...continued from part two.
6. The Good Purpose of God's Providence in Allowing Evil Spirits
The actions of evil spirits on man are hostile, malicious and destructive; but one cannot help but see in them the good purpose of Divine Providence for man. Man's struggle with evil spirits protects him from carelessness and negligence in the exploits of salvation, encourages him to unceasing spiritual vigilance over himself and gives him the opportunity to develop and strengthen that virtue which demons attack. Their various temptations teach man, even one perfect in virtue, humility, encouraging him not to rely on his own strength, but to turn for help to the conqueror of hades and all the power of the enemy, the Lord Jesus Christ. Victory over the temptations of the devil increases the power and glory of the name of Christ. "When I fight you," says the demon to Saint Pachomios, "I am more profitable to you than I am guilty of vanity."
7. On the Appearance of Evil Spirits and the Manner of Their Appearance.
The books of the Old and New Testaments and Church History convey many experiences of the appearance of evil spirits.
1. The most famous and most harmful manifestation of the devil to man is when he appeared to Eve in the guise of a serpent and tempted her. Since then, the image of a serpent has been the most commonly used sensual image of the devil. In Holy Scripture, the devil is often called the ancient serpent. It is said that the hellish dragon will fight with the Woman, in whose guise the Church is represented, and that he will be defeated by the Archangel Michael and thrown down from the heights of heaven. It is known from the Old Testament that he was revered by the pagans in this form. In Babylon, for example, they rendered divine worship to a living dragon, which Daniel killed by giving it a mixture of various poisonous substances to swallow. The pagans had a kind of divination by means of snakes, which they called ophiomancy. The Egyptians, Greeks and Romans revered snakes and looked upon them as something divine. They gave reptiles divine veneration.
Blessed Augustine notes that no animal was used so often in sorcery as the snake, as if in punishment for the fact that it had seduced the first man. However, the more usual form in which the demon appeared to people and tempted them was the human form: probably in this form he appeared to Jesus in the desert (Matt. 4) and tempted Him. In almost all those appearances of the devil, which are transmitted to us in such a countless number by the lives of the saints, he had a human form. In order to present factual evidence of the reality of the devil's appearances and several examples of exactly in what form and why he appeared, we present several facts of his appearance, borrowed from the lives of the saints.
2. Shortly before the invasion of the Persians into the Greek Empire, in the second diocese of Cilicia, in the city of Adana, the following incident happened to the steward of the cathedral church of that city, Theophilus.
Theophilus was distinguished and known to all for his impeccable honesty and highly active performance of his duties in office and for his Christian virtues. He was the eye and right hand of his bishop. He was a father to orphans, a provider for widows, a generous donor to the poor, an advocate for the oppressed, a helper for the helpless, and therefore enjoyed universal love and respect. And when the Bishop of Adana died, everyone unanimously desired that Theophilus be made bishop, and they addressed a request to the Cilician Metropolitan about this. The bishop shared the general desire. But Theophilus, out of a sense of Christian humility and too high a respect for the episcopal rank, resolutely refused to accept this rank. All requests to him about this on the part of all the people, the Clergy and the Metropolitan were in vain. Theophilus remained with his decision. They were forced to make another bishop, and Theophilus remained in his former post of steward.
Despite Theophilus's impeccably honest life, there were people who, inspired by the spirit of malice and envy, began to slander Theophilus before the bishop and accuse him of the most indecent things. The bishop, who himself knew Theophilus well as a highly pious and virtuous man, at first for a long time did not give any credence to these slanders and accusations. But since they did not cease, but rather grew more and more intense, the bishop gradually began to believe them and finally decided to remove Theophilus from his post of steward under the pretext of giving him rest from his prolonged, difficult labors. Theophilus obeyed unquestioningly.
Now the demon's envy and malice took a different direction. Previously, he acted through other people, now he began to act with all his might on the soul of Theophilus himself. The demon began to excite and develop in him the idea that he was being subjected to a completely unjust humiliation by the bishop, that his labors and virtues were being repaid with insult and disdain. Little by little, this idea developed in Theophilus to such a degree that he finally imagined that he was being humiliated, insulted, and reviled by everyone to the highest degree, and in connection with this, an irresistible desire soon took possession of his soul to elevate himself as much as possible among people. He now strongly desired, at least at first, to receive his former position. The love of power took possession of Theophilus to such an extent that he finally decided to seek help from magic and demonic power in order to fulfill his ambitious desires.
And so, he went to the most famous sorcerer and wizard of that time, revealed his desires to him and tearfully asked him for help, promising due compensation. The sorcerer happily agrees to help the unfortunate man and, having given him hope, tells him to come to him the following night. Theophilus leaves happy, and the following midnight he again appears to the sorcerer. The sorcerer takes him to the hippodrome, i.e. to the place of horse races, and says to him: "If you see any vision or hear any voice, do not be afraid and do not make the sign of the cross." Theophilus agreed to everything, and immediately such an apparition arose before their eyes: they saw a multitude of strange faces, dressed in various bright clothes and holding candles in their hands. It was a host of demons; they glorified their prince Satan, who sat proudly and arrogantly among them. The sorcerer took Theophilus by the hand, led him into the gathering and stood with him before the prince of demons.
Satan asked the sorcerer: "Why did you bring this man to us?"
The sorcerer answered: "I brought him to you, my lord, because he is very much offended by his bishop and asks for your help."
Satan said to this: "How can I help a man who is a slave of his God? If he agrees to become my slave and enter the number of my servants, then I will help him so that he will receive power greater than he had before, and even than that which the bishop has."
"Do you hear what the prince says?" said the sorcerer to Theophilus.
“I hear,” Theophilus answered, “and I will do whatever he commands me,” – and with these words he fell at the feet of the prince of demons and began to kiss his feet.
Then the devil said, turning to Theophilus: “Let this man renounce the Son of Mary and Her, for I deeply hate Them. And let him write this renunciation with his own hand and give this manuscript to me, and then let him demand from me whatever he pleases; I will fulfill everything.”
“I agree to do whatever you command,” said Theophilus, “if only I receive what I desire.”
Hearing this, Satan stretched out his demonic hands and began to embrace and kiss Theophilus, saying at the same time: “Rejoice, my sincere and faithful friend!” Then Theophilus renounced Christ and His Most Pure Mother, wrote this renunciation on the paper prepared for this purpose by the sorcerer, sealed it and gave it to the prince of darkness. And, having embraced and kissed each other in a friendly manner, the new friends parted. Satan and his retinue became invisible, and Theophilus and the sorcerer joyfully went home.
The day after this incident, the bishop, one must suppose, by inspiration from God and not from the devil, repented of having dismissed Theophilus from his post as steward, called him to him and again elevated him to this post, and at the same time handed him power in all ecclesiastical affairs twice as great as that which he had possessed before. The bishop then even publicly, before the entire clergy and people, asked Theophilus for forgiveness for the insult he had committed against him. And all the honor and respect from everyone that Theophilus had previously enjoyed not only returned to him again, but became even incomparably greater than before. Theophilus's ambition was satisfied, he was calmed.
But this fatal calm did not last long. The merciful Lord did not allow the sinner to perish completely. He soon aroused repentance in his heart. Theophilus soon clearly recognized and deeply felt all the misfortune of his situation. His repentance was very deep and sincere. Day and night he spent in tears about his boundless insult to the Lord and His Most Pure Mother, about his deepest fall. And no matter how great his guilt before God, the thought of the boundless mercy of God, who does not want anyone to perish, but wants everyone to come to repentance, inspired him with hope for mercy and boldness to turn to the Most Merciful with a prayer for forgiveness and salvation. And so Theophilus leaves all his work at work and decides to use all his strength and all his time to intercede for forgiveness from the Lord; for this purpose he locks himself in one church of the Mother of God and here, before the icon of the Most Holy Virgin, he spends forty whole days and forty nights in constant deep contrition about his sinfulness, in the strictest fast and constant tearful prayer for his own pardon.
Finally, after forty days, at midnight, when Theophilus was praying as usual, the Mother of God appears to him and says to him: "Why do you so shamelessly address, cry out and pray to Me that I might help you? After all, you have denied My Son and Me! How can I pray for you to My Son and My God, when you have given yourself to the devil and given him a handwriting on this, when you are the devil's slave? And I Myself cannot tolerate insults to My Son and God. I can forgive you for what you have sinned against Me, but the bitterness and insults that you do to My Son, crucifying Him a second time in this way, I cannot see or hear. Those who have committed such malice and insults require many feats and deep heartfelt contrition, so that they may be pardoned by the Lord, since He, although Most Merciful, is also a Righteous Judge, who rewards each according to his deeds."
Theophilus, encouraged by the appearance of the Mother of God, expressed before Her all his deepest contrition, all his most sincere repentance, and brought to Her a fiery, tearful prayer for intercession for him before the Lord and the obtaining of pardon for him. Seeing the sincere and deep repentance of Theophilus, the Mother of God commanded him to pronounce the Orthodox confession of faith. Theophilus fulfilled this command with sincere feeling. After this, the Mother of God promised him to pray for him before the Lord and disappeared. Theophilus continued to grieve and pray unceasingly as before. Three days later, the Mother of God again appeared to him with a joyful face and bright eyes, and announced to him that his repentance was pleasing to the Lord, that His prayer was heard, and that God would grant him mercy, on the sole condition that he would remain faithful to God for the rest of his life. Theophilus expressed his most sincere gratitude to the Most Merciful Lord and to His Most Pure Mother, and his most sincere desire and readiness to be devoted to the Lord all the days of his life, and he prayed to the Mother of God that the manuscript he had given to the demon might be returned to him. The Mother of God became invisible.
Three days later, during which Theophilus continued to fast and pray unceasingly, when he finally, already too depressed by the feat of repentance, fell asleep; in a dream he saw the Mother of God carrying this manuscript to him. He awoke with joy and, indeed, saw that this manuscript was lying on his chest. After this, Theophilus, partly from the spiritual labors he had endured, partly from extraordinary joy, fell into a kind of half-dead state. Having regained consciousness, he offered due thanks to God and the Most Merciful Intercessor of the Christian race, and then, for the greater purification of himself, he wished to make a public confession. For this purpose, during the service, he appeared before the bishop, told him the whole story of his fall and salvation, and asked him to announce this story for all to hear, for the general edification. His request was fulfilled. The whole story was announced before all the people, and the bishop then delivered a speech appropriate to the occasion. During all this, Theophilus lay at the bishop's feet and wept. Then Theophilus was given the Holy Mysteries, and all the people brought praise and thanksgiving to the Lord God. Theophilus spent the rest of his short life in the feats of prayer and abstinence.
3. The Holy Hieromartyr Cyprian, who before his conversion to Christianity was a sorcerer and had direct dealings with demons, tells the following about himself: “Believe me,” he says, “I saw the devil himself, I begged him for a meeting with him with many sacrifices; having met him, I embraced and kissed him and enjoyed the conversations of him and his most honorable servants.”
PART FOUR
6. The Good Purpose of God's Providence in Allowing Evil Spirits
The actions of evil spirits on man are hostile, malicious and destructive; but one cannot help but see in them the good purpose of Divine Providence for man. Man's struggle with evil spirits protects him from carelessness and negligence in the exploits of salvation, encourages him to unceasing spiritual vigilance over himself and gives him the opportunity to develop and strengthen that virtue which demons attack. Their various temptations teach man, even one perfect in virtue, humility, encouraging him not to rely on his own strength, but to turn for help to the conqueror of hades and all the power of the enemy, the Lord Jesus Christ. Victory over the temptations of the devil increases the power and glory of the name of Christ. "When I fight you," says the demon to Saint Pachomios, "I am more profitable to you than I am guilty of vanity."
7. On the Appearance of Evil Spirits and the Manner of Their Appearance.
The books of the Old and New Testaments and Church History convey many experiences of the appearance of evil spirits.
1. The most famous and most harmful manifestation of the devil to man is when he appeared to Eve in the guise of a serpent and tempted her. Since then, the image of a serpent has been the most commonly used sensual image of the devil. In Holy Scripture, the devil is often called the ancient serpent. It is said that the hellish dragon will fight with the Woman, in whose guise the Church is represented, and that he will be defeated by the Archangel Michael and thrown down from the heights of heaven. It is known from the Old Testament that he was revered by the pagans in this form. In Babylon, for example, they rendered divine worship to a living dragon, which Daniel killed by giving it a mixture of various poisonous substances to swallow. The pagans had a kind of divination by means of snakes, which they called ophiomancy. The Egyptians, Greeks and Romans revered snakes and looked upon them as something divine. They gave reptiles divine veneration.
Blessed Augustine notes that no animal was used so often in sorcery as the snake, as if in punishment for the fact that it had seduced the first man. However, the more usual form in which the demon appeared to people and tempted them was the human form: probably in this form he appeared to Jesus in the desert (Matt. 4) and tempted Him. In almost all those appearances of the devil, which are transmitted to us in such a countless number by the lives of the saints, he had a human form. In order to present factual evidence of the reality of the devil's appearances and several examples of exactly in what form and why he appeared, we present several facts of his appearance, borrowed from the lives of the saints.
