THE NEGATIVE REPERCUSSIONS OF A STEREOTYPICAL AND
SIMPLISTIC APPROACH TO DEPRESSION IN PASTORAL PRACTICE AND
THE THERAPEUTIC
POTENTIALITY OF UNCONDITIONAL LOVE
Nikitas Kafkios,
clinical psychologist | September 9, 2012
I. Grief and
Depression
In our presentation, we intend to
show analytically the negative effects that habitually arise out of a
simplistic pastoral approach to depression and to argue that unconditional
respect for the freedom of the individual person in conjunction with Christian
love is the foundation of true, supportive pastoral intervention.
In psychiatry and clinical
psychology, grief is considered a physiological and demiurgic reaction of a
person confronting unforeseen traumatic events that contravene one’s security
and worth or upset his existential equilibrium. However, when grief becomes
more and more intense with the passage of time and impedes one’s physical
activities, such as work, eating, sleep, and personal interactions, we can
diagnose it as depression.
More precisely, the clinical
symptoms of depression are the following: constant grieving, loss of energy,
and exhaustion; an increased or decreased desire for food; a proclivity towards
isolation and social detachment; anxiety or worry about everything; vacillation,
difficulty in making decisions; loss of interest in seeking loving
companionship or for intimate relations; feelings of guilt, self-loathing, and
unworthiness; too much or too little sleep; a poor disposition during the
greater part of the day, almost daily; a reduction of interest in, or enjoyment
of, nearly all activities; worry and gloom concerning the future; no hope in
any area.
II. The
Stereotypes of a Simplistic Approach to Depression:
The Initial Error
of “Theological Reductionism”
The stereotypes that we will
analyze derive, to a greater or lesser degree, from a corresponding error in
assumptions about the experience of depression in the hermeneutic dimensions of
pastoral theology. Personal life events, the knowledge and experience of each
individual, define his existential horizon and his concept of the world. The
more fixed one is on this horizon, that is, the more complete and unique he
considers his way of life and his view of reality, the more difficult it is for
him to feel what another is feeling and to see reality through another’s eyes:
“We can never assume his personality, his life, and his person in such a way as
to experience his life exactly as he lives it.” [1]
A spiritual Father, like any
other person, is handicapped in comprehending and grasping the existential
outlook of an individual who suffers from depression. He perceives and explains
the experience and the existential condition of the sufferer [2] by way of his
own person and his own experiences of grief. For this reason, he many times
finds it difficult to conceive of and understand the seriousness of the
symptoms of depression, and believes that a patient can be cured if he or she
simply tries harder to apply the Will of God in his or her life. However, it is
obvious that it is not possible to understand and to help a sufferer if one
assesses the sufferer’s life experience and behaviors by way of one’s own
interpretive filters and ethical and religious standards.
As well, it is not correct to
make a patient guilty after the fact, when pastoral intervention does not
function therapeutically in his or her case. In assessing the experience of
depression through the prism of Scripture or the writings of the Holy Fathers,
a spiritual Father removes himself from the Weltanschauung and
experiential horizon of the believer and falls to the error of theological
reductionism; that is, the reduction of the biopsychological phenomenon of
depression to the level of theology. Depression is a psychopathological
phenomenon, and it is not correct to overlook its psychopathological dimension
and to explain it by the principles and axioms of theology. Committing such an
error, we wrongly come to think of pathological depression as an experience of
grief, the reasons for which derive from selfishness and a distancing of
oneself from God.
By this alien theological
explanation and the pastoral guidance that it entails, the believer who is
afflicted by depression, instead of finding relief, feels that his spiritual
Father does not understand him and does not accept him, but rejects him. The
error of theological reductionism contributes to the creation of various
stereotypes. We will analyze seven of these stereotypes and ascertain what
their consequences are for pastoral practice:
1. “Depression is a matter of
choice. One who is afflicted by depression chooses to be afflicted.”
