Chapter 41
On Guarding Against Self-Love and Angry Words
41.2.1 May the mercy of God be with you!
41.3.1 The Lord has delivered you from NN., but the troubles have not ceased on that account; for others too know how to cause annoyance. But God’s protection is over you. That prayer which works of itself is God’s gift and for you a safe refuge, where you take shelter whenever any trouble comes from without.[1] Guard this gift! And above all, flee self-esteem—that most venomous serpent, yet more honeyed in speech than all the rest![2] Your Guardian Angel, who watches over you, reminds you through your conscience of earnest prayer and of the rage of your unseen enemy. Turn to your holy Guardian Angel, and he will guide you in every circumstance. He is the most reliable spiritual guide. You have rightly decided that nothing is to be expected from N. there is nothing to expect, because while fulfilling toward them what is appointed by God’s commandments, in other matters concerning the arrangements and demands of spiritual life, withdraw into yourself and resolve everything under the influence of noetic prayer according to the promptings you receive in this way.[3] These are your thoughts, and I believe that to act in this way will be good!
41.4.1 Not to speak an angry word is a great perfection. May Elder Hilarion help you! At the root of this lies the absence of irritability of heart, and irritability is extinguished like sparks by surrendering ourselves to the will of God, with the awareness that God permits unpleasantness for our testing and to show us how firm our good interior disposition is... which obliges us to conduct ourselves in such cases with good cheer, believing that God Himself is watching us at that moment. And that thought of yours—that those who cause us unpleasantness are instruments of the enemy—is true. So whenever someone causes you unpleasantness, always assume that the enemy stands behind them, inflaming them and suggesting offensive words and deeds to them. The little book Unseen Warfare has good instructions for this occasion. There are many such examples in Barsanuphius and John, and in the holy Ladder of Saint John Climacus. Read through these books often. Don’t entertain hostile or judgmental thoughts about NN. and her associates—be patient and kind toward them, and pray to the Lord not to withhold His mercy from them on your account, but to strengthen you in patience and in a wise attitude toward them.
41.5.1 The Church that has been entrusted to you is also a concern. But you do well to cover these concerns with hope in the mercy of God. When God’s good pleasure and blessing are present, then everything will be arranged in the best way, for then the almighty gestures of God will be at work, by the power of which—from where could anything come!
41.6.1 May the Lord bless you!
41.7.1 Be saved!
41.8.1 Bishop Theophan.
41.9.1 A.D.