Слово 21. О малодушной боязливости, или страховании

1. If you are going through the feat of virtues with others or in a community, then timidity will not attack you very much: but if you are struggling in the most silent places, then be careful that this daughter of unbelief and the offspring of vanity does not take possession of you. 2. Cowardice is an infantile disposition in an old, vain soul. Cowardice is a deviation from faith, in anticipation of unexpected troubles. 3. Fear is an imagined misfortune; or in other words, fear is a tremulous feeling of the heart, anxious and lamenting from the idea of ​​unknown misfortunes. Fear is the deprivation of firm hope. 4. A proud soul is a slave to fear; trusting in herself, she is afraid of the faint sound of creatures, and the very shadows. 5. Those who cry and are sick about their sins have no insurance; and the fearful often lose their minds; and in fairness. For the Lord righteously leaves the proud, so as to teach others not to be arrogant. 6. All the fearful are vain, but not all the fearful are humble; for it happens that both robbers and grave diggers are not afraid. 7. Don’t be lazy at midnight to come to those places where you are afraid to be. If you yield even a little to this infantile and laughter-worthy passion, then it will grow old with you. But when you go to those places, arm yourself with prayer; when you come, spread out your hands and beat your adversaries in the name of Jesus; for there is no strongest weapon, neither in heaven nor on earth. And having got rid of this illness, praise the Deliverer; for when you thank Him, He will cover you forever. 8. You cannot fill your belly in one minute; So you can’t overcome fearfulness quickly. As our crying intensifies, she moves away from us; and with its decrease it increases in us. 9. “I was afraid of power and flesh” (Job 4:15), Eliphaz said, announcing the cunning of this demon. Sometimes the soul, and sometimes the flesh, is first struck by fear, and then this passion is passed on to one another. If the flesh is afraid, but this untimely fear has not entered the soul, then deliverance from this illness is near. If we, out of contrition of heart, with devotion to God, diligently expect from Him all kinds of unforeseen cases, then we have truly freed ourselves from timidity. 10. It is not the desert and gloominess of the place that strengthens the demons against us, but the barrenness of our soul; sometimes this happens providentially for our admonition. 11. He who has become a servant of the Lord fears only his Master; and whoever does not have the fear of the Lord is often afraid of his own shadow. 12. When an evil spirit approaches invisibly, then the body fears; and when the Angel approaches, then the soul of the humble one rejoices. So, when we recognize the coming of the Angel of God by this action, we will rather rise up to pray: for our good guardian has come to pray with us. You might be interested in: