Talk 7

Until now, brothers, we have seen in heaven only light and grace. The Lord God, worshipped in Trinity, is the Light that illuminates and gives life to all. The Angels of God—the second lights after God, full of grace and living by grace. Now we shall see that some of these lights became darkness, and in the kingdom of the all-good, yet righteous God, sin appeared—or opposition to the will of God—for the first time. You surmise, brothers, that we wish to speak about evil spirits.

Yes, a part of heaven, or a part of the inhabitants of heaven became darkened at one time—and darkened once and for all, throughout infinite ages—through pride and rebellion against God. In heaven among the Angels of God there was one great, radiant spirit—called the Morning Star from his radiance—one of those closest to God. The bright spirit should have lived and been blessed—adorned by God’s goodness, with such divine generosity, with all perfections—in the light of God’s Face. But no: he wanted to be a self-sufficient light, wanted to be God himself; he said: I will ascend to heaven, above the stars of heaven I will set my throne; I will be like the Most High. And the proud, stubborn spirit who darkened himself through unrepentant rebellion against his Creator, the Lord cast down from the bright heaven: for what fellowship has light with darkness? Since the Morning Star was the chief of certain subordinate spirits, he drew them after him, stirring them up also against the Ruler of all creation. Heaven had fewer inhabitants, though certainly not few: for all Angels are an innumerable multitude.

“But is there really such a thing as evil, fallen spirits?”—some ask and will ask. That evil spirits exist is beyond all doubt. During the earthly life of Jesus Christ they confessed Him through the mouths of demon-possessed men as the Son of God; they testified, as if involuntarily, that they are condemned by Him to eternal torment; with the malice inherent in them—truly hellish—they tormented demon-possessed people and departed from them with the same malice at the Savior’s command, before a multitude of people. Once, having come out at the Savior’s word from two demon-possessed men in order to enter swine pasturing nearby, they most clearly proved their shameful existence by the fact that the herd of swine, into which they entered, driven and tormented by their power, rushed all into the sea and drowned. Holy Scripture directly calls them evil spirits, unclean spirits, spirits of hatred, demons or devils, and among them distinguishes one chief, or leader, whom it calls the devil, Satan, the prince of the world, the prince of the power of the air, the prince of demons.

But besides Holy Scripture, experience also assures us of the existence of evil spirits.

Those who have observed themselves, watching over the state of their spiritual life, have noticed that their soul, which was previously peaceful and calm like a majestic river flowing evenly within its banks, was suddenly disturbed by some hostile, evil force—and began to stir confusedly under the pressure of unclean thoughts and passionate desires; they perceived that within them, at times, someone thrusts with force at the very foundations, at the saving convictions of reason and the most holy feelings; shaking faith at its very roots, darkening and troubling the mind and reasoning, so that in this darkness and confusion evil spirits might more easily steal away the treasure of faith; they thrust upon us various vile, deceitful, and blasphemous thoughts at times when a person is disposed toward holy and elevated thoughts; and they do this with such force that a person must sometimes defend, in sweat and tears, the very holy and life-giving truths of faith, their reverence for those exalted and glorified in heaven and on earth, and for sacred things worthy of all respect. In general, this malicious force tries to present to a person everything good and holy in a dark and unclean light, concealing in darkness all that is bright and beautiful. Read the various prayers composed by the Church for different occasions, the verses of canons, or the lives of the saints: and you will see there that the holy saints of God in their earthly lives were in constant struggle with some spiritual, hostile force, which attacked them both early and late and tormented them with painful conflict. How can we explain this phenomenon in our soul? What is this force, which creeps so freely through the body into the soul, at times leaving us in peace, at times rushing upon us again, which comes from we know not where and goes we know not where? It is not merely the corruption of our nature; it is not only that other law in our members warring against the law of our mind, of which the holy Apostle speaks. No: here we clearly perceive the action of an alien evil force, which opposes the good force growing stronger in us. This is precisely the action of spiritual wickedness in high places. The holy Apostle was so decisively convinced of the reality of this inner struggle with evil spirits that, as an experienced spiritual director, he urged newly converted Christians to put on the full spiritual armor, in order to be able to withstand the schemes of the devil. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood”—he says, that is, not against our nature corrupted by sin alone, “but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world-forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places”. By the existence of evil spirits much is explained in the destiny and life of mankind: the fall of man, his corruption, godlessness, idolatry, and other abominable vices. The very mystery of our redemption by the Son of God is founded upon the existence of evil spirits, because He came to destroy the works of the devil.

