“BOTH DEMONS BELIEVE AND TRAMBLE”

(James 2:19).

When I was young, I sang in the church choir and tried to keep all the commandments of Christ and the statutes of the Church. By blessing, I did not eat meat or anything meaty, did not drink wine, and avoided contact with women. During confession, he even revealed to the priest his involuntary thoughts, which are more difficult to avoid than sin in deed and word. I fulfilled my prayer rule, knew the morning and evening prayers by heart, and remembered hundreds of people, living and deceased. I practiced the unceasing Jesus prayer, and sometimes it itself acted in me at night. In addition to Wednesday and Friday, I also fasted on Monday. I ate my first meal at 3 pm, not earlier. So I performed the singing and reading services in the church on an empty stomach. Many of our singers did the same (except for the artists who also sang in our church, in another choir, but did not follow the church rules). We took prosphora and blessed water before meals.

I’m not saying all this to praise you. yourself but as a warning. For I considered and consider myself an Orthodox Christian, belonging to the one holy catholic and apostolic Church, which truly confesses the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, which lives according to the Gospel of Jesus, Christ and observes the rules of the holy apostles, ecumenical and local councils and the holy fathers. And all the others (the so-called confessions, more precisely, false confessions), Catholic and Protestant, non-Orthodox churches, churches, houses of worship, talk, sects, departments are heresies and chimeras (not to mention Judaism, Islam, paganism and other spiritual darkness).
One evening I lay down to rest after church service and home prayer. The room was semi-dark. A lamp was burning in front of the icon.

appeared unexpectedly demon In what form? Demons do not always appear in image. Demons are ugly and it is more common for them to appear without an image. However, they can take on any image or appearance of an image. Appeared demon said to me: “You are a believer, and I am a believer.”

I thought: “What kind of believer is he?!” After all, he is against God. Although... the Gospel says that demons believe in God, “And the demons believe and tremble” (James 2:19). But this faith does not save.”
I crossed myself and prayed to the Lord my God Jesus Christ with the Father and the Holy Spirit for deliverance from temptation. I knew that demons attack both saints and sinners, both themselves and through people. I wasn't scared. They had annoyed me before, but God always drove them away through prayer. But this demon was different from the others; He said:

I know what you're thinking. You think that I am not a believer like you. You are mistaken: - You read from the holy fathers and heard from the priests you know that demons, due to their darkness, cannot read the thoughts in a person. We can see thoughts and feelings. Because we ourselves inspire these thoughts and feelings, we build images, especially in those who like to fantasize.

You are Orthodox, and I am Orthodox.

“What kind of Orthodox is he? - I thought. - After all, demons do not profess the Orthodox creed, do not like prayers and spiritual chants, especially “Our Father” and “He who lives in the help of the Most High”, cannot tolerate the singing of “Like the Cherubim” and run out of the temple at the same time. And the Orthodox osmic-pointed cross scorches them like fire.”

No, you’re mistaken,” the demon continued. - Do you want me to sing you “Our Father” and the symbol of faith?

I didn't express any desire. But demon He sang the entire “Our Father” prayer to me, as they sing it in church during the liturgy. He sang in a bass voice, beautiful, but slightly hoarse (the voice of the demon was similar to the voice of the obscene singer, artist Vysotsky). Then he sang the creed.

“Well, he won’t be able to sing “Like the Cherubim,” I thought, continuing to mentally say a prayer to Jesus Christ, “after all, the Church Fathers wrote that demons cannot sing this or even hear it.”

Do you think I can’t sing the Cherub song? - continued the unclean one. - But we always sing it in church, our artists sing there on the right choir.

It is necessary to explain that we had two choirs: the left one, where the believers sang, including myself; and the right one, where hired artists sang, non-church people whom our rector loved, but who did not follow church rules (smoked, lived in fornication, out of wedlock, did not observe fasts, etc.).

And the demon sang “Like the Cherubim” from beginning to end, without faltering anywhere or making a mistake. Sang the entire Liturgy of the Faithful. Moreover, he read all my evening prayers by heart, without a single mistake. I admit, I was internally surprised, I never expected this. During this phenomenon, I tried not to communicate with the demon, not to participate in the conversation, but he read all my thoughts, as if in a book.

I thought:

“Well, he can pronounce or sing someone else’s text, - after all, every actor speaks someone else’s text in a voice that is not his own; but he cannot depict a cross, the sign of the cross. The Fathers say that the cross scorches demons.”

Do you think I can’t make the sign of the cross? - asked the evil one. - Look!

And he depicted in the air, with light lines, an Orthodox octagonal cross, one of the greatest shrines of the Orthodox faith.

I don’t know, then or after singing “Like the Cherubim,” I thought: “Isn’t this an angel of God, isn’t this a pure spirit who is only pretending to be a demon? After all, he showed so much Orthodoxy...”

“No, I’m not an angel of God,” the demon answered, hearing my thoughts and swore badly as proof.

Then he said that “there are Orthodox demons, Catholic demons, sectarian demons, pagan demons (depending on the place of work).”

Of course, demons cannot be truly Orthodox, but they can do everything Orthodox that people do. After all, actors portray saints, monks, priests, apostles, the Mother of God, Jesus Christ. Everyone who watched these films about Christ and the Mother of God must understand that they saw the work of demons, demons in the flesh. Actors smoke, swear, fornicate, commit adultery, have abortions and at the same time pretend to be Christ or the Mother of God - this is blasphemy, a desecration of faith, Satan’s mockery of God. So the Antichrist, a Jew from the tribe of Dan, will be mistaken for Christ. The change has already taken place.

It was not in vain that the holy fathers established the rule (it is in the Nomocanon and in the writings of John Chrysostom): if a sorcerer, or sorcerer, that is, a magician, or a charmer (a psychic, in modern terms, or a hypnotist) uses the names of holy martyrs in witchcraft, or The Mother of God, or the name of the Holy Trinity, or the sign of the cross suggests, then one must flee from such and turn away. The servants of Satan can use the shrine, but it does not save them, but destroys them.

The shrine does not sanctify the thief who stole it, but he will be judged and condemned.

Hello, dear brothers and sisters. Hello dear radio listeners, priest Konstantin Parkhomenko is at the microphone. Today we will talk about exorcism.

For those who are not familiar with this term, exorcism is the exorcism of a person, the expulsion of demons that enter a person, which act and somehow manifest themselves in a person.

The Holy Fathers taught about this, arguing that it is we, inclined towards sin, who give demons the opportunity to exist and manifest themselves in the world. Those who say that evil is something existing in itself know nothing, but in us it acts with all its strength and perceptibly, suggesting all dirty desires.

It is our own fault that the devil rules this world, that there is so much demonism and suffering in our world. After all, according to the words, demons do not have a body, but we become bodies for them, receiving thoughts from them. We become, if we choose, agents of demonic influence in this world, agents of evil.

In their creations, the Holy Fathers paid much attention to demonic forces and their evil influence on humans. In this, the Holy Fathers were not original; they only continued to reveal the teaching set forth in the Holy Scriptures, and in the Holy Scriptures, especially in the Gospel, there are many stories about the demoniac and about Christ’s healing of them. We simply need to know who demons are and how they tempt a person; this is not empty speculation, because demons are our enemies and we must know their methods of struggle in order to resist temptations.

From personal experience, the holy fathers knew about the reality of the action of dark forces, but they were never afraid of these dark forces. By His Death on the Cross and Resurrection, Christ destroyed the power of Satan. One should not be afraid of demons at all, for all their undertakings are turned into nothing by the Grace of Christ, writes Saint Athanasius of Alexandria.

All the gospel stories about the casting out of demons by Christ speak primarily of one thing: the power of Christ over the devil. Now, with the help of God, Christians can defeat demons; the devil has lost power over them. However, this inability of Satan to win in an open fight forces Satan to look for workarounds, attack unnoticed, and tempt people with the help of cunning and deception. That is why Saint Macarius of Egypt, or as he is also called, compares the effect of the devil on a person with a snake crawling into our mind. The entry of pathogenic bacteria into the human body can be compared to the entry of the devil into the soul: if a person is not physically protected and has a weak immune system, then he is open to the penetration of various microbes and viruses. The consequence of such a hit is illness, and the devil, when a person’s soul has no protection, gains access to this soul. What is the protection of the human soul, its immunity. What is an obstacle for demons, due to which the soul can lose this protection. As long as a person slowly improves, as long as his spirit is directed towards God, as long as falls are followed by sincere repentance, a person is in the sphere of action of God and is safe. But when sin becomes a habit, when a person’s whole being is subject to some passion, a person is deprived of the protective cover of Divine grace. He is deprived not because the Lord removes his hands and punishes the offender, the Lord always loves a person, always wants to help him. But this is precisely the height and exclusivity of God’s love for man; the Creator respects the freedom of his creation. A person himself must choose with whom he wants to be: with God or with the devil. All that is required of a person is to turn his heart to God and accept what He offers.

However, if a person turns away from God, he inevitably comes into contact with Satan, in everything good and beautiful - God, in the opposite, even if it is attractive at first glance - the devil. Sin is our choice in favor of the devil; by sinning, we seem to turn our hearts to Satan. This is the result of our free choice; in sin, a person, like Adam and Eve once, refuses the gifts of God, leaves, hides from God and opens himself to the influence of demons. Now it is not God, but the devil who has an influence on man, and now the devil also penetrates his soul.

So, by indulging our passions, we allow demons to dwell and act in us. But sometimes it seems that by destroying this or that passion in ourselves, we will destroy the peculiarity, the uniqueness of our personality, and the Lord really created each personality unlike the others. Only this uniqueness is not a sin, that’s what should be remembered, but just the opposite! Submitting to the same passions, people become alike, just as all the old blackened icons are alike. And just as an icon must be cleaned of dust and soot in order to see its true, beautiful, shining face, so a person - the more he cleanses the image of God embedded in him from the taint of sin, the brighter and more unique his personality becomes. Therefore, when starting to fight passions, one must, first of all, according to the saint, become aware of evil inclinations through diabolical inspiration. Not to consider them ours, but given to us by the evil one, this will allow us to see our enemy, to stand face to face with the enemy.

That is why this disease is disastrous and destructive, the saint writes about people who do not understand that the source of evil in their soul is the devil, that when my enemy drags my own mind here and there, I think that these whirling minds are my own. Indeed, a person may have a hot, passionate nature, or, on the contrary, a calm nature inclined to contemplation, but it depends on the person whether he will direct this gift in the direction intended by God, or whether he will succumb to the influence of the devil and distort it with sin. Thus, a hot temperament can be directed both towards love of God and people, as well as anger and irritability. And calmness and balance can contribute to the development of laziness and indifference in the soul.

Now let's see what the Gospel itself says about the relationship a sinner enters into with the devil. The Savior Himself once said to the Jews who questioned him: “Your father is the devil.” John. Chapter 8, Verse 44 What did the Savior mean? To be sons of God means to belong to the heavenly world, it means to be in the proximity of God. To be children of the devil means to have direct communication not with God, but with the devil. It is known that children receive their upbringing, character traits, and attitude to life from their father. But, above all, they receive their very existence from their father and mother. So, the children of God are like their heavenly Father, they live his life. People who turn to evil in their sins are also similar to the devil as their father, because from him, from the devil, they receive their sinful existence and also live his life. Elsewhere in the New Testament Scriptures, the Apostle Paul draws our attention to the fact that “sinners have fallen into the snare of the devil, that he has ensnared them into his own will” 2 Tim. Chapter 2, Art. 26. Sinners are like birds caught by a fowler. The catcher can now do whatever he wants with them, they are in his power. So is the man who is seduced by the bait of the devil. This bait is the deceptive sweetness of sin. It turns out that a person is in a net, depending on the devil. “Only birds,” St. Innocent of Kherson is upset, “are rushing around, trying to escape from captivity. But we rarely do.”

Finally, the Savior himself compares the presence of the devil in the soul of a sinner with the life of a master in his house. This comparison tells us a lot. What can an owner do with his home? Whatever he wants! He can clean it up and fix it, or he can destroy it. The essence of the devil is evil, he is incapable of creation. There is no doubt what the devil will do, being the master of the soul.

This is what the saint says about this: “Demons, once they have taken possession of the soul, treat it as vilely and insultingly as is characteristic of the evil ones, who passionately desire our shame and destruction.”

The saint confirms this, and I quote: “Our inner life is always enclosed, the Lord himself stands outside and knocks so that we open our souls and hearts to him. How does the soul and heart open? Sympathy, a disposition to grace, agreement. Whoever has all this leaning towards Satan, Satan enters into him. That Satan enters, and not God, man himself is to blame for this.”

This pattern is confirmed by specific cases. Here, for example, is a story from the practice of a famous priest. He says that a peasant family lived next to his house. The wife in this family was gloomy and grumpy and was always quarreling with someone. It is not surprising that after one such quarrel, when this woman shouted at the neighbor’s children for an insignificant offense, terrible things began to happen to her. What her husband said in horror: “My wife is so furious that it’s scary to approach her.” The priest went to this house and placed the stole on the woman. The woman struggled, threw some objects, scratched, bit, and when the priest laid on the stole, she lost consciousness. And when I woke up, I was completely calm. This demon, which entered her for a second, left her. Here the mechanism of the devil’s penetration into a woman’s soul is very clear: through anger, through sin, Satan enters this woman.

The heroines of another case of Satan entering a person are two surprisingly superficial girls. Imagine, they went for a walk to the cemetery, and while playing around, began jumping and playing on the grave of a recently buried suicide. Inhabitation, just like union with the Lord, cannot be a mechanical action following certain specific events. If children who did not understand anything behaved the way these girls behaved, there would be no harm to them. But these were adults conscious people. Instead of pitying the suicide, they began to laugh and mock him, which means their hearts were evil. When the girls returned home, they showed all the signs of obsession. They screamed and made inhuman sounds. Not knowing what to do with them, they were locked in a separate room. Priest Grigory Dyachenko also tells us about this in his book “The Region of the Mysterious.” The priest came and read a prayer and cast out the demon from these girls.

I can give an example from my short priestly practice. One day a woman came to me and said that her husband was behaving very strangely. When he gets angry and starts cursing, he attacks her and her children. I invited my husband to come and talked with him. It turned out that this husband was indeed an ordinary, standard, calm person. But now, he has taken on the fashion of throwing himself at his wife and children, swearing, stamping his feet, and maybe even hitting them with something. He describes that it was like this for several years, and then one day, when this aggression grew, and he began to stomp his feet on his wife and on his children, suddenly, for a second, he seemed to pass out. And so, imagine, he grabs an ax and starts running around the apartment after his wife and his children. The wife runs to the neighbors in horror, the neighbor beats this man, the man falls and loses consciousness. An ambulance arrives and he is revived. This man, running with an ax after his relatives, does not remember anything after he came to his senses. He doesn't remember running after them with an axe. He just remembers that he was terribly angry with his wife and his children and he doesn’t remember anything else, he woke up in the hospital.

You see, man, with his sin, with his malice, he himself built a bridge between the human and spiritual world. He let Satan in. Satan was not slow to appear along with a legion of demons and began to act in this man.

So, people who take the path of sin enter into an alliance with Satan and the devil, to a greater or lesser extent, dwells in their souls. After all, it is not at all necessary that obsession takes extreme forms when a person’s entire being, with the exception of his deepest spirit, is affected by Satan. A person who lives according to the laws of the satanic kingdom does not fully understand whose laws he is putting into practice. Such a person is also obsessed in his own way.

However, there is an interesting pattern that should be highlighted: 90 percent of people who are, in the proper sense, possessed, found themselves in the power of the devil for a reason, but as a result of practicing magic, spiritualism, fortune telling, and so on. In a word, they had something to do with the occult. Of course, this does not mean that anyone who has ever told fortunes or practiced spiritualism is possessed by the devil. But this means, as the famous priest Georges Maranou, well-known in Europe and in France, says, that a person, as a result of engaging in the occult, has embarked on a slippery slope and the danger of falling into the devil’s snare is many, many times higher for him than for an ordinary person.

Logically, this pattern is quite understandable. It is no coincidence that the Church prohibits its children from engaging in the occult. This is not a meaningless ban for fear of giving believers too much freedom and knowledge. The reason is simple: the Church knows what lies behind the phenomena of the occult world and knows about the danger that this world conceals.

The word “occult” itself, translated from the Latin “occultus”, means “secret, hidden.” Based on this teaching, we can say that occultism is the doctrine of secret, hidden objects and phenomena. This is the explanation usually given to this term. Fortune telling, magic, communication with spirits and everything that implies communication with another world is included in this concept. However, one may ask why this prohibition exists, since Christians also communicate with the invisible world, for example, turning prayers to God, saints, or angels. “Our struggle,” says the Apostle Paul, this Epistle to the Ephesians Chapter 6, Article 12, “is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers”... This is how the Apostle Paul lists the hierarchy of spiritual beings. “...Against the rulers of this world, against the spirits of wickedness in high places.” What spirits of wickedness in heavenly places does the Apostle Paul speak about?

From Scripture and the tradition of the Church we know that there is an absolute Spirit - God. God creates the physical world and man, who combines the physical and spiritual. We also know that before the creation of the world, God created angels, spiritual beings who are created and, relative to God, material, substantial, but on the other hand they do not have physical bodies.

If we immerse ourselves in the Bible, and its language will become clear to us what the Apostle Paul meant when he spoke about the spirits in high places. The sky in biblical language is a symbol of God. When the Jews wanted to say God, so as not to profane the sacred name, so as not to mention it in vain, they said “heaven.” For example, the expression “Kingdom of Heaven” means the Kingdom of God. The earth has always been a symbol physical world. So, heaven is the domain of God’s habitation, earth is the domain of man’s habitation, but there are also angels, and they exist between God and man, between the absolute Spirit and between creation having a body, between heaven and earth, in the celestial space. Since we are talking about the spirits of wickedness in high places, we understand that we are talking about angels who have fallen away from God, about demons.

The invisible world is not hidden from us, but only the Church shows us the right path of communication with the saints and bright angels. Finding ourselves without guidance in this mysterious, unfamiliar spiritual world, we are unable to find the right path and succumb to the deception of the devil, who rarely shows his true face.

How many examples are there in the lives of saints and in everyday life, when demons persistently posing as angels, or as the souls of the dead, when conjuring them in the name of Christ, to say who they really were, were forced to call themselves fallen angels or demons. Father Grigory Dyachenko recorded one incident that happened to an acquaintance of his.

This man had been involved in spiritualism for a long time, and then one day this man was advised to ask the spirit three questions. Do you believe in Jesus Christ? Are you afraid of Jesus Christ? Do you love Christ? After much complaining and excuses from the spirit, the answers were received: “I believe. I'm trembling. I do not like". When this man demanded that the spirit answer who he was, the spirit answered: “Satan.”

Hieromonk Anatoly Berestov gives a similar example from his life; he says that once many years ago he attended a session of spiritualism, at that time he had just come to faith and knew practically nothing about faith. He decided that it was possible to attend the session, but he did not participate in it as a believer, he just sat and watched. And so, when the session was in full swing, the saucer was spinning, the spirit was giving answers. Future father Anatoly mentally crossed the table. And although no one could see this, he did it mentally, and everyone was sitting with their backs to him, the session of spiritualism suddenly stopped, as if the wire had been interrupted. Contact with spirits has ceased. So demons fled from the sign of the cross.

This concludes our program, next time we will return to this topic, priest Konstantin Parkhomenko was at the microphone. May the Lord protect you all.

Every now and then we hear, we constantly read about spiritual beings who are completely different from us humans, but who, like us, have consciousness and free will. About the highest beings standing before the Creator, shining with His reflected light and serving Him; and about lower, fallen creatures, tirelessly doing evil, pursuing a single goal: to enslave the world to their father, Satan. And Satan was once the most beautiful of the Angels...

But what do we know about both, and most importantly, what do we need to know about them? This is our next conversation with the editor-in-chief of our magazine, Abbot Nektariy (Morozov).

Belief in Angels and demons is not an entirely correct formulation of the question. We believe in God, and everything else is not an object of faith, but the reality that we encounter. We simply acknowledge that it is there. It cannot be said that our faith in reality atmospheric precipitation based on the fact that they periodically fall out. Both the Old and New Testaments contain many references to both the angelic and demonic worlds. We cannot help but believe God, whose voice is heard on the pages of Holy Scripture. In addition, ascetics of piety constantly tell us about the presence of both light and dark forces; many of them saw both Angels and demons with their spiritual eyes. We have no reason not to believe these people, they lived according to the truth and according to the righteousness of God, which is why we honor them as saints. Finally, in our daily lives we inevitably encounter the action of angelic and demonic forces: either beneficial and saving, or destructive and destructive.

- How do we deal with them?

Spiritual life for a person who has not even begun it is an extremely mysterious area, and often a person does not understand why at some point, for example, the passion of anger flares up in him with terrible force. Why does the passion for fornication, which until now was hidden and did not manifest itself under the same stimuli, suddenly turns into a stormy stream, sweeping away all the dams? Why suddenly, under the same circumstances under which a person was previously healthy, vigorous and efficient, does he plunge - not even just into despondency, but into some kind of hopeless despair? If a person lives a spiritual life consciously, he tries to join the experience of spiritual life that is preserved in the Tradition of the Church. Getting acquainted with the works of devotees of piety, he begins to understand who is influencing him and why.

- Sinful passion in a person is like a smoldering coal. In order for this ember to flare up into a fire, it needs someone to intentionally fan it. Passions are something that belongs to us; they are a consequence of the corruption of human nature by sin. But it is the enemy who can fan this ember; it is in his interests. And when we experience some kind of extraordinary uprising of passions, we must understand that somewhere nearby there is an enemy, perhaps more than one.

- Why is this so important to know?

We very often sin precisely because we believe that what attracts us to sin is ours; It is difficult for a person to fight with himself, to resist himself. But it’s much easier to fight if we know: here, next to us, is the one who wants us dead. It is he who attracts us to what we ourselves really want. The enemy is truly a deceiver. He looks like a swindler who offers us something incredibly tempting, for example, fabulous enrichment without any labor costs, like the notorious builders of financial pyramids; but in reality this only entails huge losses. And if we look at this person and see that he is just a swindler and has already ruined more than one investor like this, then we, of course, will not agree to his offers, no matter how seductive they may be for us. It’s the same in spiritual life; we must know: here stands an enemy, a liar and a murderer from time immemorial. Nothing good can happen where he is. Understanding this, we will not allow what he wants.

The Monk John Climacus in his “Ladder” spoke about what he saw with spiritual eyes during the common prayer of the brethren of the monastery. Some demons hang on the monks' shoulders, others weigh down their eyelids, others make them yawn... Any person who lived in a monastery will confirm this. Why does it happen that during a service a person feels terribly sleepy, his legs and back hurt? But then the service ended, the man went out into the street, and everything was fine with him: he didn’t want to sleep, and his back didn’t hurt. The same thing often happens when home prayer. Why? Because the demon does not need a person to pray. And if a person knows that it is the demon that is acting, and not his own nature, then he will not succumb to self-pity, will not say: “No, I seem to be too tired, why should I be so overtired, I’ll go to bed.”

- So, we need to study the experience of the Fathers of the Church; it is this that is useful for us in this case?

Of course, it is useful, as in all other cases. There is a saying: forewarned is forearmed, and demons are well armed, they have been fighting against humans for thousands of years, they have been studying both humanity as a whole and each of us individually literally from birth. But we don’t study them, we don’t have such opportunities. Thus, we are not in agreement with them equal conditions. But when we read the holy ascetic fathers, we can correlate what we learn from their works with our own experience and distinguish: this is me, but this is not me, this is someone else, and react accordingly. Elder Ephraim of Katunak sometimes met the enemy with laughter: sensing the approach of temptation, sensing, for example, a vain thought, he laughed: “What, again?” Because the demon brought it to him a hundred times, because the demon brings the same thing every time. And each time it turned into shame and ridicule for the demon. And if the elder had assumed that vain thoughts came only from himself, it would have been much more difficult for him to laugh at them.

It is no coincidence that the only prayer accepted by contemporaries directly from the Savior contains a petition for deliverance from the evil one...

- Yes, but the word “deliverance” in this case should not be taken literally. As long as this world exists, until the life of the next century begins, we will not completely get rid of the evil one, he will remain a companion of our life, every day, every hour, a companion who desires one thing - our destruction. But at the same time - no longer by his own desire, but by the Providence of God - contributing to our salvation. How? Here we must remember the words of St. Mark the Ascetic: evil promotes good with evil intentions. When the enemy tempts us, when he wants us to fall, he involuntarily “trains” us, tempers us, makes us stronger. Swearing is hard times, but this is also the time of acquiring crowns. Of course, only if we fight. Our task is to prove to the demons that we are not theirs. That we are not with them, that we are breaking with them the union that we conclude through sin. And we ask God that He would not allow us, through our weakness, cowardice, and infirmity, to become the prey of the evil one. Deliver us from authorities the evil one - this is precisely the meaning of the petition from the Lord's Prayer.

