Until a man’s earthly life finishes its course, up to the very departure of the soul from the body, the struggle between sin and righteousness continues within him. However, high a spiritual and moral state one might achieve, a gradual or even headlong and deep fall into the abyss of sin is always possible. Therefore, communion of the holy Body and Blood of Christ, which strengthens our contact with Him and refreshes us with the living streams of the grace of the Holy Spirit flowing through the Body of the Church, is necessary for everyone.
St. John the Wonderworker of Shanghai and San Francisco, “The Church as the Body of Christ,” Man of God: Saint John of Shanghai & San Francisco
“When the soul of a man departs from the body, a certain great mystery is there enacted. If a person is under the guilt of sin, bands of demons and fallen angels approach along with the powers of darkness which capture the soul and drag it as a captive to their place. No one should be surprised by this fact. For if, while a man lived in this life, he was subject to them and was their obedient slave, how much more, when he leaves this world, is he captured and controlled by them?”
St. Macarius the Great, The Fifty Spiritual Homilies, Homily 22
The more a person progresses in the spiritual life attending to himself, the wider the eyes of the soul open and the more clearly he discerns his mistakes and the many benefactions of God. Thus man is humbled and inwardly crushed, and then the Grace of God — divine enlightenment — comes naturally and he becomes more discerning.
St. Paisios
The mastery of the soul over the body is proved by the obedience of the body when it is being led with self-denial to sacrifice for the sake of the abstract ideas of the soul. The domination by the soul for prevalence of its principles, ideas, and views would have been entirely incomprehensible if the soul died together with the body. But a mortal soul would never have risen to such a height, would never have condemned itself to death along with the body for the prevalence of abstract ideas that lacked meaning, since no noble idea, no noble and courageous thought has any meaning for a mortal soul.
St. Nektarios of Aegina
As a man cannot remain unscathed who spares his enemy on the field of battle, so the spiritual warrior cannot deliver his soul from destruction if he spares his body.
As a child, terrified by some frightening sight, runs to its parents, clutches the hem of their garments, and cries out to them, so too with the soul; for the more she is straightened and afflicted by fear arising from temptations, the more she hastens to cleave to God, crying out to
Him in continual supplication.
And so long as temptations persist, one assaulting her after the other, she multiplies her supplications; but once she finds herself again in spacious freedom, she gives herself over to wandering thoughts.
St. Isaac the Syrian
The body is the handmaid of the soul, and the soul — its queen. Therefore it often happens that by the mercy of God our body is debilitated by illnesses. Passions weaken because of illnesses, and the person becomes well. Sometimes bodily illness itself is born of passions. To bear illness with patience and gratitude is regarded as a feat, and even more than one.
St. Seraphim of Sarov
The Elder said that God gave us a soul, but our body is inherited from our parents and grand parents, that is why together with our body we receive part of their sins. They are waiting for our prayers and feel great joy when we pray for them, and those who are in the Heavenly Kingdom help us.
Seraphim of Vyrytsa
“The Saints grieve to see people living on earth and not knowing that, if they were to love one another , the world would know freedom from sin; and where sin is absent, there is joy and gladness of the Holy Spirit. The Saints in heaven through the Holy Spirit, behold the glory of God and the beauty of the Lord’s countenance. But in this same Holy Spirit they see our lives too, and our deeds.
They know our sorrows and hear our burning prayers. When they were living on earth , they learned of the love of God from the Holy Spirit; and he who knows love on earth takes it with him into eternal life, where love grows and becomes perfect. The souls of the Saints know the Lord and His goodness toward man, wherefore their spirits burn with love for the peoples. They were chosen by the Holy Spirit to pray for the whole world.”
St Silouan the Athonite
A soul that is still moved by the charm of the material world reveals that the vain world still lives within. This is why it is drawn toward creation and not the Creator, to clay and not to God. It is of no significance if this clay is clean and not a swamp of sins, because man is related to the Spirit of God and through his spirit he unites with God through prayer.
St. Paisios
As a man cannot remain unscathed who spares his enemy on the field of battle, so the spiritual warrior cannot deliver his soul from destruction if he spares his body.
As a child, terrified by some frightening sight, runs to its parents, clutches the hem of their garments, and cries out to them, so too with the soul; for the more she is straightened and afflicted by fear arising from temptations, the more she hastens to cleave to God, crying out to
Him in continual supplication.
And so long as temptations persist, one assaulting her after the other, she multiplies her supplications; but once
she finds herself again in spacious freedom, she gives herself over to wandering thoughts.
