Killing Demons

Et occidit reges fortes, quoniam in saeculum miseridoria ejus. Reges fortes occidit, quando a nobis expellit daemonia, varia immissione grassautia quorum voluntas nequam tunc extinguitur, si fidelium animae ab eorum potestate tollantur. Occide, Domine, fortes reges, ut liberes servos humiles: eripe tibi devotos, ne ille nefandissimus eos sibi faciat esse subjectos. Sehon regem Amorrhaeorum, quoniam in saeculum misericordia eius. Ista quidem in superiore psalmo iam videntur exposita, quae non pigebit repetere, quando ea sancta auctoritas ad salutem nostram probatur iterasse. Sehon quidem interpretatus est tentatio colorum, aliter vero arbor infructuosa; Amorrhaeus exacerbationem; quae omnia videntur ad diabolum pertinere; ipse est enim arbor infructuosa, ipse exacerbatio. Sed haec in nobis Dominus occidit, quando nos ad instituta sua morum sanctitate perduxerit. Et Og regem Basan, quoniam in saeculum misericordia eius. Og interpretatur coacervans, Basan confusio. Qui enim coacervat peccata nostra, absolute diabolus est. Ipse etiam recte dicitur confusio, quoniam et sequaces suos confundit, et ipse de Domini iudicio confusus abscedit. Verum haec et talia Domini virtute interfecta iacent, quando nos eripere a tam pessima obnoxietate dignatur. Cassiodorus, Expositio In Psalterium, Psalmus CXXXV Source: Migne PL 70.972c-973a

He slew great kings, for His mercy is forever. 1 He kills great kings when He expels demons from us, when their wicked will is extinguished, if the souls of the faithful are drawn from their power. Kill, O Lord, strong kings, so that you free your humble servants. Seize to yourself the devout, lest he who is most wicked makes them subject to him. Sehon king of the Amorites, because His mercy is forever. This seems to have been explained in a previous Psalm, but it does not displease us to repeat it, when this sacred authority is proven to repeat things for our salvation. Sehon is interpreted as the 'trial of appearances', otherwise a 'fruitless tree.' The Amorites are 'exasperation,' which everywhere seems to pertain to the devil, for he is the author of fruitlessness, and he is exasperation. But the Lord kills these things in us when He leads us to be established in the holiness of His ways. And Og king of Bashan, because His mercy is forever. Og is interpretated as 'heaping up', and Basan 'confusion.' For he who heaps up our sins is certainly the devil. Indeed he is rightly called confusion because he confounds with his plots and his confusion cuts us off from the judgement of the Lord. Truly these and such things slain by the great virtue of the Lord are cast down when it is fitting that He seizes us from such wretched servitude. Cassiodorus, Commentary On The Psalms, from Psalm 135 1 Ps 135.19

The Seed And The Path

Et dum seminat, aliud cecidit circa viam, et venerunt volucres, et comederunt illud. In Evangelio Lucae ita de hoc semine scriptum est: Aliud cecidit secus viam, et conculcatum est, et volucres coeli comederunt illud. Quaecunque ergo Dominus in hac parabola eхроnere dignatus est, pia fide suscipienda sunt. Quae vero tacita nostrae intelligentiae dereliquit, aeque pia intentione perquirenda ac perstringenda sunt breviter. Semen quod circa viam cecidit, duplici laesura disperiit, ut ab itinerantibus scilicet conculcatum, eta volucribus raptum. Via ergo est mens assiduo malarum cogitationum meatu trita atque arefacta, ne verbi semen accipere ac germinare sufficiat; atque ideo quidquid boni seminis vicinia talis viae contigerit, perit, quia improbo pessimae cogitationis transitu conculcatum a daemonibus rapitur. Qui recte volucres cœli, sive quia caelestis spiritalisque sunt naturae, sive quia per aera volitant, appellantur. Sanctus Beda, In Marci Evangelium Expositio, Liber I, Caput IV Source: Migne PL 92.167d-168a

And while he sowed, some seed fell around the path and the birds came and ate it. 1 In the Gospel of Luke it is written about the seed, 'Some fell beside the path and it was trodden on and the birds of heaven ate it.' 2 Whatever, then, the Lord in this parable thought worthy to set forth must be received with pious faith. But the unspoken things that escape our understanding, with pious application must be briefly sought and touched upon. The seed that falls around the path is destroyed in two ways, that is, by being crushed by travellers and by being seized by birds. The path, then, is the mind continually fixed in wicked thoughts which grinds down and dries up with guilt, and is not capable of receiving the seed of the Word and germinating. Therefore when good seed falls near such a path, it is crushed by the passing of vile thoughts and seized by demons, who are rightly called birds of heaven, either because they have the nature of heavenly spirits, or because they fly through the air. Saint Bede, Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 2 1 Mk 5.14-15 2 Lk 8.5

The Soul And The Body's Healing

Et revera majus miraculum est de propria carne fomitem luxuriae eradicare, quam expellere immundos spiritus de corporibus alienis; et magnificentius signum est virtute patientiae truculentos motus iracundiae cohibere, quam aeris principatibus imperare; plusque est exclusisse edacissimos de corde proprio tristitiae morbos, quam valetudines alterius febresque corporeas expulisse. Postremo multis modis praeclarior virtus sublimiorque profectus est, animae propriae curare languores, quam corporis alieni. Quanto enim haec sublimior carne est, tanto praestantior ejus est salus; quantoque pretiosioris excellentiorisque est substantiae, et tanto gravioris ac perniciosioris est et ruinae. Sanctus Ioannes Cassianus, Collationes, Collatio XV, Quae est secunda abbatis Nesterotis, De Charismatibus Divinis, Caput VIII, Quod mirabilius sit de semetipso vitia, quam de altero daemones extrusisse Source: Migne PL 49.1007b-1008a

And in truth it is a greater miracle to root out from one's own flesh the inclination to lust than to expel unclean spirits from the bodies of others, and it is a greater sign to restrain the wild motions of anger by the virtue of patience than to command the powers of the air, and it is greater to have shut out from one's heart the devouring pangs of gloominess than to have expelled sickness and fever from the body of another. Finally it is in many ways a greater virtue and a more glorious achievement to cure the infirmities of one's own soul than those of the body of another. For as much as the soul is greater than the flesh, so is its salvation more important, and as much as the soul is more precious and more excellent, so its ruin is more grievous and more perilous. Saint John Cassian, Conferences, Conference 15, The Second of Abbot Nesteros, On Divine Gifts, Chapter 8, That it is more wonderful to have cast out one's faults from one's self than demons from another.

Faith And Works

Cui respondeo ex libro meo, qui inscribitur de fide et operibus, ubi de hac re ita locutus sum: Iacobus autem tam vehementer infestus est eis qui sapiunt fidem sine operibus ualere ad salutem, ut illos etiam daemonibus comparet dicens, Tu credis, quoniam unus est Deus; bene facis, et daemones credunt et contremiscunt. Quid verius, brevius, uehementius dici potuit? Cum et in euangelio legamus hoc dixisse daemonia, cum Christum filium Dei confiterentur et ab illo corriperentur, quod in Petri confessione laudatum est. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Ad Dulcitium De Octo Quaestionibus Source: Migne PL 40.149

To which question I responded in my book entitled Of Faith And Works, where concerning this matter I said: James was so vehemently hostile to those who thought faith without works profited for salvation, that he compared them to demons, saying, 'You believe that God is one? You have done well, for the demons believe and tremble.' 1 How more truly, more concisely, more vehemently, could he have expressed it? And then in the Gospel we read that it says that the demons were chastised by Christ when they confessed Him to be the Son of God, 2 for which confession Peter was worthy of praise. 3 Saint Augustine of Hippo, Concerning Eight Questions, To Dulcitius 1 Jam 2.19 2 Mt 8.28-32 3 Mt 16.16-17

Fighting Demons

Ἠρώτησεν Ἀβραὰμ, ὁ τοῦ ἀββᾶ Ἀγάθωνος, τὸν ἀββᾶν Ποιμένα, λέγων· Πῶς οἱ δαίμονες πολεμοῦσί με; Καὶ εἰπεν ἀυτῷ ὁ ἀββᾶς Ποιμήν· Σὲ πολεμοῦσιν οἱ δαίμονες; Οὐ πολεμοῦσι μεθ' ἡμῶν, ἐφ' ὅσον τὰ θελήματα ἡμῶν ποιοῦμεν. Τὰ γὰρ θελήματα ἡμῶν δαίμονες γεγόνασι· καὶ αὐτοί εἰσιν οἱ θλίβοντες ἡμᾶς, ἵνα πληρώσωμεν αὐτά. Εἰ δὲ θέλεις ἰδεῖν μετὰ τίνων ἐπολέμησαν οἱ δαίμονες μετὰ Μωϋσέως, καὶ τῶν ὁμοὶων αὐτοῦ. Ἀποφθέγματα Των Ἁγίων Γερόντων, Παλλάδιος Γαλατίας Source: Migne PG 65.337c

