Beyond Narcissism - To Behold the Face of God, by Fr Stephen Freeman

Icon of the Theotokos in the Monastery of Philotheou in Mount Athos, Greece

The article below by Fr Stephen Freeman, and available from his blog, Glory to God for All Things, is one of the most significant articles I have read lately. It is a must read. Please click on the link below to be able to read the article in its entirety.

"Perhaps the most difficult personalities encountered in anyone’s life are those that can clinically be labeled “narcissistic.” 

It refers to a very describable disorder that can be diagnosed but treated only with difficulty. The narcissist is critically handicapped when it comes to recognizing and respecting boundaries.

 They want to run your life (and will). Everything in the world revolves around them simply because their own boundaries are so non-existent. 

Being in relationship with a narcissist can often be toxic. They often make us feel that the problem belongs with us, not them. We can begin to question our own sanity and judgment. 

There are popular articles on the topic that I think are very helpful to those engaged in such situations. There are also spiritual questions that can be very problematic.

At the core of a narcissistic disorder is shame – overwhelming shame." Please continue reading here.

Humility, a Wondrous Virtue of a Godly Soul

St Alexander Bishop of Komana

That Those Who Abase Themselves Will Be Honored by God
I just read a story in the Prologue of Ochrid, which is told in further detail in the Evergetinos vol.2,p.4-7, and I can't stop thinking about it. O, that one could have eyes to see and value what God values, and not what men hold in honor! 

"As a simple charcoal-burner, Alexander lived in the town of Comana near Neo-Caesarea. When the bishop of Comana died, St. Gregory the miracle-worker and Bishop of Neo-Caesarea (November 17 in the Prologue) was then called to preside at a council to elect a new bishop. Both clergy and laymen alike were present at the council. However, the electors were unable to agree on one person. At the time of evaluating a candidate, they all primarily paid attention to the points of his externals: external dignity and behavior.

St. Gregory then said that they need not look so much at the external characteristics as much as at the spirit and spiritual capabilities. Then some jesters mocking cried out: then we should elect Alexander the charcoal-burner as our bishop! General laughter then ensued. St. Gregory asked: "Who is this Alexander?" And, thinking that his name was not mentioned at this council without God's Providence, Gregory ordered that Alexander be brought before the council", from The Prologue of Ochrid reading for August 12 

The Evergetinos continues, "Thereupon, one of those present, laughing with derision, brought in their midst Alexander, who was wearing sorry-looking rags that did not even cover his whole body; his appearance gave evidence of his profession. His hands and his face, as well as the reminder of his body, ...were covered with grime. The sight of one such as Alexander, standing among them, gave all the others and occasion to laugh. Through the clairvoyant eyes of St. Gregory, however, what was happening created surprise and amazement in his soul.

This man, so poor and so unkempt in body, was self-composed and seemed to be rejoicing at all that which to his ignorant detractors was laughable. And it was so...he was a philosopher..., he concealed himself behind the most humble of occupations...even though he was in the flower of his youth,...he trained his body in virtue at his workplace, and the beauty of his youth he covered in soot from the coal.

St Gregory, having called Alexander out of the assembly of leaders (gave instructions to the servants to wash him)...Returning they had Alexander with the, having bathed and cleaned the soot from him, and he was wearing the Saint's (St Gregory's) vesture.(on his orders).

While all present turned their eyes toward Alexander and were astonished by what they saw, the Teacher said to them: 'There is nothing unusual about being misled by one's eyes,...it was certainly clear to the enemy of piety, the devil, that the nomination process would be rendered ineffective by a lack of knowledge, so that there might not be made manifest therein a person to abrogate his tyranny.

Having said this, the saint dedicated Alexander to God through the priesthood, sealing him, in keeping with the manner dictated by the holy canons, with Divine Grace."

"SAINT ALEXANDER, BISHOP OF COMANA

Men look upon clothes and the face,
But God looks at the soul and the heart.
Glorious Alexander, a charcoal-burner, was,
With the charcoal-burner, the body is blackened
And from soot, which water cleanses,
In the sinner, the heart is darkened
Which only the fire of faith can cleanse
The fire of faith and the cry of repentance.
It is easier to cleanse the skin of a charcoal-burner
Than the blackened heart of a sinner.
Alexander, with humility, covered
In a cave concealed, as a hidden flame
For laughter, to the gullible world, he was.
The world did not see; Gregory saw,
With an acute spirit, the charcoal-burner discerned
And in him, found a saint,
In the dark cave, a beautiful flame,
Beneath the mask of insanity, great wisdom,
Beneath the dirty soot, a pure heart,
A royal soul in decayed rags.
That the light be hidden, the Lord does not permit,
At the appropriate time, the light proclaims,
For the benefit and salvation of men.
All is wonderful, what God judges."

 Source

How to Avoid becoming Prideful because of our Good Deeds

Source


"One should not give alms with pride but rather with humility,

considering the one to whom the alms are given to be better

than oneself. Did not the Lord Himself say: Inasmuch as ye 

have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye

have done it unto Me? (Matthew 25:40) 

Theophanes the Confessor possessed a mind illumined by the

light of Christ, even as a child. Once, while walking along the

street, he saw a naked child freezing. He quickly removed his

clothes, clothed the child and thus warmed him and brought 

him back to life. He then returned home naked. 

His startled parents asked him: ``Where are your clothes?''

To this Theophanes replied: ``I clothed Christ.'' This is why

he was given the grace of Christ, and was later a great 

ascetic, a sufferer for the Christian Faith and a miracle-

worker. 

Often, when we give alms, either in someone else's name

or in our own name, we cannot avoid pride which, as soon

as it appears in the heart, destroys all the good deeds

performed. 

When we give to the beggar as to a beggar and

not as to Christ, we cannot avoid pride or disdain. What 

value is there in performing an act of mercy, while taking

pride in ourselves and disdaining the man? 

Virtue is not a virtue when it is mixed with sin, just as milk is not milk when it is mixed with gasoline or vinegar." St Nikolai Velimirovich in The Prologue from Ochrid

Reading for September 9th.

God is Greater Than Our Environment

Parable of the Good Samaritan in the Church of Panagia Dexia
Thessaloniki, Greece


I would like to share a few selections (with a few abridgments) from
a book which is perhaps one of the most significant Orthodox
writings I have ever read. Mrs. Pennock knows the Church Fathers
and has an unparalleled ability to explain them. For those willing to
listen, reading this book can be a life changing experience. I am
most grateful to her for broadening my perspective and understan-
ding. I urge everyone reading this post, do not deprive yourself of
the blessing of reading this book and get your copy asap!


Selections from chaper 5 ‘God is Greater than your Environment’
Path to Sanity, Dee Pennock, , Life & Life Publishing Company
2010, ISBN 978-1-933654-26-3

Note:
The new edition of this book is entitled, God's Path to Sanity:
Lessons from Ancient Holy Counselors on How to Have a Sound Mind
by Dee Pennock  This book is available from Light & Life 

Publishers.  Available here 


Using your environment as a way to justify any problems or weak-
nesses you might not want to see in yourself, or might not want others
to see in you, lets you always be seen as standing in the ‘right’ place.
So with the system of self-justification that much modern psychology
gives us, what happens? Psychological and spiritual paralysis is
what happens. If you are standing in the ‘right’ place, why move?
It’s only if you see yourself standing in the wrong place that you are
going to want to change and move to where you think you should be.


Let’s look at the saints who have chosen as their environment the
Lord Jesus Christ. People who are all redeemed from their earthly
environments (and even from their inborn passions), who have not
remained spiritually affected by them. People whose souls have
been shaped by God, not by their earthly environments. God
becomes your environment by your own use of your free will in
desiring Him, and by His loving and abundant responsive Grace.