St. Isaac the Syrian
When I was in the coenobium, the Abbot, with the consent of the Elders, made me guest-master. I was, at the time, recovering from a serious illness. Strangers came and I stayed up with them; camel-drivers arrived and I looked after them. And there were lots of times when I was just about to go to sleep after all this when something would crop up and they’d rouse me again. Then it would be time for the vigil and, before I’d had time to get to sleep, the canonarch would come to wake me. Then, whether it was from tiredness or illness- because I still had a slight fever- I’d feel so completely exhausted that I had trouble knowing where I was. So I’d be half-asleep when I replied ‘Very well, Elder, may God remember your love and reward you. You’ve called me and I’m coming’. But as soon as he’d gone, I’d drop off again. I was really sad when I was late for the vigil, and since the canonarch couldn’t wait for me to get up, I asked two other brothers, one to wake me and the other not to let me fall asleep again when it was time for the service. Believe me, brethren, I really considered them agents of my salvation and I held them in great respect. You should feel the same towards those who wake you to get to church or to do anything good.
As we said before, we have an obligation to examine how we’ve spent the day and the night. Did we pay attention while we were standing listening to the hymns and prayers? Were we taken off guard by annoying thoughts or were we slack in our attention to the readings? Or did we leave the service and go out of the church, letting our minds wander? If we examine ourselves every day and make sure we repent for our sins and strive to correct them, the evil begins to decrease. If we’ve fallen nine times into an error, it becomes eight. Then, by God’s grace, we make gradual progress and He prevents the passions from taking root within us. It’s very dangerous to let passions take root within us, because then, as we’ve said, even if we want to, it’d be very difficult to overcome a passion on our own, without the help of the saints.
Shall I tell you about someone who allowed a passion to take root within him? Listen to this lamentable tale. When I was in the coenobium, I don’t know how but the brothers were fooled into coming to me with their problems. With the consent of the Elders, the Abbot assigned me to this task. So one day, one of the brothers came to me and said, ‘Forgive me, master, and pray for me, because I steal and eat’. I said to him, ‘Why? Are you hungry?’ He replied, ‘Yes. I’m never full at the refectory and I can’t ask for more’. I told him to go and tell this to the Abbot, but he said he was too ashamed. I asked him if he wanted me to go and tell the Abbot and he said, ‘Whatever you think best, master’.
So I went and told the abbot and he said, ‘Of your love, do whatever you think’s best for him’. Well, I took the brother with me and we went to the cellarer and I told him, ‘Of your love, whenever this brother comes to you, give him as much as he wants and don’t deprive him of anything’. When the cellarer heard this he answered, ‘Whatever you say’. A few days went by and this brother came back to me and said, ‘Forgive me, master, but I’ve started stealing again’. I asked him why, because the cellarer was giving him whatever he wanted. ‘Yes, forgive me’, he answered, ‘he gives me what I want, but I’m still ashamed’. I asked if he was ashamed in front of me and he said he wasn’t, so I told him, ‘In that case, if you want anything, come to me to get it and don’t steal again’. Because I was then in charge of the hospice [and therefore had access to the stores], he would come to me and take whatever he wanted. But then, after a few days, he started stealing again and came to me contritely and said, ‘Look, I’m stealing again’. I asked him why and whether I wasn’t providing him with what he wanted, and he replied that I was. So I asked him, ‘Then why are you stealing?’ He said, ‘Forgive me, but I don’t know why, I just do’. I said to him, ‘Tell me truthfully what do you do with what you steal’, and he replied, ‘I give it to the donkey’.
It became clear that this brother was stealing rusks, dates, figs, onions and whatever else he came across. And he hid all of it: some of it under his mattress and some of it elsewhere. In the end, he didn’t know what to do with it, and when it began to go off, he would either throw it away or give to the animals.
So do you see what it means to let passions take root within you? Do you see how wretched they make us? How they torment us? He knew full well that it was wrong, he knew that he wasn’t doing the right thing, he was sad, he wept, but the unfortunate man was carried away by his bad habit, which he’d acquired through his earlier negligence. Abba Nisthero was right to say that if somebody is carried away by a passion, they became a slave to it. May the good God preserve us from bad habits, so that He won’t say to us: ‘What is the point of my blood and in my going down into Hell?’.
Abba Dorotheos
http://pemptousia.com/
As a man cannot remain unscathed who spares his enemy on the field of battle, so the spiritual warrior cannot deliver his soul from destruction if he spares his body. As a child, terrified by some frightening sight, runs to its parents, clutches the hem of their garments, and cries out to them, so too with the soul; for the more she is straightened and afflicted by fear arising from temptations, the more she hastens to cleave to God, crying out to
Him in continual supplication. And so long as temptations persist, one assaulting her after the other, she multiplies her supplications; but once she finds herself again in spacious freedom, she gives herself over to wandering thoughts.
If men who are surrendered into the hands of judges to be punished for their wickedness humble themselves and straightway confess their iniquity
when they come before the scourges-their punishment is diminished, and with only slight afflictions they are released. But if there are among them some who are wicked and stiff necked, who refuse to confess, these are scourged, and in the end they confess involuntarily after many torments. And since their sides are already covered with wounds, they gain no profit from
this.
St. Isaac the Syrian
If men who are surrendered into the hands of judges to be punished for their wickedness humble themselves and straightway confess their iniquity
when they come before the scourges-their punishment is diminished, and with only slight afflictions they are released.