This stereotype is based on the
following widely held notion: each person is responsible for his actions and
his life experiences; therefore, his suffering means that his grief is by
choice. “In the case of certain people—do not let this strike you as strange—
they like to be in constant perplexity, to be anxious, to be gloomy, to be
suspicious, to be jealous, and to be angry.” [3]
In keeping with the Church’s
theology, the fall of man to ruination, illness, and death occurred because of
the urging of the Devil, but also with the free consent of man. Just as the
first man freely chose to fall, so every person freely chooses to
distance himself from God and to fall to sin. Since ruination, illness, and
death result from sin, this means that an individual who suffers from
depression chooses to fall to the sin of depression.
Personally, I believe that the
fall to which the First-Created [Adam and Eve] succumbed has not the slightest
connection with a “fall” to depression. I personally believe that depression is
not a choice; the choice is in how one chooses to deal with depression.
No one would consciously choose to be afflicted or to suffer. A patient cannot choose
to be free from depression, though he can learn to cope, as best he can,
with negative feelings.
Even in a case where someone
becomes accustomed to expressing himself in a depressed manner, such that he
somehow gets something from his depression, such as the sympathy and
concern of others, in reality this involves an unconscious choice or a neurotic
indicator. The phrase, “You do not want to change,” or “If you wanted to, you
could,” demonstrates a lack of respect for the peculiar uniqueness and the
weakness of a patient. It constitutes an act of violence against his person,
which leads to feelings of despondency and abandonment. When a spiritual Father
to whom the patient turns to get help considers the patient responsible for his
difficulties and attributes guilt to him, the patient inevitably feels betrayed
and hopelessly alone.
2. “A depressed person is not
suffering from something pathological. He is healthy, but does not try hard
enough to help himself”
This stereotype is related to the
foregoing one. Since one chooses to fall to depression, he is not ill, but a
tormented sinner. Additionally, if he would put forth enough effort, he could
overcome his depression by his own strength, calling on the help of God.
Anyway, whatever the case, he is surely responsible for his sick condition; for
even if God will not help him, this simply means that he is not calling on God
in the right way, or stems from his not fulfilling the requirements for
receiving God’s help.
In reality, however, with
depression it is precisely the ability for conscious effort that has
suffered injury. The patient finds it difficult to achieve practical goals. He
knows the ways by which he could help himself, but he feels as though he cannot
put forth the effort to apply in practice all of the things that could help
him. He does not need direction, but strength and energy; he does not need
advice, but the necessary existential basics that would allow him to trust his
own abilities and to cure himself.
The spiritual Father asks the
patient to struggle against the sinful sickness of depression in order to be
cured. But to struggle with the power of his will to overcome depression is
like trying to turn on his cell phone when its battery has gone dead, or trying
to rise into the air by pulling on his shoestrings. The believer feels that he
is being asked something that is impossible for him to accomplish. As a
consequence of this, he feels an intensification of the negative sensations of
guilt, shame, unworthiness, and fear that were already preexistent in him as
symptoms of depression.
3. “Psychotherapy or
pharmacological assistance is not necessary.”
The majority of spiritual
Fathers, and especially those who enjoy only theological reading and do not
have experience with, or have not studied, psychopathology, doubt the validity
and the usefulness of psychiatry and psychotherapy. “So many have become
psychiatric physicians, psychoanalysts, psychologists, and they treat
patients.... What patients, indeed? Who are you to treat such patients?” [4]
Yet, most scientific statistical studies show that anti-depressants and anxiety
medications, in conjunction with psychotherapeutic support, offer crucial aid,
in most instances, in confronting depression. In severe forms of depression,
pharmaceutical treatment is absolutely necessary.
Psychotherapy helps the person
undergoing therapy come to know himself, to recognize and to accept his
weaknesses, and with a calm sense of humility to surrender them to the power
and love of God. More specifically, psychotherapy can help a person who suffers
from depression
• to recognize and rethink
thoughts and behaviors that result in the creation of the feelings of
despondency, culpability, and guilt that accompany and are found at the roots
of depression;
• to know which of the problems
that beset him can be resolved, and in what way, and which of them cannot be
resolved, but with which it behooves him to co-exist harmoniously;
• to improve his relationship
with loved ones;
• to reintroduce into his life
pleasing activities that can reawaken within him the joy of life;
• to claim his rights and not
retreat out of fear of the opinions of others;
• to base his choices on his own
values and on his own desires;
• to gain control of his life;
• to develop his abilities,
setting realistic goals for the future, and to assume the responsibility and
the risk for these choices.
The disdain of a spiritual Father
for psychiatry and psychotherapy turns the believer away from the possibility
of accepting the counsel of science, so as to be helped.
4. “Depression is the result
of sinful experiences. The accumulation of sin and misdeeds distances man from
the salubrious path of God and leads him to depression… Illness, every form of illness,
is a consequence of the fall of man. This means that sickness is tied to sin
and to human nature. It is not ‘natural,’ therefore, for man to become sick,
but unnatural (παρά φνσιν).” [5]
In actuality, depression is a
psychopathological phenomenon that has as much connection to sin as a bone
fracture or sugar diabetes. Despite this, most spiritual Fathers are certain
that, since depression manifests itself in the sphere of behavior and
psychology, confronting it, in terms of assessment and therapy, belongs to the
jurisdiction of pastoral psychology. With the conviction that clinical
depression is a spiritual disease, and as a consequence derives from a departure
from God, selfishness, and egotism, the spiritual Father approaches the patient
as a sinner.
Accordingly, the spiritual Father
advises, admonishes, and urges the sufferer to change his way of life and to
align his life with the Will of God. In this attempt, however, he usually fails
to take into account the psychological dimension of depressive experiences. And
when we are ignorant of the psychology of a patient, that is, the
characteristics of his personality, his needs, his desires, his interpersonal
relationships, his traumatic experiences, his fears, his insecurities, and his
unrealistic aspirations, it is not possible to help him.
5. “Depression is the result
of selfishness and unbridled egotism. ...The chief reason for depression and
all that we call demonic, Satanic...is that you have within you an inflated
ego.” [6]
The individual who is afflicted
by depression presents with behaviors that can easily be construed as
egotistical, such as grumbling, making demands on others, withdrawal from
society, sleeping long hours, and a lack of desire to work or to interact with
others. The experience of depression drains an individual of all of his energy
to act and he becomes preoccupied with nothing other than his own problems.
The patient is bogged down by
grief and is continually preoccupied with what he is thinking about and what he
feels. This painful, overwhelming preoccupation of an individual with his own
self is wrongly taken by some spiritual Fathers to be egocentrism: “The
depressed individual experiences sadness, bitterness, and pain precisely
because he will not bend, will not show humility, will not repent, but is
[rather] overcome by wounded pride and the desire to please others.” [7]
In reality, a person who suffers
from depression is not selfish, since he has no love for himself; he does not
have inner balance and harmony, has excessive feelings of guilt and inadequacy
for his faults and weaknesses—and especially for his depression; he is not
happy, enjoys nothing, does not look after himself, and does not satisfy his
basic needs. With depression, a person does not suffer from unbridled egotism,
but from a pathological egocentrism, since his pain makes him attend constantly
to his needs and focus insistently on his negative feelings and weaknesses.
6. “The cause of depression is
a lack of faith, prayer, love, and trust in God. If you find a good Elder and
partake of the Mysteries of the Church, you will overcome it. ...We greatly set
upon the Will of God when, on account of the grievances and worries that come
to us, we fall to gloom, murmuring, hopelessness, immeasurable sadness, and
stern coldness.” [8]
Of course, the cultivation of
spiritual virtues and participation in the Mysteries help one in facing grief,
but the person who suffers from depression typically has not the slightest
desire to be present at services or to engage in spiritual struggle. The
believer who lives with the symptoms of pathological depression not only has no
appetite or desire to respond to the guidance of his spiritual Father or the
Church, but he is likewise not able to cope with his basic everyday
obligations.
Because he finds it difficult to
keep himself clean, to eat, or to sleep, it is only natural that he should find
it even more difficult to pray, to participate in services, to fast, or to show
love and provide comfort to those in his family environment. Depression, like
other psychopathological disturbances, does not arise from, and is not
reinforced by, a lack of faith, obedience, love, or trust in God.
On the contrary, depression
impedes a conscious growth in faith, obedience, love, and trust in God. A
person suffering from depression feels that his life is empty, without any
meaning; as a result, it is very difficult for him to feel at a conscious level
that he can trust in God. He feels that all of his powers are ineffective, and
he is struck by panic in seeking any improvement in his condition. Anything
outside his need to survive or to alleviate his grief he considers an
unrealistic luxury.
Many Grace-endowed spiritual
Fathers believe that prayer and the worship of God, with the help of Grace,
transform depression into joy. “Prayer and the worship of God transform
depression, little by little, and turn it into joy, because the Grace of God
acts on it. Here one must have the strength to draw on the Grace of God, Who
will help you to unite with Him.” [9]
They do not explain, however, by
what means the debilitated sufferer, who lacks exactly strength and power, is
able to draw on Grace. This is so only if by “power” we mean our delivery from
our weakness and its placement in God’s hands: “Place the sickness of
your nature in the hands of God, fully realizing your own weakness, and you
will then receive the gift of wisdom, without even knowing it.” [10] In the pit
of grief, God is present, and it is possible to have a relationship of silent
prayer with Him there.
The wounded with the Wounded One,
the crucified with the Crucified One, the one who is alone with the One Who
alone is, in a mystical, personal relationship of communion.
7. “Depression is a
demonic-Satanic condition. ...He (the Devil) succeeds in tapping our very
energy and makes it into grief, depression, and whatever—I don’t know what the
so-called psychiatrists may call it. We do not call it by the names they use.
We call it satanic activity; we call it coldness; we call it evil thought; we
call it the demon of coldness, the demon of immorality, the demon, the demon,
the demon. There are different demons for every Satanic activity that is
created in us. [11] ...That is, what had overtaken her [a depressed
person—see endnote below] was a psychic force, and instead of becoming
something good, the Devil made this psychic power into depression and tormented
the person.” [12]
We cannot prove that depression
results from satanic activity; nor can we prove the contrary. In most
instances, however, the assumption of satanic intervention is not necessary,
since the phenomenon of depression is more easily and more simply explained on
the basis of the biochemistry of the brain, personal history, or the negative
experiences, thoughts, and behaviors of the patient. In the past, in the realm
of the Church all diseases were considered the results of satanic activity, and
even bodily disease; indeed, we often hear our brothers and sisters reduce
anything difficult or negative to demonic activity. The devil is made
responsible for all of their errors, failures, and weaknesses.
I believe that if something
negative can be simply and easily explained by simple and objective givens,
there is no need to ascribe responsibility for it to evil spirits. Therefore,
it is preferable to limit the attribution of the phenomenon of satanic
influences to other unusual demonic disturbances, and not to instances of
depression.
III. The Pastoral
Aspect of Love
A. Grief and Depression as a
Gift
Aside from his positive support
in confronting the everyday problems that result from the associated effects of
depression, a spiritual Father can help assist a patient with love, humility,
and prayer. A spiritual Father’s love, in particular, is a necessary
prerequisite for soteriologically fruitful pastoral activity. Depression is not
simply a painful experience without significance or meaning. As the expression
of human weakness par excellence, there is concealed within depression a
therapeutic and soteriological power.
In the Church, grief is
transformed into a gift; illness, by the Grace of God, mystically prepares the
ground of the soul for the manifestation of God. At a spiritual level, a person
becomes capable, to the extent that he recognizes his weakness, of surrendering
himself to the love of God. The existential return to God, that is, repentance,
is consummated to the extent that human weakness is baptized in the Grace of
God.
