Брань (борьба) душевная

We must not only vigilantly monitor our thoughts, but, if possible, move away from close communication with that which, most of all, approaching us, brings to mind passions, disturbs and confuses the mind and produces wars and struggles in the soul. For it is necessary to take upon ourselves the abuse that involuntarily befalls us, but it is very reckless to raise arbitrary abuse against ourselves. In the first, defeat (which may not happen to Christ’s ascetics!) may perhaps receive an apology, but in the latter, the defeated, in addition to being ridiculed, is deprived of an apology (5). Some people also have another illness from ignorant judgments about those who have withdrawn from the world: they think that in those who have changed their way of life, it is not only the disposition that has changed, but human nature itself has been rebuilt; They do not reason that ascetics are subject to the same passions and overcome them with spiritual strength and by removing themselves from pleasures, but they believe that passions are completely eliminated from their physical nature. Therefore, if a spiritual person has deviated even slightly from perfection, immediately everyone, even the most ardent praisers and admirers of the past, become cruel accusers and expose themselves for having previously lavished insincere praise. Just as in the field, if a wrestler slips, the enemy immediately attacks him, strikes him and brings him to a complete fall, so they, as soon as they see that the one living in the feat of virtue has deviated somewhat from perfection, attack him as if with arrows, striking him with reproaches and slander, and do not judge within themselves that they themselves are daily wounded by passions with thousands of arrows; Ascetics of piety, even if such passions fight against them, either suffer little harm from them, or often none at all, and, moreover, having a stronger enemy than them. Since the ascetics volunteered to fight the enemy, it is very important for the evil one to gain victory over them, but on the contrary, to remain defeated means to receive a mortal wound, as if he had suffered a complete defeat in all parts of virtue. And the enemy despises the fight with those who have given themselves over to the world, partly because many of them arbitrarily strive for defeat, being caught in sin by various pleasures and lusts and giving the enemy an easy victory over themselves, partly because those who seem somewhat opposed to sin with various entertainments are easily evaded from the fight, turn their backs and, relentlessly defeated, bear the shameful signs of the victory won over them (5). You might be interested in: