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Topic of the Week –

“The demons wage a furious war against him who struggles with all his strength,  whereas they are uninterested in the negligent, since they have them at their beck and call; those who want the good find God to be their ally, Who permits wars for our spiritual profit.”

The Evergetinos, Book 1, p246

Adults/Family:

 ” ‘The Holy Fathers say (this is how Fr. Cleopa began to express concisely his spiritual experience to us, inherited from the Holy fathers and personally experienced by him, as every one of his words clearly confirms) that on the path of salvation one is tempted by the devil from eight sides: from the front, from behind, from the left, from the right, from above, from below, from inside and from the outside…. the eight means by which everyone is tempted, regardless of whether one is in the world or in seclusion’…. and then [he] added the ways and means with which to combat each of these temptations….”

Read The Eight Means of Temptation by Elder Cleopa (Ilie) of Romania and learn the ways to combat them.

The Romanian Church is preparing to canonize Elder Cleopa

Preschool:

St. Synkletike said: “The better athletes become, the stronger are the adversaries against whom they contend.”

When athletes compete, they compete against athletes in their same skill level or division. As an athlete gets stronger and better, he competes in a higher division against stronger and better athletes. And so it is for us – as our spiritual life increases, we experience greater temptations but we have no fear, since God guides, guards and strengthens us.

Elementary School:

“One of the saints said: When we pray to the Lord and say Lead us not into temptation, we are not saying this so that we shall not be tried, that would be impossible. We are praying not to be overcome by temptations to the extent of doing something displeasing to God. That is what it means not to enter temptation. The holy martyrs were tried by their torments, but as they were not overcome by them, they did not enter into temptation, any more than someone who fights with a beast and is not devoured by it. When he is devoured, then he has entered into temptation. So it is with every passion, so long as one is not overcome by that passion.”

Excerpted from The Spiritual Meadow, p 188

Middle School:

“One of the Fathers recounts that at one time there lived an industrious monk, who was very attentive to his conduct. However, it happened that for a short time he neglected his spiritual duties. But he immediately realized his mistake, and reproving himself, said: “My soul, how long will you neglect your salvation and not fear the just judgment of God, lest your end should come while you are being negligent, in which case you will be handed over to eternal punishment?” With these words to himself, he awakened his soul again from negligence to perform the commandments of God.

Well then, one day, at the time when he was doing his service, the demons came and bothered him with some disturbance. The monk then said to them: “How long are you going to harass me? Are you not satisfied with the negligence that I showed you previously?” “When you were in a state of negligence,” the demons told him, “we had no interest in you; but as soon as you rose up against us, we rose up against you.”

No sooner had the monk heard these things from the demons than he persevered still more intensely in carrying out the commandments of God, making progress in virtue by the Grace of Christ.”

Excerpted from The Evergetinos, Book 1, p246

High School:

“When you wish to begin a good work, you should first prepare yourself to face the temptations that are going to attack you; for when the adversary sees someone beginning a pleasing way of life with fervent faith, he is accustomed to impede him with fearful temptations of different kinds, so that the man may lose his nerve as a result and abandon the good intention of his heart.

God allows you to fall into temptation, so that you may persistently knock on the door of His mercy and so that, from fear of afflictions, the memory of God may be implanted in your mind and you may approach Him through prayers, in which case your heart will be sanctified by ceaseless recollections of the name of God. When you supplicate Him with faith, He will hear you, and you will learn that it is God Who rescued you. Then you will understand that your Creator strengthens you and guards you. For the protection of God and His providence encompass all men. However, they do not become visible except to those who have purified themselves from sin and who constantly study the law of God; the help and providence of God are revealed exceptionally to them, when they enter into great temptation for the sake of the truth. They then perceive the help of God very clearly by means of the spiritual mind.

Some have seen this help even with their bodily eyes, in proportion to their temptations. In such a way, they came to know that God defended them, and they were aroused to perform noble deeds, as we are told in the case of Jacob, Joshua the son of Nun, the Three Children, the Apostle Peter, and the rest of the Saints who struggled for Christ’s sake. Divine help appeared to them visibly in human form, encouraging them and preparing them to contend for piety. The Fathers who inhabited the desert and chased the demons away from it, and who made the desert a dwelling-place of human angels, were constantly visited by the holy Angels. They protected the Fathers in every kind of way and helped them in all things. They strengthened them and delivered them from temptations and from the savagery of the demons, who assailed them furiously.

And even to this day the help of God is not removed from men who have totally dedicated themselves to pleasing God, but is close to all who call on Him.”

Excerpted from The Evergetinos, Book 1, pp249-250  quote from Abba Isaac the Syrian