Prayer and Confession
After going to Mount Athos several dozen times, a young patron, believing that he had already been “saved in Heaven,” went to Father Nikon the Athonite and asked:
- Elder, I have been to Athos, I have attended services, I have visited many monasteries.
How is this salvation?
The father, understanding the spirit of vanity, replied:
- But what exactly worries you?
- I cannot find peace in my soul!
How can I find it?
- Dear young man.
Wherever you go, you will still be responsible for yourself and your sins. But pay attention to what I am telling you:
The devil will let you do all the good deeds, and he will even help you in addition, but he will never let you do two things.
You want to give alms, he will help you.
Do you want to fast? He will not only leave you alone, but he will also help you.
The devil not only lets you do all these good deeds, but he also helps you, so that later he can throw you into pride and vainglory.
That is why he will never let you do two things:
- to say the prayer of the heart:
“Lord, Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner.”
and confession.
Because humility is born of both.
And humility is the work that overcomes the unclean.
For this reason we cannot be saved without humility and obedience to our spiritual father.
in the Orthodox Church.
May peace and authentic, experiential joy be ours!
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