Abraham, the disciple of Father Agathon, questioned Father Poemen, saying, 'How do the demons fight against me?' Father Poemen said to him, 'The demons fight against you? They do not fight against us as long as we are doing our own will. For our own wills become demons and they attack us so that that we may fulfil them. But if you wish to see those with whom the demons do fight, it is with Moses and those like him.' Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia

Help And Fear

Kύριος ἐμοὶ βοηθός οὐ φοβηθήσομαι τί ποιήσει μοι ἄνθρωπος... Ἔτι διδάσκεται ὁ Χρσιτοῠ λαὸς προσδοκᾷν μὲν ἐπιβουλὰς ἀνθρώπων, μὴ πτήσσειν δὲ αὐτὰς, μηδ' ἀγωνιᾷν, ἀλλὰ λέγειν· Κύριος ἐμοὶ βοηθὸς, καὶ τὰ ἐξῆς. Τοὺς δι' οὐδὲν ἕτερον ἐχθροὺς γενομένους τῷ λαῷ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἤ διὰ τὴν εὐσεβῆ γνῶσιν, καὶ τὴν κατὰ Θεὸν πολιτείαν. Ἐχροὺς δὲ λεκτέον ἀνθρώπους αἰσθητούς τε καὶ νοητοὺς, ἀσεβεῖς τε καὶ δαίμονας πονηρούς. Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Εἰς Ψαλμούς, Ψαλμος ΡΙΖ´ Source: Migne PG 39.1157a

The Lord is my helper, I shall not fear what a man may do to me. 1 The people of Christ are taught to expect the plots of men, and that they should not be frightened of them, or incline to despair, but say, 'The Lord is my helper,' and the rest. For no other reason is there hostility to the people of God but because of their pious knowledge and fellowship with God. And one should call men enemies who in their senses and in their thoughts are impious and wicked demons. Didymus the Blind, Commentary on The Psalms, from Psalm 117 1 Ps 117.6

Seeing Demons

Notandum autem, quod in his urbis legionum partibus fuit diebus nostris vir quidam Cambrensis, cui nomen Melerius, futurorum simul et occultorum scientiam habens, cui talis hanc eventus scientiam dedit. Nocte quadam scilicet Ramis Palmarum, puellam diu ante adamatam obviam habens loco amoeno, et ut videbatur opportuno, desideratis amplexibus atque delitiis cum indulsisset, statim loco puellae formosae formam quandam villosam, hispidam et hirsutam, adeoque enormiter deformem invenit, quod in ipso ejusdem aspectu dementire coepit et insanire. Cumque pluribus id annis ei durasset, tandem in ecclesia Menensi meritis Sanctorum loci ejusdem, optatam sanitatem recuperavit. Semper tamen cum spiritibus immundis magnam et mirandam familiaritatem habens, eosdem videndo, cognoscendo, colloquendo, propriisque nominibus singulos nominando, ipsorum ministerio plerunque futura praedicebat. In longe vero futuris atque remotis, sicut et ipsi, frequentius fallebatur, in propinquioribus 'autem et quasi infra annum futuris minus falli consueverat. Videbat autem eos fere semper pedites et expeditos, et quasi sub forma venatorum, cornu a collo suspensum habentes, et vere venatores non ferarum tamen nec animalium, sed animarum. Circa monasteria quoque, et loca religiosa magis eos et in multitudine majori videri solebat; ibi nimirum exercitu: ibi numerosis opus est viribus, ubi rebellio. Quoties autem falsum coram ipso ab aliquo dicebatur, id statim agnoscebat, videbat enim super linguam mentientis daemonem quasi salientem et exultantem. Librum quoque mendosum, et vel falso scriptum, vel falsum etiam in se continentem inspiciens, statim, licet illiteratus omnino fuisset, ad locum mendacii digitum ponebat. Interrogatus autem, qualiter hoc nosset, dicebat daemonem ad locum eundem digitum suum primo porrigere: similiter et dormitorium monasterii cuilibet intrando, lectum monachi falsi, et religionem habitu, non animo praeferentis, eisdem indiciis ostendebat; dicebat autem spiritum gulositatis et crapulae supra et infra sordidum esse: spiritum vero libidinis et luxuriae pulchriorem aliis, sed foetidissimum. Contigit aliquando, spiritibus immundis nimis eidem insultantibus, ut Evangelium Johannis ejus in gremio poneretur, qui statim tanquam aves evolantes omnes penitus evanuerunt: quo sublato postmodum, et historia Britonum a Galfrido Arthuro tractata experiendi causa loco ejusdem subrogata, non solum corpori ipsius toti, sed etiam libro superposito longe solito crebrius et tediosius insederunt. Giraldus Cambrensis, Itinerarium Cambriae, Liber I Caput V Source: Here, p45-46

