But there is nothing so harmful in the devil that we would not find an opposing remedy. There is no secret network of which we do not have information.

St. Ephraim the SyrianPART ICHAPTER ONE.

What does Christian perfection consist of? –

To acquire it, it is necessary to fight. –

Four things that are extremely necessary for success in this battleWe all naturally desire and have a commandment to be perfect. The Lord commands: "Be ye perfect, for your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matt. 5:48); St. Paul convinces: "Be infants in malice, but be perfect in mind" (1 Cor. 14:20); in another place we read in him: that ye may be perfected and fulfilled... (Col. 4:12), and again: let us be led to perfection (Heb. 6:1). This commandment was also foreshadowed in the Old Testament. Thus, God says to Israel in Deuteronomy: "Thou shalt be perfect in the sight of the Lord thy God" (Deuteronomy 18:13). And St. David also commands his son Solomon: "And now, Solomon, my son, that thou mayest know the God of thy fathers, and serve Him with a perfect heart and spiritual will" (1 Chronicles 28:9). After this, we cannot but see that God demands of Christians the fullness of perfection, that is, that we be perfect in all virtues.

But if you, my beloved reader in Christ, wish to attain such a height, you must know beforehand what Christian perfection consists in. For, not knowing this, you can deviate from the true path and, thinking that you are flowing towards perfection, go in a completely different direction.

I will say frankly: the most perfect and great deed that a person can only desire and achieve is to draw closer to God and to be in unity with Him.

But there are not a few who say that the perfection of the Christian life consists in fasting, vigils, genuflections, sleeping on the bare ground, and other similar bodily strictnesses. Others say that it consists in the performance of many prayers at home and in standing through long church services. And there are those who believe that our perfection consists entirely in mental prayer, in solitude, hermitage and silence. The greater part limits this perfection to the exact fulfillment of all the ascetic deeds prescribed by the rule, not deviating either to excess or to lack in anything, but keeping to the golden mean. However, all these virtues alone do not constitute the desired Christian perfection, but are only means and means to achieve it.

That they are the means and means effective for the attainment of perfection in the Christian life, there is no doubt about it. For we see very many virtuous men who go through these virtues as they should, with the aim of obtaining through this strength and power against their sinfulness and wickedness, in order to draw from them the courage to resist the temptations and deceptions of our three main enemies: the flesh, the world, and the devil, in order to store up in them and through them spiritual aids, so necessary for all the servants of God, especially for beginners. They fast in order to humble their violent flesh; they keep vigils in order to sharpen their intelligent eye; they sleep on the bare ground, so as not to be disturbed by sleep; they bind their tongues in silence and seclude themselves in order to avoid even the slightest pretext for doing anything that offends the All-Holy God; they pray, stand for church services, and perform other works of piety so that their attention does not depart from heavenly things; they read about the life and sufferings of our Lord not for anything else, but in order to know better their own frailty and the merciful goodness of God, in order to learn and dispose to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, with self-denial and the cross on their shoulders, and in order to kindle in themselves more and more love for God and dislike for themselves.

But, on the other hand, these same virtues can do more harm to those who place in them the whole foundation of their life and their hope, than their obvious omissions, not in themselves, because they are pious and holy, but through the fault of those who do not use them properly, namely, when they, heeding only these virtues outwardly performed, mothers-in-law leave their hearts in their own commands and in the will of the devil, who, seeing that they have strayed from the right path, does not prevent them not only from striving with joy in these bodily feats, but also from expanding and multiplying them according to their vain thoughts. Experiencing certain spiritual movements and consolations, these workers begin to think of themselves as having already been elevated to the rank of angels and feel the presence of God Himself in themselves; at other times, immersed in the contemplation of some abstract, unearthly things, they dream of themselves, as if they have completely stepped out of the realm of this world and have been raptured to the third heaven.

But how erroneously such people act and how far they are from true perfection, everyone can understand this, judging by their life and by their disposition. They usually wish to be preferred to others in any case; they like to live according to their own will and are always persistent in their decisions; they are blind in everything that concerns themselves, but they are very keen and diligent in judging the deeds and words of others; if someone begins to enjoy the honor of others, which, as they think, they have, they cannot endure this and clearly become unpeaceful towards him; if anyone interferes with them in their pious studies and ascetic deeds, especially in the presence of others, God bless! – they are immediately indignant, immediately boil with anger and become completely different, unlike themselves.

If God, desiring to bring them to the knowledge of themselves and to guide them to the true path to perfection, sends them sorrows and sicknesses, or allows them to be persecuted, with which He usually tests who are His true and true servants, then it will be revealed what has been hidden in their hearts and how deeply corrupt they are by pride. For whatever sorrow may befall them, they do not want to bow their necks under the yoke of the will of God, resting on His righteous and hidden judgments, and they do not wish, following the example of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Who humbled Himself for our sake and suffered, to humble themselves above all creatures, considering their persecutors as dear friends, as instruments of Divine goodness to them and co-workers in their salvation.

Why is it obvious that they are in great danger? Having their inner eye, i.e. their mind darkened, they look at themselves with it, and they look wrongly. Thinking about their outward deeds of piety, that they are good with them, they think that they have already attained perfection, and, becoming proud because of this, they begin to condemn others. After this, it is no longer possible for any of the people to convert them, except for the special influence of God. It is more convenient to turn to good for an open sinner than for a hidden one who hides under the veil of visible virtues.

Now, having learned so clearly and definitely that spiritual life and perfection do not consist only in those visible virtues of which we have spoken, learn also that it does not consist in anything other than in drawing closer to God and in union with Him, as it was said at the beginning, in connection with which there is a heartfelt confession of the goodness and greatness of God and an awareness of our own insignificance and inclination to all evil; love for God and dislike for oneself; submitting oneself not only to God, but also to all creatures out of love for God; the rejection of all our own will and complete obedience to the will of God; and moreover, the desire for all this and the accomplishment of all this from a pure heart, to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31), only for the sake of pleasing God, only because He Himself wills it and that it behooves us to love Him and work for Him.