Self-satisfaction with the one thing that is necessary. Hatred of luxury and bliss. Mercy to the poor. Love of the poverty of the Gospel. Hope in God's Providence. Following Christ's commandments. Calmness and freedom of spirit. Carelessness. Softness of heart.

4. Meekness

Avoidance of angry thoughts and from the indignation of the heart with fury. Patience. Following Christ, Who calls His disciple to the cross. Peace of the heart. Silence of the mind. Christian firmness and courage. Not feeling insulted. Kindness.

5. Blissful Crying

A feeling of falling, common to all people, and of one's own spiritual poverty. Lamentation about them. The cry of the mind. A painful contrition of the heart. Vegetating from them is the lightness of conscience, grace-filled consolation and joy. Hope for God's mercy. Thanks be to God in sorrows, humble endurance from the sight of the multitude of one's sins. Willingness to tolerate them. Purification of the mind. Relief from passions. The desire for prayer, solitude, obedience, humility, confession of one's sins.

6. Sobriety

Diligence for every good deed. Unslothful correction of the church and home prayer rule. Attention during prayer. Careful observation of all your deeds, words and thoughts. Extreme distrust of oneself. Unceasing abiding in prayer and the Word of God. Awe. Constant vigilance over oneself. Guarding yourself from a lot of sleep, effeminacy, idle talk, jokes and witty words. Love of nocturnal vigils, prostrations, and other feats that bring cheerfulness to the soul. Leaving home only out of necessity. Remembrance of eternal blessings, desire and expectation of them.

7. Humility

Fear of God. Feeling it during prayer. The fear of disappearing and turning into nothing, which is born of especially pure prayer, when the presence and majesty of God are especially strongly felt. Deep knowledge of one's insignificance. A change in one's outlook on one's neighbors, and they, without any compulsion, seem to the humble one to be superior to him in all respects. Innocence from a living faith. Hatred of human praise. Constant blame and self-reproach. Rightness and directness. Impartiality. Deadness to everything. Tender emotion. Knowledge of the mystery hidden in the cross of Christ. The desire to crucify oneself to the world and passions, the desire for this crucifixion. Rejection and oblivion of flattering customs and words, modest by compulsion or intent, or the skill of pretending. Perception of spiritual poverty. Rejection of earthly wisdom as useless for heaven. Contempt for all that is lofty in men, but an abomination in the sight of God (Luke 16:15). Abandonment of self-justification. Silence before those who offend, which the Gospel teaches. Putting aside all one's own speculations and accepting the mind of the Gospel. Humility, or spiritual reasoning. Conscious obedience to the Church in everything.

8. Love

The change from the fear of God to the love of God during prayer. Faithfulness to the Lord, proved by the constant rejection of every sinful thought and feeling. The ineffable, sweet attraction of the whole person to love the Lord Jesus Christ and the worshipped Holy Trinity. Seeing the images of God and Christ in one's neighbors; the preference for all neighbors and their reverent reverence for the Lord stemming from this spiritual vision. Love for neighbors is brotherly, pure, equal, impartial, joyful, ardent equally for friends and enemies. Rapture into prayer and love of the mind, heart and whole body. An indescribable delight in spiritual joy. Spiritual ecstasy. Inactivity of the bodily senses during prayer. Silence of the mind. Enlightenment of the mind and heart. The power of prayer that conquers sin. The Peace of Christ. Retreat from all passions. The absorption of all understandings by the surpassing mind of Christ. The weakness of sinful thoughts that cannot be depicted in the mind. Sweetness and abundance of consolation in sorrows. Vision of human structures. The depth of humility and the most humiliating opinion of oneself... The end is endless!

Thoughts of the Holy Fathers on Passions, Virtues and Repentance

According to the "Otechnik" compiled by St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov)

All passions, if freedom is allowed to them, act, grow, strengthen in the soul, and finally envelop it, take possession of it, and separate it from God. These are the heavy burdens that fell upon Adam after he ate of the tree. These passions were killed on the cross by our Lord Jesus Christ. These are the old skins into which new wine is not poured (Matt. 9:17). These are the swaddling clothes with which Lazarus was bound (John 11:44). These are demons sent by Christ into a herd of swine (Matt. 8:31-32). This is the old man, whom the Apostle commands the Christian to cast off (1 Corinthians 15:49). These are thistles and thorns, which the earth began to spew out of Adam after he was cast out of paradise (Gen. 3:18).