ON TEMPTATIONS
The temptations that come upon a
person are proportionate to his strength, and God does not permit temptations
that exceed his spiritual and physical abilities. And although this is known
and even affirmed by the Holy Scriptures, nevertheless, every time a temptation
befalls him, man forgets this and begins to lose control of his actions,
growing impatient and blaming others who trouble him. Often, he even murmurs
against God for allowing these temptations, as if God does not know what He is
doing.
The result is that he sins, loses
his peace and joy, and thus, once again, new temptations arise—perhaps even
greater ones—so that he may learn to endure and to hope that God will deliver
him from the burden of temptations.
And when he endures the
temptation as God wills and not as he desires, then he truly feels the grace of
God, becoming stronger, more courageous, and more resolute. He also gains the
experience needed to face the other temptations that God will permit for his
benefit.
Finally, when a person accepts
the temptations that God permits without murmuring, sorrow, or indignation and
faces them according to His Holy will, then the grace of God increases in him
His holy gifts and multiplies them.
In this way, a person becomes
pleasing to God, and most importantly, he becomes ready for eternal life, for
which he was created and to which he is called to transition—after first
passing through this temporary life, which was given to man as a forecourt and
preparation for eternal life.
ON VIGILANCE AND
SPIRITUAL STRUGGLE
A person must be aware that he is
constantly called to vigilance in order to confront the snares of the devil.
Furthermore, he should not forget that if he does not strive to know himself
and his weaknesses, and if he does not seek, through the grace of God, to
correct himself, then he should not complain about the behavior of others
toward him, nor blame them for acting in one way or another.
ON DOXOLOGY AND
THANKSGIVING TO GOD
The best and most pleasing
doxology and thanksgiving to God is for a Christian to remain consistent as a
Christian throughout his life and not to permit himself to transgress the holy
commandments.
The evil spirit that wars against
man is misanthropic and hateful of good. It hates both man and goodness because
it has fallen from God's grace. For this reason, it seeks to draw man to its
side, to make him like itself, and thus make him its companion.
It is well known, however, that
man is a child of God, even when he sins, as long as he comes to his senses
after sinning and seeks the mercy of God. As Saint John Chrysostom, the great
preacher of repentance, advises concisely: "As often as you fall, arise
and cry out, 'Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.'"
When, therefore, a person acts as
the saint advises, he finds peace and also has joy, for God has given him the
opportunity for repentance.
He takes care in the remainder of
his life not to fall again into the snares of the devil. But even if God
permits him to sin again, he must do the same—repent—as long as he is still in
this life. And once again, through his repentance, peace and joy return to him.
He is once again reconciled with
Christ, Christ again grants him His grace, and man is once more bathed in His
gentle and true light.
ON ALMSGIVING
... When you extend your hand to
the poor, let it be moved by the heart and not by the mind.
... When you show mercy to your
fellow men and find yourself in need of God's mercy in a difficult moment, you
can stand before God and say, "Have mercy on me, Lord," for the
Gospel proclaims, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain
mercy."
... Almsgiving is not only giving
money, food, or clothing. A smile to someone in pain, a gentle touch, a sweet
word of comfort, a prayer with tears—these are also almsgiving.
ON JUDGMENT
... Do not judge the faults of
your brethren, even if you yourself are pure, and you will always have your
treasury in heaven undefiled.
... If you become a judge of
others, you will not be able to judge yourself, for you will always see the
faults of others as greater than your own and will bring harm to your soul.
ON CLERGY
... My child, Christ
"fears" us more than you laypeople, for if a layperson causes a
scandal, his fire is small; but if a clergyman causes a scandal, then the blaze
will burn many souls.
... We [monastics] must be
luminous lamps, illuminating our own darkness and guiding the souls of people
to the true light—Christ.
ON CHILDREN
... Infants have a pure and
guileless heart. Let us become like infants in soul and heart, and then the
wisdom of God will dwell within us.
... Do not scold children, even
if they are what some call "hard-hearted." Give them abundant love
and be an example of virtue for them. They understand this and will soften over
time. Include your children in your prayers, and God will take great care of
them.
ON WEALTH
... Wealth is blessed when it is
the result of honest labor and spiritual talents. From such wealth, the poor
and the suffering also have hope. For the rich man who has worked hard to
acquire his possessions knows and understands the pain and need of his brother.
... Ah, if only the rich knew
that Paradise awaits them—if they escape the hell of their greed.
ON REPENTANCE
... At the Judgment, Christ, in
His glorious Second Coming, will not judge you because you sinned, but because
you did not repent.
... Repentance heals pride.
... Without repentance, man lost
Paradise. With repentance, he will regain it.
ON CONFESSION
... Just as you empty a box of
its contents to clean it, so must you cleanse your soul through confession.
... Do not confess because you
must, but because you want to. In obligation, there is formality; in desire,
there is essence.
ON GOD'S MERCY
... My child, there is no sin so
great that it can exhaust the mercy of God.
... Rain may cease, seas may dry
up, and water may vanish. But the mercy and love of Christ never run dry—they
are infinite.
WORDS OF THE ELDER
ON CONSTANTINOPLE
... "My child, I will go to
the Divine Liturgy that will take place in Hagia Sophia," Archangel
Michael told me, "but he did not tell me how I will go."
ON ORTHODOXY AND
GREECE
... Never forget this—Orthodoxy
will shine again, and our Greece will take the place it rightfully deserves
among humanity.
ON SPOUSES
... My child, couples today
separate because of their pride. Neither the husband nor the wife will tolerate
a word. If they humble themselves even a little, the grace of God comes, and
they recognize their mistakes, ask for forgiveness, and embrace as they
continue on the path of life together.
ON OUR HELPLESS
PARENTS
Old age is difficult because
physical weakness does not support a person. But it is tragic to see two dogs
or cats in a home while helpless parents are placed in an institution.
I am not saying that one should
not show affection to old pets, but people have become blinded and fail to see
that a parent's blessing and their gratitude are the greatest provisions for
their prosperity.
ON LOVE FOR OTHERS
... My child, we do not love with
our hearts. In reality, we only love ourselves. Who has ever knelt and wept in
prayer for the sick child of their neighbor? Who has glorified God for the
success of another? Since we do not love our fellow man, we do not love God.
... "Elder, how can we love
our neighbor? Our hearts are closed by our pride." Open them with humility
and almsgiving. Pray to God to make you love, and His grace will flood you.
ON DISCERNMENT
... A great virtue in man. A
great blessing for the one who seeks it from God and cultivates it. It is like
a person searching through a box of items that contains a nail. He searches
carefully to avoid being pricked—just as a person with discernment takes care
not to wound or hurt anyone.
ON PROGRESS AND
TECHNOLOGY
... Science is a great thing—the
noblest fruit of reason, which God has granted to man. But discoveries must be
made for the benefit of humanity, not for its harm. If I give you a knife, you
can use it to cut bread, but you can also use it to kill. So, be careful.
ON THE SCANDALS OF
MONKS AND CLERGY IN GENERAL
It would be better for them to
tie a stone around their neck and go to the middle of the ocean. They do not
love Christ; they do not go to serve Him but to gain power and money. They live
for authority and have become enamored with wealth. Woe to them, and thrice woe
for the souls they will scandalize.
In the old days, children of
wealthy families became priests and monks, giving away their money and
possessions to the poor. They were rich and became propertyless and poor.
Today, some clergymen—not all, of
course—enter poor and leave rich. May God enlighten them.
ON THE ANTICHRIST
... He will be a wicked and
ill-tempered person, my child, but with an attractive appearance to deceive the
world.
He will perform false miracles
with the help of scientific sorcery, and those with lukewarm faith or no faith
at all will use their minds—darkened by him—so that they do not understand.
Great caution is needed. During
the days of the Antichrist beast, the mercy of Christ will flow abundantly, as
if on the streets—that is how immediate His love and help will be.
The lawless one will come with
war and great evil, and there will be severe economic hardship. He will try to
enslave all people through money.
We must put an end to this
deceiver because the world cannot set itself straight on its own. We will
suffer in order to learn the harm we have done by being far from Christ.
ON HERESIES
... They are like
epidemics—sometimes small, sometimes great. A vaccine is needed for our soul,
and that is to remain steadfast in the Gospel, in the Holy Ecumenical
Councils—in other words, simply in what the Creed of our faith proclaims.
— Do not engage in dialogue with
them, for people today do not study the Gospels and do not know how to speak
with them. Keep your distance from them. Pray that they may be enlightened by
Christ.
ON PRAYER
... It is the only thing you can
do without needing help from another person. You communicate directly with
God—what a great thing! For a creature to speak with its Creator is a deeply
personal moment, entirely your own.
... Just as when you are on the
phone and others are talking, you ask them to be quiet so you can hear, so too,
when you pray, you must remove every obstacle that hinders you from speaking
with God.
— "Elder, should we say a
specific prayer?"
— "My child, after the Our
Father, God desires your personal conversation. Speak to Him as you would
to your father—clearly, without unnecessary words. He understands
everything."
DIALOGUES OF ELDER
NIKODIMOS ON WITCHCRAFT
Elder Nikodemos dedicated the
greater part of his life to saving people from the hands of the devil. His
numerous experiences constitute a significant spiritual treasury, especially
for those who wish to understand the schemes of Satan.
Despite his great physical
exhaustion due to the vast number of people he had to help daily in his blessed
cell, he shared invaluable counsel and experiences.
Through the grace of Christ and
the blessing of the Elder, a comprehensive work has been undertaken to record
what has been preserved regarding the problems the Elder faced with those who
came to his cell, as well as his experiences in general.
— "Elder, what is
witchcraft?"
— "It is the craft of the
devil to deceive people by promising them paradises, while in the end, he makes
them his slaves and leads them to destruction and ruin. Just as every craftsman
teaches his trade to his apprentices, so too does he, along with his demons,
teach it—unfortunately—to people, with the ultimate goal of causing harm, great
harm."
— "Does Satan have many
demons in his service?"
— "Countless, and as the
Holy Scripture says, 'a third of the stars'—you understand the number."
— "Since when has
witchcraft existed in the world?"
— "From the moment man was
created by God, the devil’s envy began for the most beautiful creature of God
on earth. With the first human couple turning away from good and inclining
toward evil, he began to devise ways and means to give to those who had
cultivated wickedness. Using the desire for power and strength as his weapon,
he deceived people, made them his instruments, and thus, evil grew greater.
"Many people do not believe
that witchcraft, sorcerers, and Satan exist. The greatest accomplishment of
Satan is that he has managed to turn people into materialists, leading them to
deny the existence of God and, in their darkness, preventing them from seeing
that there is an invisible yet real spiritual world. Those who say that Satan
does not exist, you should know, are also denying the existence of God.
"With materialism as his
weapon, he directs people’s thoughts toward material prosperity. Man struggles
to build a beautiful body, to acquire wealth and power by any means, while
neglecting his soul. He is concerned only with the senses, not the soul. That
is why sorcerers have work—because they promise power, strength, wealth, and
women who will become 'meek as lambs at their feet.'"
— "How does a woman, for
example, end up going to a sorcerer, and what might she ask of him?"
— "Take, for instance, a
woman who has an illicit relationship with a married man. The man has not left
his wife. The mistress, wanting him to belong solely to her, goes to a
sorcerer, pays him, and tells him that she wants the man to be hers alone.
"The sorcerer, through
invocations to unclean spirits and specific rituals, collaborates with demons,
sending them to fulfill the mistress’s request.
"He gives her amulets or
various substances, which she then mixes into food, drinks, or sweets. The
unsuspecting man consumes them, and that’s when the problem begins. At first,
everything seems fine, peaceful, and happy. But Satan never brings good.
"In the end, he disgraces
the man—people find out, and he ends up in conflict with his wife and children.
He is in darkness; he sees nothing. He feels happiness only with his mistress
and begins to loathe his wife.
"I once asked a man who had
a truly exceptional wife, 'My child, why don’t you want her anymore?' Listen to
what he told me: 'Elder, when I look at her, I see her head as that of an ox, a
pig, or a bull, and I am repulsed by her.'"
— "What do evil people
ask from sorcerers when they want to harm others?"
— "They ask for their
victims to suffer financial ruin, illnesses, or even death. For women, they
request constant pain throughout their bodies, especially in the abdomen, to
make them infertile, and to cause them car accidents."
— "How does God allow
such things to happen to His creatures if He loves them?"
— "Do not confuse God with
these things. A person who is close to God, walks according to His will,
confesses after repenting for his mistakes, and receives Christ within him
through Holy Communion cannot be harmed by witchcraft.
"He may face minor
difficulties, but he is not in real danger. Those who are at risk are those
unprotected by divine grace—those who have forgotten God, do not believe in
Him, and crucify Him daily with their unrepentance. That is why the true
antidote to witchcraft is literally a life in Christ."
— "Elder, I have often
heard you tell sick people who come to you that you will pray for them and
their problem, but that they should also visit a doctor."
— "My child, a child once
had epilepsy and suffered various seizures, as you well know. His parents
believed that their child was possessed and brought him to me.
"By the grace of Christ, I
discerned that he was not suffering from spiritual affliction, and it was clear
that the only appropriate person for his condition was a doctor.
"That is why we have
doctors, and we must respect their important role in society, for they are
instruments of God to His glory, as they ease human suffering.
"Not everything is the work
of demons. People should first go to a doctor, and if the doctors cannot find a
solution, then they should visit a priest, who, with discernment and reverence
toward God and the suffering person, will help them with his prayers, the
blessings of the Church, and spiritual counsel.
"Everything will be
beneficial and not harmful, as long as we understand their proper
boundaries."
— "Elder, those who have
gone to mediums and sorcerers often have many icons in their homes and claim
that they believe in God. What do you have to say about this?"
— "My child, how else would
they deceive people? That is why they have icons—to mock. But do you not see
the reality? A person goes to a sorcerer to harm his fellow man, sees the walls
full of icons, and does not even stop to think: How can the sorcerer claim to
believe in God while getting paid to do evil? Whom are they fooling? Do they
think they can deceive God?
"But look also at the lives
of these mediums and sorcerers—shipwrecks. They are divorced, sick, involved in
many accidents, living through ongoing tragedies. If they do not repent, great
misfortune awaits them.
"When they fail to win over
a soul, the demons beat them, for they themselves are also beaten in turn by
their chief demons for their failure."
— "Elder, is it easy to
become a sorcerer today?"
— "It is difficult to follow
the path of good, but very easy to fall into evil.
"Unfortunately, books on
witchcraft are freely sold, and the state should be vigilant, banning
them—especially for children, who, driven by curiosity, are the most vulnerable
to being led into such worlds.
"At first, you recite two or
three little incantations, and suddenly, a young demon appears before you,
ready to serve your every request. You lose your keys—he finds them. You
misplace something—he retrieves it for you. You become amazed, your pride swells,
and you begin to think you are someone important.
"At some point, when you
summon him—often only you can see him, not others—you start asking for more
difficult things. He then directs you to higher-ranking demons, with
corresponding demands in return.
"Great caution is
needed—this is dangerous. One does not play with such things. Even we, wearing
the epitrachelion, see the struggles we endure."
— "Elder, since those who
are demon-possessed live a life in Christ, why do they not get well? What is
happening?"
— "I pray from the depths of
my heart that no human being may ever again be possessed by demons. But you
should know that it is not enough for the afflicted person alone to live a life
in Christ—through confession, prayer, Holy Communion, spiritual guidance, and
spiritual reading. The entire family must also live in Christ.
"For when, by the grace of
Christ, you pray over a person and the demon departs, but then the father
blasphemes, the demon enters again through another door. The whole family must
be in Christ—only then will you have God's mercy upon you."
— "Elder, since the
prayers of the Church have such great power against demons, why do priests
avoid performing exorcisms today?"
— "The prayers of the One,
Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church of Christ indeed have immense power.
However, priests who perform them regularly must possess great spiritual
strength, unwavering faith like a diamond, and a pure life.
"If we had priests who
systematically read the exorcisms in their parishes, mediums, astrologers, and
sorcerers in general would not have it so easy. But the Church has become
worldly. The sick are not supposed to cry out and disturb the neighbors, who then
complain to the higher-ranking bishops, and so on.
"Senior clergy have
connections with the authorities and are influenced in order to receive various
favors. And, as you know, those in high positions have their astrologers and
parapsychologists before making any decision—they do not rely on the blessing of
their mother or of Christ. As a result, silence is systematically enforced, and
the devil dances freely."
— "Elder, why was it that
in the time of the Holy Apostles, even their shadow alone could heal a
demon-possessed person, while today, even virtuous elders pray for countless
hours with the appropriate prayers, yet healing does not come easily, or when
it does, it takes time?"
— "Listen, my child. If you
carefully read the Gospel, you will see that Christ revealed our weakness when
He said to His disciples—who had complained that they could not heal a
demon-possessed person—those striking words: 'O faithless and perverse
generation.' He then explained that 'this kind (of demons) can only be driven
out through prayer and fasting.'
"Thus, in the time of the
Holy Apostles, miracles happened immediately because people needed to see in
order to believe and be saved. Today, our salvation still requires the grace of
Christ, but it also requires our own struggle.
"To give us the opportunity
to struggle, Christ has given us the weapons of prayer and fasting, because we
are not fighting against flesh and blood but against the rulers and powers of
this world—that is, against demons, malevolent spiritual entities that seek to
destroy souls.
"If any virtuous elder,
through the grace of Christ and the prayers of the Church, were to heal an
afflicted person instantly, then—especially in today’s world—people would lose
the opportunity to struggle and to gain Paradise."
Greek
source: https://agiooros.org/media/%ce%92%ce%99%ce%92%ce%9b%ce%99%ce%91/%ce%a0%ce%91%ce%a4%ce%95%ce%a1%ce%99%ce%9a%ce%91%20%ce%94%ce%99%ce%91%ce%a6%ce%9f%ce%a1%ce%91/%ce%a0%ce%9d%ce%95%ce%a5%ce%9c%ce%91%ce%a4%ce%99%ce%9a%ce%95%ce%a3%20%ce%9d%ce%9f%ce%a5%ce%98%ce%95%ce%a3%ce%99%ce%95%ce%a3%20%ce%a4%ce%9f%ce%a5%20%ce%93%ce%95%ce%a1%ce%9f%ce%9d%ce%a4%ce%91%20%ce%9d%ce%99%ce%9a%ce%9f%ce%94%ce%97%ce%9c%ce%9f%ce%a5.pdf
