618. Помощь Божия бывает там, где есть самопринуждение. Чтобы одержать победу над страстями, надо иметь решительность. Поставь себе за обязанность исполнять ежедневно пятисотницу

M. St. O. n. G.I.H.B.n. p.n. Rejoice in the Holy Spirit, chosen one of God, my spiritual child, M. Julia! I received your letter, I also rejoice in your joy for preserving your dear brothers by the grace of God. Let us give thanks to the Lord and pour out our fervent prayers to the Savior God. You write about yourself: it is difficult to fight passions. No matter how difficult it is, you can still win victory over the passions by your own compulsion, of course, with the help of God. And God’s help helps where there is self-compulsion to all that is good. To win, you need to have the determination to wage a fierce battle with yourself, and if you don’t want to fight, then you need to surrender. An example for you - Boris, your brother, did not want to be ashamed in captivity, he decided to go to sea without food, also almost to obvious death, but in any case he had hope of salvation with the help of God. So, my joy, just start resisting passion, and the Lord will help you end it. If you don’t want to suffer here voluntarily, then you must suffer there involuntarily. Just as you avoid meeting Mother Judith, drive thoughts about her out of your head. Dreams will stop, just don’t think anything about them, try to forget them, drown them out with the Jesus Prayer. Don’t do a lot of reading, stick most of all to the Jesus Prayer. Make it your duty to perform five hundred daily, except on holidays. Better to leave reading. The struggle with every passion is difficult only at the beginning: the further you go, the easier it gets. Christ is my strength. God help you. I ask for you, and your relatives, and M. Justinia peace and God's blessing. You might be interested in: