I recommend that you have
discernment and prudence in all things. Avoid extremes. Rigor must correspond
to the measure of virtue. He who does not possess great virtues and competes
with the perfect, desiring to live strictly like the holy ascetics, is in
danger of falling into pride and falling. Therefore, walk with discernment and
do not exhaust the body with excessive labors. Remember that bodily asceticism
merely helps the soul to attain perfection; perfection is achieved primarily
through the struggle of the soul.
Do not stretch the string beyond
its limit. Know that God is not forced in His gifts. He gives when He wills.
Whatever we receive, we receive freely from divine mercy.
Do not seek to rise high through
great ascetic practices without possessing virtues, for you are in danger of
falling into delusion through your presumption and audacity. Whoever desires
divine gifts and lofty visions while still burdened with passions is, like a
foolish and proud man, deceived. First and foremost, he must strive for his
purification. Divine Grace sends its gifts as a reward to those who have been
cleansed from the passions. It visits them without noise and at an hour they do
not know.
***
Temptations are permitted in
order for hidden passions to be revealed, to be combated, and thus for the soul
to be healed. They too are a sign of divine mercy. Therefore, entrust yourself
with confidence into the hands of God and ask for His help, so that He may
strengthen you in your struggle.
Hope in God never leads to
despair. Temptations bring humility. God knows the endurance of each of us and
permits temptations according to the measure of our strength. Yet we must also
take care to be watchful and cautious, so that we do not place ourselves in
temptation.
Trust in God—the Good, the
Mighty, the Living—and He will lead you to rest. After trials comes spiritual
joy. The Lord watches over those who endure trials and afflictions for His
love. Therefore, do not lose heart and do not be afraid.
I do not want you to be saddened
or troubled by things that happen contrary to your will, no matter how just
that will may be. Such sorrow reveals the presence of egoism. Beware of the
pride that hides beneath the guise of a right. Also beware of untimely sorrow
that arises after a just rebuke.
Excessive sorrow over all these
things is from the Tempter. There is only one true sorrow: that which is born
when we come to know well the wretched condition of our soul. All other sorrows
have no relation to the Grace of God.
Take care to guard in your heart
the joy of the Holy Spirit, and do not allow the Evil One to pour in his
poison. Be watchful! Be watchful, lest the paradise that exists within you be
transformed into hell.
***
Let your spiritual work be the
examination of your heart. Does pride dwell in it like a venomous serpent—the
passion that begets many evils, that deadens every virtue, that poisons
everything? Against this diabolic wickedness your entire care must be directed.
Day and night, let the investigation of it become your unceasing labor.
It would be true, I think, to say
that our entire spiritual concern consists in the search for and extermination
of pride and its offspring. If we rid ourselves of it and enthrone humility in
our heart, then we possess everything. For where true humility in Christ is
found, there also are gathered all the other virtues that raise us up to God.
Greek source: https://www.imaik.gr/?page_id=11213
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