One must note that in our days there lived in the neighbourhood of the City of the Legions, 1 a Welshman named Meilyr, who had knowledge of future events and hidden things, to whom this knowledge came during the following incident. On a certain night, that of Palm Sunday, in a pleasant and convenient place, he met a girl whom he had long loved, and while he was indulging in the desired and delightful embraces, suddenly, instead of a beautiful girl, he found himself with a hairy, rough, and hideous creature, the sight of which demented him and made him mad. After he had suffered from this for many years, he recovered his longed for health in the church of St. David, through the merits of the saints. But he always had a great and wondrous familiarity with unclean spirits, in seeing them, and knowing them, and talking to them, and calling each one by its proper name, and with their help he would predict the future. Just as they are, he was frequently wrong about things remote in time and space, but in things nearer and that were to happen in the span of a year, he was less mistaken. He saw them nearly always on foot and garbed in the manner of hunters ready for the chase, with horns hung around their necks, they who are truly hunters not of wild animals but of souls. He was accustomed to meet them most often around monasteries and cells, for certainly where there is rebellion there is need for an army, and numerous equipment and men. Any time that someone spoke falsely in his presence, he instantly knew it, for he saw a demon on the tongue of the liar, and, as it were, leaping about in exultation. Also looking on a book poorly or deceitfully written, or containing something false within it, though he was completely illiterate, he placed his finger on the false passage. When he was questioned as to how he knew such things, he said that a demon first stretched out a finger to the same place. Likewise, entering into the dormitory of a certain monastery, he pointed to the bed of a false monk, he who wore the habit but did not bear the soul of religion. He said that the spirit of gluttony and drunkenness was far beyond all others most ugly, and that the spirit of lust and luxury was fairer than others but the most foul smelling. Sometimes it happened that when the unclean spirits troubled him too much the Gospel of Saint John was placed in his lap, and then instantly they all flew off like birds, but later when it was removed and the History of the Britons by Geoffrey was put in its place, 2 just to see what would occur, they would return in greater numbers and sit all over his body, and the book also, for much longer than usual. Gerald of Wales, The Journey Through Wales, Book 1, Chapter 5 1 Caerleon 2 Geoffrey of Monmouth's The History of the Kings of Britain

Demons And Madness

Dicebant autem multi ex ipsis: Dæmonium habet, et insanit: quid eum auditis? Alii dicebant: Haec verba non sunt dæmonium habentis: numquid dæmonium potest cæcorum oculos aperire? Daemonium habet... In Beelzebub, principe daemoniorum, ejicit daemonia. Occasionem autem isti acceperunt ex hoc quod dicit : Potestatem habeo ponendi eam, scilicet animam meam, et potestatem habeo iterum sumendi eam. Haec enim reputabant verba obsessi, et impossibile, esse, quod aliquis compos rationis hoc diceret. Nonne bene dicimus nos quia Samaritanus es tu, et daemonium habes? Signa enim attribuebant daemoni, et verba dixerunt esse insaniae. Et insanit... Sicut dictum est de David, qui se et suos per insaniae formam liberavit. Vidistis hominem insanum: quare adduxistis eum ad me ... ut fureret me praesente? Sic dictum est de Propheta qui venit ungere Jehu, ultorem iniquitatis domus. Quid venit insanus iste ad te? Sic dictum est de Paulo qui summae sapientiae verba praedicavit, Insanis, Paule: multae te litterae ad insaniam convertunt. Quid eum auditis? Hoc dictum fuit Pharisaeorum qui illis consenserunt. Dicunt videntibus: Nolite videre: et adspicienlibus: Nolite adspicere nobis ea quae recta sunt: loquimini nobis placentia. Domus Israel nolunt audire te, quia nolunt audire me. Alii dicebant: Haec verba... Alii dicebant, devoti, verbis ejus illuminati, et operibus confirmati: Haec verba non sunt daemonium habentis: quin potius sunt daemonis imperium et potestatem evacuantis. Daemon enim non est contrarius daemoni. Si Satanas Satanam ejicit, adversus se divisus est: quomodo ergo stabit regnum ejus? Numquam sic locutus est homo, sicut hic homo. Numquid daemonium... Quod homini nocet, et caecitati studet, et homini est inimicum, ...potest caecorum, a nativitate, oculos aperire? Impotentiam enim habet. Et si posset, mala voluntate non faceret, sed potius excaecaret. In hoc feriam vobiscum foedus, ut eruam omnium vestrum oculos dextros, ponamque vos opprobrium in universo Israel. Nasum tuum et aures tuas praecident, et quae remanserint, gladio concident. Beneficium ergo tale daemones nec possunt, nec volunt praestare. Sanctus Albertus Magnus, Commentarium in Joannem, Caput X Source: Here, p198

But many said among themselves, 'He has a demon and he is mad, why do you listen to him?' The others said, 'These words are not of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?' 1 'He has a demon...' 'By Beelezebub, prince of demons, he casts out demons.' 2 The reason they seized on this was because He said: 'I have power to place down my soul, and I have power to take it up again.' 3 They understood these words to be of one who was disturbed, for it was impossible that someone who was healthy in his mind would say this. 'Do we not speak well to say that you are a Samaritan and that you have a demon?' 4 For they attributed His signs to be from demons and the words He spoke to be from madness. 'And He is mad...' As was said about David who freed himself by a sort of madness. 'You see he is a madman, why have you led him to me...that he should stand before me?' 5 So it was spoken about the prophet who came to anoint Jehu as the one to take revenge on the house of Ahab, 'Why did this mad man come to me?' 6 So it was said of Paul who preached words of the highest wisdom: 'You are mad, Paul, many books have turned you to madness.' 7 'Why do you listen to him?' This was said to the Pharisees who associated with them. 'They say to those who see, 'Do not see,' and to those who have visions, 'Do not have visions which are truly right for us, but tell us what pleases us.' 8 'The house of Israel does not wish to hear you, because it does not wish to hear me.' 9 Others said, 'These words...' 'Others said...' the devoted, who were enlightened by His words, and which His works confirmed, '...are not of one who has a demon.' Rather they are what casts out the power and rule of demons. A demon is not an adversary to a demon. 'If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself, how then will his kingdom stand?' 10 'No man spoke like this man.' 11 'Can a demon...' Because a demon harms a man, and desires blindness, and is an enemy of mankind. '...open the eyes of the blind?' The blind from birth. A demon does not have the power. And if it did, it would not do it, on account of malevolence, but rather it would make a man blind. 'Regarding this I will make a treaty with you, that I pluck out all your right eyes and I set you as a disgrace among all Israel.' 12 'They will cut off your noses and your ears, and what remains they will cut to pieces with the sword.' 13 Therefore demons are not able to perform such benefactions, nor do they have any wish to help. Saint Albert The Great, Commentary On The Gospel of St John, Chapter 10 1 Jn 10.20 2 Mt 12.27 3 Jn 10.18 4 Jn 8.48 5 1 Kings 21.14-15 6 4 Kings 9.11 7 Acts 26.24 8 Isaiah 30.10 9 Ezek 3.7 10 Mt 12.26 11 Jn 7.46 12 1 Kings 11.2 13 Ezek 23.25

Possession And The Winds

Quid est quod ait: Qui conturbat domum suam, possidebit ventos? quomodo potest aliquis possidere ventos? Domum in hoc loco mentem appellat, id est qua unusquisque veluti in domo habitat per cogitationes, ventos, immundos spiritus vocat. Qui ergo domum, id est mentem, malis et noxiis cogitationibus perturbare non timet, iste nimirum possidebit ventos, quia per malas cogitationes viam facit daemonibus, ut ingrediantur et inhabitent in ipso. Honorius Augustodunensis, Quaestiones Et Ad Easdem Responsiones In Duos Salomonis Libros, In Proverbia, Caput XI Source: Migne PL 172.319a-b

Why is it said: 'He who troubles his own house, shall possess the winds?' 1 How can someone possess the winds? In this passage he calls the mind the house, that is, that in which everyone dwells with his thoughts, as in a house. The winds are unclean spirits. Therefore he who does not fear to trouble his house, that is, his mind, with wicked and vile thoughts, he certainly possesses the winds, because by wicked thoughts he makes a way for demons, so that they enter in and dwell in him. Honorius of Autun, Questions and Answers on Two Books of Solomon, On Proverbs, Chapter 11 1 Prov 11.29

