Basic Patristic Rules for Healing the Passions

Selections from Healing the Passions, by Archpriest Sergii Filimonov (St. Petersburg: Parish of the Church of the Sovereign Icon of the Mother of God, 2017)

 

 

1. The Passion of Gluttony

1. Take food as needed, without indulging in over-satiation.

2. Stop eating while you still feel a desire to eat.

3. The measure of restraint in eating should be determined by the judgment of each person's conscience: eat as much as is necessary to maintain the health of the body, not as much as the desire for fullness demands.

4. Each person should set for themselves the level of abstinence required by the intensity of the fleshly struggle, their strength, age, and physical health.

5. Strengthening oneself should be done with reason and moderation.

6. Establish specific times for eating with the guidance of a spiritual father.

7. Do not overfill the belly.

8. Strive to eat inexpensive and simple food and be content with it. Avoid eating expensive, tasty, varied food that fattens and inflames the flesh.

9. Do not drink wine to the point of drunkenness.

10. Avoid idle talk and excessive words during meals.

11. Keep before your eyes the fear of God's punishment for gluttony. Always reproach yourself and repent for overeating.

 

2. The Passion of Fornication (Lust)

1. As much as possible, avoid communication and interactions with persons of the opposite sex, except when absolutely necessary.

2. Guard your eyes and mind from lustful thoughts. Punish such thoughts with scarcity of food, so the mind focuses on hunger rather than fornication.

3. Abstain from indulgence in food; constrain the belly.

4. Practice moderation in sleep; reduce the necessary amount of sleep, keep vigil, and endure sleeplessness.

5. Strictly observe fasting periods.

6. Invoke the grace of God for help.

7. Cut off lustful fantasies that arise in memory.

8. Do not indulge the flesh with comfort, excessive conveniences, pleasant or luxurious clothing, or by wearing provocative attire.

9. When lustful thoughts arise, immediately rise to prayer.

10. Do not despair when the battle against lust intensifies.

11. Avoid corrupt people and their conversations; break off harmful associations.

12. During the stirring of lust, avoid touching your own body or that of another.

13. During arousal, remind yourself of the torment of hell and the Judgment.

14. The root of lust must be uprooted from the heart.

15. Do not trust your perishable body throughout your life, nor rely on it until you stand before Christ.

16. Restraint of the eyes, tongue, and belly are three aids to acquiring purity.

17. Cast your weakness before the Lord, acknowledging your total impotence, and imperceptibly you will receive the gift of chastity.

18. Strive to be strict with every lustful movement in the body so that it does not overpower you.

 

3. The Passion of Avarice (Greed)

1. Do not strive for wealth.

2. Be content with what you have in life.

3. Accumulate money only for a specific purpose, corresponding to planned work or the management of household and family needs.

4. Trust in God, who provides for everyone what is needed and when it is needed, for their benefit.

5. The measure of acquisition should be determined by necessity.

 

4. The Passion of Anger

1. Remember that whatever the cause of anger's arising, it blinds the eyes of the heart.

2. Be righteously angry without sinning, that is, direct your anger at yourself and at the evil thoughts that come, not allowing them to develop.

3. Do not let anger infiltrate your heart even for a moment.

4. Do not seek the cause of your faults in others, nor justify your impatience, lack of restraint, and obsession; instead, repent, cultivate magnanimity toward all, and grow in patience.

5. Struggle against your passion for anger in the community in which you find yourself by God's Providence (family, neighbors, coworkers, or others), enduring everything while remaining in your place, subduing anger and hatred until the Lord Himself changes your circumstances.

6. Strive to uproot the passion from your soul entirely, trusting in God's mercy and calling upon Him: "Lord, deliver me from anger and irritability; grant me meekness, patience, and magnanimity."

7. Seek not your own peace but the peace of others in the Lord – thus, you will learn to live in harmony and overcome anger both in yourself and in your adversary.

8. Keep in your soul the fear of God and the remembrance of the day of death, for these destroy resentment and extinguish anger.

9. In moments of offense, resort to silence; answer nothing to threats, blame yourself, seek your own errors and wrongs, reflect on what God is teaching you through the offense, pray for the one offending you, and justify them in every way.

10. Practice longsuffering and ask the Lord to grant you meekness and love.

11. Quickly seek reconciliation with those you have offended or saddened, and make peace with those angry or hostile toward you.

12. To avoid anger and judgment, focus not on the person but on the demon inciting them.

 

5. The Passion of Despondency

1. The primary remedy (antidote) against despondency is not to give in but to remain engaged in work. Those who love to stay occupied with their tasks have no time to wander, inquire into others' affairs, meddle, or judge them.

2. Avoid curiosity; do not strive to learn about others' affairs, worldly matters, or the behavior and actions of other people.

3. Distance yourself from idlers and loafers, from all those who refuse to work, and cut them off from yourself.

4. Patience, combined with self-discipline motivated by the fear of God, heals despondency. Cultivate self-discipline within yourself.

5. In every task, set a reasonable measure for yourself, so it is neither interrupted due to excessive fervor and overexertion, nor left unfinished due to laziness and slowness. Do not abandon a task before completing it.

6. Frequently seek advice from elders, your spiritual father, and partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ.

 

6. The Passion of Sorrow

1. Bear both dishonor and praise equally.

2. Give thanks to God for life's trials.

3. During temptations, do not lose courage but remain vigilant in prayer and good deeds.

4. In times of sorrow, show patience and anticipate the approach of joy; in grief and distress, expect relief and help from God; in moments of joy, do not forget about tears.

5. In sorrows and sadness, recall the sorrows and sufferings borne for you by the Savior and all His saints.

6. Transform worldly sorrow into godly sorrow.

7. Do not indulge the passions of self-satisfaction.

 

7. The Passion of Vanity

1. Flee from vain human glory: never seek to be glorified yourself, but desire obscurity.

2. Be afraid to show your labors. Learn to practice in secret, so that no one among people knows of them.

3. Learn to conceal your spiritual struggles and virtues; reveal them to no one except your spiritual father.

4. Guard your tongue: speak less about your inner spiritual life, or better yet, do not speak of it at all.

5. Strive to make yourself simple and equal to others in all things.

6. Attribute no good to yourself, but to God alone.

7. At the beginning and during any deed, examine whether vanity has mixed into it, and upon discovering it, immediately cut it off and ask God for forgiveness.

8. Learn to be content with what you have. Humble yourself when you see your weaknesses and your limited physical and spiritual strengths. Know your measure. Do not strive for what is beyond your ability.

 

8. The Passion of Pride

1. Patiently and gratefully accept the rebukes of others.

2. Strive to live in obedience to someone.

3. Do not attribute works or glory to yourself but to God: "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory"; "It is not I who work and act, but the grace of God which is with me."

4. Cultivate humility and the fear of God. Despise human praise and glory. Cut off proud thoughts.

5. Combat pride through prayer:

• "When ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants" (Luke 17:10).

• "If a man thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself" (Galatians 6:3).

• "That which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God" (Luke 16:15).

• "For not he who commends himself is approved, but whom the Lord commends" (2 Corinthians 10:18).

• "Learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls," says the Lord (Matthew 11:29).

• "In our lowliness, the Lord remembered us: and He delivered us from our enemies" (Psalm 135:23).

• "I was humbled, and He saved me" (Psalm 114:5).

• "Every proud heart is an abomination to the Lord" (Proverbs 16:5).

 

Russian source: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/antropologiya-i-asketika/borba-so-strastjami/