Despondency: A Different Danger

St. Seraphim addresses two related spiritual diseases that plague many at various times, offering insight into how to overcome them and remain close to Christ.This reading comes from: Life and Teaching of St. Seraphim of Sarov📖 Life and Teaching of St. Seraphim of Sarovhttps://churchsupplies.jordanville.org/products/life-and-teaching-of-saint-seraphim-of-sarov?srsltid=AfmBOopmeXl6e0F3AWUW23i0Sy5XOCVLP002Q85QzKN09lymGZj5VLdv🎧 Despondency in Prayer - St. John of Kronstadthttps://youtu.be/dlH-e6gQQEM🎧 Drive Out Despair With The Jesus Prayer - St. Barsanuphius of Optinahttps://youtu.be/ELcvcmLMI7A🎧 The Acquisition of the Holy Spirit - St. Seraphim of Sarovhttps://youtu.be/i5rTls7uTsM🎧 Never Despair of Your Salvation (Concerning the Sin of Self-abuse)https://youtu.be/OOQxdpPd_PI🎧 On Peace of Soul - St. Seraphim of Sarovhttps://youtu.be/6LTSr5pu00A⛪ FIND an Orthodox parish and monastery near you: https://orthodox-world.org/https://orthodoxyinamerica.org/🎁Support my work here:https://buymeacoffee.com/orthodoxwisdom_______St. Seraphim teaches:An inseparable companion of the spirit of sorrow is boredom. It attacks a monk, as the Fathers have observed, at about midday, and it produces in him such a terrible restlessness that both the place where he lives and the brothers who live with him become unbearable to him; and during the reading there is aroused in him a kind of disgust, repeated yawning, and great hunger. Once the belly has been satisfied, the demon of boredom insinuates into the monk the idea of going out of his cell and talking to someone, suggesting that the only way of saving oneself from boredom is by constantly conversing with others. And the monk who is vanquished by boredom is like desert tumbleweed that now stops for a moment, and now is again at the mercy of the wind. He is like a wisp of cloud pursued by the wind.This affliction is cured by prayer, abstinence from idle talk, manual labor according to one's strength, reading of the Word of God, and patience; for it is born of faintheartedness, inactivity, and idle talk.When boredom vanquishes you, say to yourself, in accordance with the instructions of St. Isaac the Syrian: "You desire again an unclean and shameful life. And if the thought occurs to you: it is a great sin to kill oneself [with ascetic practices], — you should say in return:I am killing myself because I cannot live uncleanly. I shall die here so as not to see real death — the death of my soul in its relation to God. It is better for me to die here in purity than to live an evil life in the word. I have preferred such a death to my sins. I am killing myself because I have sinned against God, and I will no longer anger Him. What is life to me apart from God? This affliction I will bear, so as not to be deprived of the hope of heaven. Why should God care for my life, if I live evilly and anger Him? (Homily 22).Boredom is one thing, and the anguish of spirit that is called despondency is quite another. It sometimes happens that a man is in such a spiritual state that it seems to him that it would be easier to be annihilated or to be totally without consciousness or feeling than to remain any longer in this immeasurably painful state. One must come out of it quickly. Guard yourself against the spirit of despondency, for from it comes every kind of evil (St. Barsanuphius the Great, Answer 73)._______Orthodox Wisdom is dedicated to sharing the writings and lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!