Then haven’t our families and environments anything to do with
shaping us? Yes, obviously they have, depending upon how much
we accept or reject their influence. Many of the people who served
God had to endure abusive environments to prepare them for their
calling. One was Joseph, who was sold to be a bond-servant…”Until
the time came when his cause was known, the word of the Lord tried
him” Psalm 105:17-19.


It is no different today. Our circumstances are connected with our
calling. “As the Lord placed Joseph in Egypt in the position to feed
his brethren in time of famine, so he placed you in the position to
serve the community”. St Barsanuphius


Your environment is given to maximize your discovery of what and
who you are, to maximize your realization of your sin and need for
God, to maximize your incentive to reach out to Him and receive
“Christ in you, the hope of glory”. Col. 1:27


We never inquire into God’s reasons for giving others their particular
environments or providential circumstances that may be puzzling to
our carnal way of thinking. Even when Peter asked Him about John,
 “And what shall this man do? Jesus said to him, If I will that he tarry
until I come, what is that to you? You come and follow me".
John 21:21-22.


Look at your own environment and the people in it, to see how God
means for you to use that environment and what it can reveal to you
about yourself. Environment can have wonderful influences in your
various accomplishments….but environment HAS NO EFFECT AT
ALL on the sins and passions you retain inside yourself. So we may
not blame persons in our environment for anything that is spiritually
wrong with us, for any weaknesses or faults we may have, nor for
any of the passions that afflict us.


Take the passion of anger. Someone says, “I know I lose my temper
too much. But I’m living with a man so unreasonable it would try the
patience of a saint”. But nobody can elicit anger in you if there is no
anger in you to inflame- as we see from the saints who experienced
abuse and martyrdom without any anger.


“Many passions are hidden in our souls, but they are discovered only
when the object or cause which arouses them appears” Hesychius of
Jerusalem


“The reason for our anger springs from our own impatience, but not
from the fault of the brethren. And while we lay blame for our anger on
others, we shall never be able to reach the goal of patience”.
John Cassian


Do you see the point? Our environments and persons who bring our
passions into the spotlight have only shown that the passions are
there. They haven’t created any passions that weren’t already
present in us.


“For no one is ever driven to sin by being provoked to another’s fault,
unless he has the fuel of evil stored up in his own heart”. John Cassian


The passion of anger is what matters; how it got stirred up is irrelevant,
because the craving was already there. Our environment doesn’t
create our passions. It only gives us a chance to discover them.


If we have persons in our environment who cause our inborn passions
to flare up in an obvious way, it can be a blessing for us. This distur-
bance, like the angel’s troubling of the water in the pool of Bethesda
(John 5:2-9), can send us into the pool of God’s mercy for help.
Without such trouble we might not have stepped in and been healed.


Healing is the purpose of conditions that reveal our passions… If a
sin is not yours, you can’t repent and be healed of it. We can’t be
healed of someone else’s sin, only of our own. If we disown our sin
and make it somebody else’s, then we never become free of it. This
is something the saints emphasize. You will never end any psycholo-
gical unpleasantness by blaming others. No matter how overwhelming
the evidence may appear, our psychological and spiritual state of
being is not related to anyone else’s sin but our own. Our own sin we
can handle with repentance; the sin of others we can’t. Faith in this
truth eventually brings perfect freedom, quietness, peace of soul.


Listen to what the saints teach. They say that whenever you keep
feeling bothered by someone, tempted to impatience or anger or
revenge, it’s not because of the sin in the other person. No, it’s NEVER
because of the sin in others; it is ALWAYS because of the sin in you.


Very often, some passion or self-indulgent motive in you has been
inviting the offense. Or slipping into a wrong relationship. Or refusing
to go where God is trying to lead you. Or being touchy, wanting to be
in control, not having patience- or just a need to notice your own sin.


