Sin attracts through sweetness, and then torments through bitterness.


Let us be ashamed of ourselves, receiving the feeling of shame and humiliation of sin; let us condemn ourselves, letting the voice of conscience—or of the impartial justice of God, which speaks through conscience—resound with all its might; but besides this, let us hasten after the publican to give birth in our soul the same plaintive cry: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”

All this depends on you, sinful soul. You yourself, and no one else, must do and feel all this in yourself. The publican beat his breast, but even before this, he beat his soul and wounded his heart with the thoughts of his mind.

Therefore, enter into yourself, gather saving thoughts, and take care to break your hardened heart with them, ascend to heaven, descend to the lowest; look at yourself and look around you, and seek everywhere arrows to strike, whips to wound, hammers to soften your hardened heart.

Remember the mercy of God towards you, be ashamed. Remember His righteous Judgment and fear. Remember that the end is near and hasten to have mercy on Him who decides your fate without repenting. Say to yourself: "The Lord has had mercy on you by building you up, taking care of you and, above all, redeeming you through the bath of the second birth, renewing you, nourishing you with His Body and Blood and promising you that you will be one with Him for all eternity; how many times, having fallen, He has raised you up; being sick in spirit, He has healed you, how many times has He made you feel His closeness and the embrace of His love, how many times has He given you to taste the sweetness of remaining in His will and in the fulfillment of His holy commandments!

You have despised all this; all the care for you has been in vain; you have cast behind you all the mercies of God towards you. God holds you at His right hand. He is near and sees all the movements of your heart. You have allowed yourself to be united before Him. His face with cunning thoughts, those against Him. You have been inflamed with passions, which are an abomination to Him. You have committed before His face, by deed, the sin conceived inwardly, which offends Him. You knew that what you were doing was evil, and you did not avoid it. You could not have willed the sin, and you desired it. After you desired it, you could not have committed it with deed, and you did. No one forced you. Your evil will reign in you and drag you into evil paths.

Sin attracts through sweetness, and then torments through bitterness, which causes destruction. And behold, the light of the mind has become dark in you; the snakes of passions bite you, and the pressure of an extremely great dissatisfaction torments you. You are like a dry branch, a broken vessel, a bird with its feathers plucked out. And this is not the end yet. Remember that the end of the dry branch is the flame that burns and does not consume.

Saint Theophan the Recluse

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Jesus Prayer Can Heal Us from Anger

Image
A common thing that we all face is anger, the anger that results from the actions of the person next to us. Often it is even our spouse, the person we love the most. When we are angry, we say and do things that we later regret. The Holy Apostle Paul says in his Epistle to the Romans: “ For what I do, I do not understand; for what I want, I do not do, but what I hate, that I do. But if I do what I do not want, I acknowledge that the law is good. But now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that what is good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh. For to will is present with me, but to do what is good I do not find. For the good that I want, I do not do, but the evil that I do not want, that I practice ” (Epistle to the Romans of the Holy Apostle Paul 7:15-19). When we get angry or resentful, we are far from God. How can we, as true Orthodox Christians, react in this way towards our fellowmen? Anger results from our own selfishness. This is one of the si...
Read more

The Holy Sacrament of Confession and Communion with the Body and Blood of our Savior, Jesus Christ

Image
Although I am not a theologian, I chose to make a small post about the Holy Sacrament of Confession and the Communion with the body and blood of the Savior, Jesus Christ, in order to bring once again to mind their immense importance for our physical, but especially spiritual life. Before sacrificing Himself on the cross, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, instituted, at the Last Supper, the Eucharist, or the Communion with His body and blood: Matthew 26: 26-28 During the meal Jesus took some bread in his hands. He blessed the bread and broke it. Then he gave it to his disciples and said, “Take this and eat it. This is my body.” Jesus picked up a cup of wine and gave thanks to God. He then gave it to his disciples and said, “Take this and drink it. This is my blood, and with it God makes his agreement with you. It will be poured out, so that many people will have their sins forgiven. Also, after His resurrection, Jesus gave the apostles the Holy Spirit and the power to forgive and retain peo...
Read more

Prayer - the key to another world

Image
Since I discovered prayer, I can say that I have found myself again, but not in any way, but much stronger . Prayer is the key to God's world, a world full of love, freedom, patience, mercy, forgiveness, hope, faith , and other wonderful qualities. A world in which I certainly want to live, as well as all those close to me (including those who are asleep), and not only (but since I am not the one who decides on behalf of others, all I can do is pray for them). This world of prayer is not an imaginary one, but one as concrete as possible. A world in which God, the Mother of God, and the saints listen to our prayers and, if they are useful to us, at the right time, they are also fulfilled. Prayers to the Mother of God and to the saints are intercessory prayers, in which we ask them to intercede for us before the Lord Jesus Christ, so that He, in His omniscience, may decide whether or not to fulfill the prayers addressed to Him by us. Prayer is the food of the soul . Also, with the h...
Read more