Priests are interesting people with rich life experiences. Sometimes they talk about those who come to confession. They will stand at the analogue and are silent, and when the father begins to question about sins, they look at him in horror. Such parishioners are in spiritual delight.
Definition
There are two concepts of the word "charm" in Orthodoxy. According to the first definition, this obscures the human soul under the influence of evil spirits (demons). It begins to seem to the Christian that he is the best, has spiritual talents, and with what powerful prayer he can only envy.
The second definition of spiritual charms is that it is a state of self-deception, charm and self-seduction, caused by the influence of someone or something.
Who is exposed to charms?
The first kind of charms, the definition of which is given above, is subject to pious Christians. The second - people who are far from the Lord and rarely visit the temple.
Holy Fathers on the state of delight
According to the definition of the Holy Fathers, spiritual charm is divided into two types: mental and heart.
The first is daydreaming, born of a wrong mental act. These are dreams, false sensations, or any kind of vision during prayer.
The second type of spiritual charms in Orthodoxy is called opinion. When it occurs, a person begins to think of himself as a great prayer book, acquiring the gifts of the Holy Spirit. During a prayer vigil, he experiences false blessings.
According to the definition of saints, spiritual beauty is damage to human nature by lies. The greatest self-deception is to consider yourself free from it. All people are in charms, to realize this is the greatest protection from this state. So taught St. Ignatius Brianchaninov.
According to St. Gregory of Sinai’s doctrine of charms, it has three main reasons - pride, envy from demons, and the mercy of the Lord to punish a person.
The reason for pride, in turn, is vanity, demonic envy arises from prosperity, and the mercy of the Lord - from a sinful life. The latter can forever remain with a person until his death.
Here's what else the holy fathers say about spiritual charms. Here is the opinion of St. Theophan the Recluse: you can not exaggerate the significance of this state, as well as fear it. The charm happens to those who are proud, who have decided that warmth has touched their hearts. This is where their state of delight lies in wait, for unclean spirits do not sleep, wishing to seduce a person.
Simeon the New Theologian warns believers with words about devilish machinations. The evil one is always approaching the human soul in such a way that the believer is not aware of his machinations. He tries to outrage all the aspirations and movements of the soul, to direct them to deeds beneficial to the Evil One. Confusion and a storm are going on inside the man, he becomes passionate, the wills of the soul become obscene. This is the state called Orthodoxy spiritual charms.
John Cassian of Rome spoke of unclean spirits, that there are a great many of them everywhere. Fly between heaven and earth, but people do not see them. The Lord in his mercy made the demons invisible to the eyes of men. For they are so ugly that people would be struck by horror at the sight of them, and in time they would become angrier, watching the wicked behavior of demons, prompting to recklessness even greater and inciting numerous passions in themselves.
Types of charms
There are several types of spiritual charms, which you need to know about as a church person, and someone who is just starting his path to God:
- Kindle imagination.
- False visions.
- False joy.
- Conceit.
- False sense of grace.
- The false gift of healing.
- The false gift of vision.
- Disrespect for mentors.
- Trust in dreams.
Manifestation of charms
We are talking about the main characteristics of this condition, but have never mentioned how it manifests itself.
Everything is simple and complex at the same time: a person begins to lose control over his thoughts and reasoning, often turns away from the Truth, accepting false teachings for it. It is easy to guess who is pushing the person to become familiar with them.
When the strong-willed spiritual sphere is darkened, people become ardent adherents of evil. Before, a good and reasonable person turns into a devilish toy, not having the ability to resist evil, to abandon it. The same thing happens when demons take possession of the irritating power of a person. He, unable to resist temptation, immediately forgets what it is to do good. The deceiving person does not have enough strength for good deeds, but when he hears about something bad, he immediately lights up to support this undertaking.
About self-seduction
What is spiritual charm? The definition is given a little higher, the manifestation methods are described. It remains to find out what is self-seduction.
Self-seduction, or charm, is a state of false spiritual self-awareness. it seems to man that he has acquired Divine grace, but it is not the Lord that influences his soul and body, but demons inspire such thoughts. The extreme form of spiritual charms is the feeling of being holy.
Why does this condition arise among believers?
It is written above that people who are far from God and the temple are subject to spiritual charms. But zealous Christians, monks and clergy too may well fall into charm.
It all starts with ardent zeal in prayer, when a monk or ordinary layman takes on the feat without being blessed by a spiritual mentor. One priest aptly expressed himself about such ascetics: they read twenty akathists a day, and then their icons glow.
The grace of God works through humility, pride pushes us to unnecessary deeds. In the wonderful Christian book "Easter Red" there is a story about how Optina Deserts (now a monastery near Kaluga) was opened. Orthodox youth came in large numbers, rather dressed in all black, and one pilgrim dug himself a dugout in the Optinsky Forest and went into the gate. Of course, this shutter didn’t end with anything good, but the author of the book did not write about the great embarrassment associated with the dugout in the forest and the “feat” of the pilgrim. On the one hand, we have a funny story in front of us, on the other, an easy form of charms. Let us explain that the shutter is the highest spiritual state in which the ascetic renounces everything, completely immersed in prayer. Monks deny themselves even the most meager things, humiliating the flesh. How could a young lay man easily renounce everything that had previously surrounded him without proper spiritual preparation? He hardly imagined himself an ascetic and a prayer book, is this not a spiritual delight?
The state of charms among the laity
Many people are very far from God, they go to the temple several times a year, they have not heard about house prayer. But there comes a moment when they get to confession and do not know what the "pop" wants to hear from them.
The priest begins to ask leading questions, the confessor looks at him with huge eyes, sincerely wondering why the priest accuses him of something. A man lives no worse than others: he works, he deals with his family, he tries to do good, not to offend anyone. What are such sins attributed to him?
The confessor wanted to talk about life with the priest, but there was a misunderstanding and resentment. A man, offended in his best feelings, leaves the temple and tells his friends what “priests” are bad, make the sinless saint repent of something.
This is a real delight - a spiritual disease that has struck modern humanity. And why? Yes, because instead of a sober and repentant life, people tend to relax and enjoy. Chasing earthly goods and wealth, completely forgetting about God and the church.
Passion for frequent communion
Pious readers will not be surprised, but information for consideration is presented differently.
One of the types of spiritual charms is frequent communion. Before the readers are two stories told by the holy martyr Arseny (Zhdanovsky) in his book The Spiritual Diary.
One woman received communion daily. The clergy drew attention to this, instructing the priest, from whom she confessed, to check the young lady. He, in turn, told her to confess every day and did not admit to the sacrament, when he considered it useful for his child.
Only a woman was indifferent to the prohibitions of the confessor, she began to move from church to church, continuing daily communion. Ultimately, the spiritual leadership tracked her and forbade her to begin the sacrament.
But the heroine of the story was not embarrassed, she decided that she could take communion at home. The Lord has long given her the right to convert bread and wine into her body and blood. The woman began to perform the "liturgy" on her own, taking communion at home.
It ended sadly: the lady went crazy, she was taken to the appropriate institution.
Another woman in spiritual charm demanded daily communion. The priest sensibly reacted to her demands and asked the question: is the lady worthy to begin the sacrament so often? That, of course, was “worthy,” for “had no sins,” which the father informed.
How often do you need to receive communion? The exact answer to the question asked can only be given by a priest from whom a person is confessed. What about the one who does not have a spiritual mentor and embarks on the sacrament of confession among different priests?
The minimum, according to which it is necessary to receive communion, is 5 times a year. In each post, once and on its own day name day. Only four long fasts, respectively, the same number of times a person sets about the sacrament of communion.
Some take communion once a month, others two times. There are people who start communion once a week, but they are parishioners of a temple, and not its rare visitors.
How to deal with beauty
Is it possible to get rid of spiritual charms on my own? No, a person cannot fight against unclean spirits without the help of God. It is necessary to resort to the Savior and the weapons that he left for spiritual struggle.
- Prayer and fasting drive away the crafty race. Of course, prayer should be sober, under the guidance of an experienced priest. The neophyte will begin to establish prayer rules for himself, to lay numerous obeisances and to read a huge number of akathists, so he will fall into a state of charm even more. The same applies to fasting, everything should be a measure and experienced leadership.
- Visiting church services, obligatory participation in the sacraments of confession and communion, and by Lent - gatherings. How often communion is written above. As for confession, there can be one piece of advice - the more often, the better for the soul.
- Sober life, strict observation of oneself. We are all lazy, prone to relaxation and idleness. The latter is the mother of all vices, it must be avoided, to find something to do. This does not mean that there should not be rest at all, but labor cannot be replaced by it.
About self-pity and despondency
Do not spare yourself - these words are spoken by many priests, giving parting words to the layman. People tend to engage in the fact that they pity themselves, view their life from the most negative point of view. From here despondency is born, a person does not want anything. What is the temple, confession and communion? The Christian lies on the couch with an extinct gaze, he develops apathy and indifference to everything. Unclean spirits are happy, swirl around the sufferer and slip sad thoughts to him. To give in to despondency is the last thing for a Christian.
Conclusion
About what are signs of spiritual charms, the material is described in detail. To avoid this condition, one should not engage in labor without the blessing of a spiritual mentor. Our forces are small, where there before the exploits and the struggle with demons. They will raise, slap and wet spots will not be left from a proud ascetic, if the Lord permits them.