You will find that repentance always works, enlightenment always
comes, and the circumstances are always changed. The practice of
looking for your own sin, when somebody else’s sin seems to be the
one that’s bothering you, will bring you this reward:


It will put you, and not the other person, in control of the situation- in
control that is, of your own soul and the peace there will be in it.


“For confusion arises within us. It does not come from the nature of
circumstances, but from the infirmity of our minds. If we were
disturbed because of what befalls us, then all people would have to
be troubled. For we all sail the same sea; it is impossible to escape
the waves and the spray.


But if there are some who stand beyond the influence of the storm
and the raging sea, then it is clear that it is not the outward
circumstances which make the storm within us. Rather, it is the
disposition or condition of our own minds.


Therefore, we should so order the mind that it may bear all things
contentedly in Christ. Then we shall have no storm, nor even a
ripple, within us but always a clear and steady calm”.
St John Chrysostom


If we don’t or we won’t see our own sins, we retain in ourselves
that profound ignorance known as the passion of PRIDE.
(Remember that’s ignorance of yourself and of your need for God).
Without somebody stirring up our sin, we could remain ignorant of
it, blinded by that pride.


“If passions are inactive merely because the causes which arouse
them are removed (absent), pride follows”. Hesychius
 Trials that seem at the time to be harming us, they say, will be the
means of saving us if we let them draw us to God in repentance.


“Look to the end of every involuntary suffering, and you will find
in it the removal of sins”. Mark the Ascetic


To be free we have to take full responsibility for what we are
spiritually, to leave no blame on anyone or anything else.


“None can harm him who will not harm himself”.
John Chrysostom


Selections from Chaper 6 ‘The Passion that Enslaves the Will’,
(VAINGLORY and SELF-LOVE) emphasis mine.


Vainglory (meaning empty glory) causes what the saints call man-
pleasing or people-pleasing. It makes us want to do everything we
can to please other people, in order to win their admiration and thus
bring a sort of ‘glory’ to ourselves. Within that slavery, which is
people-pleasing, a person is shut off from obeying and serving God.


Social isolation is a common outcome of this passion of people-
pleasing. It comes from two things. First the audiences cause it, by
rejecting the performance. They sense no real friendliness in people-
pleasers, only a vainglorious display of interest that doesn’t come
across as natural- because it’s not natural.


Second the people-pleasers do their own separation from others.
They are trying to use others to satisfy their craving for approval.
When audiences are not applauding, praising them…-when that
happens, they don’t care for those audiences….The larger isolation
hanging over souls immersed in vainglory is isolation from God.
That’s because love is never present with vainglory.


“A person who has been illumined through love is never puffed up
by the spirit of vanity: but a person who has not attained to it is
easily swayed by the latter”.Maximus the Confessor


Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery because of the selfishness
in their hearts. VAINGLORY is like Joseph’s brothers. It has the
same selfishness motivating it. And it sells us into the slavery of
people-pleasing. The name of that underlying selfishness is SELF-
LOVE, which is a passionate attachment to one’s own physical
and psychological being. It’s a lust to satisfy the appetites aroused
in the carnal self, weather by bodily or other passions, especially the
passion of vainglory. Vainglory is a powerful motivator, and will often
keep self-love under control, say the saints. They describe monks
whose gluttony urges them to overeat but who, motivated by vainglory
(what people will think) restrain themselves…


A common symptom of lustful self-love, say the saints, is laziness-
being weigh down by the inertia of the flesh, as St Antony calls it.
This laziness fosters restlessness and depression.


….The passion of Self-Love makes people very dissatisfied with
places or persons or circumstances that fail to give them material
pleasures and personal prestige.


SELF-LOVE produces “lovers of their own selves…without natural
affection ( 2 Tim. 3:2-3) It is always characterized by hardness of
heart, by disdain and contempt of others, as John Cassian points
out- especially toward any persons who fail to satisfy one’s thirst for
self-esteem. With self-love people who appear to be kind and
caring (because of vainglory) can easily dismiss the sorrows, fears,
discomfort, and pain of other persons and creatures. There is cruelty
here, as in the hearts of Joseph’s brothers. And a person possessed
by self-love will be taking it all in stride, because it concernsw some
other creature and not oneself.


For those moved by Self-love and vainglory, other people are not
seen and accepted as individuals separate from and other than,
oneself. They are more like clothes a person tries on…are they
comfortable for effortless lounging around? How should they be
altered to fit me better?...


A soul bound in the unhappiness of and pain and isolation of
self-love and vainglory can, like Lazarus bound in his grave clothes,
receive from the Lord a blessed deliverance by praying, perhaps for
a very long time:


Lord Jesus Christ, deliver me from , Self-Love and Vainglory,..... and
give me Love!


Prayer That Brings Self-Discovery

From Chapter 4 p.62


People sometimes pray over and over to be delivered from a bad
habit or an addiction, but are not freed from it. And they become
discouraged when God does not answer their prayer. Here's why
that happens. Whenever prayer is not delivering us from the sin or
addiction we are praying to be rid of, it's because that sin is
anchored by some other sin underneath it, like a boat being held in
check by a submerged weight. For example (as we'll see later on),
underlying an addiction to food or alcohol is the big passion of
Self-Love. So we often need to pray for God to deliver us from
Pride and show us the deeper sin anchoring the one that's a
problem.

When we pray to God to show us what sin is underlying the difficult,
involuntary sin we can't overcome, it will always bring us to some
voluntary sin that we can get hold of and repent, an anchor we're able
to pull up. In that way, even persons who are very weak, say the saints,
will find a point where they can begin to turn themselves around and
change the whole course of  their lives. Mark the Ascetic writes,
"According to Scripture, the cause of all sin that is involuntary lies in
what is voluntary".


"He who is drawn away by sin against his will ought to understand that
he is being mastered by some other previous sin, which he serves
willingly, and is hence-forward led under its power even to things which
he does not wish." Basil the Great

God's Path to Sanity: Lessons from Ancient Holy Counselors on How to Have a Sound Mind
by Dee Pennock

Format: Soft Bound

Description:
This book brings the reader together with holy physicians of the soul in ancient Christian Traditions, offering superbly clear examples of the patristic method of diagnosing and healing many disorders of the soul that are now being widely treated with brain-crippling drugs. Addresses violent mood swings, uncontrollable willfulness, anger, depression, suicidal urges, ambivalence in decision-making, built-in self-defeating programs, ignorance of oneself, inability to control thoughts, being "possessed" by passions, compulsive physical appetites, social isolation, inability to love and feel loved, demonstrating just what the Fathers say about recovering sanity in the love of Christ. The author, a Stanford graduate and a veteran editor and author, worked at Harvard with Fr. Georges Florovsky. Early reviewers have dubbed this book a "must read" for spiritual health and sanity. Discussion questions have been added at the end of each chapter.

Available here

Evagrius of Pontus- Antirrheticos-Talking Back

Evagrius of Pontus, Talking Back: A Monastic Handbook for Combating Demons (Cistercian Studies) (9780879073299) Translated by David Brakke
This book is available from Amazon.com


"How did the monks of the Egyptian desert fight against the demons that attacked them with tempting thoughts? How could Christians resist the thoughts of gluttony, fornication, or pride that assailed them and obstructed their contemplation of God? According to Evagrius of Pontus (345-349), one of the greatest spiritual directors of ancient monasticism, the monks should "talk back" to demons with relevant passages from the Bible. His book 'Talking Back (Antirrheticos) lists over 500 thoughts or circumstances in which the demon-fighting monk might find himself, along with the biblical passages with which the monk should respond. It became one of the most popular books among the ascetics of late antiquity and the Byzantine east, ...
( from the backcover)


From the Introduction
Luke Dysinger provides a description of the diverse aspects of monastic antirrhesis, which means refutation or contradiction:
     "In the practice of antirrhesis select biblical verses are employed to counteract the particular logismos (thought) against which the monk is struggling. Antirrhesis entails the deployment of biblical texts not only against the demons and their logismoi (thoughts), but also against sinful tendencies within the self, and even more broadly as 'refutations' of particular groups of people and forms of behaviour. Furthermore, antirrhetic biblical texts may console the tempted soul and remind it of virtues opposed to logismoi. Finally antirrhesis also includes the offering to God of successful biblical prayers." p.14-15


"The words that the monk speaks have such power that the speaker need not understand their force, that is, both their meaning and their effectiveness, for them to repel the demons". p23


"Against the Thoughts of Gluttony
5. Against the thought that says to me, "The command to fast is burdensome";
    The command that I give you this day is not burdensome, nor is it far from you. (Deut. 30:11) p.54
15. Against the thought that says to me, "Do not wear yourself out so unsparingly and afflict your soul by keeping vigil":
     A broken and contrite heart God will not despise. (Ps 50:19)
16. Against the thought that is anxious about food and drink and diligent about where it can get them:
      Cast your anxiety upon the Lord, and He will sustain you. (Ps 54:23) p.56


Against the Thoughts of Fornication
3. Against the thought that supposes that in a single hour the evil thoughts of fornication will flee from it:
    I will not cast them out in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the land multiply against you. Gradually I will cast them out from before you, until you have increased and will inherit the land (Exod 23:29-30) p.69
17. Against the demon of fornication that wants to spoil and defile my chastity through thoughts:
      My God forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers
  (3Kgdms 20:3)  p.73
39. Against the unclean thought that entices us and turns us back to that sin for which we have many times repented before the Lord:
      Just as a dog, when it returns to its own vomit, becomes abominable, so is a fool who returns in his wickedness to his own sin (Prov 26:11) p.77


Concerning Love of Money
7. Against the thought of love of money that neglects someone who has been sick with a long illness and is greatly afflicted by poverty:
  If your brother who is with you becomes poor and cannot support himself, you shall help him as a stranger and sojourner, and your brother shall live with you
 (Lev 25:35) p.87
8. Against the thought that demanded more manual labor from a brother than he is capable of:
    Each shall not oppress his brother in labors (Lev 25:46) p.87
9. Against the thought that seeks to keep resources for itself and does not want to give relief to one of the brothers from them:
   Cursed shall be your barns and your reserves. Cursed shall be the offspring of your belly and the fruits of your land (Deut 28:17-18) p.87
42. Against the demon that said to us, "Property can, when a person acquires riches, serve the Lord":
      No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You can not serve God and wealth
(Matt 6:24) p.95
51. Against the thoughts that reconcile us to greed and do not see the idolatry that is born from it:
      Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient (Col 3:5-6) p.96


Concerning the Thoughts of the Demon of Sadness
9. Against the soul that is afraid, as if God's angels do not watch over it:
    And look, I am sending my angel before you, so that it might keep watch over you along the way, so that it might lead you into the land that I have prepared for you.
(Exod 23:20) p.101
55. Against the evil spirit that opposes my soul, introduces and displays to me sins of the past, and tries to cast sadness into it (my soul):
      Do not rejoice over me, my enemy, because I have fallen. I shall rise up, for if I sit in darkness, the Lord serves as a light for me (Mic 7:8) p.112
71. Against the soul's thought that supposes that it is tested beyond its strength:
      God is faithful, and he will not let you tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it
(1 Cor 10:13) p.116


Against the Demon of Anger
4. Against the thought that came from a slanderer and that arouses and stirs up rage against the brothers:
    You shall not accept an idle rumor (Exod 23:1) p.120
5. Against the thought that is stirred up by anger and wants to revile the brothers:
    You shall abstain from every unjust word (Exod 23:7) p.120
9. Against the soul that has neglected humility but longs to learn the ways of the Lord:
    He will guide the meek in judgement; he will teach the meek his ways (Ps 24:9) p.121
19. Against the thought that is quickly aroused by anger and, based on a trivial pretext, agitates the intellect:
      A fool immediately announces his anger, but a clever man conceals his disgrace (Prov 12:16) p.123
25. Against the soul that supposes that it is not the thought of anger that is an abomination before God, but only the sin that results from it:
     An unrighteous thought is an abomination to the Lord, but words of the pure ones are holy (Prov 15:26)
31. Against the thought that provokes me to write to the person who has caused us trouble, harmful words that will strike his heart:
      Woe to those who write evil, for it is by writing that they wrote evil (Isa 10:1) p.125
53. Against the thoughts that want to repay evil for evil:
      See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all (1 Thess 5:15) p.130
64. Against the intellect that professes to love God but, thanks to hatred towards a brother, has renounced the earlier love:
      Those who say, "I love God", and hate their brothers, are liars; for those who do not love a brother whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen ( 1 John 4:20) p.132


Against the Thoughts of the Demon of Listlessness
34. Against a soul that in listlessness thinks that there is no one who sees its afflictions:
      Do not say that a man has no visitation; indeed, he has a visitation from the Lord
(Job 34:9) p.141
44. Against the soul that has succumbed to listlessness and wants to return to its fleshly relatives:
      Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life
(Matt 19:29) p.143
57. Against the intellect that due to a thought of listlessness is thrown all over the place, at one time driven from places by anger, then at another time dragged by the throat to other places near the brothers, or to relatives in the world - a condition that has humiliated and wearied it:
     Blessed is anyone who endures temptation. Such a one has stood the test and will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him
(James 1:12) p.146


Against the Thoughts from the Demon of Vainglory
20. Against the thoughts that compel us because of vainglory to make known our illustrious way of life:
      Let your neighbour praise you, and not your own mouth, a stranger and not your own lips (Prov 27:2) p.151
37. Against the soul that is troubled by vainglory and desires to learn the wisdom of the Greeks:
      For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God
(1 Cor 3:19) p.155
42. Against the thoughts of vainglory that requests gifts of healing or knowledge of God:
       You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures (James 4:3) p.157


Against the Cursed Thoughts of Pride
1. Against the thought of pride that said to me, "I am the Lord's holy one":
    You are cursed above all cattle and all the beasts upon the earth. You will go on your breast and on your belly, and you will eat dirt all the days of your life (Gen 3:14) p.159
12. Against the blasphemous thought that made us consider whether God is in us or not:
       You shall not tempt the Lord your God (Deut 6:16) p.161
13. Against the soul that proudly supposes that by its own strength it has conquered the demons that oppose our doing the commandments:
       Do not say in your heart, "My strength and the might of my hand have made for me this great power ." But you shall remember the Lord your God, who gives you the strength ( Deut 8:17-18)  p.162
31. Against the proud thought that derides the brothers on the pretext, : Look, they are neglecting the service of the commandments":
       The Lord opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble (Prov 3:34) p.166
35. Against the proud thought that considered me pure and victorious:
       Who will boast that he has a pure heart? Or who will boldly say that he is pure from sins? (Prov 20:9) p.167
42. Against the proud thought that recounted for me the brother's sins:
       For who will be pure from uncleanness? Not even one, even if his life were one day upon the earth and he can count its months (Job 14:4-5) p.168
43. Against the proud thought that exalts me on the pretext that there is no image of sin in my thinking:
      If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:8-9) p.173


Blessed is our Lord Jesus Christ, our God, who has given us the victory 
over the thoughts of the demon of pride."


