Авва Афанасий

1. Abba Athanasius said: “Some say: now there is no martyrdom. Unfair. One can undertake martyrdom under the guidance of conscience. Die to sin, put to death your evils that are on the earth (Col. 3:5), and you will be a martyr according to your will. The martyrs fought with tormentors, kings and princes: and you have a tormentor tormenting you - the devil, you have princes pursuing you - demons. Once upon a time, churches and altars were erected for the devil and demons, abominable idolatry was offered to every false idol; understand that even now there can be a church and an altar in the soul, maybe a mental idol. The church is insatiable voluptuousness, the altar is voluptuous desires; idol - the spirit of lust. He who labors in fornication and is carried away by voluptuousness has rejected Jesus, worships an idol, and has within himself an image of Venus—a vile carnal passion. Again: if anyone is overcome by anger and rage, and does not cut off these violent passions, he has denied Jesus, has Mars as his god, and has submitted himself to anger, which serves as a sign of demonic possession. Another is a lover of money: closing his heart to his brother and not having mercy on his neighbor, he denied Jesus, serves idols, has an idol in himself - Apollo, and worships the creature, leaving the Creator. The root of all sins is the love of money. If you resist and preserve yourself from violent passions, then you have trampled on idols, rejected evil faith, become a martyr, confessed a holy confession” 218. 2. Abba Athanasius said: “Our fathers preserved abstinence and non-covetousness, but we enlarged our belly and our storehouses” 219. 3. Again he said: “Our fathers were diligent in attentive prayer in silence, but we are most concerned about cooking and handicrafts” 220. You might be interested in: