Saint Nicodemus the Hagiorite: On the Last Days of the Faith and the Fall of the Faithful

 

Saint Nicodemus the Hagiorite was a fervent guardian of the Orthodox faith and an untiring laborer of spiritual renewal within his age. He wrote and taught not only concerning the present but also about the future of the Church, discerning through his prayerful life the trends of spiritual decline that would characterize the last days.

Through his writings—especially Spiritual Exercises, Unseen Warfare, and On Frequent Communion—he sketches the impending decline not only of worldly men but also of Christians.

Saint Nicodemus did not prophesy with dates and terrifying signs, but he unveiled the internal decay that would precede the events: the slackening of the faithful, the loss of discernment, the devaluation of spiritual life, the abandonment of the mysteries, the fall of the clergy,
and the blindness of the laity. And all this not due to persecutions, but because of inward corrosion. Secondly, the eclipse of true repentance.

One of the most profound diagnoses of Saint Nicodemus is his observation that in the last times, people will not know what the spiritual life truly means. There will be confession without compunction, prayer without heart, fasting without mourning. All will be done mechanically, out of habit or form, without any spiritual sense. Many, he writes, will think they have faith, while possessing only outward piety. Repentance will be reduced to external formality—tears without depth, words without pain, hypocrisy well-crafted. But God, says the Saint, seeks a contrite and humbled heart, not pretenses.

With striking discernment, Saint Nicodemus warns that in times of spiritual crisis, there will be many falls—even among those who appear to be great. Monks, priests, teachers, and even laypeople who live with outward piety will be led astray because they will lack discernment and humility. Discernment, he writes, is higher than all the virtues. Without it, even fasting, prayer, vigil, and almsgiving lead to delusion. And when discernment is absent, people follow their own will, cloaking it with theological arguments. Pride transforms into theological knowledge. And there, the devil finds an easy path to lead the Christian into a fall—while the person believes he is progressing.

Saint Nicodemus, with the deepest awareness of the spiritual treasure of the Church, emphasized the necessity of preserving Holy Tradition—not as a childish relic, but as the living breath of the Church. Yet already in his own time, he saw that people had begun to devalue the Fathers, to question the validity of fasting, of the canons, of ascetical life. "The time will come," he wrote, "when the Orthodox will be ashamed to live as Orthodox, and will call fasting an excess, vigil bodily destruction, and humility weakness." This devaluation of tradition is the first step toward heresy—not only doctrinal, but existential. Man ceases to be a disciple and becomes a self-appointed authority. He stops drinking from the spring and invents his own recipes for salvation. One of the Saint’s most prophetic works is On Frequent Communion. There, he discerns the great danger of the last times: either the absence of desire for Holy Communion, or its reception out of habit, without awareness. In both cases, the soul remains atrophied. Saint Nicodemus insists that the Mystery does not save magically, but when it is approached with faith, contrition, and preparation. In the last times, he says, many will receive Communion—but few will be sanctified. For Christ is given to those who desire Him with humility and fear of God, not to those who approach Him as a social obligation. Saint Nicodemus speaks not only of heresies, but above all of the internal illnesses of the soul.

He warns against acedia, the spiritual sluggishness that kills the soul even before it sins openly. The soul, he says, that does not keep watch, becomes a plaything of the passions without even realizing it. And this is the most tragic part: that in the last times, people will not grieve over the loss of grace. They will be immersed in a pious lethargy, full of excuses and theoretical arguments—but without God. The mind will say, “I believe”, but the heart will remain indifferent. And this acedia will become a way of life, legitimized as “balance.”

Saint Nicodemus, a deep knower of Patristic wisdom, insists that only through discernment and spiritual guidance can the believer be saved—not only from external delusions, but also from his own inner fall. "In the last times," he wrote, "the devil will not wage war so much with open assault, but with invisible warfare." Therefore, the soul needs an experienced guide, prayer, study, and self-reproach. It requires a humble, quiet, but persistent struggle. For whoever does not keep watch over his heart will easily be led astray—and will think he is walking toward salvation, while he has already gone off course.

Amid the entire dark backdrop of falls and indifference, Saint Nicodemus reminds us of the most powerful weapon: prayer. Not merely outward prayer, but heartfelt prayer—that which breaks pride and opens the soul to God. "Pure prayer," he says, "is the eye of the soul. Without it, all is darkness. And without prayer, man easily falls into delusions." In the last times, the believer will not have many outward supports, but he can preserve his soul through unceasing prayer. And there, grace comes.

Saint Nicodemus the Hagiorite did not speak to us of the end of the world in terms of destruction, but in terms of inward corrosion. He spoke of the loss of discernment, the fall of faith, the decline of spiritual life. But alongside the severity of his words, he also left us hope—that repentance, humility, and prayer can keep the faith alive even in the most difficult of times. There is no need to wait for signs and wonders. The fall has already come—it is visible in the way we approach the Mysteries, the Saints, Christ Himself. And the return will not happen with outward noise, but with silent repentance in the heart. This is what God seeks. This is what Saint Nicodemus asks of us—now more than ever.

 

Greek source: https://entoytwnika1.blogspot.com/2025/09/blog-post_25.html