The role of the Grace-endowed
spiritual Father is to make the Grace of God visible to the believer through
unconditional love; without this love, the spiritual Father cannot carry out
his work. “The Grace-endowed spiritual Father loves and feels the pain of a
soul.... A spiritual Father who is not resolved even to go into hell for the
love of his spiritual children is not a spiritual Father.” [14]
In the following paragraphs we
will focus especially on love, basing ourselves on the supposition that it is
closely related to, and inseparable from, humility and prayer. First, however,
we will make extensive reference to the therapeutic power of depression itself,
since it is our belief that depression contains within it the possibility of
becoming holy humility.
B. The Therapeutic Power of
Weakness
In the Church, external
circumstances of a disadvantageous kind, temptations, and illnesses are
considered basic presuppositions for the salvation of man. “No one who has not
experienced temptation can enter into the Kingdom of God, and no such one can be
saved.” [15] Human weakness is made wholly visible in the experience of
depression. The believer is called to hand himself over to the love of God, so
as to become perfectly strong: “My strength is made perfect in weakness.” [16]
Even though in the state of
depression a patient may find it difficult to pray for keenness of mind, to
participate in the Church’s services, or to help himself in any way whatever,
it is possible for his relationship to God to function at a deeper, internal
level. For when a person is ill and cannot help himself, it is then that God
activates the mystery of sadness in his heart, in order to save him. “The
person takes part in his salvation by synergy, even if the possibility of
synergy is a gift of Grace… Man is not a passive, but an active, recipient of
Grace. It is simply that even this active reception is a Divine gift.” [17]
In the Church, illness is
considered a precursor to spiritual health and power: “When I am ill, only then
am I strong.” [18] The deadlock of sorrow in a person suffering from depression
has existential and spiritual meaning; for God works in the heart of a person
by means of illness and grief: “Their souls are guided, by visible instances of
grief, to virtue.” [19] Depression can more greatly connect one to knowledge of
God through repentance than visible and demonstrable ascetic practices. The
crushing sadness of the soul brings into action the succor of Grace; pain comes
to act as a therapeutic means of cleansing, that one might partake of the joy
of the Holy Spirit.
“Since by this crushing sadness
the soul is freed from anger and bitterness, its place is taken by spiritual
Grace.” [20] The Providence of God renders worthy human errors and sadness,
leading a well-intentioned individual to the blessed state of humble self-knowledge.
In the Orthodox spiritual tradition, self-knowledge is humility and humility is
self-knowledge. “He who truly knows himself possesses humility. And when a man
is made humble, the Grace of God will certainly come upon him.” [21]
The intensity of despair
increases the probability that the heart of the sufferer will be energized by
the mystery of repentance. Nothingness lies on the border of the sensible
perception of God; an existential void can potentially spark a change of course
and the entrusting of one’s existence to God. “With my whole heart I cried unto
the compassionate God, and He hearkened unto me from the lowest depth of Hades,
and brought my life out of corruption.” [22] This shifting in the center of
gravity from the impotent self to the omnipotence of God unlocks the
possibility of salvation.
How this change of course and
surrender to God vis-a-vis one’s existence can be brought to fruition is
mysterious and something that cannot be explained [merely] by scrutinizing the
factors that determine the life of an individual. “By the Grace of God I am
what I am..., yet not I labored, but the Grace of God which was with me.” [23]
The love of a genial spiritual Father works in synergy, in an essential way,
with the functioning of the mystery of repentance, such that the depression of
the impotent believer is turned over to the therapeutic omnipotence of God.
The therapeutic function of
Divine love does not mean the inevitable relief of symptoms, but rather the
enlightenment of the soul by the Grace of God. “For the Church, therapy is not
a psychogonical and moral matter, but an ontological one. The aim of therapy is
not to relieve the symptoms of a person’s illness, but to regenerate him.” [24]
And when a person is united with God, the sadness of these symptoms subsides to
the extent that they are endowed with eschatological significance in the Holy
Spirit. It is then that these symptoms are experienced as the marks of
crucifixion and take on a resurrectional significance.