Concerning the nature of evil spirits: first of all, as spirits, they are incorporeal and therefore freely penetrate into the soul of each person, according to God’s permission, suggesting to him evil thoughts and desires and scheming against him in every way. As evil spirits, they are wicked to an extreme degree; it is difficult for us even to imagine how wicked they are. Only partly, through their deeds in people and animals, can we judge their wickedness. Thus, one demoniac, whom Jesus Christ healed, was often driven by a demon to fire so that he might be burned, and to water so that he might drown in it. With another demoniac, the demon had bound the tongue so that with his tongue bound he could speak nothing. When the Lord cast out the demon: immediately the mute man began to speak. Again, two other demoniacs lived in tombs, in which, probably, the demons wished to bury them alive, and they were so fierce and terrible that no one dared to travel that road where they were. From these two demoniacs the Lord commanded the demons to come out and enter, as they requested, into a herd of swine. When they entered the swine, they immediately rushed them down into the sea and drowned them. The Lord permitted them to enter the herd of swine, among other things, to show people the wickedness of demons. Moreover, the wickedness of demons can be seen in people full of impiety and depravity, who utter blasphemies against holy faith and piety and the ordinances of the Church, who mock sacred persons and things: for demons cannot endure anything sacred. Demons especially long for the destruction of the human soul, and “the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about seeking whom he may devour”.

Despite their extreme wickedness, evil spirits are very cunning in evil—because they received from God at the beginning a mind superior to man’s, and because they live very long, never dying, and continually devise ever more means to carry out their malice, which is their very life. Moreover, they are very powerful, which is proven by examples of demoniacs whom at times nothing could restrain; and even when they were restrained during moments of quiet, they would tear even iron chains. But their power is seen most clearly over wicked people and those possessed by passions, who neglect their salvation, whom the Lord, on account of their neglect, delivers into the power of the devil: the infernal force with such might draws them toward destruction that a person becomes a complete slave of demons, doing all that the demons suggest. Such is the example of Judas. The fall of evil spirits is so great and hardened, their wicked deeds in the kingdom of God so destructive, that they themselves can never repent, and therefore await certain and eternal torment in hell together with unrepentant sinners. Holy Scripture repeatedly tells us that the Lord God keeps them for judgment on the great day of His second and glorious coming, after which they will be tormented forever and ever. The fallen spirits are so numerous that they constitute a whole kingdom, according to the words of the Savior: “if Satan himself is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand”? Most of the holy Church Fathers held the opinion that with Satan there fell from heaven an innumerable multitude of spirits subject to him, without specifying exactly how many.

Brothers! Evil spirits were good at the beginning, and only afterward became evil through opposing the will of God; therefore they are condemned, for their stubborn pride, to eternal torment. This danger—of being subjected to eternal torment together with evil spirits—can easily threaten us as well: and people become bold opponents of God’s will when, for example, they stubbornly refuse to acknowledge what God’s Word and the Holy Church command us to acknowledge, or intentionally, in defiance, act against some commandment of God, placing their own thoughts and rules above God’s Word or the statutes of the Church. Finally, God the Lord rejects such people from His face, as He rejected the proud Lucifer along with the spirits subject to him. And so let us fear pride, “that we may not be exalted in pride and fall into judgment with the devil”—that we may not be subjected to the same condemnation as the devil. Unclean spirits suggest to us false thoughts and evil desires, striving to turn our mind and heart away from sacred things. Let us therefore in every way resist them, not allowing base thoughts and desires to take root in ourselves. Demons are very wicked—and their very life consists in doing evil. We, on the other hand, brothers, as chosen by God, let us clothe ourselves in the heart of mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience—and let us strengthen one another with encouragement in love and good deeds, always remembering that evil will receive its due recompense at the fearful judgment of Christ, just as every good deed will not be left without its proper reward, and “giving thanks to God the Father… who has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of His beloved Son”. Amen.