2. Shortly before the invasion of the Persians into the Greek Empire, in the second diocese of Cilicia, in the city of Adana, the following incident happened to the steward of the cathedral church of that city, Theophilus.
Theophilus was distinguished and known to all for his impeccable honesty and highly active performance of his duties in office and for his Christian virtues. He was the eye and right hand of his bishop. He was a father to orphans, a provider for widows, a generous donor to the poor, an advocate for the oppressed, a helper for the helpless, and therefore enjoyed universal love and respect. And when the Bishop of Adana died, everyone unanimously desired that Theophilus be made bishop, and they addressed a request to the Cilician Metropolitan about this. The bishop shared the general desire. But Theophilus, out of a sense of Christian humility and too high a respect for the episcopal rank, resolutely refused to accept this rank. All requests to him about this on the part of all the people, the Clergy and the Metropolitan were in vain. Theophilus remained with his decision. They were forced to make another bishop, and Theophilus remained in his former post of steward.
Despite Theophilus's impeccably honest life, there were people who, inspired by the spirit of malice and envy, began to slander Theophilus before the bishop and accuse him of the most indecent things. The bishop, who himself knew Theophilus well as a highly pious and virtuous man, at first for a long time did not give any credence to these slanders and accusations. But since they did not cease, but rather grew more and more intense, the bishop gradually began to believe them and finally decided to remove Theophilus from his post of steward under the pretext of giving him rest from his prolonged, difficult labors. Theophilus obeyed unquestioningly.
Now the demon's envy and malice took a different direction. Previously, he acted through other people, now he began to act with all his might on the soul of Theophilus himself. The demon began to excite and develop in him the idea that he was being subjected to a completely unjust humiliation by the bishop, that his labors and virtues were being repaid with insult and disdain. Little by little, this idea developed in Theophilus to such a degree that he finally imagined that he was being humiliated, insulted, and reviled by everyone to the highest degree, and in connection with this, an irresistible desire soon took possession of his soul to elevate himself as much as possible among people. He now strongly desired, at least at first, to receive his former position. The love of power took possession of Theophilus to such an extent that he finally decided to seek help from magic and demonic power in order to fulfill his ambitious desires.
And so, he went to the most famous sorcerer and wizard of that time, revealed his desires to him and tearfully asked him for help, promising due compensation. The sorcerer happily agrees to help the unfortunate man and, having given him hope, tells him to come to him the following night. Theophilus leaves happy, and the following midnight he again appears to the sorcerer. The sorcerer takes him to the hippodrome, i.e. to the place of horse races, and says to him: "If you see any vision or hear any voice, do not be afraid and do not make the sign of the cross." Theophilus agreed to everything, and immediately such an apparition arose before their eyes: they saw a multitude of strange faces, dressed in various bright clothes and holding candles in their hands. It was a host of demons; they glorified their prince Satan, who sat proudly and arrogantly among them. The sorcerer took Theophilus by the hand, led him into the gathering and stood with him before the prince of demons.
Satan asked the sorcerer: "Why did you bring this man to us?"
The sorcerer answered: "I brought him to you, my lord, because he is very much offended by his bishop and asks for your help."
Satan said to this: "How can I help a man who is a slave of his God? If he agrees to become my slave and enter the number of my servants, then I will help him so that he will receive power greater than he had before, and even than that which the bishop has."
"Do you hear what the prince says?" said the sorcerer to Theophilus.
“I hear,” Theophilus answered, “and I will do whatever he commands me,” – and with these words he fell at the feet of the prince of demons and began to kiss his feet.
Then the devil said, turning to Theophilus: “Let this man renounce the Son of Mary and Her, for I deeply hate Them. And let him write this renunciation with his own hand and give this manuscript to me, and then let him demand from me whatever he pleases; I will fulfill everything.”
“I agree to do whatever you command,” said Theophilus, “if only I receive what I desire.”
Hearing this, Satan stretched out his demonic hands and began to embrace and kiss Theophilus, saying at the same time: “Rejoice, my sincere and faithful friend!” Then Theophilus renounced Christ and His Most Pure Mother, wrote this renunciation on the paper prepared for this purpose by the sorcerer, sealed it and gave it to the prince of darkness. And, having embraced and kissed each other in a friendly manner, the new friends parted. Satan and his retinue became invisible, and Theophilus and the sorcerer joyfully went home.
