May 22
(From the Paterikon.)
By Archpriest Victor Guryev
Why is it, brethren, that in this life we often see wicked people as though they experience no temptations from the devil, while the godly suffer from him? Why is this so?
A monk once asked an elder: “Why is it that wicked people abandon fasting and prayer, give themselves over to gluttony, deceive and rob one another, do whatever they wish, often break their oaths, and pay no attention to the fact that they sin grievously? They even receive the Holy Mysteries calmly, and all this seems to mean nothing to them, as though everything were perfectly normal. And why is it that the godly exhaust themselves with fasting, vigils, prayers, and dry eating, deprive themselves of bodily comfort, weep and lament, and say that they are great sinners and deserving of the fires of Gehenna?”
Hearing this from his disciple, the elder replied with a sigh: “You spoke rightly when you said that for sinners everything seems to mean nothing. They have fallen so deeply that they are no longer even aware of it. Yes, because of their lack of repentance, they cannot rise again. Think about it: why should the devil struggle against them when they themselves already lie prostrate before him and cannot get up? He does not fight such people. But the godly, though sometimes defeated, also overcome; though they fall, they quickly rise again and in the end will completely conquer the enemy of their salvation.”
So, brethren, here is the answer to the question of why the devil does not trouble sinners, while the righteous suffer from him. He does not trouble the former because, even without temptations from him, they are already entirely under his power. The latter suffer because they are the beloved field of his activity.
This was confirmed even by a demon to Saint Markellos the ascetic. When the Saint heard the noise of military battle in the desert and wondered what it meant, a demon appeared before him and cried out: “Why are you perplexed? Truly there is warfare here. But if you do not want us to fight against you, then lie down and sleep, and we will not attack you. We do not wage war against the lazy, but only against those who fast and persevere in prayer. It is only with them that we battle.” (Prologue, February 20)
Knowing this, brethren, strive to stand firmly against our common enemy. Take up “the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit” (Eph. 6:16–18). Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
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