In spite of the fact that Evagrius was condemned as a heretic by the Fifth
Ecumenical Council because his speculative work followed the teachings
of Origen; Evagrius' 'practical' writings were expurgated, preserved and
transmitted to the entire hesychast tradition by his disciple St John
Cassian in his 'Institutes' and 'Conferences'. "The works of Evagrius
included by St Nikodimos in the Philokalia vol. 1 all belong to the 'practical' 
side of Evagrius and contain little if any trace of suspect speculations.
Several of Evagrius' works have come down under the name of other
authors. This is the case with the writing 'On Prayer', which in the Greek 
Philokalia is ascribed to Neilos; but recent research has made it plain
beyond any reasonable doubt that this is a writing of Evagrius"
From 'The Philokalia Vol.1' p. 29-30, compiled by St Nikodemos of the Holy Mountain and
St Makarius of Corinth, Translated by G.E.H. Palmer, Phillip Sherard and Kallistos Ware,
Faber and Faber 1979.


Fr Placide Deseille in his 'Orthodox Spirituality and the Philokalia'
p.17-18, Translated by Anthony P. Gythiel, Eighth Day Press 2008,
states that: "In spite of this the expurgated work of Evagrius exercises
an immense influence on Christian spirituality. The Greek hesychast
tradition follows entirely in its wake." 

The Healing Science of the Church Fathers

Path to Sanity: An Ancient Christian Alternative to Secular Psychology

by Dee Pennock
Format: Soft Bound

Description:

This book brings the reader together with holy physicians of the soul in ancient Christian Traditions, offering superbly clear examples of the patristic method of diagnosing and healing many disorders of the soul that are now being widely treated with brain-crippling drugs. Addresses violent mood swings, uncontrollable willfulness, anger, depression, suicidal urges, ambivalence in decision-making, built-in self-defeating programs, ignorance of oneself, inability to control thoughts, being "possessed" by passions, compulsive physical appetites, social isolation, inability to love and feel loved, demonstrating just what the Fathers say about recovering sanity in the love of Christ. The author, a Stanford graduate and a veteran editor and author, worked at Harvard with Fr. Georges Florovsky. Early reviewers have dubbed this book a "must read" for spiritual health and sanity.

Available from Light and Life 

Sample Quotes:
"If we have health of soul (so called ‘sanity’) our energies work to benefit us, now and eternally. With illness (‘insanity’) our energies keep working to cause us pain and distress, psychological and spiritual damage. The greatest benefit we are capable of achieving is being in harmony with God’s perfect (all-loving and divinely wise) will for us. Obedience to God’s will, therefore, is the ultimate sanity." p.11

"The saints in the mainstream of what we call patristic teaching, because they are known as Fathers of the Church, are the only ones who can lead us into this sanity. They diagnose our mental conditions with perfect accuracy. …And when we practice what they prescribe, it restores our soul." p.11-12

"What is a passion? Passion is an unnatural movement of the soul, says Maximus the Confessor, just as a physical disease is something unnatural to our body… 'Passion is an excessive feeling, or appetite, going beyond what is reasonable. Passions are a disturbance of our soul contrary to our nature, in disobedience to reason. Passion is not natural and it ruins our nature instead of fulfilling it- Clement of Alexandria” p.30

"Here are patristic descriptions of the three basic passions in human nature-VAINGLORY: Wanting the approval of people more than the approval of God, enslavement to idols, cruelty, hatred of repentance; SELF-LOVE: Attachment to what is carnal, rather than to what is spiritual, inability to love others, willfulness, anger and depression; PRIDE: Ignorance of oneself and one’s need for God, self-exaltation alternating with despair, going out of one’s mind, hearing voices, frenzy." From the back cover
The Church Fathers prescribe a therapeutic method or cure for all of these problems and more. Mrs. Dee Pennock offers us a detailed description of the way to healing in her book; Path to Sanity. It is fascinating reading!

Path to Sanity, Dee Pennock, Light & Life Publishing Company, Minneapolis, MN 2010,
ISBN 978-1-933654-26-3