The day after this incident, the bishop, one must suppose, by inspiration from God and not from the devil, repented of having dismissed Theophilus from his post as steward, called him to him and again elevated him to this post, and at the same time handed him power in all ecclesiastical affairs twice as great as that which he had possessed before. The bishop then even publicly, before the entire clergy and people, asked Theophilus for forgiveness for the insult he had committed against him. And all the honor and respect from everyone that Theophilus had previously enjoyed not only returned to him again, but became even incomparably greater than before. Theophilus's ambition was satisfied, he was calmed.
But this fatal calm did not last long. The merciful Lord did not allow the sinner to perish completely. He soon aroused repentance in his heart. Theophilus soon clearly recognized and deeply felt all the misfortune of his situation. His repentance was very deep and sincere. Day and night he spent in tears about his boundless insult to the Lord and His Most Pure Mother, about his deepest fall. And no matter how great his guilt before God, the thought of the boundless mercy of God, who does not want anyone to perish, but wants everyone to come to repentance, inspired him with hope for mercy and boldness to turn to the Most Merciful with a prayer for forgiveness and salvation. And so Theophilus leaves all his work at work and decides to use all his strength and all his time to intercede for forgiveness from the Lord; for this purpose he locks himself in one church of the Mother of God and here, before the icon of the Most Holy Virgin, he spends forty whole days and forty nights in constant deep contrition about his sinfulness, in the strictest fast and constant tearful prayer for his own pardon.
Finally, after forty days, at midnight, when Theophilus was praying as usual, the Mother of God appears to him and says to him: "Why do you so shamelessly address, cry out and pray to Me that I might help you? After all, you have denied My Son and Me! How can I pray for you to My Son and My God, when you have given yourself to the devil and given him a handwriting on this, when you are the devil's slave? And I Myself cannot tolerate insults to My Son and God. I can forgive you for what you have sinned against Me, but the bitterness and insults that you do to My Son, crucifying Him a second time in this way, I cannot see or hear. Those who have committed such malice and insults require many feats and deep heartfelt contrition, so that they may be pardoned by the Lord, since He, although Most Merciful, is also a Righteous Judge, who rewards each according to his deeds."
Theophilus, encouraged by the appearance of the Mother of God, expressed before Her all his deepest contrition, all his most sincere repentance, and brought to Her a fiery, tearful prayer for intercession for him before the Lord and the obtaining of pardon for him. Seeing the sincere and deep repentance of Theophilus, the Mother of God commanded him to pronounce the Orthodox confession of faith. Theophilus fulfilled this command with sincere feeling. After this, the Mother of God promised him to pray for him before the Lord and disappeared. Theophilus continued to grieve and pray unceasingly as before. Three days later, the Mother of God again appeared to him with a joyful face and bright eyes, and announced to him that his repentance was pleasing to the Lord, that His prayer was heard, and that God would grant him mercy, on the sole condition that he would remain faithful to God for the rest of his life. Theophilus expressed his most sincere gratitude to the Most Merciful Lord and to His Most Pure Mother, and his most sincere desire and readiness to be devoted to the Lord all the days of his life, and he prayed to the Mother of God that the manuscript he had given to the demon might be returned to him. The Mother of God became invisible.
Three days later, during which Theophilus continued to fast and pray unceasingly, when he finally, already too depressed by the feat of repentance, fell asleep; in a dream he saw the Mother of God carrying this manuscript to him. He awoke with joy and, indeed, saw that this manuscript was lying on his chest. After this, Theophilus, partly from the spiritual labors he had endured, partly from extraordinary joy, fell into a kind of half-dead state. Having regained consciousness, he offered due thanks to God and the Most Merciful Intercessor of the Christian race, and then, for the greater purification of himself, he wished to make a public confession. For this purpose, during the service, he appeared before the bishop, told him the whole story of his fall and salvation, and asked him to announce this story for all to hear, for the general edification. His request was fulfilled. The whole story was announced before all the people, and the bishop then delivered a speech appropriate to the occasion. During all this, Theophilus lay at the bishop's feet and wept. Then Theophilus was given the Holy Mysteries, and all the people brought praise and thanksgiving to the Lord God. Theophilus spent the rest of his short life in the feats of prayer and abstinence.
3. The Holy Hieromartyr Cyprian, who before his conversion to Christianity was a sorcerer and had direct dealings with demons, tells the following about himself: “Believe me,” he says, “I saw the devil himself, I begged him for a meeting with him with many sacrifices; having met him, I embraced and kissed him and enjoyed the conversations of him and his most honorable servants.”
PART FOUR
