Since the devil has as nourishment the
passions and pleasures of the senses, he too will die as he is deprived of this
nourishment. “The strong lion perishes for lack of prey” (Job 4:11). St. Neilos
has noted that the devil is often referred to as an “ant-lion,” just as the
passions are. This means that at first these passions appear as something very
small, but later become great and strong like lions. Do you see, dear brother,
what great enemies you have to defeat? Do you see that by cutting off the
passions of the senses, you are also going to put Satan to death? But alas this
cutting off and this victory cannot be won without a war. It is like the
external wars, no one can win a victory without first waging a war against the
enemy. It is certain that you have to experience a great struggle in each of
your senses both from the point of view of habit and of the
enemy.
For the bad habit desires to draw each
sense toward its pleasurable object when it is present. On the other hand, the
enemy desires to wage a great battle in the memory and imagination of the mind
in order to achieve its consent to enjoy that pleasure, so that, in doing so,
the devil can also enjoy the same pleasure. But you must stand courageously and
never consent to the will of the enemy. Say to yourself that iambic proverb of
St. Gregory the Theologian: “No one can excel by beginning from cowardice; it is
the victories that bring praise.”
An
ancient people recognized their children to be their genuine offspring only
after placing before them a viper and observing them catch it courageously. You
too, dear brother, must make the enemy realize that you are a true child of
Christ Who is your heavenly Father, and who has overcome the passions and the
devil-through the courage you demonstrate in fighting against the evil passions
of your senses. And if the enemy stands to fight you, be not afraid to tell him
what that brave Spartan said to Xerxes: “Oh king, you managed to sail the sea
and to cut a channel across the peninsula of Athos, but you will not pass the
side of one armed Spartan.” For this reason then show the enemy that you are not
a slave of your senses, but lord and king. Show that you are not only flesh and
blood, but a rational mind, appointed by God to be leader and sole ruler over
the irrational passions of the body. Say to yourself that wise proverb about
evil habits: “The best learning for man is to unlearn evil.” Now, if I have
learned, wrongly, to give to my senses their sensual objects, and this wrong
learning has brought about a bad habit, and this bad habit a still further bad
condition, why can I not now learn to do the opposite? Let, therefore, the good
learning become a good habit and the good habit a good and permanent condition.
If, in doing this, I am to experience difficulties and bitterness at first, let
me experience them. Afterward I will be able to experience both ease and joy.
The first efforts to learn and practice the virtues and establish the habit of
virtuous living are often very bitter and most difficult for the senses. The
activity that follows after these initial efforts to acquire the habit of
virtuous living is very easy, ineffably sweet, and enjoyable.
St. Nicodemos of the Holy Mountain - A Handbook of Spiritual Council – Chapter 8; Guarding All the Senses in General pp. 136-145 (“The Classics of Western Spirituality” series.)