-What is demonic possession? Maybe we are all obsessed with them to one degree or another?

No, possession is a special state when a person finds himself in the grip of a terrible black spirit; so in power that the manifestations of this state resemble the dance of a puppet - to such an extent a person does not control himself. However, if this person is examined by psychiatrists, they can say that he is completely healthy. They may, however, say something else. Loss of mental health may be a consequence of demonic possession, which, of course, has a destructive effect on the psyche; and, on the other hand, mentally ill people are much more susceptible to demonic influence than healthy people.

- But not every psychiatrist’s patient is possessed by a demon...

Not everyone, of course, there are any number of mentally ill people who do not have any demonic possession. But it’s much easier for the demon to play with a sick person, and here’s why. We have protective barriers against our enemies. Firstly, our rough “leather garments,” our carnal structure, which deprives us of the opportunity to directly perceive the spiritual world. This is good for us, because, as the holy fathers say, if we had been left with the ability of primordial man to communicate with the spiritual world, we in our fallen, sinful state would have been much more capable of communicating with fallen spirits than with Angels. The second protective barrier is the mind. Of course, the mind can be arrogant, it can be primitive or, on the contrary, sophisticated, perverted, but if a person has at least minimal sobriety, he, based on common sense alone, will not do some of the things that the enemy suggests to him. Of course, the most reliable barrier in the path of the enemy is piety and the fear of God. A mentally ill person lacks these protective barriers. He cannot think soberly, he cannot be pious and God-fearing, and, worst of all, some of his bodily components become thinner, he becomes much more capable of perceiving the spiritual world. And, being in such a painful aggravated state, again, he does not enter into communication with Angels.

Indeed, sometimes you cannot say that this is a mental disorder caused by somatic factors - for example, traumatic brain injury - or obsession. There are obvious cases: when absolutely healthy man, sitting on a chair, suddenly begins to bounce on it like a ball, but at the same time does not lose clarity of consciousness. Or - when a two-year-old girl suddenly begins to speak in a man's bass voice, and things that she could not hear anywhere. I remember how I once expected confession from Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov). There were many of us, everyone was concentrated, everyone was preparing for their confession, and suddenly he brought us all out of this state... not a scream, not a cry, not a groan, but a sound that has no name on earth, it is impossible to define it, there is nothing to compare it with . It was something chilling. This sound was made by a man kneeling in front of Father Kirill. Everyone had a feeling of extreme horror. Because none of us have ever heard anything like this.

Elder Paisiy Svyatogorets used this way to distinguish a possessed person from a mentally ill person: he put a particle of relics in the water and then gave the person this water to drink. If nothing special happened to a person, then he was just a sick person. The possessed person began to fight, scream, and swear.

But in general, I repeat once again: just as obsession destroys the psyche, so a mentally ill person is more susceptible to demonic influence than a healthy person. Mental illness still has a spiritual basis. Yes, some psychiatrist will say that the reason is biochemical changes in the cerebral cortex, but he is unlikely to answer the question of why these changes occurred. Meanwhile, it can be noted that proud people are primarily susceptible to mental disorders. A humble person can endure any shock and not get sick, because he is ready, he understands where it came from. And a proud man breaks down. Madness is one of the strangest, most terrible, but still - ways of human self-preservation. A person cannot cope with something and runs away into madness. Madness gives him the opportunity to exist in this world, as if huddled, closed.

- Does a person fall into demonic possession through his own fault?

In general, it does not happen that we are not to blame for what happened to us: as the holy fathers say, the cross of each of us is made from a tree that grew from the soil of our heart. If we talk about children, they always pay for the sins of adults. More precisely, these sins affect them, just as the illness experienced by their parents or exposure to radiation affects them.

Why are we urged to be very careful about the so-called reprimands of the possessed? Is there no consensus about them in the Church? I have heard that most of the people who come to lectures are either selfish malingerers who have entered into a role, or psychopaths who need to attract attention to themselves at any cost and who begin to unconsciously compete in this.

There is just one consensus. With the blessing of the ruling bishop, a good priest of righteous life is appointed to read certain prayers over those tormented by unclean spirits. And in those cases where the action of spirits of evil is really present, these people, through the prayer of the Church, are given help. The lives of saints and patericons are full of such cases when demons left a person through the prayers of a saint. Regarding people who are simply unhealthy, this is why unauthorized reprimands carried out without blessing by priests who do not have spiritual rights and authority are terrible, because the demon deceives people through these priests. They come to him simply sick, and sometimes leave already possessed. The actions of these priests are reminiscent of the seven sons of the Jewish high priest Sceva, who tried to cast out an evil spirit by exorcising it Jesus Whom Paul Preaches. The evil spirit then answered them: I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?(Acts 19 , 13, 15), and they suffered a lot from the one possessed by him...

The lives of saints, especially desert monks, contain stories about their struggles with demons. The Holy Fathers saw them. Why can't we see? Because our life is not like that of saints, our prayer is not like that, we do not pose such a danger to demons, we do not pose such a challenge to Satan as saints?

We do not see demons, because the Lord, fortunately for us, does not allow us to see them. If we had seen them, it is unknown whether we would have survived it or not. Demon, demon - there are many synonyms, but one of these synonyms is the spirit of evil. The demon is evil personified. Archimandrite John (Krestyankin) in one of his sermons said that a symphony of evil is being performed in the world. Its author is hiding, but he exists, and this symphony is brilliant in its own way. We know how terrible evil is on earth, we see what people have been doing to each other for centuries; Now imagine how terrible the one who produces all this is. That is why the Lord does not allow us to see him - because we are not at all ready for this.

- Still about the nature of demons and the nature of Angels. Demons are, after all, the same angels who fell with Dennitsa, with Satan?

- Yes, that's them. And since we cannot say anything about what the Cherubim and Seraphim are like who stand before God, then we cannot say anything about what the Cherubim and Seraphim are like. fallen angels, we can’t say anything either. According to John of Damascus, Angels are the second intelligent lights, borrowing their light from the First and Beginning Light. An angel is a messenger, a messenger who comes to communicate the will of God or to fulfill it in relation to us. The angel brings us light from the Source, from the One Who is the Light. The Angel's Light is reflected, it can be compared to a mirror reflecting a sunbeam.

Angels have free will, however, according to the word of St. Basil the Great, they are not reluctant to sin - unlike us - because they directly contemplate God and all things in him. But some of them could have once fallen and turned into their complete opposite...

Regarding the possibility of the fall of an Angel, there is no consensus among the teachers of the Church; we can, following St. Basil, believe that they are just inflexible to sin, or, following other fathers, that it is generally impossible for an Angel to fall. The temptation that befell the angelic world was short-lived, but colossal. It divided the Angels into two worlds: the world of those who remained faithful to God, and the world of the fallen angels, the demonic world, and this division is forever. We have no reason to believe that an Angel, like a sinful man, can fall and rise again. And there is no reason to believe that the demon can suddenly repent.

The fact is that man - a spiritual, but also a physical being - has justification in his mortal flesh, the holy fathers wrote about this. Fear of illness, fear of misfortune, loss, death - all this makes us unfaithful out of cowardice. Why should a demon be afraid? Or Angel? They do not have our infirmity and weakness. The choice of the spirit is a free and irrevocable choice.

- How to understand the words of Christ: Do not despise one of these little ones; for I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven(Matt. 18:10)? It's about about Guardian Angels, each of which is assigned to one of the people?

These words speak primarily of the high dignity of man. We people tend to neglect a person if he seems small and insignificant to us, if he is poor, crippled, beggar... But this person has an Angel who cares about him and who stands before the Face of God. This is God's care for this man.

We are not obliged to believe that a personal Angel is assigned to each of us or that a personal demon is assigned to tempt us. It is possible that this is exactly the case; we find indications of this in the lives and works of some saints, but it may be otherwise. What can we know about what is happening in the spiritual world? It is enough for us to know that Angels protect us, and demons are looking for how to destroy us. And the desire to put this into some kind of intelligible system is caused by a person’s pride, the thought that this is possible for him.

- How are the possible influence of the Guardian Angel and our free will combined on us?

And how are our will combined with the presence of good smart friends whom we listen to, from whom we expect advice and support in Hard time? There is, however, a very important difference in the influence of demons on us and in the influence of Angels. A demon cannot know a person's thoughts. He can act based on what he knows about us as a great psychologist and a great analyst. Watching us, he guesses what is happening in us. The angel acts through the Holy Spirit and Holy Spirit, and We are transparent to the Angel.

The lives of saints contain many stories about the appearance of Angels. Most often they are seen in the form of beautiful husbands or young men in luminous clothes. So they do have a visible appearance?

It is important to understand that the saints saw Angels not with physical eyes, but with spiritual eyes - with intelligent, unimaginable vision. It is difficult for us to imagine this: we, earthly people, think in images, behind each of our thoughts a material image appears. But the saints, when the Holy Spirit, the blessing of God, descended on them, saw the phenomena of another world, saw heavenly bliss. Not in images, but as it is. It is very difficult for us to understand that in that other life there will no longer be the images we are familiar with, that this life will be completely different. When a person is overcome by spiritual joy, he cannot say what he actually rejoices about; there are no words for it. The Apostle Paul was a very eloquent man, he could express in words everything that he needed to express, but he could not talk about what he saw when he was caught up to the third heaven, because it cannot be expressed in human language, these are completely different areas . He heard there unspeakable words that a person cannot retell(2 Cor. 12 , 4). Saints have had such visions. But there are other visions - when we, like small children, are shown something in images accessible to us. A demon with black membranous wings, with terrible horns, fangs - this is a very suitable image for this demon to appear to a person, but it is a mistake to think that the demon really has such wings and horns. As for the Angel, his essence is best reflected, probably, not by this traditional image - a beautiful young man, but by our understanding that since God is love, then His servant is also love. The presence of an Angel always means peace, deep heartfelt tranquility and the feeling that you are warmed by love.

To this question, due to the connection of concepts, comes another: about the devil. “Where does the devil come from if evil is not from God?” What can we say to this? The fact is that for this question it is enough for us to use the same reasoning that is presented about wickedness in man. For why is man wicked? By my own free will. Why is the devil angry? For the same reason, because he also had a free life, and he was given the power to either remain with God or withdraw from the Good. Gabriel is an Angel and always stands before God. Satan is an angel and has completely fallen from his own rank. And the first was kept by will in those above, and the last was cast down by free will. And the first could become an apostate, and the last could not fall away. But one was saved by his insatiable love for God, and the other was made an outcast by his distance from God. And this, alienation from God, is evil. A slight turning of the eye produces that we are either on the side of the sun or on the side of the shadow of our body. And there enlightenment is ready for him who looks straight; Obscuration is necessary for those who turn their gaze away from the shadow. Likewise, the devil is wicked, having wickedness from his will, and not his nature is opposite to good.

“Why is he fighting with us?” Because, having become a container of every vice, he accepted the disease of envy and envied our honor. Our carefree life in paradise was unbearable for him. Having deceived man by cunning and cunning and using as a means of deception the same desire that man had to become like God, he showed the tree and promised that through eating this fruit man would become like God. For he said: if you take it down... you will be like a god, knowing good and evil (Gen. 3:5). Therefore, he was not created by our enemy, but through envy he was brought into enmity with us. For seeing that he himself had been cast down from the Angels, he could not watch with indifference how the earth-born through success rose to angelic dignity.

So, the devil has become our adversary as a result of the fall to which we were brought in ancient times by his malice. And according to the Lord’s economy, we have a struggle with him, so that we overcome him by obedience and triumph over the enemy. It would be a different matter if he had not become a devil, but remained in the rank in which the Chief of Officials first placed him! But since he became an apostate, an enemy of God and an enemy of men created in the image of God (for the same reason he is a hater of man, for which he is a fighter against God: he hates us as the creatures of the Lord, and hates us as God’s likeness), then he is a wise and prudent Steward of human affairs I took advantage of his cunning to teach our souls, just as a doctor uses echidna venom as part of his saving medicine.

"Who is the devil? What is his rank? What is his dignity? And why, in fact, is he called Satan?" He is Satan because he opposes good. For this is the meaning of the Hebrew word, as we know from the book of Kings. For it is said: The Lord raises up against Solomon the enemy (satan), Ader, king of Syria (3 Kings 11, 14). He is the devil because he is both an accomplice and an accuser of our sin; rejoices at our destruction and makes a mockery of our deeds. And his nature is incorporeal, according to the Apostle, who said: our struggle is not against blood and flesh, but... against spiritual malice (Eph. 6:12). And his dignity is commanding. For it is said: to the rulers, and to the powers, and to the rulers of this darkness (Eph. 6:12). The place of government is in the air, as the same Apostle says: according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit, which now works in the sons of disobedience (Eph. 2:2). Therefore he is also called the prince of peace, because his rulers are in the above-ground countries. So the Lord says: now is judgment for this world: now the prince of this world will be cast out (John 12:31). And again: the prince of this world is coming, and in Me he will find nothing (John 14:30). When it is said about the army of the devil that these are spirits of evil in the heavenly places (cf. Eph. 6:12), then you need to know that Scripture usually calls the air heaven; for example: birds of the air (Matthew 6:26); and: ascend to heaven (Ps. 106:26), that is, rise high in the air. Therefore, the Lord also saw Satan falling like lightning from heaven (Luke 10:18), that is, overthrown from his own leadership, cast down to the ground, to be trampled upon by those who placed their trust in Christ. For He gave His disciples power to tread on the serpent, and on the scorpion, and on all the power of the enemy (Luke 10:19).

St. Theophan the Recluse:

Sin occurs only in rational beings - incorporeal and connected to the body. As a special advantage, the Lord granted them freedom. But close to this advantage is one line and an abyss. Freedom is not bound: we can turn to God and we can turn away from Him. But this possibility exists in freedom not so that the creature turns away from the Creator, but because it constitutes the nature of freedom. The goal and purpose of freedom is unconstrained service to God, its Creator, so that the creature, freely serving God and fulfilling His will, is awarded greater benefits and becomes the most spacious receptacle of bliss. It is obvious that a creature that deviates from the will of God abuses freedom. This is said in order to show that she abuses herself, not out of some necessity or fate, but arbitrarily, having, that is, the full opportunity to fulfill the will of God at the moment when she does not fulfill it. In this sense, the “Orthodox Confession” says that sin is the unbridled will of man and the devil. No one forced the devil to rebel against God: he did it on his own. Although our first parents were tempted by Satan, he did not bind their freedom, but only deceived them; therefore, when they transgressed the commandment, they sinned freely, of their own accord. And now, let manifold lusts rise against us, let the world and the devil fight; but all sin itself is our free deed, unconstrained, the fruit of an unbridled will.

Rev. John Cassian the Roman:

"Because of pride, Lucifer became a devil from an archangel.
The power of the cruel tyranny of pride is revealed from the fact that that angel, who for the superiority of his brilliance and beauty was called Lucifer, was cast out of heaven for no other vice than for this, from the blessed and high rank of angels, wounded by the arrow of pride, he was cast into the underworld. So, if such a force (an archangel), adorned with such power, could be cast down from heaven to earth by one ascension of the heart, then the severity of this fall shows with what caution we, clothed with weak flesh, must beware. And we can learn how to avoid the most fatal infection of this disease if we study the causes and beginning of this decline. For weakness can never be cured and medicine adapted to illness unless its origin and causes are first explored by penetrating research. This (archangel), invested with divine lordship and, among other higher powers (angels), more shining with the gifts of the Creator, thought that the brilliance of wisdom and the beauty of virtues, which he was adorned with by the grace of the Creator, he received through the power of his nature, and not through the benefit of His generosity. And having exalted himself from this, as if he had no need for God’s help to remain in this purity, he considered himself similar to God; relying on the ability of free will, he thought that by this will he would have in abundance everything that was needed for the perfection of virtues or the endless continuation of the highest bliss. This thought alone became his first downfall. Abandoned for this by God, whom he believed he did not need, he suddenly became fickle and wavering, felt the weakness of his nature and was deprived of the bliss that he enjoyed as a gift from God. And because he loved words of destruction (Ps. 51:6), saying: “I will ascend into heaven” (Is. 14:13), and a deceitful tongue, with which he said about himself: “I will be like the Most High,” or about Adam and Eve: “You will be like God” (Genesis 3:5); therefore God will completely crush it, destroy it and uproot it from His habitation and its root from the land of the living. Then the righteous, seeing his fall, will be afraid and laugh at him, saying: behold, a man who did not trust his strength in God, but hoped for the abundance of his wealth, was strengthened in his wickedness (Ps. 51: 7-9). This also applies very fairly to those who hope that they can do the highest good without the protection and help of God."

“There is no doubt that unclean spirits can know the qualities of our thoughts, but from the outside, learning about them by sensory signs, that is, from our disposition or words and activities to which they see us more inclined. But they cannot know those thoughts at all , which have not yet been revealed from the hiddenness of the soul.And those thoughts that they inspire are recognized not by the nature of the soul itself, that is, not by the internal movement hiding, so to speak, in the brain, but by the movements and signs of the external person; for example, when they induce gluttony, if they see that a monk is looking out the window or at the sun with curiosity, or carefully asking about the hour, then they will know that he has a desire to eat.”

St. Cyril of Jerusalem:

So, the first culprit of sin and the founder of evil is the devil. It is not I who say this, but the Lord who said: “Because the devil sinned first” [I John. 3, 8] - No one sinned before him. He sinned not by nature, but by necessity, having received an inclination to sin; otherwise the guilt of sin would fall again on the One who made him this way. On the contrary, having been created good, of his own free will he became the devil, from his deeds, receiving a name for himself (devil in translation means slanderer). Having been an Archangel, he was later called the devil for slander; having become a good servant of God, he became Satan in the full meaning of this name, because Satan means adversary... says the Lord in the Gospel: “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning” [Lk. 10, 18]. You see the agreement of the Old Testament with the New. The devil fell and took many with him into retreat. He puts lusts in those who submit to him. From him comes adultery, fornication and everything that is bad. Through him, our forefather Adam will exhaust and exchange that paradise, which by itself bears wonderful fruits, for the land that bears thorns.

St. Athanasius of Alexandria:

The devil, the enemy of our race, having fallen from Heaven, wanders in the space of this lower air, where, ruling over others like him, with their assistance, he deceives people with ghosts and tries to hinder those who strive upward.”
Saint John Chrysostom: “How many demons are running around in this air? How many nasty authorities? If only God would allow them to show us their terrible and disgusting image, then we would be subjected to insanity.

Venerable John of Damascus(An accurate exposition of the Orthodox faith. Book 1.
Chapter IV. About the devil and demons):

Of these angelic powers, the angel who stood at the head of the supermundane rank and to whom God entrusted the protection of the earth was not created evil by nature, but was good and created for good, and did not receive from the Creator even a trace of evil. But he could not bear the light and honor that the Creator gave him, but by autocratic will he turned from what is in accordance with nature to what is unnatural, and became proud against his Creator - God, wanting to rebel against Him, and was the first to retreat from good, fell into evil. For evil is not anything other than the deprivation of good, just as darkness is the deprivation of light, for good is spiritual light; in the same way, evil is spiritual darkness. So, having been created by the Creator as light and having been good - for God saw everything that was created, and every good thing (Genesis 1:31) - he, by free will, became darkness. He was captivated by him, he was followed, and countless angels subordinate to him fell with him. Thus, they, having the same nature as the angels, became evil at will, willfully deviating from good to evil.

Therefore, they have neither power nor strength against anyone unless they receive permission from God for the purposes of economy, as happened with Job and as it is written in the Gospel about the [Gadarene] pigs. With God's permission, they are strong, they accept and change the image they want, in accordance with their imagination.

Neither the Angels of God nor the demons know the future in this way, but they predict: Angels - when God reveals to them and commands them to predict; that is why what they say comes true. Demons also predict - sometimes by seeing distant events, and sometimes only by guessing, which is why they often lie. You shouldn’t believe them, although, as we said, they often tell the truth. In addition, they know the Scriptures.

So, all vices are invented by them, as well as unclean passions; and although they are allowed to tempt a person, they cannot force anyone; since it depends on us whether to withstand or not withstand their attack; therefore, the devil, his demons and his followers are destined for unquenchable fire and eternal torment.

You need to know that the fall for angels is the same as death for people. For after the fall there is no repentance for them, just as it is impossible for people after death.

St. John of Kronstadt:

To purify and ignite our prayer, the Lord allows the devil to painfully kindle our insides, so that we, feeling an alien fire within ourselves and suffering from it, try to bring into our hearts through humble prayer the fire of God, the fire of the Holy Spirit, which revives our hearts.

You read a secular magazine or newspaper: it’s easy and pleasant to read, you can easily believe everything. But if you take up reading a spiritual magazine or book, especially a church book, or if you start reading prayers sometimes, your heart will become heavy and doubt will torment you, and unbelief, and some kind of darkness and disgust. Many people admit this. Why does this happen? Not from the quality, of course, of the books themselves, but from the quality of those who read, from the quality of their hearts, and - most importantly - from the devil, the enemy of man, the enemy of everything sacred: he will take the word from their hearts [Lk. 8, 12]. When we read secular works, we do not touch him, and he does not touch us. As soon as we take up the sacred books, we begin to think about our correction and salvation, then we go against him, irritate him, torment his anger, and so he attacks us and torments us mutually - what to do? Don’t give up on good deeds, beneficial reading, prayer, but you must endure and in patience save your soul. Through your patience gain your souls [Lk. 21:19], says the Lord. The same must be applied to theaters and churches, to the stage and to Divine services. Many people feel pleasant in the theater, but in church it is hard and boring - why? Because in the theater everything is perfectly arranged for a sensual person, and we do not touch the devil there, but amuse him, and he gives us pleasure, does not touch us: have fun, my friends, he thinks, just laugh and don’t remember God. In the church, everything is adapted to arouse faith and fear of God, pious feelings, the feeling of our sinfulness, corruption; and the devil instills doubts, despondency, melancholy, evil, nasty and blasphemous thoughts into our hearts - and now a person is not happy with himself and cannot stand, it is difficult to stand for an hour. And he quickly runs out. Theater and church are opposites. This is the temple of the world, and this is the temple of God; this is the temple of the devil, and this is the temple of the Lord.

The devil, as a spirit, as a simple being, can stumble and wound the soul with one instant movement of thoughts of wickedness, doubt, blasphemy, impatience, irritation, anger, an instant movement of the heart’s attachment to something earthly, a movement of contemplation, fornication and other passions - can spark to fan sin, with its characteristic cunning and malice, into a flame that rages with hellish force in the insides of man. We must hold on and strengthen ourselves with all our might in the truth of God, rejecting the lies, dreams and malice of the devil at their very beginning. Here the whole person must be attentive, the whole eye, the whole adamant indestructible in all its parts, hard and invulnerable. ABOUT! Glory, glory to Your victory, Lord! Thus may I conquer in the power of Your fortress enemies invisible and visible, all the days of my life, until my last breath. Amen. O simplicity of faith! do not leave me.

The Lord is everything to me: He is the strength of my heart and the light of my mind; He moves my heart to every good; He strengthens it; He also gives me good thoughts; He is my peace and joy; He is my faith, hope and love; He is my food, my drink, my clothing, my habitation. Just as a mother is everything to a baby - mind, and will, and sight, and hearing, and taste, and smell, and touch, and food, and drink, and clothing, and hands, and feet - so the Lord is everything to me when I completely surrender to Him. But - alas for me! - when I fall away from the Lord, then the devil takes possession of me, and if I had not turned the eyes of my heart to the Lord, if in the cramped conditions of the enemy I had not cried out to the Lord for help, then the devil would have been, as sometimes happens, all evil for me: and anger, and despondency, and relaxation perfect for all good, and despair, and hatred, and envy, and stinginess, and blasphemous, evil and nasty thoughts, contempt for everyone; in a word - it is my mind, my will, sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch, hands and feet. So, trust in the Lord: He is present and infinite in holiness, power, goodness, mercy, bounty, wisdom.

