Following the Spiritual Path ( Elder Sophrony of Essex )

Our sole care will be to continue in the world of Christ, to become His disciples and cease to be servants of sin.


Elder Sophrony of Essex

Rules for Staying on the Path from Saint Theophan

Saint Theophan offers the following set of rules for staying on the spiritual path to union with God.


1. Fear doubt. it is the primary enemy. Our diligence before God... gives rise to the idea that we have some special quality by comparison with others and even by comparison with ourselves; this is more likely to occur when we have achieved some success along the path... We begin to daydream of ourselves as perfect beings who accomplish wonderful things... The enemy seizes us like a helpless prey.


2. Fear and apprehension will not abandon you. We walk amongst snares. the enemy never immediately temps with what is obviously bad; instead, is more likely to deceive us with the appearance of good.


3. May the fear of death and of judgment and death never leave you. From morning, at the same time you are renewing the memory of the Lord in your heart, take care to add to this the memory of these final things.


4. It is impossible for you to be completely removed from society. however, it is up to you as to how much time you spend in less desirable company. When you are in society, do not forget, to the extent that you are able, to keep your attention on the true Lord, Who is closely by and within, and do not forget the remembrance of death, which is ready to take you. Do not give your heart over to the pleasurable impressions of the eyes, ears or other senses. Life in that world is bad. Too many things, people and activities crowded into the soul; the mental impression of all this then disturbs it. It is also not conducive to proper prayer. There is only one remedy for this: guard your heart as much as possible from the pleasantness of impressions.


5. Do not, however, avoid people, and do not be gloomy... You should spend more time with their own kind. Most likely you have good habits. Do not fall away from them that you make yourself seem something out of the ordinary, and do not run the danger of peoples gossip.


6. Spiritual studies–prayer, reading, and meditation–must be done every day without they'll. What you do when is for you to decide yourself. Get up a little earlier, and before you leave the house, do your spiritual studies to the extent possible. Spend a little more time in prayer, however... After prayer, read meditatively, and apply everything you read to your own situation, or think how to bring in about and your life.


7. Labor with all your strength; bring to the Lord all your concerns about success. Trusting God is the foundation of spiritual life. Nothing will happen all of a sudden; everything will come about in its own time. Everything you seek with faith will come. But when? When the Lord is ready to grant it. be patient, remaining steadfast in the ways you have begun.

Saint Theophan the Recluse

The Beginning of the Spiritual Path

 
Repentance and grieving over one's sins is the beginning of the Divine path is the teaching of St. Poemen. Why is this so? When we repent and stand against evil we will do good and begin to do the will of God. If we do not repent then we will not recognize our evil actions and continue to go against the will of God. The is why we so often find ourselves separated from God. This effort is mostly a struggle with our thoughts. We must be ever watchful and ever ready to attack thoughts which are temptations to go against the will of God.


Saint Poemen was approached by one of his spiritual children with the following concern:

"Father! I have many thoughts, and I am in danger because of them." The old man took him outside and said, "Expand your chest and do not inhale!" "I cannot do that." answered the brother. "If you cannot do that then neither can you stem the flow of the thoughts," said the old man. "But your job is to resist them."It is not the elimination of thoughts that we seek as this is impossible but the ability to minimize and resist them. How do we do this? In general, Saint Poeman would say, "the thing you need most is a sober mind."

First of all, be attentive to yourself and be sober. A brother said that when he was with others, he would amuse himself and return to his cell not the same as when he left it. He asked how he should act. The elder told him, "When you return to your cell, do you want to find yourself the same as when you left? Maintain vigilance over yourself both at home and outside the home." This is one of our major challenges. Saint Theophan has also advised us that one way to do this is to avoid those situations, places and people who led to conditions that arouse thoughts that tempt us. This is also what Saint Poemen teaches. We must remove ourselves for everything passionate.


Saint Paul also instructs us,


Keep away from any of the brothers who refuses to work or to live according to the tradition. (2 Thessalonians 3:6)
What does this mean practically: Why go to a bar on Friday evening after work when we might be tempted to drink to much and then our resistance is almost zero? Why maintain a friendship with a person who continually is asking to do things which you know are not proper? Why engage in discussions that you know will lead to heated arguments where you end up saying things you wish you had never said? Why watch movies or TV shows that stimulate unwanted desires? You can surely think of more which apply to your own personal life. Act on eliminating these temptations from you life. This combined with a life of prayer, repentance and regular participation in the sacraments will bring you closer to God.


Saint Poemen says,

If a trunk full of clothing is not looked after, then in time the clothing will disintegrate. So too will the thoughts, if we do not in fact carry them out, vanish in time, as if they disintegrated.The cure is obvious but not easy to do as we must exercise our will to order our lives is a way that avoids undue temptations.

 
Saint Poemen
 
Reference: The Spiritual Life, pp 267-269