When God sees that we have strong attachments from which we need to be liberated, He may allow great temptations. But He does so because He is a God, 'Who knoweth that man's nature is weak and easy to be led captive; Who clearly perceiveth the thoughts of our minds', as a prayer in the Cypriot Euchologion says.
In a monastic community, the grace that comes from the prayer and struggle of one brother blesses the other. The monk lives in a place where there is prayer for one another, where this atmosphere and this state is cultivated, and then he easily attaches himself to the Body, despite his weaknesses or the temptations he endures. The Spirit of God is contagious and anyone can be 'infected' with His wondrous energy. In the monastery we pray for one another, but because we do it in a natural way, without thinking, we are protected from any pride or selfishness.
-Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou
26.01.202510:06
This, I say, is the end of all perfection, that the mind purged from all carnal desires may daily be lifted towards spiritual things, until the whole life and all the thoughts of the heart become one continuous prayer.
+St John Cassian
+St John Cassian
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