The Fact That the Devil Arms Himself and Wages War Against No One as Much as Against Young Monastics
October 31*
By Archpriest Victor Guryev
October 31*
By Archpriest Victor Guryev
"The devil, like a roaring lion, prowls about, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8), says the word of God. Devour whom? Of course, on the one hand, as we know, all of us. But know, young monks, that he primarily seeks to devour you, monks. Indeed, the immutable truth is that the devil arms himself against no one so much and wages war against no one so much as against you. We will now reveal this truth to you in the following example.
One of the elders of the Thebaid, discussing with his brothers what had prompted him to become a monk, related the following, among other things. "When I was young," he said, "as the son of a priest of idols, I often visited the idol temple and watched my father offer sacrifices to the idols. One day, entering the temple, I saw Satan and a multitude of demons with him. And so, one of the latter approached Satan and bowed down to him. Satan asked, "Where are you from?" "I," the demon replied, "in one place stirred up strife among people, and as a result, much human blood was shed." Satan drove him away in disgrace. Another demon approached and said, "I was at sea, sank a ship, and destroyed many men." Satan treated this demon the same way as he had the first. The third demon appears and says, "I was at a wedding feast and stirred up hostility between the guests and the bride and groom, resulting in bloodshed." Satan did not praise this demon, and he suffered the same fate as the first two. Finally, the fourth demon appears and says, "I was in the desert, wrestling with one of the monks for thirty years, and only this night was I able to defeat him and lead him into mortal sin." Having listened to this demon, Satan rose from his seat, kissed the demon, removed his crown, and, placing it on his head, exclaimed, "Oh, what a great deed you have done!" "Having heard Satan's final words," the Thebaid elder concludes, "I then realized how great the monastic rank is, and I accepted it."
This account of the Elder of the Thebaid, in our opinion, clearly proves that the devil truly arms himself against no one as he does against you, monks, and wages war against no one as he does against you. And if all this is so, and you agree with us, then what remains for you to do, monks? It remains, of course, to be constantly attentive to yourselves, to your thoughts, intentions, and deeds; to be vigilant over yourselves, to arm yourself with all the weapons indicated to us in the word of God against the enemy of our salvation, and to oppose them to the devil. He strives by every means to destroy you; and you, for your part, use all means to overcome him. He has declared irreconcilable warfare against you; and you declare it against him. He, like a roaring lion, prowls about, seeking to devour you; and you go forth against him clad in the full armor of God. Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
Notes:
* In the original text, there is no entry for October 31st. There this is the fourth entry for November 9th.
