РОСА НИСПАДЕНИЯ БЕСОВ

Rejoice, from whom the enemies fall! (Akathist, ikos 12). On Lazarus Saturday, someone named Parhom was brought from Chernigov to the miraculous icon of the Most Holy Theotokos. The demonic power was so strong in that Parkhom that four people could barely hold him and bring him: he tore himself out of their hands with a terrible cry. But the proud spirit did not boast of such strength for long; soon it fell in exhaustion and was driven away by the power of the Mother of God. The man freed himself from the bitter tormentor, thanking his Savior. The enemy rises up against us with all his might, moves all his legions, surrounds us with all his treachery. The final abyss has engulfed us, dogs have surrounded us, a crowd of evil ones has surrounded us. And what shall we do? We cannot overcome them ourselves; we need the Lord to help us. In such a battle, someone won with Him, which is why he says: “If the Lord were not in us, not a single one would be able to overcome the enemy’s battle against us” (Damascene, in Octoechos). But we have greatly angered the Lord, where will we get help? Let’s create a council, gather a regiment of prayer books who will be able to pray to the Lord for us and overcome the enemy’s regiments. Let us call upon the Angels, gather the prophets and apostles, the martyrs and virgins, the saints and the righteous, and all the saints, so that they may take up arms around us! However, all these warriors need commanders. Who has seen a regiment fighting without a leader? It is not fitting for an army to be without a leader. But who among such military councils is worthy to be a leader? Only the Blessed Virgin Mary! Let us beg her, so that in the midst of the regiment of our prayer books she deigns to be a Voivode. She is worthy to rule over everyone, Most High of Angels, Most Honest of Prophets, Greatest of Apostles, Most Worthy of Martyrs and Virgins, Most Holy of Reverends and Righteous Ones and All Saints! Let her lead the regiment, and all our enemies will fall. In the Old Testament, during battles, the ark of the covenant of the Lord was carried before the regiment - and the adversaries fell defeated. Thus it is written in Numbers: “The ark of the covenant of God went before them. When the ark was rising on its journey, Moses said: Arise, O Lord, and Your enemies will scatter, and those who hate You will flee from Your presence!” (Numbers 10, 33, 35). We have the Ark of the New Testament - the Blessed Virgin - and we read to Her: “Rejoice, O Ark, gilded by the Spirit!” (Akathist, ikos 12). Letting her go ahead, we will see our adversaries defeated. Victories will be built by it. She will make God merciful to us, and will stand against those who persecute us - only let us cry to Her: “Oh, most luminous cloud, Mother of God, conquer us who conquer!” (Paraklis to the Mother of God). Woe to our negligence! We are lazy, but our enemy is vigorous and plots to devour us. We eat and drink, and the enemy gnashes his teeth at us. We idle, and the enemy weaves his nets against us. The apostle calls: “Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). We need to be sober and watchful so that the devil does not consume us. If we are lazy, then the enemy has already devoured us. If we are sober and awake, he fights against us, wanting to devour us, but cannot, for God helps. One of the desert fathers began to pray at midnight and now he heard the sound of a trumpet, as if in battle. He says to himself: why are there warriors and warfare in the desert? Then a demon appeared to him and said: “This is fighting when you stand in prayer. Lie down and sleep, and we won’t fight you. We fight only with those who arm themselves with cheerful prayer; we do not fight with the lazy.” Do you hear what the evil force says: “We don’t fight the lazy.” Why? The lazy one has already been defeated, he has fallen and lies trampled under foot by the enemy... Let us be sober and watchful! Be brave, brave warrior, you will not fall ulcerated, If only you remain cheerful and sober. Abba Moses once received abuse from an unclean spirit and, unable to bear the slander of the enemy, went to Abba Isidore and told him the matter. Blessed Isidore consoled him, advising him to endure bravely, strengthening him from the Divine Scriptures and the teachings of his fathers, ordering him to return to his cell and strive for passion. He did not want to, because the demonic warfare had increased within him. Then Saint Isidore took him to the top of his cell and said: “Look to the west and see.” Moses looks and sees a countless number of demons, as if preparing for battle. Isidore addresses him again: “Look to the east and see.” And when Moses looked to the east, he saw a much larger regiment of light-bearing Angels, also ready for battle. And Abba Isidore says to him: “Those whom you saw in the west are fighting against the saints of God, and those whom you saw in the east are sent from the Lord to help courageous ascetics. You see, there are more of those with us.” Having seen and heard all this, Abba Moses strengthened himself and returned to his cell, glorifying the power of our Lord Jesus Christ. You might be interested in: