For a person to progress spiritually, certain conditions must be fulfilled. He must possess humility and love, and his heart must be pure. When he possesses humility, he possesses a divine magnet that attracts the grace of God. You see, grace is given to the humble. This is the rule.

From the book: Lives and Teachings of Contemporary Elders Spiritual Pearls - St. Paisios the Athonite, Guard Your Soul! Conversations with Elder Paisios of Mount Athos on Salvation in the Modern World, 3rd Serbian edition, edited by Jovan Srbulj (Belgrade, 2006). Online edition: Svetosavlje.org (2009).

St. Nikolaj Velimirović, Excerpt from Homily of the 15th Sunday after Pentecost, Matthew 22:35–46. Pericope 92. Homilies, Vol. 5. “Glas Crkve,” Valjevo, 1996. Online edition: Svetosavlje.org (2006).

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Guarding the Heart Against Judgment
SATURDAY

The Lord’s disciples plucked heads of grain, rubbed them in their hands, and ate on the Sabbath. Thus, what they did was of very little consequence, both outwardly and in itself. Yet the Pharisees could not restrain themselves from rebuking them (Luke 6:1–2). What prompted them to speak about this? Outwardly, unreasonable zeal; inwardly, a spirit of faultfinding.

This spirit fastens upon everything and portrays it all in the dark colors of lawlessness and spiritual ruin. This weakness, to a greater or lesser degree, is almost universal among those who do not keep watch over themselves. One may manage to refrain from speaking, but few succeed in restraining judgmental thoughts. Someone crouches beside the heart and incites it to condemn, and the heart begins to pour forth condemnation.

Meanwhile, the faultfinder himself is ready to do evil as soon as no one is watching. In every respect, he remains firmly rooted in an evil disposition. It seems that he judges and condemns precisely to compensate, through attacks upon others—even unjustified ones—for the sense of righteousness wounded and stifled within himself.

But someone who loves righteousness and lives according to it knows how difficult it is to be upright in deeds, and still more difficult to be upright in the movements of the heart. Therefore, he will never be quick to condemn. Rather, he is ready, through forbearance, to cover not only the small transgressions of others but even their great ones.

The Lord did not condemn the faultfinding Pharisees, but gently explained to them that the disciples had acted in a way that anyone could readily justify if he judged the matter properly. And this is almost always the case: consider your neighbor’s action carefully, and you will find that it does not have the grave and dreadful character it seemed to have at first glance.

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Without effort and struggle, there is no holiness. — Saint Paisios of Mount Athos

Ascetical Lessons of St. John Climacus (General Principles of the Ascetic Life) – Philokalia Vol. II, Ch. 3 On the Virtues and the Passions — and on the Struggle Against the Latter in General, v. 31-42.

Source: Philokalia ( Dobrotolyubie): In Russian translation, expanded: [in 5 volumes]. – 2nd edition. Published at the expense of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery on Mount Athos. – Moscow: Printing House and Lithography of I. Efimov, 1895–1901. / Vol. 2. – 1895. – 760, IV pp.. Available online at Азбука веры (Azbyka.ru)

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Holy Communion: Life in Union with the Lord
FRIDAY

The miraculous feeding of the multitude in the wilderness is an image of the nourishment of the faithful through Holy Communion—that is, through the most pure Body and most pure Blood of the Lord (Luke 9:12–17). The Lord sits apart. The people are divided into groups, while the apostles serve as intermediaries, receiving the bread and distributing it.

So it is now: the faithful are divided into groups, into individual local churches, where the Lord, invisibly present, distributes His Body and Blood through the successors of the apostles. Just as He once said to the apostles, so He now says to their successors: “You give them something to eat.”

As then, so now, the faithful remain steadfastly before the Lord in fasting, listening to His word, and prayerfully seeking healing from their sins, preparing to approach the Divine Mysteries.

Having begun with the Lord’s appearing, this mystery continues to this day and will continue until the end of the age. In the age to come, too, there will be a communion of its own kind, for the Lord has promised to give us to eat of the hidden manna and of the tree of life (Revelation 2:7, 17).

Even in the earthly Paradise, a mystical communion was established for our first parents: partaking of the tree of life. In the Old Testament Church, this was symbolized by eating the Passover lamb.

Thus, mystical communion began with the human race, has continued with it, and will continue through all eternity, in various forms but with one meaning: the closest possible communion with the Lord. For “in Him was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4). It is fitting that those created in the image of God should have such communion with Him Who is “the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person” (Hebrews 1:3).

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St. Nilus of Sainai - Ascetical Instructions – Philokalia Vol. II, 153 Chapters on Prayer, v. 73-74.

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Live Righteously, Repent Humbly

SATURDAY

“I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32). What consolation for sinners! Yet we must cease from sin and do only good. Moreover, even while doing good, we must always regard ourselves as sinners—not merely with our lips, but in our hearts.

Do not sin, yet repent as a true sinner and call upon the Lord to have mercy on you. If this is your disposition, you stand in the truth. But if you surrender to a feeling of self-righteousness and begin to consider yourself sinless, know that you have strayed from the right path and taken a road that does not lead to salvation.

How can an upright life be joined with an awareness of one’s sinfulness? Only those scribes who write but do not put their words into practice ask such a question. To anyone who walks the path of putting faith into practice, it is perfectly clear that it cannot be otherwise.

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The Mystery of Unbelief and the Deception of the Evil One

FRIDAY

“Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation?” (Luke 7:31)—that is, the unbelievers.

The Lord poses this question as though in perplexity. Should we not be even more astonished at the existence of unbelief? We stand bewildered before this mystery: how can anyone oppose evidence that is so clear and overwhelming? And yet, people do oppose it.

That Satan opposes the truth is not surprising. His very name signifies an adversary of truth and goodness. He clearly sees that God exists, that God will judge him, that he will be condemned, and that his punishment has already been prepared. Nevertheless, he continues to oppose everything—not for any other reason, but solely for the sake of evil, thereby bringing about his own greater destruction.

Does not this same spirit of rebellion against God also reign in those who do not believe?

At any rate, according to what we know about the soul and its operations, unbelief remains inexplicable in the face of such evident grounds for faith.

Equally inexplicable is the sinner's enslavement to sin, even after he clearly recognizes that sin is leading him to destruction.

And what a contradiction we encounter!

It is precisely unbelievers and those enslaved to their passions who deny the existence of Satan and the unclean spirits. Those who, more than anyone else, would seem to belong to their side completely deny their existence.

But is not this very belief itself inspired by the unclean spirits?

The powers of darkness love darkness and teach people to say that they do not exist, and that everything in the moral and spiritual world happens of itself, without their snares and cunning devices.

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The Devil Is the Master of Vanity

The devil is the master of vanity and worldly things. A person who has given his heart to vanities is under the devil's dominion without even realizing it. The devil is not the master of the world. He rules over those who possess worldly wisdom. A person must detach his heart from worldly things and vanities, and then his heart will turn toward Christ on its own, without effort.

— St. Paisios the Athonite