I mentioned that contemporary people do not believe in the reality of demons, which according to Fr. Maximos is the greatest achievement of the devil today, that he has convinced most of the world that he does not exist. As a rule, academics would dismiss such stories as taking place in people’s imaginations, without any basis in objective reality. But the experiences of the saints throughout history are filled with demonic possession and exorcisms. In Fr. Maximos’s experience, the devil and his mischief are as real as the miracles attributed to the Holy Virgin.
“Let me share with you a personal experience that relates to what we are discussing here,” Fr. Maximos said. “Some years ago, I gave a talk in Nicosia to a sizable audience. A man whom I had never met before approached me and said that he needed a kidney transplant. ‘Father,’ he said, ‘can you please announce to your audience that I need a kidney? Perhaps someone could offer me one.’ I was taken by surprise and did not know what to tell him. I replied, ‘Do you really think this is possible? Who would want to give up one of his kidneys?’ He said, ‘Tell them about my blood type, and those who match mine could stay behind so that we can discuss a possible donation.’ I felt very perplexed and uncomfortable. He said, ‘Well, what kinds of Christians are they who come to your talks?’ I then realized that all of us, including myself, would be in a difficult spot if someone came and requested one of our kidneys. What would I do if he asked me for one of my kidneys?”
We smiled nervously as Fr. Maximos continued. “Thank God my blood type was different from his, so I was off the hook. I was really scared that we had the same blood type. You see, I should have to be willing to give him my kidney if I wished to practice what I preached. 1 then wondered whether we really have the capacity to be in a state of oneness with others. Are we ready to sacrifice ourselves for others? When we hear of all the disharmonies and discords that our fellow human beings go through in their everyday lives, do we experience that sacrificial love the saints speak of? This is a very rare phenomenon.”
Fr. Maximos was absolutely convinced that prayer, when done sincerely and with total love and focus, leads to the intervention of the Holy Spirit by bringing peace and healing to human beings. And this inner peace can then be translated into external peace, social and political peace. He would repeat time and again that unless peacemakers find peace within themselves, their pursuit of external peace, more often than not, will bear no tangible fruits.
“Let me give you another example from personal experience,” he continued. “A young high school teacher who had just been hired told me she had difficulty keeping order in her class. A rough and unruly group created pandemonium every time she entered the classroom. The poor woman trembled every time she faced them. I asked her to write their first names on a piece of paper and give it to me so that we could mention them during liturgy every day. I asked that she also pray for those teenagers. I assured her that she was bound to see a marked improvement in their behavior. After some time she contacted me again. She said, ‘You know something, Father? Those youngsters who created so much havoc have mellowed!’ I replied that they had mellowed because she was praying for them.
“I told her,” Fr. Maximos went on, “that as a result of her prayers, the Grace of God had visited their hearts and softened them up. Prayer had brought peace to the classroom. When we fail to pray for fellow human beings who cause problems for us and instead blame and condemn them, or complain about them, their behavior more often than not will deteriorate. In reality, our toxic feelings become demonic energy sent to them. We are, therefore, responsible for the others when they become worse than before. The more spiritually aware we are, the greater the responsibility we share for their condition. The others may not be spiritually aware. Perhaps they have never heard of the Gospel. Perhaps they don’t live spiritual lives and are not aware of or sensitive to the spiritual laws at work. But what about us, who presumably are aware? What do we do’ Do we face the other person according to the teachings of the Gospel? Or do we rationalize by saying, ‘He condemns me, I condemn him; he slanders me, I slander him; he rejects me, I reject him; he ignores me, I ignore him; he curses me, I curse him: and so on. That’s not the way to stop the work of Satan.
“I am reminded of a story in which Satan appears in front of an abbot and has a conversation with him. Satan tells the abbot, ‘All day long I cause havoc among your monks. I make them quarrel among themselves as they work the fields and begin the other tasks you assign them, and I am close to destroying them. Unfortunately, during the night they manage to damage the traps and nets that I set up for them: Then the abbot asks him, ‘How do they do that?’ And Satan replies, ‘Every night they do prostrations and ask forgiveness of each other:
“Those of you who have been at a monastery will notice that at the end of the apodypnon [a short prayer service after dinner], all the monks fall on their knees and ask forgiveness of each other in case something happened during the day that may have offended them. Then the abbot blesses them and they go to their cells.
~Adapted from Kyriacos C. Markides, Inner River: A Pilgrimage to the Heart of Christian Spirituality
