1. To be able to successfully fight against evil, you must have order in your thoughts. This is achieved by more silence, solitude and prayer.
2. Always keep in mind and remember that every word in your mouth is important and therefore do not burn yourself so as not to become a traitor to yourself. Close your mouth and tongue so as not to bring suffering to your loved ones and to yourself. Be kind and gentle to everyone, and then they will cover your every mistake with the words: “Well, he is good.”
3. Remember that when you allow yourself to be very close and intimate with those who are your superiors and depend on them, they will inevitably hate you. Your relationship with them should be businesslike, polite, kind and considerate.
4. Arm yourself with good against your enemies. Do not allow yourself to condemn them under any circumstances.
5. Joy is not a voluntary feeling. It is proportional to your desire to be in contact with God and feel His benefits. Joy is a gift from God.
6. Defeat your enemies by praying for them. Through enemies, the devil incites us to anger and evil, but when you do the opposite of his desire, he goes against them and restrains them.
7. To make a good beginning, this means to stop the bad thoughts that incite you to do something bad.
8. When they prompt you, or ask you a question sharply and immodestly to provoke you, immediately counter them with: “Why are you asking?!”
9. When they incite you against someone, telling you – he did this or said about you that, or when someone starts to anger you and provoke you, do not rush like some stupid cock to fight, because you may come out with a bloody comb , from which your blood will flow and you will die.
10. Begin with humility and silence. To everything they ask you, answer: “I don’t know.” This is how you will know things spiritually. Take it easy. Whatever they say to you, say one thing: “Okay!”. Against that which provokes you most strongly, oppose the simple and all-conquering silence.
11. When you receive joy, humble yourself and know that it brings with it sorrows, against which you must fight, not despair.
12. Seal in your mind that with just one inappropriate word you can drive away the grace, and then with many prayers you have to get it again. If you feel that you are starting to say something wrong, say that you have lost your mind and stop.
13. Just leaving your house already puts you in contact with many demons, so be careful, don’t go back and forth too much, go out only for the most pressing needs and with great self-control and prayer.
14. Just when you most want to say something or when you are challenged and you feel that you are starting to get angry or excited, just then arm yourself with patient silence or with mandatory flight if you are faced with an inflaming kind image. Silence and flight are given to us just for these occasions. Everyone can keep quiet when they are calm and undisturbed. The winning silence is that which manifests itself when you are given an opportunity to speak.
15. Take prayer seriously. Success is only from her!
16. Humility consists in self-reproach, but in yourself, and not in front of people who will take you for a sheep’s soul and destroy you. Keep silent and don’t judge anyone for anything.
17. If you find yourself alone with a woman and begin to seduce yourself, keep silent and begin to repeat the most effective prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me!”.
18. Learn some rules, but always have them in front of your eyes.
19. Temptations are given to overcome, not to fall before them. But for this purpose, it is necessary as soon as a temptation appears, especially if it is related to anger or fornication, to realize your weakness and diligently ask God for help with the words: “Lord, I am weak, so show me Your strength, because without Your support I cannot stand.”
20. Silence is simple and therefore in it is strength and victory. With power comes responsibility. Let them be annoyed more often by your silence than by your words. And often repeat: “Please!”, “Forgive!”.
21. Always raise the will to fight against sin and exalt yourself above sin, not above people. As Pushkin says: “Accept praise and slander indifferently and do not challenge the fool.” Whether they are praising you or scolding you, keep calm and remain silent. Never speak on your own initiative.
22. In the pursuit of perfection, be like a hound that, despite obstacles and injuries, chases the rabbit down the hole.
23 The insults you give to others, whoever they are, spin, spin, and fall on your head again. Say when they concern you, but meekly, politely and with dignity, without obscene insults and screams that only betray your weakness. To have anything to do with the Manger, you have to endure the humiliations calmly.
24. The day depends on the evening, i.e. from the prayer performed in advance for the next day, from which follows an early bedtime, a restful sleep and a timely early rise the next day.
25. Prodigal rage is curbed by avoiding the occasions for it, i.e. by refraining from exaggeration, verbosity and especially judgment (maliciousness).
26. Be careful in your relations with the baptized, do not be cunning, because their guardian angel, whom they received at baptism, learns from your guardian angel about your bad moods towards them and warns them.
27. If you are facing many fronts, tackle one of them and you will see how to deal with the others as well.
28. No matter how kind your colleagues and those you deal with, do not give in and do not leave the position of seriousness and respectful cold demeanor. Remember that the slightest of your looseness, intimacy, familiarity and free behavior will make you a fool, will deprive you of all authority, dignity and weight.
29. If your evening is difficult, be silent and patient, knowing that Christ was crucified in the evening and rose again in the morning.
30. Do not curse, do not condemn even the devil, because you will fall under the blows of your own curses and condemnations, because you yourself have many of the devil’s traits.
31. When you have to defend yourself, don’t write whole reports. Defend yourself only in the specific case and do not wait for other questions. Be human to everyone. Don’t pay attention to choir talk and gossip. Don’t leave your place or your job and try to make your way there.
32. God and you – there is no other. What you make yourself, it will be. If something happens, don’t blame others and don’t judge them, but only hold yourself responsible and you will be at peace both on earth and in heaven.
33. If the superiors refuse you their favor for what you ask, no debates and discussions, but keep silent, as if it does not concern you, and respectfully withdraw. Otherwise you lose the battle.
34 Be neat, clean, respectful, but not sugary. Be smiling, but in moderation. Be moderately polite, but with a cold stare. Do you know how to count to 10, stop at 3. Don’t be like a child who gets scalded and then shouts: “Ow!”. Be sober and aware of the wages of sin, which is death.
35. The first condition for any ascent is humility, i.e. to feel your powerlessness and to place all your trust in God.
36. When you have to ask someone for something, do not crawl, but behave with marked dignity. Present your request briefly, to the point, without obscuring and diluting words, explanations, etc., and immediately to the goal. Imagine that the person you are addressing is the one on whom your future depends. Be tight as a string. No relaxation and contraction, keeping constant attention. Answer the questions you are asked after careful consideration and above all, don’t forget to ask God to give you the right answer. Exude respect and seriousness. No familiarity. No orders, but always say the words: “please”, “thank you” a hundred times. Kind and polite to subordinates as well. Short, without wasting people’s time. When you talk to someone, never with your hands in your pockets. Don’t nag, don’t argue, don’t contradict even jokingly. For difficult questions, promise that you will answer the next time after you prepare. In relation to everyone, always in the polite form of “Vie”. Always stand with reverent fear and heartfelt attention, remembering that God is always with you. Any unnecessary word can send you to hell. They will challenge you and [pre]dispose you to [behave inappropriately]. But you spoke softly and remained firm and respectful to the end.
37. God loves the brave and the humble.
38. Do you see something painful and hopeless? Are you depressing? Are you despairing? Or do your circumstances seem insurmountable? Know that in all these cases the devil is on the other side, and for this reason, immediately start repeating the prayer “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me!” repeatedly.
39. Keep your distance and don’t let anyone get so close to you that if you refuse and don’t give him something, he might get angry with you.
40. It is a man who suffers and does not respond to an insult, especially if it comes from an older man and from a woman.
41. Evil must be countered with good. But not with half means and half good, not with something slightly better than evil, but with complete, unreserved good. Only then there are chances to defeat evil with good.
42. If you get caught in indecent and sinful thoughts, immediately remove them with prayer and do not allow them to come to feelings, words and deeds. You cannot stop the winds that blow, but hide yourself in a covenant.
43. You will be happy if you consider every misfortune that befalls you as the will of God, aimed at your good and that of your loved ones. And let them send you to hell, and there hold on to God. There are three degrees of salvation: 1. Not to sin. 2. You were wrong – repent. 3. You repent badly – then endure the coming sorrows.
44. And Judas repented, but did not repent. That is why we are asked to have the will and determination to fight.
45. Do not participate in any slander, denunciation or slander. Cover your enemy – only then will God cover you. Nice and firm, remember something cardinal, and that is that until you shut your mouth and stop judging and insulting, you will always be unsuccessful. Know for sure that to whatever insult and teasing or whatever evil comes to you from others, meek and Christian behavior is the only response that will cause the least shock and harm to you and your loved ones! !! Remember, this is a basic and life-saving thing!
46. In order not to fall into fornication and anger, what is even more valuable than fasting is silence, and that is not to not speak at all, but to hold back your tongue from condemnation and slander. Remember a thousand times that our most deadly enemy and a malignant tumor from which we must get rid of at any cost is slander, condemnation, many stories – this is what eats away at us and leads to certain destruction.
47. At confession, promise that you will improve and try with all your might to fulfill these promises of yours, and then God Himself will help you.
48. Do not wander and do not travel from church to church, from monastery to monastery, from city to city and from country to country, because piety is not in this. Stand your ground and fight the dark forces there. Don’t splurge.
49. No matter how hard your life on earth is, here only one demon torments you, and if you kill yourself, everything will be much harder for you in the next world, and there you will be tormented by many and more cruel demons than this one, who torments you here. If passions attack you, pray against them and you will overcome them.
50. If you hear disagreement with your words, shut up! Even Pythagoras taught like this.
Note: The soul-beneficial teachings of Archbishop Seraphim Sobolev were recorded by his spiritual child, Nikola Mutafchiev, and were published in the book “The Sofia Wonderworker Seraphim for the Secrets of Victory”, Sofia, 2003.
About the author: Archbishop Seraphim (Sobolev) of Boguchar is one of the most prominent clergymen of our time. Bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church, whose episcopal ministry is almost entirely in Bulgaria. He was solemnly glorified as a newly canonized saint – Unfathomable joy overwhelmed the souls of thousands of Christians who filled the patriarchal cathedral “St. Alexander Nevsky”, to become part of this significant spiritual celebration ¬ the glorification of St. Seraphim, Archbishop Bogucharski, Sofia Miracle Worker, which took place on February 26, 2016.
Photo: Icon of Ever-Virgin Mother of God / Ikoni Mahnevi, https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057324623799
(to be continued)