C. Unconditional Love in
Christ
The spiritual Father who is
unable to understand the depth and the complex functionings of human existence
rushes to offer the believer concrete counsel and guidance. He wants
immediately to solve the problems of the sufferer and to place him on the right
path. For this reason, he adopts a pastoral approach based on reason,
words, and action, and does not appreciate the therapeutic functionality of
unknowing, of silence, of humility, and of love. A spiritual Father is called
to love, and is not called to focus on the existential and spiritual weaknesses
of the believer or to counsel him in self-evident ethical matters. “Many times
I see something in the agony of another, understanding or knowing what he has
done, yet out of respect I do not say anything to him, if he does not tell me
himself.... It does not help, indeed, to play the teacher to another and to
examine him about his habits, if he does not grant you that right.” [25]
The Grace-endowed Elder, and
especially in Confession, embraces with discretion a pastoral approach that is
rooted in humility and unconditional love. He does not seek to aid the believer
so much with his own knowledge and social skills, as to do so with the
revelation of the love of God. “It is a great delusion for you to think that by
your efforts you can change a man.... When someone prays for another person,
this is fine; but when one tries to change him, it is not. That is solely in
the Hands of God.” [26]
Instead of insisting, propose
solutions with correct religious counsel, it being preferable to respect the
existential reality of the believer and to embrace with maternal affection his
sadness, his weaknesses, and his freedom. In this way, the encounter of the
spiritual Father and the believer is elevated to the experience of peaceful
Grace, which is inspired by the therapeutic energy of Divine love. The love of
the spiritual Father for the believer is the catalyst, so that sadness and
depression might operate in a sanctifying manner.
In pastoral communication, the
spiritual Father who loves, being filled with the love of God, communicates
with the believer, having emptied out himself. He adopts the way of seeing and
living of the believer, without being tied to his personal theoretical schemata
about the world and his individual systems of belief. Within the boundaries of
charismatic, unconditional, distinctive love, a believer can be absolutely and
freely himself, without feelings that his spiritual Father is judging him,
confining him, or failing to understand him.
D. The Cognizance of God
Love is the cognizance of God.
The spiritual Father vividly manifests this love to the degree that he
participates in it. Sweet, prayerful, humble love is therapeutic. “If you wish
to correct someone’s errors, do not think that you can correct him by your own
power. Pray to God, Who ‘searches the heart and the reins,’ with your whole
soul, that the Same may enlighten the heart of the person.” [27] In our daily
communication, let us affirm that the condition in which life experiences place
one person affects the condition in which another’s life experiences place him;
common sentiments, such as joy, sadness, anxiety, fear or enthusiasm, are
passed from one to another, like liquid elements flowing from one container to
another.
This communion in life
experiences, and specifically the influence which the love of the spiritual
Father exercises over the believer, we can better understand with the following
example: If we place two guitars opposite one another and stroke a string on
the first guitar, we will observe that a corresponding string on the other
guitar will begin to vibrate. In the same way, in the relationship of a
spiritual Father and believer, when the spiritual Father feels sweet love in his
heart, this love awakens the Divine therapeutic power which is hidden in the
heart of the believer. “One soul communicates with another and the one soul
senses the other.” [28]
A Grace-filled spiritual Father
sees in the face of the believer a potential Saint; he sees Christ Himself.
With the spiritual sensory organs of love and humility, he feels that
the believer is one with him within the Body of Christ, the Church.
Endnotes
and References
1. Nikitas
Kafkios (2009), “The acceptance without limits of the existential
presuppositions of the person in pastoral practice.” See www.psyche.gr/poimantiki3.htm.
(Emphasis added.)
2. A
psychologist uses the term “άσθενής” (a patient or ill individual) in
accordance with the etymological meaning of the term: “ασθενής” or one who is
without “σθένος,” or strength. As well, this term underscores the fact that a
person who suffers from depression bears no fault on account of what is
happening to him, and cannot be cured simply by the power of his will.
3.
