St. Ignatius Brianchaninov on Spiritual Warfare

For his invisible warfare or conflict with man, especially by means of sinful thoughts and imaginations, the fallen angel relies on the mutual affinity of the sins one with another. This conflict never ceases day or night, but it becomes specially intense and furious when we stand for prayer. Then, according to the expression of the holy Fathers, the devil gathers the most monstrous thoughts from everywhere and pours them on our soul. First he reminds us of all who have wronged or offended us. He tries to present all the insults, wrongs and injuries inflicted on us in the most lurid colors. He points out the necessity for retaliation and resistance to them by demanding justice, common sense, the public good, self-preservation, self-defense. It is obvious that the enemy tries to shake the very foundation of prayer, namely forgiveness and meekness, so that the building erected on this foundation may collapse of its own accord. And this is just what happens, because a person who is full of resentment and who does not forgive his neighbor’s sins is quite unable to obtain compunction or concentrate when he prays. Angry thoughts dissipate prayer; they blow it aside, just as a violent wind scatters seeds thrown by a sower on his field; so the field of the heart remains unsown, and all the ascetic’s hard work comes to nothing.

It is a well-known fact that forgiveness of wrongs and offenses, changing condemnation of our neighbors into kindness and mercy so that we excuse them and blame ourselves, provides the only solid basis for successful prayer. …We must follow our Lord’s example and teaching; we must reject thoughts of earthly glory, success, and earthly plenty; we must refuse joy brought by those fancies and reflections which destroy in us contrition of spirit, concentration and attention during prayer, and which lead to self-opinion and distraction. If we consent to thoughts of resentment and condemnation, thoughts and fantasies of vainglory, pride, love of money and love of the world, and if we do not reject them, but dawdle in them and take pleasure in them, then we enter into fellowship with Satan, and the power of God which protects us will leave us. The enemy then rushes at us with two most grievous conflicts: the conflict with thoughts and fantasies, and the conflict with despondency or sloth. Defeated in the first conflict and deprived of God’s protection, we cannot stand against the second conflict either. This means, the Fathers tell us, that God allows Satan to defeat us until we humble ourselves…

St. Ignatius Brianchaninov: “The Arena”

The 4 key necessities for Spiritual warfare

 

Saint Hesychius give this advice on our struggle to overcome the passions:

One who is engaged in the spiritual struggle must have at every moment the following four things: humility, extreme attentiveness, refutation (of the thoughts) and prayer.

 

Humility, in so far as its adversaries in combat are the demons of pride, so that he will have at hand Christ's help in his heart, for ' the Lord resists the proud.' (James 4:6; 1Peter 5:5) 

Attentiveness, so that one does not allow the heart to have any thought, no matter how good it seems.

Denial, so that as soon as one has detected a thought that has come, he may repulse it immediately with anger.

Prayer, so that after refuting a thought, one may immediately cry out to Christ with 'groanings which cannot be uttered' (Romans 8:26)  Then the ascetic will see the enemy bound or chased by the honorable name of Jesus, like dust by the wind, or like smoke that vanishes with it's dreams.

Saint Hesychius adds the following on the importance of prayer,

One who does not have prayer that is free from the thoughts is without a weapon for battle.  I understand prayer to be that which is carried unceasingly within the depths of the soul, so that the enemy who is secretly fighting may be vanquished and scorched by this invocation to Christ.  For you must look with the sharply focused eye of the mind so that you will recognize what has entered into it, and after doing so, immediately cut off the head of the snake through refutation, and at the same time call on Christ with groaning. Through experience you will come to know God's invisible help; then you will see clearly the true condition of the heart.

Saint Theophan advises in his commentary on the teaching of Saint Hesychius,

A person whose decision to belong to the Lord is sincere cannot by-pass the path described.  He may preform great labors and get around things in various ways, but until he comes upon this path, it is to no purpose.  I am pointing you directly to the path so that you do not wander all over the place.  Be more diligent in your undertaking, and you will find success.  However, you must labor with all your might, because without labor there will be nothing.

Reference: The Spiritual LIfe, pp 249-253

Spiritual Warfare IV - Conquering Thoughts

                                                   We know that sin begins with a thought.  We have a thought and then we become attracted to it.  Next, we act on it.  To overcome sinfulness, in addition to arraigning our life to avid temptations, we must be ever wary of our thoughts.  The key for doing this is to become a student of your thoughts.
Saint Theophan says,

"Attentively follow the course of affairs and watch what thoughts accompany them and conclude them, in order later to judge by this what initially lay within."

Think of being in a boxing match.  In the boxing ring you have to defend yourself from the punches of your opponent. You receive many little jabs that have no direct impact.  But these small punches only set you up for that big punch which can knock you out.
Saint Theophan says,

"The enemy has a law––not to begin suddenly with a passion but with a thought, and to repeat the thought often." 

These repeated thoughts may not always be bad thoughts.  The bad ones are easy to reject, but others require keen discernment.  When new thoughts come about be wary.  Don't immediately incline to accept them.  Be patient.  Watch and objectively reflect.  Don't trust in your own reasoning but share new thoughts with a trusted friend or  your spiritual father.

The risk is disillusion. Saint Theophan describes it this way.

"Their foremost characteristic is that a person assuredly considers himself to be something he is not––for example, call to teach others, capable of an extraordinary life, ad so on  Our pride is always lurking in the back ground waiting to be satisfied."

Our challenge is to free our mind of unnecessary thoughts.  Saint Theophan states,

"The result of warfare can be a mind free of thoughts, a heart free of passions, and a will free of tendencies.  When this develops, the person has achieved passionlessness.  His inner being becomes a clear  mirror that reflects spiritual things."

Spiritual Warfare III – Afterwards

Once you have encountered a spiritual battle and you were successful in averting any sinful act, give thanks to the Lord.  But, do not be over joyful as this can lead to you to complacency and even lead you to a greater sin of vainglory. Assume that there may be an ambush laying around the next corner.  Do not share this victory with anyone.  Remain humble and ready for another battle.

If you were not successful and succumbed to the temptations presented, humble yourself.  Fall into repentance immediately.  Accept that God knows that you will not aways be successful and is always merciful if you remain humble and repentant.

Saint Theophan says,

"Our Lord is like a mother who leads her child by the hand and does not abandon him..."

Repeated failures should spurn you to engage in greater ascetic labors.  Look for new strategies, new ways to avoid such situations.  The worst thing is to become stopped by any form of depression over your failure.

Remember everyone has a different task––will face different spiritual battles of differing degrees.  We all have a central tendency for sin but it is different for each of us.  Saint Theophan assures us,

"One only needs to have the zealous desire to conquer himself."

Spiritual Warfare II - Preparation

    Once we are well aware of our sinfulness (the sign of a mature seeker of God) we can then seek to anticipate the battles we will encounter during the coming day. Our sinfulness is often triggered by our interactions encountered in the activites of our daily life. When we know we will be facing situations where we often find ourselves falling into a sinful activity we need to protect ourselves and prepare for these battles.


Saint Theophan recommends,

"At the beginning of each day, sit and go over all possible meetings and occurrences and all the possible feelings and movements that they could cause." This can be a routine activity at the end of your morning prayers. Mentally go through the day and the situations you are likely to encounter. Think about how you can deal with those situations where you know it will be difficult for you––especially situations where you may be tempted with lust or anger.


Predetermine the best approach if temptations do arise. Think about how you will fight it off, or will it be better for you to avoid the encounter. When we have a weakness it is often best to predetermine a way to walk away physically from the situation.


As you enter into the trials of the day, remember you have some important weapons. Both of these give me great aid. One is the Jesus Prayer which you can say at any time (if you make it part of your regular prayer rule), and even more powerful is the sign of the Cross. As you enter into a situation where you know you are facing temptation, make the sign of the Cross and say quietly to yourself, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner."


By being vigilant, and aware of the potential battles you will face, you can begin to change the way you live your life transforming it into an Orthodox Way of LIfe.


Become a proactive spiritual warrior.

Spiritual Warfare I ( Saint Theophan the Recluse )

Our spiritual life is one where we continually struggle against our "self-opinon and proud mindedness." It is a struggle aimed at breaking our will so we can dedicate ourselves to God and live in a manner where we only do His will.  We have to shift from a worldly orientation to one that is oriented towards God's kingdom.  It is a shift from a world filled with temptation and evil to one that is oriented only to doing good.  The task is to tame the intellect and free it so it can be directed by divine grace.  It is an inner struggle involving our outer actions.  It's a battle of grand proportions called spiritual warfare.


Saint Theophan tells us that the attacks we must deal with are soul-related and bodily powers.
1. In the body: the source of passions is pleasing the flesh...There is sexual lust, gluttony, love of pleasure, sloth, comfort, adulterous feelings, loquacity, absent -mindedness, restlessness, will fulness in everything, unseemly laughter, idle talk, sleepiness, daydreaming, craving the pleasant and all manner of pleasing the flesh in lust.
2. In soul: a) In the mental part––opinion, exclusive belief in one's own intellect, criticism, attacking the mind of God, doubts, puffing up and arrogance, curiosity, mental plundering, straying thoughts. 
b) In the sensual part––passions that shatter peace and tranquility of heart, or various kinds of pleasantness and unpleasantness: wrath, envy, hatred, anger revenge, judgment, contempt, vain glory, ambition, pride, boredom, sadness, sorrow, depression, joy, cheerfulness, fears, hopes, expectation.


How do we get at the root of these?  This is our challenge.  Saint Theophan says that the source of all these passions is self love. At their root, he says, are pleasure, covetousness and pride.  The way to conquer them is to "cut off pleasure by self-directed wrath, covetousness with unacquisitiveness, and pride with humility."


The main challenge is to maintain an awareness of the attacks so we can counteract them. The main enemy is our thoughts. Our actions are always preceded by a thought.  This is the battle ground.  The pattern of our actions is "the onrush of thoughts, contemplation, delight in it, desire, passion, attraction, resolve, and then the deed."  Therefore Saint Theophan says, "all the ascetic's attention should be directed inside himself––at thoughts, desires, passions and attractions.  It should be most of all, incidentally, be directed at thoughts, for the heart and the will are not so mercurial as thoughts; and passions and desires rarely attack themselves––they are most often born of thoughts.  From this we can make a rule: cut off thoughts and you will cut off everything."


The battle ground has been identified and next we will deal with Saint Theophan's rules for this spiritual warfare.


ref: Path To Salvation, pp 280 - 289