The Holy Fathers say (this is how Fr. Cleopa began to express concisely his spiritual experience to us, inherited from the Holy Fathers and personally experienced by him, as every one of his words clearly confirms) that on the path of salvation one is tempted by the devil from eight sides: from the front, from behind, from the left, from the right, from above, from below, from inside, and from the outside.
8.) Finally, the eighth door to demonic temptation is opened from the outside, through external things and occasions, that is, through everything that enters from outside through one's senses, which are the soul's windows. These external things are not evil in and of themselves, but by means of them one's feelings can be tempted and induced to evil and sin.
These, then, are the eight means by which everyone is tempted, regardless of whether one is in the world or in seclusion.
(Having completed listing all eight means by which one is tempted, Elder Cleopa briefly repeated them and then added the ways and means with which to combat each of these temptations.)
Against each of these temptations – from behind, from the front, from the left, from the right, from above, from below, from inside, and from the outside – one must fight by means of watchfulness (the Elder used precisely this Slavonic word [trezvenie]), that is, attentiveness, carefulness, and wakefulness of soul and body; wakefulness and vigilance of spirit; sobriety and discernment; attention to one's thoughts and actions; or, in a word: judgment. On the other hand, by means of constant prayer that invokes the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that is, through unceasing prayer. (Here Fr. Petronius added in Greek: "Prosochi kai prosefchi"– that is, as the Holy Fathers put it, "by attention and prayer.")
In other words (the Elder added), the Holy Fathers said that the battle against all temptations and passions consists in the following: guarding all one's mind, soul, and body from temptation – this is our ascetic struggle, from our human point of view; from the Divine side, one must continuously and prayerfully call upon the help of the All-Merciful Lord Jesus Christ – and this is that unceasing and primary prayer of the hesychasts called the Jesus Prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner!"
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Afterfeast of the Theophany of Our Lord
Troparion, Tone 4
Of old, the river Jordan turned back before Elisha's mantle at Elijah's ascension. The waters were parted in two and the waterway became a dry path. This is truly a symbol of baptism by which we pass through this mortal life. Christ has appeared in the Jordan to sanctify the waters!
Kontakion, Tone 4
Today the Lord enters the Jordan and cries out to John: "Do not be afraid to baptize me. For I have come to save Adam, the first-formed man."
Readings and Inspiration from the Diocese of Charleston Homepage
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