But if there are among them some who are wicked and stiff-necked, who refuse to confess, these are
scourged, and in the end they confess involuntarily after many torments. And since their sides are already covered with wounds, they gain no profit from this.
St. Isaac the Syrian
The internal purity of the true man’s beautiful soul beautifies his external person as well, and the divine sweetness of God’s love sweetens even his countenance. The internal beauty of the soul, apart from spiritually beautifying and sanctifying man externally, with Divine Grace revealing him to others, also beautifies and sanctifies the ugly clothes the graced man of God wears.
Elder Paisios
In the soul we find three powers: the intellect, the will,the heart, or, as the Holy Fathers say, the intellectual,desiring and incensive powers.
Each of them is assigned particular curative exercises by the holy ascetics. These related exercises are both receptive and conducive to grace. They need not be contrived according to some theory, but rather chosen from tested ascetic labors particularly suited to a given power:
For the mind
1) Reading and hearing the Word of God, the writings of the Holy Fathers and the lives of the God-pleasers.
2) Studying and impressing upon yourself all the God-given truths in brief statements (the catechesis).
3) Asking questions of those older and more experienced.
4) Mutual informative discourse with friends.
For the will
1) Submission to the whole church rule.
2) Submission to civil order, or to family duty, for they are conduits of God's will.
3) Obedience to God's will as manifested in your fate.
4) Obeying your conscience in the doing of good deeds.
5) Subjecting yourself to the spirit that is zealous to fulfill its vows.
For the heart
1) Attending holy Church services.
2) Prayer, as specified by the Church; home prayer rule.
3) Using holy crosses, icons and other sacred substances and objects.
4) Observing holy customs established and promoted by the Church....
There are three powers: the intellect, the will and the senses. Corresponding exercises are given to them. They act directly to develop the powers, but in a way that does not quell the spirit to the contrary, it ignites the spirit more and more. The latter serves as a measure and stabilizer to the former, which subjects itself to the latter to the point of speechless submission or even total cessation.
St. Theophan the Recluse
Man consists of soul and body. Many ancient religions and philosophical teachings spoke of man's soul being created by God, while the body supposedly came from the evil principle from the devil. Orthodoxy teaches otherwise. Both the soul and body of man are created by God. According to Apostolic teaching, after the mystery of baptism, man's body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and the members of the body - through union with Christ in the mystery of Holy Communion - are members of Christ. Therefore, man will pass over into the future eternal blessedness (or into eternal torment) with his entire being - both the deathless soul and the body which will be resurrected and reunited with the soul before Christ's judgment. This means that, while caring about one's soul, an Orthodox Christian must not leave the body without attention. One must guard it - guard it in an Orthodox way - not only from illnesses, but also from sins which corrupt, defile and weaken it. Among such sins, the most dangerous and harmful is licentiousness - the loss of chastity and bodily purity.
The rational soul of man has supernatural, infinite aspirations. If the rational soul were dependent upon the body and died together with the body, it should necessarily submit to the body and follow it in all its appetites. Independence would have been contrary both to the laws of nature and to reason, because it disturbs the harmony between the body and the soul. As dependent upon the body it should submit to the body and follow in all its appetites and desires, whereas, on the contrary, the soul masters the body, imposes its will upon the body. The soul subjugates and curbs the appetites and passions of the body, and directs them as it (the soul) wills. This phenomenon comes to the attention of every rational man; and whoever is conscious of his own rational soul is conscious of the soul's mastery over the body.
The mastery of the soul over the body is proved by the obedience of the body when it is being led with self-denial to sacrifice for the sake of the abstract ideas of the soul. The domination by the soul for prevalence of its principles, ideas, and views would have been entirely incomprehensible if the soul died together with the body. But a mortal soul would never have risen to such a height, would never have condemned itself to death along with the body for the prevalence of abstract ideas that lacked meaning, since no noble idea, no noble and courageous thought has any meaning for a mortal soul.
A soul, therefore, which is capable of such things, must be immortal.
Saint Nektarios of Aegina
The Elder said that God gave us a soul, but our body is inherited from our parents and grand parents, that is why together with our body we receive part of their sins. They are waiting for our prayers and feel great joy when we pray for them, and those who are in the Heavenly Kingdom help us.
St. Seraphim of Vyrytsa
Those who struggle and sense their sinfulness as well as God’s loving-kindness and who trust in His great mercy, elevate their souls to Paradise with great confidence and little physical effort, if they have good intentions.
Elder Paisios
When the demon begins to draw tempting objects in your mind and will show you in your mind beauty of a woman, whom you have seen before, let the fear of God enter inside of you and think of those who died in sins, — think of the day when your soul will leave your body, — imagine the terrifying voice of God which those, who do not care for righteous life and do not follow Christ’s commandments, will hear: "Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matthew. 25:41). Also imagine the never-dying worm and never-ending tortures. Think about it, and the thirst for satisfaction will disappear like wax melts from fire, because demons cannot bear the fear of God even a moment.
St. Ephraim the Syrian