The kingdom of life and the kingdom of death go side by side; I say they go because they are spiritual. The head of the first, i.e. the kingdom of life is Jesus Christ, and whoever is with Christ is undoubtedly in the realm of life; the boss of the second, i.e. the kingdom of death, there is the prince of the power of the air - the devil with the spirits of evil subordinate to him, of which there are so many that it far exceeds the number of all people living on earth. These children of death - subjects of the prince of the air - are in constant stubborn war with the sons of life, i.e. with faithful Christians, and with all measures of cunning, they try to win them over to their side through the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, because sin, crime is their element, and through sins, if we do not repent of them, we go over to their side; those for whom sins are a daily necessity, who drink iniquity like water, are not bothered by them, because they are their property as long as they live carelessly about their souls; but if they only turn to God, acknowledge their sins, voluntary and involuntary, the war will flare up, the hordes of Satan will rise and wage a continuous war. From here you see how necessary it is to seek Christ as the Author of life, the Conqueror of hell and death.

Oh, how carefully the devil and the world sow with their tares the field of Christ, which is the Church of God. Instead of the word of God, the word of the world, the word of vanity, is diligently sown. Instead of temples, the world invented its own temples - temples of the vanity of the world: theaters, circuses, meetings; instead of St. icons, which peace lovers do not accept; in the world there are paintings and photographic portraits, illustrations and various other types; Instead of God and saints, the world reveres its celebrities to the point of adoration - writers, actors, singers, painters, who hold public trust and respect to the point of reverence. Poor Christians! They have completely fallen away from Christ! Instead of spiritual attire, all the attention in the world is paid to perishable clothing, fashionable dresses and various exquisite jewelry that resonates with brilliance and high cost.

Our life is simple: because our life is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the most simple, eternal, beginningless Being. God has given us eternal life to eat, and this life is in His Son [John. 5, 11]. Why do we look for life in people, and in sweets, and in money, and in honors, and in clothes, etc.? There is no life of the heart there, but there is sorrow, oppression, spiritual death. Why do we leave the Source of living waters - the Lord - and dig up treasures of brokenness that cannot contain water [Jerem. 2, 13]? Why are we fussing and fussing? Why are we greedy of sweets, money, honors, clothes and various things? All this is dead, perishable, temporary. The devil, who has the power of death, is also simple and simply catches us and wounds us to death, therefore we must keep our ears sharp and not cling to anything, so as not to be wounded by him.

If God had not been on earth in the flesh, had not deified us, had not taught us personally how to live, what to hope for, what to expect, if He had not shown us another, perfect and eternal life, if He had not suffered, had not died, and having died had not resurrected - we would still have some reason to live the way we all live - the most carnal earthly life. But now we must philosophize on things above and put earthly things into mind [cf. Philip. 3, 8]; for everything earthly is nothing compared to what is heavenly. Meanwhile, the devil, the father of lies, contrary to the teachings of the Savior and His spirit, teaches us to cleave to earthly goods and forcibly nails a voluptuous heart to them. The heart naturally seeks bliss, but the devil gives the wrong direction to this desire and seduces it with earthly bliss - wealth, honors, the splendor of clothes, furniture, dishes, carriages, gardens, various amusements.

The Holy Spirit is called the Comforter by His essence, which is peace, joy and endless bliss, and by His action on the souls of believers, whom He comforts, like a mother, in their virtues, in their sufferings, sorrows and illnesses, in their deeds for the faith; - is also called the Comforter in contrast to the evil spirit of despondency, which often attacks our souls. Every phenomenon has a cause. So, having done some good deed, you rejoice and find consolation in your soul. From what? - Because the Comforter Spirit is in you, He is everywhere and fills everything, a Treasure of good things, Who comforts you. On the contrary, having done something bad or having done nothing bad, you sometimes feel a deadly despondency in your soul. From what? - Because you allowed the evil spirit of despondency to take control of you. For example, you stand up for prayer, and despondency takes possession of you, whereas before prayer it was not there; or - so you begin to read some book of spiritual content, for example, Holy Scripture, and you, too, are overcome by despondency, laziness, doubt, lack of faith and unbelief. From what? - Because you are being tempted, the evil spirits of despondency, doubt and unbelief are treacherous over you. You are in church at the Divine Service: and you are bored, hard, lazy - despondency has attacked you. Why again? - Because the evil spirits of despondency and laziness are treacherous over you. Or you take up spiritual writing, for example, a sermon: there is darkness and coldness in your heart, in your mind, and relaxation throughout your whole body. From what? - Because invisible enemies are treacherous within you. - It’s easy to prove: - just don’t do all this, and it will be so easy and pleasant, there will be such space in your soul and heart - where everything will come from. - Therefore, the Holy Spirit is absolutely necessary for all of us in all our good deeds: He is our strength, strength, light, peace, consolation.

Stubborn disbelief in evil spirits is a real demon, because it goes against the truth, the Revelation of God. The Lord came to earth in order to destroy the works of the devil and save his man from violence. If there is no devil, then there is no Christianity, then the coming of the Son of God would not be necessary. But this is ridiculous. And the experience of each of us, and common sense, the history of the lives of the Saints and the history of all peoples confirm us in the existence of evil spirits...
If Guardian Angels had not protected us from the machinations of evil demons, oh, how often would we have fallen from sin to sin, how would we have been tormented by demons who delight in tormenting people, which is what happens when the Lord allows a Guardian Angel to retreat from us for a while and the demons play tricks on us. Yes, the Angels of the world, faithful mentors, guardians of our souls and bodies, are always with us, unless we voluntarily drive them away from ourselves with the abomination of carnality, pride, doubt, and unbelief. It’s as if you feel that they are covering you with the wings of their immaterial glory, and you just don’t see them. Good thoughts, attitudes, words and deeds come from them.

As long as we lead a carnal life and do not approach God heartily, as long as demons lurk within us, hiding under various passions; greed for food and drink, lustful lust, pride and proud free-thinking about faith, about the Church, about the dogmas of faith, malice, envy, stinginess, love of money, so that we live according to their will; but when we begin to sincerely work for the Lord and touch the living demons of our passions nesting in us, then they arm themselves against us with all their hellish malice, with all their fiery and varied insurances, strong, burning addictions to earthly goods, until we drive them out of ourselves fervent prayer or communion of the Holy Mysteries. ...

...The nature of the evil spirit seeks its own activity and expansion of the kingdom of lies and all evil. That demons are trying in every possible way to spread the kingdom of evil - we feel this in ourselves, and Holy Scripture testifies to this: the devil, like a roaring lion, walks around, looking for someone to devour.

Rev. John Climacus:

In all the deeds with which we try to please God, demons dig three holes for us. Firstly, they fight to hinder our good deed. Secondly, when they are defeated in this first attempt, they try to ensure that what is done is not according to the will of God. And if these thieves do not succeed in this plan, then, having quietly approached our soul, they please us, as if we live in everything pleasing to God. The first temptation is resisted by care and concern for death, the second by obedience and humiliation, and the third by constant self-reproach. ...This work is before us, until the fire of God enters our sanctuary (cf. Ps. 73:16). Then there will be no violence in us from evil habits, for our God is a fire, a devourer (cf. Heb. 12:29) of every kindling and movement of lust, every evil habit, bitterness and darkness, internally and externally, visible and thought.

Abba Dorotheus:

Why is the devil called not only an enemy, but also an adversary? He is called an enemy because he is a misanthrope, a hater of goodness and a slanderer; he is called an adversary because he tries to hinder every good deed. Does anyone want to pray: he resists and hinders him with evil memories, captivity of the mind and despondency. Does anyone want to give alms? He is hindered by love of money and stinginess. Does anyone want to stay awake? He hinders us through laziness and negligence, and this is how he resists us in every matter when we want to do good.

St. Isidore Pelusiot:

The devil does not know what is in our thoughts, because it exclusively belongs to the power of God alone, but he catches thoughts by bodily movements. Will he see, for example, that another is looking inquisitively and saturating his eyes with alien beauties? Taking advantage of his dispensation, he immediately incites such a person to commit adultery. Will he see the one overcome by gluttony? He will immediately vividly present to him the passions generated by gluttony and will serve to bring his intentions into action. Encourages robbery and unjust acquisition.

Rev. Seraphim of Sarov spoke about demons: “They are vile, their conscious resistance to grace turned them into angels of darkness, into unimaginable monsters. But, being angels by nature, they have immense power. The least of them could destroy the earth if Divine grace did not make their hatred against God's creation powerless; but they are trying to destroy the creature from within, inclining human nature to evil.”

Rev. Macarius of Optina:

Read your father’s books, but more active ones, because with your dispensation, speculative ones can do more harm than good. And from those who are active, you will recognize your weakness and humble your heart, and then God will look at you and send His help to fulfill His will.

Otherwise, although you will have all the understanding of Scripture, you will not find any benefit with conceit. For the enemy knows how to build decoys and deceive those with imaginary consolation, just as he appears in the form of an Angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14), and in mental and spiritual activities he carries out his actions, from which may the Lord deliver you (I Tim. 2 , 4).

St. Ignatius Brianchaninov:

"... fallen spirits descended from the heights of spiritual dignity; they fell into carnal wisdom more than humans. People have the opportunity to move from carnal wisdom to spiritual, but fallen spirits are deprived of this opportunity. People are not subject to such a strong influence of carnal wisdom, because in them, natural goodness is not destroyed, as in spirits, by the fall.

In people, good is mixed with evil and therefore indecent; In fallen spirits, only evil dominates and operates. Carnal wisdom in the realm of spirits has received the most extensive, complete development that it can only achieve. Their main sin is frantic hatred of God, expressed in terrible, incessant blasphemy. They became proud of God himself; They turned obedience to God, natural to creatures, into continuous opposition, into irreconcilable enmity. Because of this, their fall is deep, and the ulcer of eternal death with which they are struck is incurable. Their essential passion is pride; they are dominated by monstrous and stupid vanity; They find pleasure in all types of sin, they constantly revolve in them, moving from one sin to another. They grovel in the love of money, in gluttony, and in adultery. Not being able to commit carnal sins physically, they commit them in dreams and sensations; they have adopted into their ethereal nature the vices inherent in the flesh; They have developed in themselves vices that are unnatural to them, incomparably more than they can be developed among people.

Fallen spirits, containing within themselves the beginning of all sins, try to involve people in all sins with the goal and thirst for their destruction. They draw us into various pleasing of the flesh and the love of greed, the love of glory, painting before us the objects of these passions with the most seductive painting.”

"...Although they (demons) sometimes predict the future, although they reveal secrets, one should not entrust oneself to them. With them, truth is mixed with lies, the truth is used at times only for the most convenient seduction.

Demons do not know the future, known to the One God and to His rational creatures to whom God is pleased to reveal the future; but just as smart and experienced people foresee and predict events that are about to happen from events that have happened or are happening, so cunning, experienced crafty spirits can sometimes predict with certainty and predict the future.

It would be more correct to say: they do not so much predict as foresee. For this reason, even if they had told the truth, even then they would not deserve surprise.”

Abba Evagrius:

Demons do not know our hearts, as some people think. For the one who knows the heart is the knowledgeable mind of men, creating their hearts alone (Psalm 32:15) (Job 7:20).

Angels and demons in spiritual life

In this article I will try to give a general idea about the role in the spiritual life of angels of light and spirits of darkness according to the works of the most significant ascetic and mystical writers of Eastern Christianity. Lack of space forces me to limit myself almost exclusively to the ancient period (fourth-fifth centuries). This does not mean, however, that I attach any less interest or value to the later development of their teaching. The theological side of the issue is not directly included in my topic, which is primarily of a spiritual nature, although it is often impossible to separate spiritual issues from theology.

I'll start with preliminary remarks. Anyone who would collect material from the writings of the ascetic fathers on the role of angels and demons in spiritual life would be struck by the discrepancy between the extensive space given to descriptions of the manifold activities of Satan and the few, scattered and rather restrained remarks on the role of angels. There are very few exceptions to this rule: Pseudo- with his doctrine of enlightenment through the hierarchies of heavenly powers and, to a certain extent, the great Syrian mystic of the seventh and eighth centuries, St. Isaac of Nineveh. However, the writings of Pseudo-Dionysius are more theoretical in nature than based on experience, and I will not analyze them in this article. They stand somewhat apart from the main currents of Eastern spiritual life. The very fact of greater attention paid to demonic forces is, of course, not accidental, and can be explained by various reasons. The same feature can be found in Holy Scripture, especially in the Gospels, where there are so many stories about demoniacs and their healings by Christ. It is quite natural that ascetic writers, always so faithful to the spirit of the New Testament, also follow the example of the evangelists in this matter.

Practical ascetic considerations also played a role here. Demons are our enemies, and therefore it is vital for us to know their ways of fighting and distinguish between them, while angels help us, even if we do not know about it. “You need to know the differences between demons and mark the times of their attacks,” writes Evagrius very characteristically. “It is necessary to know this, so that when thoughts begin to move in us what is contained in them, we might say something to them and notice who is present in them, before we are completely thrown out of our spiritual state. Thus, we ourselves could easily succeed with God’s help, and we would make them (demons) fly away with pain and surprise towards us.” “Better is the one who was honored to see himself,” says St. Isaac of Nineveh - who was honored to see angels. The latter is characteristic of the bodily eyes, and the former is characteristic of the soul’s eyes.” The fear of false visions, based on the text of St. Paul about the transformation of Satan into an angel of light (), also contributed to the fact that the ascetic fathers did not particularly trust angelic phenomena and did not give them of great importance in spiritual life. It is very remarkable that our spiritual struggle is very rarely depicted by them as a battle between angels and demons, but usually as a war between man and Satan. Angels, of course, help and protect us in this battle, but it is not angels who are opposed to Satan, but Christ Himself and the grace of the Holy Spirit, Who by His presence destroys demonic temptations and enlightens the satanic darkness in our souls. So, for example, St. , having spoken in one of his “Acts” about the darkness brought by unclean demons into our minds, immediately after this speaks of the Holy Spirit, Who intervenes in the struggle and enlightens us and fills us with fragrance. However, the most important reason for the limited and, as it were, “hidden” place given to angels in spiritual life can be found in the pronounced Christocentric and theocentric direction of Eastern spiritual life, where the highest mystical states are always thought of as a direct union of the mind and heart with Christ or as knowledge Holy Trinity. At this stage of spiritual life, any deviation of attention towards angels is considered, if not outright false, then at least as having less value. Even Pseudo-Dionysius no longer mentions angels when he moves on to Mystical Theology. Wonderful story, preserved by Evagrius in his “Chapters on Prayer,” perfectly illustrates this understanding. “Another time,” says Evagrius, “two angels appeared to one lover of God, busy with prayer and walking in the desert. They placed him in their midst and accompanied him on his journey. But he did not pay any attention to them, so as not to suffer damage to the best. For he recalled the apostolic saying that says: “Neither angels, nor principalities, nor powers will be able to separate us from the love of Christ.”

It would, however, be completely wrong to conclude from the extensive space devoted to demonic temptations and phenomena in the Life of St. Anthony that the monks of his time were frightened by the power of dark forces. They, of course, had a vivid sense of their reality, based on personal experience, but at the same time they firmly believed that the power of Satan was destroyed in the incarnation and on the Cross, so that Christians were able to defeat them with the help of God. This idea is re-emphasized in the “Life of St. Anthony”: “Since the Lord visited the earth, the enemy has fallen and his strength has weakened. Therefore, although he is powerless to do anything, but, like a fallen tyrant, he cannot calm down and continues to threaten at least with words alone. Let each of you think about this, and he will be able to despise demons." Not fear, but contempt is a truly Christian attitude towards demons. “One should not be completely afraid of them, for all their enterprises are reduced to nothing by the grace of Christ.” We have many weapons at our disposal to fight them: faith in God, a good life, memory of eternal torment, prayers and, especially, the sign of the cross. “The demons,” says St. Anthony, “are very afraid of the sign of the Cross of the Lord, for on it the Savior exposed and put them to shame.” Christ himself comes to our aid, as happened with St. Anthony. And if we always remember that the Lord is with us, the demons will disappear like smoke.

However, this inability of demons to openly attack Christians forces them to use other cunning, “roundabout” techniques. Thus, they appear in the form of angels of light and deceive us with false visions. Etc. Anthony turns here to the question of discernment of spirits. This is one of the most interesting parts of his spiritual teaching. She gives him a reason to talk about the role of good angels in spiritual life, in order to distinguish them from evil spirits. Demons, as St. Anthony explains to his disciples, often appear in the form of angels. They even assure us: “We are angels.” Christians, however, with God's help, easily distinguish a good phenomenon from an evil one by its effect on the soul. “It is easy and possible,” says St. Anthony, “to distinguish the presence of good and evil forces when it gives us this. The vision... of the saints (powers) is alien to embarrassment... it happens so quietly and meekly that joy and jubilation and courage immediately arise in the soul. For in the midst of them is the Lord, who is our joy and the Power of God the Father. Soul thoughts remain undisturbed and without excitement, so that the soul sees those who appear to it, illuminated by them. For desire divine and future things enters the soul with them, and it wants in every possible way to unite with them.” Even if a phenomenon frightens us with its Divine grandeur, this feeling is immediately dispelled by those who are. “When... you see someone and are afraid, if fear is immediately taken away and in its place comes indescribable joy, complacency and boldness... and serenity in thoughts... courage and love for God, be bold and pray. Joy and state of mind indicate the holiness of Him who is present." The action of dark forces is completely opposite. Their appearance is accompanied by noise, confusion and fear. It produces bad feelings, disordered thoughts and disdain for virtue. And the feeling of fear does not go away, as with a good event. However, we must never lose our courage when we see a vision. “When any vision is imagined, do not fall in fear of it, but whoever it is, ask first of all with courage: “Who are you?” And where?" And if this was a vision of holy powers, they notify you about this and turn your fear into joy. If it was something of the devil, it immediately weakens when it sees you strengthened mentally. For simply asking is already proof of lack of confusion.”

The vision of the Divine Light and its distinction from satanic imitations does not occupy a significant place in the Life of St. Anthony. Indications of this can, however, be found therein. Thus, St. Anthony tells how the demons “came one day in the dark, having with them the appearance of light, and said: “We have come to shine on you, Anthony!” But I closed my eyes and prayed. And the light of the wicked went out immediately." The circumstance that Anthony closed his eyes in order to avoid seeing the demonic light allows us to conclude that this light was apparently material. The same “Life” tells us, however, how the Lord once Himself came to the aid of Anthony during one terrible struggle with demons. Anthony “looked up... saw the roof as if it was opening and a certain ray of light descending towards him.” This description strikingly reminds us of some of the visions of the Divine Light of the great eleventh-century mystic St. Simeon the New Theologian: “The demons suddenly disappeared, the bodily pain immediately stopped... Anthony, feeling help... prayed to the vision that appeared, saying: “Where were you? Why didn’t You appear to me first to stop my pain?” And a voice came to him: “Antony, I was here, but I waited to see your struggle.”

We must not, however, assume that discerning spirits is such a simple matter. It is easy and possible “when it gives it to us,” as we have already mentioned. In other words, it is not a purely natural ability, but primarily a gift from God. Anthony himself says: “We must pray... to receive the gift of discerning spirits, so that, as it is written, we would not believe every spirit.” The question may arise, how can evil spirits harm us if their power was broken by the Lord on the Cross? Of course, only with God's permission can they tempt us for our own benefit. And if they succeed in harming us, it is always our fault. We give them strength through our negligence. Satan himself admits this in his Life. He appears to Anthony and admits his weakness. But he protests against the accusation that it is he who tempts the monks. “It is not I,” he says, “who causes them difficulties, but they themselves confuse themselves, for I have become powerless.”

This, in brief, is the teaching of Athanasiev’s “Life of St. Anthony” about the participation of invisible forces in our spiritual life. Anthony has a vivid sense of the reality of dark forces and their constant interference in our lives. They tempt a person rather from the outside, through various phenomena, etc., although they are capable of inspiring bad thoughts and sinful feelings. Nevertheless, their power was decisively crushed on the Cross, so that the Christian should not fear them at all. In this early writing of victorious Christianity there is much of a youthful optimism which could not always be shared by later Christian generations. Good angels are mentioned only in passing in the Life.

Another remarkable monument on the history of monasticism and spiritual life dates back to the fourth century - “The Life of St. Pachomius” in its various editions. It gives us rich and interesting material about demonic forces. IN general outline, however, it differs little from the data that we find in the “Life of St. Anthony”. Therefore, we will cite here only one passage from it that gives instructions for distinguishing between true and false visions. According to St. Pachomius, true visions completely captivate the consciousness with their holiness, so that no doubt can arise in us. The slightest doubt is already a sign that the phenomenon is of a demonic nature. “The demon,” the “Life” narrates, “one day appeared to him (Pachomius) in the form of Christ, and saying that he was Christ... But since the saint possessed the discernment of spirits, so that he could distinguish between evil spirits and saints, ... he immediately thought: “When seeing the holy powers, the thoughts of the one who sees the vision completely disappear. And they consider nothing but the holiness of that which is; but I see it, I think and think. Clearly the vision is lying. This is not a vision of holy powers." And while he was thinking this way, the false vision disappeared. An interesting point here is the vision of the demon in the image of Christ.

II. Evagrius of Pontus (346–399)

Of greater importance for our topic are the writings of Evagrius of Pontus, the first major theorist and taxonomist of contemplative life and one of the founders of the spiritual teaching of the Eastern Church. It is interesting to note what an extensive place the fight against demons occupies in the spiritual teachings of this era. highest degree cultural and intellectual person. His descriptions of the activities of various kinds of demons associated with our main passions (for example, the spirit of despondency or spiritual relaxation) are well known. Evagrius reveals here a deep knowledge of the human soul and the activities of demons. For us, however, more interesting are his observations on the participation taken by angels and demons in mental prayer and contemplation. According to Evagrius, here is the main object of the demonic struggle. “The whole war,” says Evagrius, “which we and the demons wage among ourselves, is waged regarding the contemplation of essences and the knowledge of the Holy Trinity. They want to prevent us from acquiring knowledge, but we are trying to learn.” Demons especially hate mental prayer. “If you take care to pray, prepare for an attack by demons,” he says in his “Chapters on Prayer.” “For they will rush at you like wild animals and cause suffering to your whole body.” “The demon is very angry with the praying person and uses all means to harm his goal... in order to prevent his (spiritual) departure to God. “The whole war that is waged between us and unclean spirits is not due to anything other than spiritual prayer.”

Demons use many means to hinder us in our prayers. During prayer, they instill in us various thoughts about objects, passions, carnal feelings, etc., in order to weaken our mind and make it unable to pray properly. More more dangerous images and phenomena produced in our minds by demons during prayer, since they have the consequence of some limitation of the Divine in space. “Beware of the enemy’s traps,” warns Evagrius, “for it happens that when you pray purely and without embarrassment, a strange and alien image suddenly appears to you in order to entice you into conceit, placing the Divinity there in space in order to convince you that what has suddenly been revealed to you quantity is something Divine. But the Divine has neither quantity nor form." This kind of imagination always has something sensual in it and is connected with the body... “When an envious demon cannot set the memory in motion during prayer, then he puts pressure on the composition of our body in order to produce some strange imagination in the mind and give it an image. He who is not accustomed to thoughts easily succumbs to this, and he who strives for immaterial and formless knowledge is deceived, having smoke instead of light.” Such temptations occur especially during mental prayer. “When the mind prays purely, without delusion and truly, then the demons no longer approach from the left side, but from the right. They present to him the glory of God and a certain mark that is pleasant to the senses, so that it seems to him that he has completely achieved the goal of prayer.” Demons strive by these means to subjugate the mind to the passion of vanity.

It is very interesting, however, to note that mental images are produced, according to Evagrius, by demons through the bodily senses. Evagrius gives a very interesting explanation of how evil spirits, in order to achieve such a result, touch one part of our brain, “where the blood vessels pulsate.” “I think,” he says, “that the demon, touching the above-mentioned place, turns at will the light located near our mind, and thus the passion of vanity is set in motion towards thought, giving an image to the mind, deprived of control for reproducing the Divine and essential knowledge. Such a (mind), not disturbed by carnal and impure passions, but as if standing pure (in prayer), believes that no hostile action is no longer taking place in it. Therefore, he forms the opinion that the phenomenon that occurs in him from the demon and gives him an image is a Divine phenomenon.” During contemplation, demons also seek to confuse us. “Like darkness, a cloud stands before thinking and pushes contemplation away from the mind.” How can we fight these demonic temptations? We must be careful and ask God for guidance. “Be careful that the crafty demons do not deceive you through some vision. But be concentrated in your mind, turning to prayer, and ask God that, if what you think comes from Him, He Himself would enlighten you; and if not from Him, so that you quickly drive the deceiver away from you.” Humility also protects us from the insults of demons." “The dispassion of a rational soul is a spiritual wall that protects it from demons.” is, however, one of the most effective weapons against demons, especially short intense prayer. She burns them like fire. “During such temptations,” says Evagrius, “use short and intense prayer.” Our mind should never be distracted from prayer by demonic activity. This idea is explained using the example of some hermits. All the attacks of demons “could in no way reduce their minds from fiery prayer.”