Metropolitan Nicholas (Chatzenikolaou) of Mesogaia and Lavreotike (2010), from
an interview in the newspaper Makedonia. [One might rightly note, of
course, that His Eminence is not necessarily addressing, in his comments, the
issue of clinical depression or pathological behavior, but certain personality
traits that individuals sometimes adopt in social interaction. At the same
time, the line that separates personality traits from personality disorders of
a pathological kind is a thin one, and we must therefore take the author’s
comments quite seriously.]
4.
Constantine Giannitsiotes, Near to Elder Porphyries. Athens: Ekdosis
Hierou Hesychasteriou “He Metamorphosis tou Soteros,” 2006, p. 199.
5.
Metropolitan John (Zezioulas) of Pergamon, “Theology and Psychiatry in
Dialogue,” in Conference Proceedings. Athens: Ekdoseis “Apostolike
Diakonia,” 1999, pp. 141-156.
6. Elder
Porphyrios, Hieromonk, A Conversation on Depression. Melesi (Greece):
Ekdosis Hierou Gynaikeiou Hesychasteriou “He Metamorphosis tou Soteros,” n.d.,
p. 12.
7. Elder
Paisios the Hagiorite, “Discourse V,” in Passions and Virtues. Sourote
(Thessalonike): Ekdosis Hierou Hesychasteriou “Evangelistes Ioannes ho
Theologos,” 2006, p. 139.
8. Staretz
Zacharias, Apophthegmata From Russian Saints and Elders. See http://users.uoa.gr/~nektar/orthodoxy/gerontikon/gerontikon5_russians.htm.
9.
Constantine C. Karakoles, The Gift of Discernment (Elder Porphyrios). Melesi
(Greece): Ekdosis Hierou Gynaikeiou Hesychasteriou “He Metamorphosis tou
Soteros,” 2011, p. 352.
10. St. John
the Sinaite, The Ladder, “On Chastity II,” Step XV.
11. Elder
Porphyrios, op. cit., p. 10.
12. Elder
Porphyrios is referring to a discussion of his with a certain female professor.
13. St.
Nicodemos the Hagiorite, The Book of Barsanouphios and John. Ekdoseis
Soteriou Schoina, 1960, pp. 82-83 (Reply 110).
14. Elder
Paisios the Hagiorite, Spiritual Struggle, “Discourse III.” Sourote
(Thessalonike): Ekdosis Hierou Hesychasteriou “Evangelistes Ioannes ho
Theologos,” 2007.
15. St.
Anthony the Great, Patrologia Grceca LXV, col. 77A.
16. II
Corinthians 12:9-10.
17. Nikitas
Kafkios (2010), “Freedom and Divine Grace: The Role of Human Effort in The Work
of Salvation.” See www.psyche.gr./graceandworks.htm.
18. II
Corinthians 12:10.
19. St.
Isaac the Syrian, Ascetical Homilies, “Discourse XXV.” Thessalonike:
Ekdoseis Basileiou Regopoulos, 1997, p. 28.
20. St.
Gregory Palamas, ‘To the Nun Xene,” in The Philokalia. Ekdoseos “To
Periboli tes Panagias,” Vol. IV, p. 98.
21. Elder
Paisios, op. cit.
22. St.
Andrew of Crete, “The Great Canon,” Ode VI.
23.1
Corinthians 15:10.
24.
Metropolitan John (Zezioulas) of Pergamon, op. cit.
25. Elder
Paisios the Hagiorite, op. cit.
26. Nun
Gabrielia, The Eldress Gabrielia. Athens: Ekdoseis “Eptalophos,” 1996,
p. 181.
27. St. John
of Kronstadt, My Life in Christ. Athens: Ekdoseis “Aster,” 1974, p. 25.
28. Elder
Porphyrios Kavsokalybites, Life and Writings. Chrysopege, Chania
(Crete): Ekdosis Hieras Mones Zoodochou Peges, 2003, p. 273.
Source: Orthodox
Tradition, Vol. XXXII (2015), No. 1, pp. 4-18.
