“Sinful thoughts continually disturb a man. But if he does not cooperate with them, then he is not guilty of them. One ascetic woman was besieged for a long time with unclean thoughts. When the Lord came and cast them away from her, she called to Him: ‘Where were you before now, O my sweet Jesus?’ The Lord answered: ‘I was in your heart.’ She said then: ‘How could that be? For my heart was full of unclean thoughts.’ The Lord said to her: “Know that I was in your heart, for you were not disposed to the unclean thoughts but strove rather to be free of them; and when you were not able to be free, you struggled and grieved. By this you prepared a place for Me in your heart.”
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“One man sinned but repented, and this continued all his life. Finally he repented and died. An evil spirit came for his Soul and said: ‘He’s mine! The Lord said, ‘No, no, he has repented! ‘But he repented and then sinned again,’ said the devil. The Lord said to him: ‘If you, being evil, would take him back after he repented to Me, then how can I not accept him if after sinning he has turned to Me in repentance? You forget that you are evil, and I am good.'”
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“You cannot become passionless all at once. But every time you feel your sinfulness say: ‘Lord, forgive me!’ Only the Lord is able to put love into a person’s heart.”
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“It is useless to accuse those around us and those who live with us of somehow interfering with or being an impediment to our Salvation and Spiritual perfection… Spiritual or emotional dissatisfaction comes from within ourselves, from inexperience and from poorly conceived opinions we do not want to abandon, but which bring on doubt, embarrassment, and misunderstanding. All of this tires and burdens us, and brings us to a sorry state. We would do well to comprehend the Holy Fathers’ simple advice: If we will humble ourselves, we will find tranquility anywhere, without having to mentally wander about many other places, where we might have the same, or even worse, experiences.”
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“After Communion you should ask the Lord that you preserve the Gift worthily and that the Lord help you so that you do not turn backward, i.e., to your former sins.”
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“God does not create a cross for man. No matter how heavy a cross a man may carry in life, it is still just wood, from which man himself made, and it always grows from the soil of his heart.”
