St. Paisios of Mount Athos: On overcoming bad habits

 Geronda, can a bad habit be broken immediately?

First of all, man must realize that such a habit is harmful to him, and then he must be willing to struggle to break the habit. One must have a lot of willpower in order to be able to break a bad habit al at once. Just as the rope rubs against the edge of the well and over the years forms a small groove that holds the rope in place, every habit forms a groove in the heart, making them difficult to get rid of. This is why we must be very careful not to develop bad habits, because it takes a lot of humility and great willpower to overcome them. Father Tychon on the Holy Mountain used to say, "my child, a good habit equals virtue; a bad habit equals passions."

In any case, I have found that when a man while struggling, continues to make the same mistakes and does not change, the reason is usually egoism, self-love and self-interest. Humility and love are missing, thus blocking divine intervention. The person himself does not allow God to help him. If, for example, God helps him overcome a particular passion, such a person will selfishly take credit for it and assume that it was his own achievement, without any help from God.

+St. Paisios of Mount Athos, from Spiritual Counsels volume 3, Spiritual Struggle, part 3 chapter 1.

Elder Cleopas (Ilie): Working to cast out the demons

 

Through humility, self-knowledge, self-deprecation, by enduring the troubles and miseries, and by doing all the good deeds in the name of God — this is how the demon of pride can be expelled; by doing good deeds in secret, by praying often and by self-reproaching, the demon of vainglory can be cast out; through labors, we can banish the demon of laziness and sloth; by thinking thoughtfully of death and Gehenna, through fasting and humility, we can expel the demon of gorging the belly; by loving God and thy neighbor, one can cast out and expel the demon of anger and wrath, and the demons love for pleasures; by praying for the one who wronged you, the demon of hatred and denigration can be cast out; by thinking of death, by fasting and praying, the demon of indifference and hardening of the heart can be expelled; by loving God, by being humble, abstinent, and by guarding the eyes and mind, we can chase away the demon of fornication; the same demon of fornication can be cast out by running away from women‘ friendship, by guarding ourselves against laziness, by fasting and praying, and by not judging anyone who fell into this passion or others; by fearing God, by keeping the mind awake, and by praying, we keep away the demon of forgetfulness; heading and paying attention, fearing God and keeping the mind awake help us help us cast out many different demons battling and warring against us, disturbing and wavering our minds during prayer; by enduring the troubles and miseries, and by thanking God for all the things that bring us sorrow and pain, we cast away the demons of blasphemy, slander, and discontent; by weeping and willful poverty, we cast out the wicked devil of love of silver; by maintaining a thoughtful and understanding silence, by weeping, and by thinking of death, the demons of defamation and vain words is expelled; through faith and great hope in God, mentioning the dead, and tasting the goods from above, we cast away the wealth love and vain wealth-gathering demon; by singing the psalms, by praying, by reading the holy books, and by talking with the skillful Fathers about the spiritual matters, we cast away and expel the demon of sorrow and grief; by being aware of our nothingness, by fearing our weaknesses and by repenting wholeheartedly, we expel the demon of self-trust and self-hope; through love and honest prayer for the one who wronged us, we expel the demon of hatred and calumny.

+Elder Cleopas (Ilie), from On Dreams and Visions: St. George Monastery (Elder Cleopa Book 8) Book 1: On Dreams

St. Peter the Egyptian: A servant of passion cannot be called a servant of God

 For as long as one is dominated by a passion, he cannot be called a servant of God, because he is a slave of the passion he serves, and he cannot, therefore, teach others how to free themselves from it.

+St. Peter the Egyptian, from The Synaxarion, Volume 3, in his entry for January 27

St. Joseph the Hesychast: Who has conquered the devil?

Who has conquered the devil? He who knows his own weaknesses, passions, and shortcomings. Whoever is afraid of knowing himself remains far from knowledge, and he doesn't love anything else except seeing faults in others and judging them. He doesn't see gifts in other people, but only shortcomings. And he doesn't see his own shortcomings, but only his gifts. This is truly the sickness that plagues us men of the eighth millenium (Ps 24:18, LXX): we fail to recognize one another's gifts.

+ St. Joseph the Hesychast from Monastic Wisdom, The Letters of Elder Joseph the Hesychast.