Evagrius does not omit to talk about the help provided to us by angels during this spiritual struggle. “The angel of God,” he says, “appearing, with just one word stops all the action of the enemy in us and sets in motion the light of the mind so that it acts without delusion.” Angels help us in our prayers. The grace of prayer is communicated to us by an angel. He gives us the knowledge of true prayer, so that after this we stand without any disorderly movement, despondency or neglect of mind. “Know,” he says in another place, “that the holy angels encourage us to prayer and stand at it with us, at the same time rejoicing and praying for us. Therefore, if we become careless and accept nasty thoughts, we will irritate them greatly. After all, they fight so much for us, and we don’t even want to beg God for ourselves, but, despising their service and abandoning their God and Master, we encounter unclean demons.” Angels also help us in contemplation. They enlighten us in such a way that we become capable of perceiving the ideal foundations of created beings, which are grounded in God. This is one of the stages of contemplation in the spiritual teaching of Evagrius. “If you pray truly,” he says, “you will find complete confidence, and the angels will come to you and illuminate for you the ideal foundations (“logoi”) of creatures.” “In contemplation of religious life related to the commandments of God (i.e. in active life), holy powers cleanse us from vice and make us dispassionate,” he says in another place, “and in contemplation of natures and “logoi” (ideal foundations) ), which are near God, they free us from ignorance and make us wise and capable of knowledge."

Nevertheless, the angels themselves do not constitute an object of contemplation for Evagrius. At the highest level it is always the Divinity, the Holy Trinity, which is the object of contemplation. Divine actions, such as providence, wisdom, judgment, as well as the reflection of the Divine in creation, in the ideal foundations of created beings, all constitute lower stages of contemplation. Therefore, the contemplation of the “incorporeal”, so characteristic of the spiritual teaching of Evagrius, should be understood as part of such contemplation of the immaterial structure of the universe, and not as a vision of angels. This kind of vision is not, however, completely rejected. Evagrius gives many examples of genuine angelic apparitions. We should not, however, desire to see angels, just as, in general, we should not desire to have any vision in a sensory form, even a vision of Christ. This is dangerous, because demons can take on the appearance of angels. “Do not strongly desire,” says Evagrius, “to see sensually angels or powers or Christ, lest you become completely crazy, accepting a wolf instead of a shepherd and worshiping enemies, demons.” We must always have in our minds this foundation of mental prayer, which excludes all imagination and leads to the direct union of the mind with the Divine, in order to correctly evaluate everything that Evagrius says about the role of angels and demons in spiritual life. For all his intellectualism, Evagrius was undoubtedly a man of great spiritual experience. This allows him to speak with authority and knowledge about the actions of dark forces and about the help provided to us in prayer by the angels of light. His physiological explanations, although not entirely devoid of value, are to a certain extent influenced scientific ideas his time.

III. "Spiritual Conversations"

I now turn to another, extremely important monument of ancient spirituality - the “Spiritual Conversations”, traditionally attributed to St. Macarius of Egypt. Some modern scholars dispute the authenticity of the authorship of St. Macarius. They may be right on this particular point. But they are undoubtedly mistaken when they deny the ecclesiastical and Orthodox character of the “Spiritual Conversations” and seek to discover in them the condemned spiritual teaching of the “Messalians” (a well-known spiritual heresy of the fourth to eighth centuries). The Orthodox character of “Spiritual Conversations” cannot be denied by any objective researcher; they may contain some theological inaccuracies, since they were written before the final formulation of their teaching, but they undoubtedly represent the ancient church direction of spiritual life and express a genuine and deeply Christian religious experience. Less theoretical in nature than the writings of Evagrius, they surpass them in the vivacity of religious feeling, a more inward attitude towards Christ and a greater understanding of human nature, and an experiential knowledge of the operation of grace and demonic activity.

I'll start with the last point. The Monk Macarius vividly depicts the enslavement of human nature by Satan after the fall of Adam. “The kingdom of darkness, the evil ruler,” he says, “having captivated man from the beginning, he has surrounded and clothed the soul with the power of darkness, just as a man is clothed with clothes.” Etc. Macarius often uses the image of the night wind in his descriptions of the action of dark forces. “Just as in a gloomy and black night some wild wind blows and moves, explores, and shakes all the plants and crops, so man, having fallen under the power of the night of the devil’s darkness and being in the night and darkness, is shaken by the terrible blowing wind of sin and is shaken by it and moves." Or: “Just as one wind is enough to shake and shake all the plants and grains, or as one darkness of the night spreads throughout the entire universe, so the chief of evil, being some kind of mental darkness of evil and death and being some kind of hidden and wild wind, agitates the entire human race on earth and leads it around with unstable thoughts, seducing the hearts of people with worldly desires, and fills every soul with the darkness of ignorance, blindness and oblivion.” Etc. Macarius also speaks about “the darkness of passions through which the soul is exposed to the action (of demons)”, and, summarizing all this, about “the leaven of evil, which is sin” and which “imperceptibly entered into man after the fall, being some kind of mental and spiritual the power of Satan." And he adds other striking images of this enslavement of sinful man by the forces of darkness. “Your heart is a tomb and a coffin. For when the chief of evil and his angels make their dwelling there and when they walk there and come out from there, when the powers of Satan walk freely in your mind and in your thoughts, are you not hell and not a tomb and not a tombstone and are not dead to God?” Satan is even depicted by St. Macarius as a kind of serpent crawling into our soul: “The terrible serpent of sin is with the soul, exciting it and prompting it to sin. And if she agrees with him, then the incorporeal soul communicates with the incorporeal evil of the spirit, that is, the spirit communicates with the spirit, and he who agrees with the evil thought and accepts it commits adultery in his heart.”

All these images should not, however, be understood in the sense that some kind of invincible power was attributed to the forces of darkness. This kind of idea, like Manichaean dualism in general in its various manifestations, is completely alien to the spiritual teaching of St. Macarius. In accordance with all patristic tradition, he denies the substantiality of evil. “Those who say that evil is something existing in itself (enypostaton) know nothing. For God there is no evil existing within itself, but in us it acts with all its strength and perceptibly, suggesting to us all the dirty desires.” “For us, however,” he writes in another place, “evil exists as capable of acting in the heart and inspiring bad and dirty thoughts and as not allowing pure prayer, but enslaving the mind to this world.” Nevertheless, it depends on our will whether to accept or reject these suggestions of evil. “The human mind, when it seeks Divine help, is no weaker than Satan, so that their struggle is not unequal.” And even when the soul mixes with Satan in great sin, it does not lose its identity. “Evil,” says St. Macarius, “has not mixed with us in the same way that wine and water are mixed, but as in one field the wheat is on its own and the tares are on their own.” The dominance of evil is not permanent: “The soul, when confused, mixes with evil... However, at other times the soul is on its own as a special entity, repenting of what it has done, and crying and praying, and remembering God. If the soul were always immersed in evil, how could it do this?

Therefore, every Christian must fight against Satan. He has the freedom to do so, although the final victory comes only from God. And, first of all, we must understand that we must fight not only against our natural inclinations, but also against actual demonic forces. “The sin that came,” explains St. Macarius, “being a kind of satanic mental force and essence, sowed all evil. For he acts secretly in inner man both in the mind and struggling with thoughts. And people do not know that they are doing this, being persecuted by some alien force, but they think that all this is natural, and that they do it from their mental state. But those who have the peace of Christ in their minds and His enlightenment know where this comes from. We must begin the fight against Satan in our hearts with the greatest determination: “The most decisive weapon of a fighter and ascetic is to enter the heart and wage war there against Satan, and hate yourself, and renounce your soul, and be angry with it and blame it, resist the desires that coexist with it and resist the thoughts, and fight with yourself.” Etc. Macarius, as usual, very vividly describes this struggle in the heart: “As people harness horses and drive chariots, and rush one against the other... so in the heart of those who strive there is, as it were, a spectacle of evil spirits fighting against the soul, and the angels look at the competition ... For the mind is the ruler of the chariot and it harnesses the chariot of the soul, holding the harness of thoughts in its hands; and now she rushes against the chariot of Satan, which he also harnessed against the soul.” This struggle requires unceasing vigilance and unceasing self-examination... “Consider your mind, brothers, with whom are you associated, angels or demons? Who are you temple to? Are you the dwelling place of God or the devil? What treasure is your heart filled with - grace or Satan? Like a house filled with stench and dung, it needs to be completely cleansed and decorated, and filled with all kinds of fragrance and treasures, so that the Holy Spirit would come instead of Satan and rest in the souls of Christians.” This fight against evil is not only moral, but a real spiritual battle with Satan. This is not only abstinence from evil, but uprooting evil from its roots. “Abstinence from evil,” says St. Macarius, “is not yet perfection. But if you entered your powerless mind and killed the serpent nesting below the mind and deeper than thoughts, in the so-called storerooms and warehouses of the soul, killing you and making a nest for itself there, and threw out all the impurity that is in you (this is perfection )".

Man alone cannot achieve this radical uprooting of the evil forces that lurk so deeply in our nature. Only Christ and the grace of the Holy Spirit sent by Christ give us victory. This idea is constantly emphasized by St. Macarius in “Spiritual Conversations”. This is one of the main parts of his teaching. “We must examine,” he writes, “how and by what means purity of heart can be achieved.” And he answers: “Nowhere, in no case, except through the One who was crucified for us. For He is the way, the life, the truth, the door, the pearl, the living and heavenly bread." - “It is impossible to separate the soul from sin unless the evil wind that lives in the soul and body stops and ceases... For although a person wants to fly into the Divine air and into the freedom of the Holy Spirit, he cannot unless he receives wings.” “The soul,” he writes in another place, “immersed and suffocated in the depths of death, is dead in relation to God in the midst of terrible beasts. And who can descend into these hidden places and depths of hell and death, except the Master Himself, who built the body?” Christ Himself sends His holy angels and destroys the kingdom of darkness. “King Christ sends them to take revenge on the city and binds the rapists, and settles the heavenly army and the militia of the holy spirits there, as in His fatherland. And from now on the sun shines in the heart, and its rays penetrate all members.”

We must firmly believe that Christ is always near us, ready to help us if we only ask for help. “As close as the body is to the soul, so the Lord is ready to come even closer and open the locked doors of the heart and give us heavenly wealth. For He is good and loving to mankind, and His promises are not deceptive, only so that we may have patience to seek Him to the end.” And along with Christ the grace of the Holy Spirit comes and drives away all darkness from the soul. “Since man violated the commandment,” writes St. Macarius, “the devil covered his entire soul with a dark veil. But then grace comes and removes all the covering, so that from now on the soul, having become pure and having perceived its own nature... always with purely pure eyes sees the glory of the true Light and the true Sun of Truth, shining in its heart.

Two important points regarding the action of grace should be noted in the teaching of St. Macarius. The first is that grace can always retreat and hide its effect, so that we are again subject to attacks by dark forces. We sometimes feel this as the simultaneous action of grace and the enemy in our soul. We must therefore have discernment of spirits in order to be able to distinguish between true and false enlightenment. Etc. Macarius insists on this mixed nature of many spiritual states. A person who has not yet achieved perfection “is still waging war within himself,” he says, “at one time he rests in prayer, and at another time he stands in sorrow and is at war... Both “persons” are in abundance in him, light and darkness, peace and sorrow." There is some gradualness in the communication of grace, so that our free will can be tested. “So, when the action of Divine grace overshadows the soul in accordance with the measure of everyone’s faith, ... the grace overshadowed only partially. Let no one think that he has been enlightened with all his soul. There is still much pasture for evil within him, and man still needs much labor and effort consistent with the grace given to him.” It may even seem that grace has been temporarily withdrawn, even after great revelations, and has given way to the work of an enemy power. “Grace is constantly with us and is rooted in us,” says St. Macarius, “... but it arranges a person in various ways, as it wants, for his benefit. Sometimes it flares up more, and the fire ignites, sometimes it manifests itself more softly and meekly... At other times, the light itself, shining in the heart, reveals a more internal and deeper and hidden light, so that the whole person, absorbed in this sweetness and contemplation, no longer controls himself, but is mad and barbaric in relation to this world because of all-surpassing love and sweetness, because of hidden secrets... but after that grace recedes, and a veil of opposing power has come. Grace becomes visible, as it were, partially.”

The distinction between the action of grace and the action of Satan is based mainly on their consequences: “In view of the fact that he is transformed into an angel of light and becomes completely like grace, how can a person understand the tricks of the devil? And how will he receive and discern the effects of grace? Answer: In the operations of grace there is joy, there is love, there is truth. The truth itself forces a person to seek the truth. But types of sin are characterized by confusion, and they do not contain the love and joy of God.” And he adds: “Chicory is like lettuce, but the first is bitter and the other is sweet.” Nevertheless, the surest sign that distinguishes Divine grace from any demonic action is the feeling of humility it produces. “If someone says: “I am rich, enough, I have already acquired, I don’t need more,” he is not a Christian,” writes St. Macarius, “but a vessel of error and the devil. For the pleasure of God is insatiable, and the more one tastes and eats of Him, the more hungry one becomes. And such people have an uncontrollable passion and love for God. The more they try to succeed and move forward, the more they consider themselves poor, as needy and possessing nothing. This is what they say: “I am not worthy for this sun to shine on me.” This is the sign of Christianity, this is humility. And if anyone says: “I have enough, I am filled,” he is a deceiver and a liar.”

Another important point to remember is that as long as a person lives, he can always fall. No state of holiness, no wealth protects him from the return of temptations, passions and even sin, if only he becomes careless, self-righteous or proud. Even “dispassion,” freedom from passions, can be lost again through our own fault. This is one of the main differences between the “Spiritual Conversations” and the heretical Messalian teaching, which asserted that in a state of “dispassion” a person can no longer fall. St. Macarius has many vivid descriptions of this kind of fall from a state of grace. “One of the brothers,” he says, “who was praying with the other, was captured by Divine power. Being delighted, he saw the high city of Jerusalem and bright images and endless Light. And he heard a voice saying: “This is the resting place of the righteous.” And a little later, having become arrogant and thinking that what he saw related to him, it happened to him that he fell into the most secret and deepest sins, into countless evils.” Human freedom is preserved even in the highest states of grace. “Bound by the Holy Spirit and intoxicated with heavenly things has the power to turn to evil... even those who have tasted the grace of God and become partakers of the Spirit, if they are not careful, are extinguished and become worse than when they were worldly.”

In another place, however, St. Macarius seems to admit that a person who has achieved perfect love is no longer subject to temptation. He says: “If anyone has achieved perfect love, he is henceforth bound and captivated by grace.” But he immediately adds that this is a completely exceptional state and that it is very easy to make a mistake in assessing its worth. “But if anyone comes very close to the measure of love, but does not reach to be bound by love itself, he is still under fear and in war, and in danger of falling, and if he does not take precautions, Satan throws him to the ground.” Etc. Macarius says that he has never met a perfect person. “I have not yet seen a perfect man, a Christian and a free man,” he says, “but even if someone rests in grace and enters into mysteries and revelations, and into the many sweetness of grace, he is nevertheless co-present with him from the inside.” Therefore, while we are alive, we must be ready to fight against the dark forces. “Satan never calms down so as not to fight. As long as anyone lives in this age and wears flesh, war is waged against him.” Even “when someone tastes the goodness of the Lord and enjoys the fruits of the Spirit, and the veil of darkness is taken away from him and the light of Christ shines... in unspeakable joy... he still has struggle and fear of robbers and spirits of evil, so that, having relaxed, he would not lose his work until will not be worthy to enter the Kingdom of Heaven."

We need good spiritual vision to see this entire invisible world of hostile or friendly spirits surrounding us and interfering with our inner life. He can only be seen with spiritual eyes. “There is a satanic earth and fatherland, where dark forces and spirits of evil live and walk on it and rest. There is also a bright land of the Divine, where militias of angels and holy spirits walk and rest. Neither the dark earth can be seen with the eyes of this body or be tangible, nor the light earth of the Divine can be touched or visible with carnal eyes, but among spiritual persons it is visible with the eye of the heart, both the satanic dark and the light of the Divinity.” Man is free and capable of entering into relations with both kingdoms, the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness. “The same soul is a fellow and sister of demons or of God and angels. And if she commits adultery with the devil, she becomes unfit for the Heavenly Bridegroom.”

This is, in its main outline, the teaching of “Spiritual Conversations” about the role of invisible forces in spiritual life. Summing up what has been said, we can note that although their author is not silent about the actions of angels (they are sent by God to fight demons, they are present during our struggle, help us, enter into communication with our soul, etc.), nevertheless mentions them, so to speak, in passing. Etc. Macarius does not differ in this respect from his predecessors, however, he dwells in more detail on the actions of dark forces. He avoids talking about their physical actions or their visible appearances and speaks mainly about the hidden satanic spiritual force operating within us, in the soul - not even in the mind or heart, but somewhere much deeper, “below the mind and deeper than the thoughts,” as he speaks himself, or in our subconscious, as we might perhaps put it in the language of modern psychology. This satanic force takes on in the writings of St. Macarius the striking image of a spiritual serpent, “nesting in the so-called storerooms and warehouses of the soul.” We undoubtedly encounter here a significant deepening of the existing teaching, even in comparison with Evagrius, who tried to explain temptations by the physical pressure of demons on the brain. At the same time, St. Macarius usually connects and sometimes identifies satanic action with the power of sin or with the “old man” who “put on” after the fall. Grace and Christ are opposed to this “satanic leaven” at work in us. Our liberation from dark enslavement is always thought of in Christological images. Christ on the Cross destroys the power of Satan. Christ descends into the hell of our souls and frees us from demonic captivity. Christ raises us to new life and sends us the Holy Spirit. Therefore, for St. Macarius, our struggle against evil is not just a moral struggle, but has as its basis the existence of a real “satanic world of darkness,” perceived by spiritual eyes, and the opposite light “world of the Divine.”

There are many antinomies in the teachings of Spiritual Conversations, which sometimes make their true understanding very difficult. Human freedom and the power of Satan; grace and dark forces operating simultaneously in the soul; our liberation by Christ and the possibility of falling again; captivity by perfect love (not dispassion) and the impermanence of even the highest states of holiness; all this constitutes undeniable data of genuine and deep spiritual experience and penetrating knowledge of human nature, although their theological expression is not always easy. In any case, “Spiritual Conversations” rejects the main Messalian errors, such as the essentiality of evil, the personal unity of the soul with Satan, the impossibility of falling from a state of “dispassion,” etc. . “Spiritual Conversations” can rightly be considered as the greatest work of ancient Eastern Christian spiritual writing. They contain invaluable material on the spiritual struggle of Christians against dark forces.

IV. St. Diadochos of Photius

A further development of these teachings towards a more subtle distinction of spiritual states and greater accuracy of their theological expression can be found in the writings of the fifth century bishop, St. Diadoche of Photiki. Two questions are considered in particular detail by St. Diadochos in his main work “One Hundred Gnostic Chapters on Spiritual Perfection”: the first is about the difference between the action of grace and the action of Satan; the second is a theological description of the way in which both of them operate in a Christian as opposed to their operation in an unbaptized person. St. Diadochos in the following words describes the satanic action that tries to counterfeit the sensation produced by grace in order to deceive us with a false sweetness: “When our mind begins to feel the consolation of the Holy Spirit, then Satan also consoles the soul with some sweet-looking feeling in the silence of the night, when a person leans toward some subtle sleep. So, if the mind turns out to be firmly holding in warm memory the holy name of the Lord Jesus and, as a weapon, uses this holy and glorious name against deception, then the cunning deceiver leaves, it is true, but from this time he is kindled against the soul in a war that takes on a personal character. Therefore, the mind, recognizing the deception of the evil one, is more successful in the experience of discernment.”

We pay special attention to the instruction about the “memory of the holy name of the Lord Jesus,” considered as a powerful weapon against satanic temptations. Chronologically, this is the first mention of the “Jesus Prayer” known to us in Eastern spiritual writing. St. Diadochos, in the next chapter, again advises using it: “If the mind... will carefully remember the Lord Jesus, it will dispel this seemingly sweet breath of the enemy.” St. Diadochos contrasts false consolation with the true consolation produced by the Holy Spirit. Such consolation arouses in us an ardent love for God. It has the confidence of its authenticity. It comes openly, not stealthily,” like a satanic consolation that always acts in a thievish manner. “If the soul is inflamed to the love of God in an undoubted and ugly movement... thinking nothing else at that time except the very thing where it is set in motion, it must know that this is the action of the Holy Spirit. For, completely delighted by this indescribable sweetness, she cannot think of anything else, since she rejoices with a joy that is incomparable to anything. But if, as a result of this action on him, any doubt or any dirty thought is formed in the mind... one must think that this consolation, under the appearance of joy, comes from the deceiver. Such joy is without quality and is completely unsettled, as if it comes from someone who wants to commit adultery with the soul. For when he sees that the mind boasts of the experience of its feeling, then it calls on the soul with certain consolations... good in appearance, so that when it becomes as if forked from this relaxing and slightly moist sweetness, the deceptive admixture would become unrecognizable to it. So, from this we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error."

Oxford (“Bulletin of the Russian Western European Patriarchal Exarchate”, 1955. No. 22. pp. 132–157)

In memory of Archbishop Basil of Brussels

Archbishop Basil of Brussels and Belgium (in the world Vsevolod Krivoshein) was called to the Lord on September 22 of this year. in his hometown of St. Petersburg, where he was born on June 19, 1900 and where he spent his entire youth until the First World War. His father A.V. Krivoshein was the Minister of Agriculture and Land Management during the reign of Emperor Nicholas II.

The February Revolution found him a student at the Faculty of Philology of Petrograd University. Having soon moved to Moscow, Vsevolod decided to move south and join the ranks of the Volunteer Army. As a result of military operations, Vsevolod was taken from Novorossiysk to Cairo at the end of 1919. In 1920, he found himself in Paris with all the surviving members of his family. He entered the Sorbonne and at the same time took part in congresses of Orthodox youth.

In 1924, he enrolled as a student at the St. Sergius Theological Institute in Paris, which had just been founded by Metropolitan Eulogius, but almost immediately, after taking part in an excursion to Mount Athos, he decided to stay there forever.

Vsevolod took monastic vows in the Russian St. Panteleimon Monastery: as a monk he was given the name Vasily. Gradually, along with the usual monastic obediences, having mastered Greek, O. Vasily began to conduct the clerical work of the monastery and was admitted to the most valuable book depository of the monastery, where ancient Greek manuscripts and archives are located. From that time on, his passion for patristic writing began.

Already in 1936, Fr. Basil gained fame for his remarkable work on the then little-known Saint Gregory Palamas (“The Ascetic and Theological Teachings of St. Gregory Palamas”).

In the 50s Fr. Vasily had to leave his native monastery. Then I met him in Athens, where we often met either in the Russian Church of St. Nicodemus, or National Library, where we both worked in the department of Greek ancient manuscripts.

In 1951, thanks to the petition of Metropolitan Germanos of Fiotira, Fr. Basil managed to receive an invitation to Oxford University to participate in the compilation of the “Greek Patristic Dictionary”. Since then, his scientific work on the holy fathers of the Church and, mainly, on the publication of the scientific Greek original of the works of St. Simeon the New Theologian, in the French collection "Sources Chretiennes". His publishing work culminated in the publication of a brilliant monograph about St. Simeone, published simultaneously in Russian and French in 1980.

I must, of course, mention his frequent presence and active participation in the liturgical annual conventions of the Theological Institute in Paris. We rejoiced at his speeches at the general meetings of these scientific congresses.

Already upon his arrival in Oxford, Fr. Vasily accepted the priesthood; and in 1959, his episcopal consecration for the Belgian See of the Moscow Patriarchate took place in London. From 1960 until his death, Vladyka Vasily lived in a house at a Russian church in Brussels.

During these 25 years of his bishopric, Vl. Vasily took an active part in inter-Christian and pan-Orthodox congresses and meetings as a representative of the Moscow Patriarchate.

Being deeply devoted to the Russian Church, Vl. Vasily mourned her state of bondage in relation to Soviet state. His voice was one of the few voiced during the meetings of the Moscow Council in 1971, when he spoke in favor of a secret ballot in electing the future Moscow Patriarch.

Then Vl. Basil publicly and repeatedly opposed the so-called 1961 parish regulations. He challenged these decrees as contrary to the canons, violating the unity of church government, transferring all power in parishes to the laity, in a word, harmful to the Church.

“Why were you all silent?” – he asked one bishop. “We are overwhelmed, we cannot speak, but you spoke on behalf of everyone. Thank you. All the bishops listened to you and agreed with what you said. All the bishops kissed your lips.”