Our Passions are Idols

The Angels’ Trumpet VoicesWe are under the protection of God’s attention and providence. We’re not abandoned, not left unattended. God takes care of those who love Him and call upon Him.

Part 19

A strange thing happened. You might expect that after all these terrible events, people would have to repent and turn to God. But

St. John the Theologian

St. John the Theologian says that the people who were left didn’t repent, didn’t stop worshiping demons, gods, silver, copper, stone, and wooden idols that neither see nor hear nor are able to walk. The people continued to serve idols and worship demons. Don’t think that serving idols only means worshiping statues of gods.

There are many idols today: our

On the Struggle with the PassionsIn order to overcome all the passions without exception, it is necessary to learn abstinence.

passions are idols; avarice is idolatry, and

Egotism Kills Us, But Humility Gives Us LifeFrom my humble spiritual experience, I have learned that it is much easier to lead a spiritual life with humility, and that grace is given to the humble.

But we know that a man needs to humble himself in order to repent. There must be humility in the soul. A proud man will never repent. We’ve spoken about this a thousand times. The proud man is always correct. He always has a justification for everything, and the grace of God finds no place in his soul. For a man to repent, his heart must be open to God. Repentance is a gift, a gift of God. If you don’t humble yourself, you can’t recognize the presence of God in your heart. Repentance is born of humility and brings the grace of God to the soul.

I remember how I became a confessor. I was twenty-four. Our brotherhood on the Holy Mountain had a need, and the Elder sent me to see a bishop who was serving at Dionysiou. I didn’t know anything; they didn’t ask me anything. The Elder said, “Go to Dionysiou, the bishop will be serving there. Tell him to read the prayer for you to become a confessor.” There is a whole story about how I went there and how it all happened. I became a confessor. I went back, trembling and moaning: “What am I going to do now?” I was very embarrassed to go and listen to other people’s sins—I was even more embarrassed than they were. The Elder said, “Don’t worry, you won’t have to confess anyone. No one comes here [we were living in a skete in the desert then]. You’ll read the prayer of absolution for the brothers.” Okay. About a week later, a young man came wanting to confess. The Elder sent me to him, saying, “Well, it’s just a young fellow. Don’t worry.” And so it began. And to this day, you suffer because of me.

I went to see

“My First Meeting with Elder Paisios”He told me, “You are related to us.” I said to him, “Geronda, are you from Cyprus?” He replied, “You’re slow-witted.”

Elder Paisios and I told him: “Do you know what happened to us? I became a confessor. I’m twenty-four, I’m still young. I’m embarrassed—I don’t know what to say.” Some people came to confess, and I asked them to come in the evening. They asked me, “Why are you putting everything off until the evening?” I wanted to hear confessions in the evening so it would be dark, and we wouldn’t see each other. The churches on the Holy Mountain are dark. A man was sitting in the stasidia, and I sat down too, a little higher. I wasn’t as well-fed then as I am now; I was slimmer and I was hiding in the stasidia, trying not to look at anything. And I couldn’t be seen in the candlelight. The people would talk, then leave.

Elder Paisios said then, “You must help people repent, because through repentance comes the grace of God. This is what you should do in Confession—help people come to repentance so that the grace of God, the grace of repentance would draw nearer to them and God would help them.” And in order to repent, a man needs humility.