Бесноватые

...You write that out of pity and imaginary love you took on something other than your own business: treating your sister, who is sick with a non-physical illness. I told you personally and now I repeat: do not take on such matters in the future. If Pimen the Great, out of humility and self-protection, shied away from such matters, having a gift for this from the Lord, who are you that you dare to do these things unbidden. Again, I repeat: do not dare to do such things if you do not want to be subjected to strong temptations and bring upon yourself, firstly, unbearable carnal warfare, secondly, attack and persecution 4 from mental enemies, and thirdly, persecution from people. What is the need to bring such terrible temptations upon oneself? The Monk Simeon of Euchaite advises to evade those possessed by evil spirits, since there have been cases when the enemy confused spiritual people through them. Despite the imaginary pity and imaginary love, under which conceit and arrogance are subtly hidden, you yourself should know what bitter fruits come from these passions. Listen to the Scripture that says: Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord (Proverbs 16:5). Look at the Apostle Paul, what he says. Does he not command that such a one be handed over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit may be saved in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 5:5)? Here is an example of true philanthropy. And you are concerned to save a person from the exhaustion of the flesh in order to give him temporary peace of mind, perhaps hiding behind imaginary spiritual benefits. But this matter is beyond you. You are not a priest or priest who, through skillful confession, has the spiritual power to help such people, but even in this case, perfect healing will not always follow. This depends only on the will of God and on the beck of the Lord Himself, Who provides for everyone and arranges what is useful, and beneficial for the soul, and saving. People are not only not strong enough to do anything on their own, but they also do not always understand what is beneficial for a person. Although sometimes we imagine ourselves being zealous and showing pity for our neighbors, very often we do not understand either others or ourselves, but are only drawn into this by subtle conceit and arrogance. Let this patient be forced to confess to your new confessor what she announced to you, and then we will see whether there will be a need to come to us. If you want to have real pity for such people, then you can advise them to sincerely confess their sins to their spiritual father and not be ashamed to hide anything, since a person is punished not only for sins, but more for unworthy communion of the Holy Mysteries. Because of your zeal, it is very, very unprofitable for you to listen to such sins for the sake of the temptations mentioned above (2, part 3, pp. 36–37). In your last letter you write that you forcibly brought one demon-possessed woman to the relics that are in pieces in your church, and the demon, through the lips of this woman, threatened to bring you sorrow and annoyance for this. And after that you wonder why your mother abbess and sisters don’t treat you well. Obviously, due to enemy temptations. Therefore, be angry with the enemy as much as you please, and not with the sisters and mother abbess, who are tempted by the enemy. Go ahead, if you do not want to bear sorrow, do not undertake to help those possessed by demons, but try to live in the monastery as a pilgrim, paying attention to yourself and keeping silent and not getting involved in any business (2, part 3, p. 53). You might be interested in: