...continued from part one.
2. The Fall of Evil Spirits
God, teaches Saint Anthony the Great, has not created any evil; not from His will or from their nature did the demons receive the beginning of evil, but from their own will. They were created good at first, because they were created by the Good God; but for their pride they were cast down from Heaven to earth. The evil angel, said the Holy Martyrs Eustratios, Mardarios, and others, who had power among the other angels, by his own will departed from Him who created him and, becoming proud, fell away from his rank and from God, and God deprived him of angelic glory.
3. The Hierarchy of Evil Spirits
And the evil spirits have their ranks and degrees: among them there are weak, strong, the strongest, the so-called princes of demons, and their one chief leader, Satan. One dishonorable youth, wounded by impure lust for the holy maiden Justina, proposed to her to marry him. She refused, saying that she already had a Bridegroom, Christ, Whom she served and for Whose sake she kept her body pure. Offended by her refusal, he went to the then famous sorcerer Cyprian, so that he would attract the holy maiden to him by the power of magic. The sorcerer called one of the demons to his aid and instructed him to arouse in the heart of the maiden a foul desire. The Saint, by the power of prayer to the Lord Jesus Christ, made the seductions of the unclean spirit unsuccessful: so the demon fled from her in shame. The sorcerer then summoned a fierce demon; but this one too was driven away by the prayer and fasting of the Saint. The sorcerer finally summoned one of the princes of demons. He reproached those demons for their weakness; but he himself, with great shame and disgrace, had to also flee from the holy maiden. “I,” said the demon, who appeared in the form of a bright angel to the holy maiden Justina, “am one of the foremost princes of darkness, sent by Father Satan to tempt and seduce you.”
4. The Moral State of Evil Spirits and Their Actions in Relation to Humans
The moral state of evil spirits is the darkest, and their activity in relation to man is the most harmful and pernicious. The demon who appeared to Saint Irene said of himself that he was a teacher of fornicators and adulterers, a mocker of drunkards, rejoicing in bloodshed, a mentor of every lie and untruth. The demon who appeared to Saint Juliana declared to her that he advised Eve in Paradise to transgress God's commandment, taught Cain to kill Abel, seduced Solomon, put the idea into Herod to slaughter the children, into Judas to betray his Teacher and hang himself. All the activity of evil spirits in relation to man is aimed at seducing him from the path of virtue and corrupting him, and so that a person seduced from the path of wickedness would be with them in eternal torment and unquenchable fire. "Great is the power of Christ that helps you," said the devil to Saint Pachomios; "but I will not cease to fight with you and will do my work." "The malice of demons is varied and multiform," teaches Saint Anthony, "they wage war against every virtue."
2. The Fall of Evil Spirits
God, teaches Saint Anthony the Great, has not created any evil; not from His will or from their nature did the demons receive the beginning of evil, but from their own will. They were created good at first, because they were created by the Good God; but for their pride they were cast down from Heaven to earth. The evil angel, said the Holy Martyrs Eustratios, Mardarios, and others, who had power among the other angels, by his own will departed from Him who created him and, becoming proud, fell away from his rank and from God, and God deprived him of angelic glory.
3. The Hierarchy of Evil Spirits
And the evil spirits have their ranks and degrees: among them there are weak, strong, the strongest, the so-called princes of demons, and their one chief leader, Satan. One dishonorable youth, wounded by impure lust for the holy maiden Justina, proposed to her to marry him. She refused, saying that she already had a Bridegroom, Christ, Whom she served and for Whose sake she kept her body pure. Offended by her refusal, he went to the then famous sorcerer Cyprian, so that he would attract the holy maiden to him by the power of magic. The sorcerer called one of the demons to his aid and instructed him to arouse in the heart of the maiden a foul desire. The Saint, by the power of prayer to the Lord Jesus Christ, made the seductions of the unclean spirit unsuccessful: so the demon fled from her in shame. The sorcerer then summoned a fierce demon; but this one too was driven away by the prayer and fasting of the Saint. The sorcerer finally summoned one of the princes of demons. He reproached those demons for their weakness; but he himself, with great shame and disgrace, had to also flee from the holy maiden. “I,” said the demon, who appeared in the form of a bright angel to the holy maiden Justina, “am one of the foremost princes of darkness, sent by Father Satan to tempt and seduce you.”
4. The Moral State of Evil Spirits and Their Actions in Relation to Humans
The moral state of evil spirits is the darkest, and their activity in relation to man is the most harmful and pernicious. The demon who appeared to Saint Irene said of himself that he was a teacher of fornicators and adulterers, a mocker of drunkards, rejoicing in bloodshed, a mentor of every lie and untruth. The demon who appeared to Saint Juliana declared to her that he advised Eve in Paradise to transgress God's commandment, taught Cain to kill Abel, seduced Solomon, put the idea into Herod to slaughter the children, into Judas to betray his Teacher and hang himself. All the activity of evil spirits in relation to man is aimed at seducing him from the path of virtue and corrupting him, and so that a person seduced from the path of wickedness would be with them in eternal torment and unquenchable fire. "Great is the power of Christ that helps you," said the devil to Saint Pachomios; "but I will not cease to fight with you and will do my work." "The malice of demons is varied and multiform," teaches Saint Anthony, "they wage war against every virtue."
Fierce is their hatred of all Christians, especially of monks and Christ's virgins: they block their paths with nets, they try to fill their hearts with godless, impure thoughts. If they stop seducing them, then for a short time, put to shame, they attack with greater force. When they cannot tempt a person in thoughts, then they change the form of the struggle and begin to tempt with dreams, sometimes transforming themselves into a woman's likeness, sometimes into a scorpion and into such large bodies that their heads can reach the top of the temple, and sometimes into warlike hordes. When this cunning of theirs is revealed, they begin to predict the future. When this is also recognized, then the demons call for help the malice of their leader. All these and other similar types of malice of evil spirits can be found in the biographies of the holy saints of God.
Evil spirits act on the soul and body of a Christian, arousing impure and blasphemous thoughts in the soul, and striking the body with diseases. The demon gradually put into the thought of Saint Nephon: “There is no God, where is God? And there is no Christ! I alone support everything and reign over everything.” The demon, who appeared in the form of an angel, did not order Niketas the Recluse of the Caves to pray to God, but only to read books, so that he would give a useful word to those who came to him, and he himself promised to pray for his salvation. The devil struck the body of Saint Symeon the Stylite with such a fierce wound that it began to rot, and pus with worms came out of his wounds. The devil wounded Saint Ioannikios in the ribs with such an illness that he was speechless for seven days.
For the deception and temptation of Holy Ascetics evil spirits transformed themselves into various images and used all sorts of means for that deception – both great and small, and even insignificant. The demon in radiance came to Pachomios and said: “Rejoice, Pachomius! I am Christ and have come to you as to a friend.” To deceive Saint Symeon the Stylite, the devil transformed himself into an angel of light and descended to him from heaven on a fiery chariot. To tempt Saint Hilarion, the devil placed shameless naked women on his bed; during the sensation of hunger and thirst, he presented him with sweet foods and drinks. Saint Pachomios saw the demon in the form of a beautiful wife, going to the monastery with many servants.
The demon appeared to the Venerable Theodora the widow in the form of her husband. Venerable Theodore was healed from the disease of avarice by Venerable Basil. The demon, having taken the form of Basil, appeared to Theodore and said: “Theodore! How are you managing? Has the demonic battle ceased for you, or does the demon still bother you, bringing to mind the property given to the poor?” Theodore said that he was managing through his (Basil’s) prayers, and at the same time promised to continue to fulfill everything that he ordered. The demon told him to ask God for a lot of gold, so that he could have peace and recompense for the property given away and be able to give to the poor. Theodore began to pray for this, and the devil showed him a lot of gold in one cave. When Theodore received the gold, he advised him to leave the monastery for another country, and buy estates there, so as not to again suffer the temptation of grief over wealth. Theodore was inclined to do this, but God sent him Saint Basil, who exposed the temptations of the devil and saved his soul.
The devil appeared to Saint Theodore the Sykeon in the form of a young man, a friend of Gerontios, who studied with him at school. While walking with Theodore, he placed him on the highest hill above the abyss and suggested that he show his courage and jump down. “I’m afraid,” Theodore answered, “it’s too high!” “At school you were more courageous than all of us,” the devil shamed him, “but now you’re timid; even so I’m not afraid even if I jump down.” Theodore tried to persuade him, fearing that he might crash. “No harm will come of it, don’t be afraid.” “If you jump first, and I see you safe and sound, then I will do the same.” The devil jumped down, stood up straight, and called Theodore to him. While Theodore was still standing in amazement at the exploits of Gerontios, the Holy Great Martyr George took him by the hand, and said to him: "Go away from here; this is not Gerontios, but the enemy of our race."
Sometimes demons appeared in the form of a pious man to deceive the holy ascetics. During the prayer of Saint Abraham the Recluse, a demon placed a lamp and sang psalms. A multitude of demons once came at night to Saint Makarios of Egypt and said to him: "Get up, Makarios, and sing with us - why are you sleeping?" The monk, having recognized the demonic delusion, cried out: "Christ our God! Help us and deliver me from those who have surrounded me" - and the demons disappeared with a noise.
Demons also took the form of various animals. During the prayer of Saint Hilarion, the devil appeared to him now as a howling wolf, now as a jumping fox. The demons frightened the Venerable Sergius by transforming themselves into beasts and snakes. The devil appeared to Saint Tryphon in the form of a large dog.
Even people who have communication with demons can produce demonic dreams, for example, change the air, produce winds, thunder and rain, disturb the sea waves, and cause harm in gardens and fields. Cyprian the sorcerer placed a bird form with the ability to fly through the air on a young man who was wounded by impure lust for Saint Justina.
In order to deceive people, demons sometimes predict the future; they know this future not because they have the gift of prophecy, but they predict what they themselves have either done or themselves have taught evil people, for example, to kill or steal. So, when those who wanted to hear a word of consolation from Niketas the Recluse came to him, then the demon in the form of an angel announced to him everything that had happened to them and predicted the future - and it came true. They can know the future, like incorporeal spirits, on the basis of long-term experience and observation of things and human affairs; but they also often lie and deceive. “Do you know,” asked Saint Pachomius of the demon who appeared to him, “that after our death the brethren will not serve the Lord as zealously as they do now?” “I know for sure,” answered the demon. “You are lying on your own filthy head; to know the future belongs to God alone, and you are only a liar.” “I have no foreknowledge,” confessed the demon, “and I myself know nothing; I know what will happen in the future through knowledge of past and present things.”
Having attacked and done evil to a person during his earthly life, evil spirits do not leave him even after his death. They attack a person with particular force at the hour of death in order to disturb the peace of his soul. “When the hour of my separation from the body came,” said Saint Theodora, “I saw many Ethiopians standing around my bed; their faces were like soot, their eyes like fiery coals, they all looked at me menacingly, gnashed their teeth, prepared and unrolled scrolls in which my evil deeds were written. I turned my eyes away so as not to see those terrible faces, but I saw them everywhere, and my soul was in great fear and trembling.” “My Lord God!” prayed Saint Joseph the Hymnographer at the hour of his death, “You have kept me all the days of my life, and now to the end preserve my spirit and help me to escape the prince of darkness and the terrors of the air, lest my enemy ever rejoice over me.”
So dark is the moral state of evil spirits, and so pernicious and evil are their actions on man! Some of these actions and means for these actions seem insignificant, even ridiculous, and as if not corresponding to the nature of disembodied spirits. But here the goal for which these means and actions are used is important, and not the means and actions themselves. The all-cunning, deceitful, vile spirit is pleased if his insignificant, apparently ridiculous means and actions achieve their evil and vile goal - to tempt the holy ascetic, to ridicule him, to humiliate him, to laugh at his holy exploits and to involve him in sin. The vile creature of the flesh can do all kinds of nasty things to seduce pious people.
The dark and pernicious moral state of evil spirits becomes even more dismal because they cannot leave it, cannot, that is, bring repentance. Once a demon in the form of a sinful man came to Saint Anthony the Great and, comparing himself with an evil spirit, asked whether God could accept repentance from demons if one of them repented. Saint Anthony began to pray and asked the Lord for a solution to this question. An angel sent from God revealed to him that ancient evil cannot be a new good, that the former leader of evil cannot begin good deeds, that one accustomed to pride cannot humble himself in repentance and find mercy from God. And so that Anthony himself would be convinced of this, the Angel commanded him to make the demon do the following: that the demon should cry out day and night in one place for three years: "God, have mercy on me, the ancient malice! God, save me, the darkened delusion! "God, have mercy on me, the abomination of desolation!" The next day, when the demon came, the Saint offered him these conditions. "No, elder," the demon answered, "how can I call myself an ancient evil, when I am now so famous and so many people obey me? How can I call myself an abomination of desolation and a darkened delusion, when all sinners love me and do what pleases me? No, may it not be that through repentance I become unworthy and humble and out of great honor accept such dishonor for myself." Thus, the evil spirit himself testified that repentance is impossible for evil spirits, and this does not depend on God, but on their freedom, directed only toward evil, and on excessive pride, excluding all humility.
5. Limiting the Power of Evil Spirits
No matter how great the dominion of evil spirits and how strong their power, and no matter how varied their evil actions on man, their strength and power are so limited by the death on the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ that the holy saints of Christ, as well as all pious Christians, can not only resist the suggestions of evil spirits, but also conquer them. Christian virtues, especially when combined with the invocation of the name of Jesus Christ and the sign of the cross, are arrows that sting the devil, shame and drive him away.
“Believe me,” says Saint Anthony, “Satan trembles at the vigilance of Christians, their prayers and fasts, meekness, voluntary poverty, humility, and especially a pure heart in Christ's love.”
“O Makarios,” the demon said to Makarios of Egypt, “I grieve much that I cannot overcome you. I do everything that you do: you fast, and I eat nothing; you are awake, and I never sleep. You overcome me with one thing, and that is humility; I cannot resist it.”
Once they brought to Saint Anthony a young man possessed by an unclean spirit, one of the ranks of rulers, princes of darkness. Anthony sent him to Saint Paul the Simple. He said to the demon: “Father Anthony commands you, devil, to come out.” The devil did not come out. “Either you come out,” said the Saint, “or I will go and tell Christ, and you will have trouble.” The demon did not come out. Then Saint Paul stood on a stone and cried out: “Jesus Christ, crucified under Pontius Pilate! I will not come down from this stone until You hear me, I will not taste bread and water until You cast out the demon from this youth." The demon came out. Thus, it is noted in the life of Saint Paul, small demons are cast out by people strong in faith, and the humble defeat the initial demonic princes.
It was noted about the Venerable Theodosius of the Caves that he had such power over evil spirits that they did not dare to approach the place where he prayed.
Saint Potitus said to the demon that was in one maiden: "My Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, forbids you, unclean soul, and commands you to leave this creation and never enter it again." The demon came out and disappeared.
The name of Jesus Christ, not only pronounced by the lips of the holy saints, but also written by them in a letter, had the power to cast out demons. The holy evangelist John the Theologian sent a letter with his disciple Prochoros to a man possessed by an evil spirit. The letter read: “John, apostle of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, I command the inquisitive spirit: in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, leave the creation of God and never enter it, but be outside the island, in waterless places, and not among people.” When Prochoros came with this letter, the demon left the man.
The holy saints, armed with the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and the name of the Holy Trinity, even had dominant power over demons and sometimes used the same means to shame demons that demons used to deceive them. Venerable Theodore of the Caves was once grinding rye, singing psalms from the Psalter at the same time, and, becoming tired, stopped grinding. Then thunder rumbled and lightning lit up, and the millstones began to grind again. Recognizing the demonic action, the Saint forbade the demon to do this in the name of God. The demon did not obey. Then Theodore, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, commanded the demon not to stop grinding until he had ground all the rye. The demon obeyed and ground it. Another time, demons threw down the mountain the wood that the brethren had brought from the Dnieper, needed for building cells. Venerable Theodore, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, forced the demons themselves to move all the trees from the river bank to the mountain in one night, to the place where the cells were to be built. Saint John of Novgorod bound a demon who had taken up residence in a washstand and did not order him to leave it for a long time. Saint Basil the Great forced the devil to give back the receipt of the youth, in which he renounced Christ and forever surrendered himself to the devil.
In the lives of the saints there is much evidence of how the demons themselves recognized their weakness and impotence from the time of the Lord’s coming to earth and especially after His death on the cross. Since Jesus was crucified, the demon testified to Saint Nephon, "I have become weak." Satan said to Saint Anthony: “Behold, I do not have a single place, I do not possess a single city, I have no weapons; the name of Christ is glorified in all generations and countries; the deserts are filled with monks.” “Woe is me!” cried the demon when Saint Potitus cast him out of a possessed girl with the sign of the cross, “woe is me, the youth is defeating me! Where can I now find peace, at whom can I aim my arrows?” The Holy Martyr Tryphon cast out a demon from one of the king's daughters and, having made him visible to all, asked: "Who gave you, demons, power over God's creation?" The demon answered: "We have no power over those who know God and believe in His Only Begotten Son Christ. From them we flee in fear. We inflict temptations on them when it is permitted (by God). But over those who do not believe in God and His Son and walk in all their lusts - over them we have power to torment them." The devil, who appeared to Saint Pachomius, said: "No one has ever humiliated me as you have: not only do you put me under the feet of the old, but you also teach others to trample me, and you have gathered such a multitude of ascetics against us, having fenced them with the fear of God, that my servants cannot approach them. This power and authority over me began to exist from the time of the incarnation of God the Word, who gave you the authority to attack all our strength.”
Evil spirits act on the soul and body of a Christian, arousing impure and blasphemous thoughts in the soul, and striking the body with diseases. The demon gradually put into the thought of Saint Nephon: “There is no God, where is God? And there is no Christ! I alone support everything and reign over everything.” The demon, who appeared in the form of an angel, did not order Niketas the Recluse of the Caves to pray to God, but only to read books, so that he would give a useful word to those who came to him, and he himself promised to pray for his salvation. The devil struck the body of Saint Symeon the Stylite with such a fierce wound that it began to rot, and pus with worms came out of his wounds. The devil wounded Saint Ioannikios in the ribs with such an illness that he was speechless for seven days.
For the deception and temptation of Holy Ascetics evil spirits transformed themselves into various images and used all sorts of means for that deception – both great and small, and even insignificant. The demon in radiance came to Pachomios and said: “Rejoice, Pachomius! I am Christ and have come to you as to a friend.” To deceive Saint Symeon the Stylite, the devil transformed himself into an angel of light and descended to him from heaven on a fiery chariot. To tempt Saint Hilarion, the devil placed shameless naked women on his bed; during the sensation of hunger and thirst, he presented him with sweet foods and drinks. Saint Pachomios saw the demon in the form of a beautiful wife, going to the monastery with many servants.
The demon appeared to the Venerable Theodora the widow in the form of her husband. Venerable Theodore was healed from the disease of avarice by Venerable Basil. The demon, having taken the form of Basil, appeared to Theodore and said: “Theodore! How are you managing? Has the demonic battle ceased for you, or does the demon still bother you, bringing to mind the property given to the poor?” Theodore said that he was managing through his (Basil’s) prayers, and at the same time promised to continue to fulfill everything that he ordered. The demon told him to ask God for a lot of gold, so that he could have peace and recompense for the property given away and be able to give to the poor. Theodore began to pray for this, and the devil showed him a lot of gold in one cave. When Theodore received the gold, he advised him to leave the monastery for another country, and buy estates there, so as not to again suffer the temptation of grief over wealth. Theodore was inclined to do this, but God sent him Saint Basil, who exposed the temptations of the devil and saved his soul.
The devil appeared to Saint Theodore the Sykeon in the form of a young man, a friend of Gerontios, who studied with him at school. While walking with Theodore, he placed him on the highest hill above the abyss and suggested that he show his courage and jump down. “I’m afraid,” Theodore answered, “it’s too high!” “At school you were more courageous than all of us,” the devil shamed him, “but now you’re timid; even so I’m not afraid even if I jump down.” Theodore tried to persuade him, fearing that he might crash. “No harm will come of it, don’t be afraid.” “If you jump first, and I see you safe and sound, then I will do the same.” The devil jumped down, stood up straight, and called Theodore to him. While Theodore was still standing in amazement at the exploits of Gerontios, the Holy Great Martyr George took him by the hand, and said to him: "Go away from here; this is not Gerontios, but the enemy of our race."
Sometimes demons appeared in the form of a pious man to deceive the holy ascetics. During the prayer of Saint Abraham the Recluse, a demon placed a lamp and sang psalms. A multitude of demons once came at night to Saint Makarios of Egypt and said to him: "Get up, Makarios, and sing with us - why are you sleeping?" The monk, having recognized the demonic delusion, cried out: "Christ our God! Help us and deliver me from those who have surrounded me" - and the demons disappeared with a noise.
Demons also took the form of various animals. During the prayer of Saint Hilarion, the devil appeared to him now as a howling wolf, now as a jumping fox. The demons frightened the Venerable Sergius by transforming themselves into beasts and snakes. The devil appeared to Saint Tryphon in the form of a large dog.
Even people who have communication with demons can produce demonic dreams, for example, change the air, produce winds, thunder and rain, disturb the sea waves, and cause harm in gardens and fields. Cyprian the sorcerer placed a bird form with the ability to fly through the air on a young man who was wounded by impure lust for Saint Justina.
In order to deceive people, demons sometimes predict the future; they know this future not because they have the gift of prophecy, but they predict what they themselves have either done or themselves have taught evil people, for example, to kill or steal. So, when those who wanted to hear a word of consolation from Niketas the Recluse came to him, then the demon in the form of an angel announced to him everything that had happened to them and predicted the future - and it came true. They can know the future, like incorporeal spirits, on the basis of long-term experience and observation of things and human affairs; but they also often lie and deceive. “Do you know,” asked Saint Pachomius of the demon who appeared to him, “that after our death the brethren will not serve the Lord as zealously as they do now?” “I know for sure,” answered the demon. “You are lying on your own filthy head; to know the future belongs to God alone, and you are only a liar.” “I have no foreknowledge,” confessed the demon, “and I myself know nothing; I know what will happen in the future through knowledge of past and present things.”
Having attacked and done evil to a person during his earthly life, evil spirits do not leave him even after his death. They attack a person with particular force at the hour of death in order to disturb the peace of his soul. “When the hour of my separation from the body came,” said Saint Theodora, “I saw many Ethiopians standing around my bed; their faces were like soot, their eyes like fiery coals, they all looked at me menacingly, gnashed their teeth, prepared and unrolled scrolls in which my evil deeds were written. I turned my eyes away so as not to see those terrible faces, but I saw them everywhere, and my soul was in great fear and trembling.” “My Lord God!” prayed Saint Joseph the Hymnographer at the hour of his death, “You have kept me all the days of my life, and now to the end preserve my spirit and help me to escape the prince of darkness and the terrors of the air, lest my enemy ever rejoice over me.”
So dark is the moral state of evil spirits, and so pernicious and evil are their actions on man! Some of these actions and means for these actions seem insignificant, even ridiculous, and as if not corresponding to the nature of disembodied spirits. But here the goal for which these means and actions are used is important, and not the means and actions themselves. The all-cunning, deceitful, vile spirit is pleased if his insignificant, apparently ridiculous means and actions achieve their evil and vile goal - to tempt the holy ascetic, to ridicule him, to humiliate him, to laugh at his holy exploits and to involve him in sin. The vile creature of the flesh can do all kinds of nasty things to seduce pious people.
The dark and pernicious moral state of evil spirits becomes even more dismal because they cannot leave it, cannot, that is, bring repentance. Once a demon in the form of a sinful man came to Saint Anthony the Great and, comparing himself with an evil spirit, asked whether God could accept repentance from demons if one of them repented. Saint Anthony began to pray and asked the Lord for a solution to this question. An angel sent from God revealed to him that ancient evil cannot be a new good, that the former leader of evil cannot begin good deeds, that one accustomed to pride cannot humble himself in repentance and find mercy from God. And so that Anthony himself would be convinced of this, the Angel commanded him to make the demon do the following: that the demon should cry out day and night in one place for three years: "God, have mercy on me, the ancient malice! God, save me, the darkened delusion! "God, have mercy on me, the abomination of desolation!" The next day, when the demon came, the Saint offered him these conditions. "No, elder," the demon answered, "how can I call myself an ancient evil, when I am now so famous and so many people obey me? How can I call myself an abomination of desolation and a darkened delusion, when all sinners love me and do what pleases me? No, may it not be that through repentance I become unworthy and humble and out of great honor accept such dishonor for myself." Thus, the evil spirit himself testified that repentance is impossible for evil spirits, and this does not depend on God, but on their freedom, directed only toward evil, and on excessive pride, excluding all humility.
5. Limiting the Power of Evil Spirits
No matter how great the dominion of evil spirits and how strong their power, and no matter how varied their evil actions on man, their strength and power are so limited by the death on the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ that the holy saints of Christ, as well as all pious Christians, can not only resist the suggestions of evil spirits, but also conquer them. Christian virtues, especially when combined with the invocation of the name of Jesus Christ and the sign of the cross, are arrows that sting the devil, shame and drive him away.
“Believe me,” says Saint Anthony, “Satan trembles at the vigilance of Christians, their prayers and fasts, meekness, voluntary poverty, humility, and especially a pure heart in Christ's love.”
“O Makarios,” the demon said to Makarios of Egypt, “I grieve much that I cannot overcome you. I do everything that you do: you fast, and I eat nothing; you are awake, and I never sleep. You overcome me with one thing, and that is humility; I cannot resist it.”
Once they brought to Saint Anthony a young man possessed by an unclean spirit, one of the ranks of rulers, princes of darkness. Anthony sent him to Saint Paul the Simple. He said to the demon: “Father Anthony commands you, devil, to come out.” The devil did not come out. “Either you come out,” said the Saint, “or I will go and tell Christ, and you will have trouble.” The demon did not come out. Then Saint Paul stood on a stone and cried out: “Jesus Christ, crucified under Pontius Pilate! I will not come down from this stone until You hear me, I will not taste bread and water until You cast out the demon from this youth." The demon came out. Thus, it is noted in the life of Saint Paul, small demons are cast out by people strong in faith, and the humble defeat the initial demonic princes.
It was noted about the Venerable Theodosius of the Caves that he had such power over evil spirits that they did not dare to approach the place where he prayed.
Saint Potitus said to the demon that was in one maiden: "My Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, forbids you, unclean soul, and commands you to leave this creation and never enter it again." The demon came out and disappeared.
The name of Jesus Christ, not only pronounced by the lips of the holy saints, but also written by them in a letter, had the power to cast out demons. The holy evangelist John the Theologian sent a letter with his disciple Prochoros to a man possessed by an evil spirit. The letter read: “John, apostle of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, I command the inquisitive spirit: in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, leave the creation of God and never enter it, but be outside the island, in waterless places, and not among people.” When Prochoros came with this letter, the demon left the man.
The holy saints, armed with the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and the name of the Holy Trinity, even had dominant power over demons and sometimes used the same means to shame demons that demons used to deceive them. Venerable Theodore of the Caves was once grinding rye, singing psalms from the Psalter at the same time, and, becoming tired, stopped grinding. Then thunder rumbled and lightning lit up, and the millstones began to grind again. Recognizing the demonic action, the Saint forbade the demon to do this in the name of God. The demon did not obey. Then Theodore, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, commanded the demon not to stop grinding until he had ground all the rye. The demon obeyed and ground it. Another time, demons threw down the mountain the wood that the brethren had brought from the Dnieper, needed for building cells. Venerable Theodore, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, forced the demons themselves to move all the trees from the river bank to the mountain in one night, to the place where the cells were to be built. Saint John of Novgorod bound a demon who had taken up residence in a washstand and did not order him to leave it for a long time. Saint Basil the Great forced the devil to give back the receipt of the youth, in which he renounced Christ and forever surrendered himself to the devil.
In the lives of the saints there is much evidence of how the demons themselves recognized their weakness and impotence from the time of the Lord’s coming to earth and especially after His death on the cross. Since Jesus was crucified, the demon testified to Saint Nephon, "I have become weak." Satan said to Saint Anthony: “Behold, I do not have a single place, I do not possess a single city, I have no weapons; the name of Christ is glorified in all generations and countries; the deserts are filled with monks.” “Woe is me!” cried the demon when Saint Potitus cast him out of a possessed girl with the sign of the cross, “woe is me, the youth is defeating me! Where can I now find peace, at whom can I aim my arrows?” The Holy Martyr Tryphon cast out a demon from one of the king's daughters and, having made him visible to all, asked: "Who gave you, demons, power over God's creation?" The demon answered: "We have no power over those who know God and believe in His Only Begotten Son Christ. From them we flee in fear. We inflict temptations on them when it is permitted (by God). But over those who do not believe in God and His Son and walk in all their lusts - over them we have power to torment them." The devil, who appeared to Saint Pachomius, said: "No one has ever humiliated me as you have: not only do you put me under the feet of the old, but you also teach others to trample me, and you have gathered such a multitude of ascetics against us, having fenced them with the fear of God, that my servants cannot approach them. This power and authority over me began to exist from the time of the incarnation of God the Word, who gave you the authority to attack all our strength.”
