THE PASSIONS ΤΑ ΠΑΘΗ

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

THE PASSIONS [ΤΑ ΠΑΘΗ]

The holy Fathers of the Church say, "Passion is properly something that lies hidden for a long time in the soul and by its very presence it takes on the character of a habit, until the soul of its own accord clings to it with affection." "But passion is unequivocally denounced in every situation and requires suitable repentance or future punishment. From all of which it follows that he who regards the first encounter with detachment cuts off with one blow all the rest that follow, writes Saint John Climacus.

"Some say that it is the thought of fornication that introduces passion into the body, while others deny this, insisting that evil thoughts derive from the capacity of the body to experience sensual things. The former declared that if the mind had not taken the lead, the body would not have followed. But the latter maintain that their view is proved by the depravity of bodily passion, for, very often, a pleasing sight, a touch of the hand, the scent of perfume, or the sound of sweet voices can be enough to generate evil thoughts."

"Some passions enter the body by way of the soul and some work in the opposite way, the latter affecting people living in the world, the former assailing those living the monastic life and, hence, lacking stimulus from the outside. All I can say here about it is that if you look for wisdom among evil men, you most certainly will NOT find it" writes Saint John Climacus.

The Christian understands that fighting against the passions is most difficult and is a constant struggle. Saint John Climacus says, "After we have fought long and hard against this demon, this ally of the flesh, after we have driven it out of our heart, torturing it with the stone of fasting, and the sword of humility, this scourge goes into hiding in our bodies, like some kind of worm, and it tries to pollute us, stimulating us to irrational and untimely movements."

The holy Fathers say, "Hatred comes from harboring ills, harboring ills–from pride, pride–from vanity, vanity–from lack of faith, lack of faith–from hard-heartedness, hard-heartedness–from laxity, laxity — from laziness, laziness — from despondency, despondency — from impatience, impatience — from cenceit." "We must consider" the Venerable Cassian says, "sadness healthy for us only in the case when it results from repentance for sins, or a fervor desire for perfection, or contemplation of future blessings. The blessed Paul says the following concerning this: "For Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death" [2 Corinthians 7:10].

"There is also another type of sorrow that is indecent, that fills the sinning soul not with the intention of correcting one’s life and purifying itself from passions, but with ruinous despair. This is what did not permit Cain to repent after murdering his brother, and did not let Judas seek ways of assuagement after his reason, but led dim, through instilled despair, to hang himself.

God does NOT permit temptations to exceed our powers. The Master lightly strikes the crystal or glass vessel, so as not to break it, but he hits the silver or bronze hard; thus the weak are given light, and the strong are given the heaviest temptations."

"Passions are the uncontrolled desires that come from our bodily needs. They subordinate our soul to our egoistic or self will. They come about because we forget about God and only think of our own needs or desires. The seven passions are: GLUTTONY, LUST, AVARICE, ANGER, DEJECTION, LISTLESSNESS, AND PRIDE. All these passions lead us to sin, but with proper discipline can be offset by virtues." On the other hand the virtues are: TEMPERANCE, CHASTITY, GENEROSITY, MILDNESS, HAPPINESS, DILIGENCE, AND HUMILITY." Our Saints who practiced virtuous lives reveal the key to a virtuous life. Their life is one of fasting, vigils (unceasing prayer), solitude, study of Holy Scripture, philanthropy, and an active sacramental life.

"…as soon as you feel a passionate impulse, whether of lust or irritation, hasten to curb it by an effort of will, descend into your heart with the attention of your mind, and try in every possible way not to let the passion enter your heart. Watch to prevent the heart being irritated by what irritates, or attracted by what attracts, If, however, either the one or the other happens suddenly to be born in your heart, to begin with try and prevent it from coming out; do not express it either by word, look or gesture." Saint Maximos the Confessor writes: "Dispassion is a peaceful condition of the soul in which the soul is not easily moved to evil."

One way that one is assaulted from the evil one are evil thoughts known as logismoi (lo-ggee-smee). Even the holy gerondes [elders] were constantly battling serious assaults (temptations) and even bombarded with logismoi (evil thoughts). The evil one uses the mind to plant an evil thought in it desiring to lure us into committing a sin. Therefore, it behooves us to examine all foreign thoughts carefully before we act upon any of them. To question ourselves and to seek the origin of the thought. Is it my thought? What kind of a thought is it? Is it a good thought? or Is it an evil thought? Someone once said that when it comes to thoughts we need to treat them as airplanes are treated at the local airport before they are permitted to land. At every airport there is a tower with people responsible who direct the planes, arriving from all over the world. Before a plane is permitted to land at a local airport the pilot must identify who he is and from where he is coming from. If the information he gives is not correct the plane will not be permitted to land. We too, must be sure the thoughts that wish to enter our mind are good thoughts and anything deleterious will not be permitted to enter. Up to this point we are held accountable.

If, however, the person consents to commit what the logismos (evil thought) urges us to do, then the next act is to make a personal decision. That’s when accountability starts to take hold. It is the beginning of sin. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ explains: "I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart" [Matthew 5:28]. The Almighty God sees the hidden desires or passions which motivate our actions. The issue here is lust; not simply the God-given mutual attraction of men and women. Sin does not come out of nature, but out of internal self-indulgence. The person who feasts on lust within himself brings sin into his heart through his thoughts (logismoi). Thoughts which enter the mind involuntarily are temptations, not sins. They become sins only when they are held onto and entertained.

The Orthodox Christian should not allow himself or herself to become a captive or hostage of evil thoughts and passions because it leads to self destruction. The holy Fathers have warned us that when we become taken over by such passions it is like surrendering our heart and soul to Satan so that he can have excess to it at any time of the day or night. When a person feels unable to free himself or herself from this tyranny of the devil the only salvation is our Merciful God. "Through the Grace of the Holy Spirit everything is possible, including his/her healing." The forgotten medicine is the Mystery (Sacrament) of Repentance/Confession. One should repent and participate in the healing sacrament of the Church as soon as possible. The Lord "is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all come to repentance" {2 Peter:39].

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"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George