The Damnation Of Wicked Spirits

Spiritalis namque substantia, nec ulla carnis soliditate devincta, ut excusationem exortae in se pravae non recipit voluntatis, ita veniam malignitatis excludit, quia nulla quemadmodum nos ad peccandum impugnatione carnis extrinsecus lacessita est, sed vitio solius malae voluntatis accensa, et ob hoc sine venia peccatum et languor sine remedio est. Sicut enim nulla sollicitante terrena materia corruit, ita nec indulgentiam quidem aut locum poenitudinis obtinere potest. Quibus ex rebus evidenter colligitur quod non solum noxia non sit haec quae contra se invicem suscitatur in nobis carnis spiritusque contentio, verum etiam multam nobis conferat utilitatem. Sanctus Ioannes Cassianus, Collationes, Collatio IV, Caput XIV Source: Migne PL 49.602a-603a

Now a purely spiritual substance, one that is not tied to any material flesh, has no excuse for an evil thought which rises up in it, which also excludes forgiveness for wickedness, because it is not provoked to sin as we are by the assaults of the external flesh, but is inflamed only by the fault of a perverse will, and therefore its sin is without forgiveness and its weakness is without remedy. For as it does not fall because of an attraction of earthly matter, so it can find no pardon or place of repentance. From which we may clearly gather that this dispute which we have in us of the flesh and spirit against one another 1 is not merely harmless, but in truth extremely useful to us. Saint John Cassian, Conferences, Conference 4, Chap 14 1 cf Galat 5.17

A Monk's Repentance

Ὁ μακάριος ἀββᾶς Παῦλος ὁ ἁπλοῦς ὁ τοῦ ἁγίου Ἀντωνίου μαθητὴς, διηγήσατο τοῖς Πατράσι πρᾶγμα τοιοῦτον· ὅτι ποτὲ παραγενόμενος ἐν μοναστηρίῳ ἐπισκέψεως ἕνεκεν καὶ ὠφελείας χάριν ἀδελφῶν, μετὰ τὴν πρὸς ἀλλήλους αὐτῶν συνήθη διάλεκτον, εἴσεισιν ἐν τῇ ἁγίᾳ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐκκλησίᾳ τὴν συνήθη σύναξιν ἐπιτελέσαι. Ὁ δὲ μακάριος Παῦλος, φησὶ, προσέσχεν ἑκάστῳ τῶν εἰσιόντων εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, ὁποίᾳ ἄρα ψυχῇ εἰσίασιν εἰς τὴν σύναξιν· εἶχε γὰρ καὶ ταύτην τὴν χάριν παρὰ Κυρίου δοθεῖσαν αὐτῷ, ὥστε ὁρᾷν ἕκαστον ὁποῖός ἐστι τῇ ψυχῇ, ὥσπερ ἡμεῖς βλέπομεν ἀλλήλων τὰ πρόσωπα. Πάντων δὲ εἰσιόντων λαμπρᾷ τῇ ὄψει καὶ φαιδρῷ τῷ προσώπῳ, τόν τε ἑκάστου ἄγγελον χαίροντα ἐπ΄ αὐτῷ· ἕνα, φησὶν, ὁρᾷ μέλαντα καὶ ζοφώδη ὅλον τὸ σῶμα, δαίμονας δὲ παρ΄ ἑκατέρᾳ τοῦτον συνέχοντας καὶ ἕλκοντας αὐτὸν πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς, φορβειὰν ἐπὶ τὴν ῥῖνα αὐτοῦ βάλλοντας· τόν τε ἅγιον ἄγγελον αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ μακρόθεν ἀκολουθοῦντα σκυθρωπὸν καὶ κατηφῆ. Ὁ δὲ Παῦλος δακρύσας, καὶ τῇ χειρὶ τὸ στῆθος πλήξας, ἐκαθέζετο πρὸ τῆς ἐκκλησίας, ἀποκλαιόμενος σφόδρα τὸν οὕτως ὀφθέντα αὐτῷ. Οἱ δὲ θεασάμενοι τὸ παράδοξον τοῦ ἀνδρὸς, τήν τε ὀξεῖαν αὐτοῦ μεταβολὴν, πρὸς δάκρυα καὶ πένθος κινήσαντα, ἠρώτων αὐτὸν παρακαλοῦντες τὸ διατί κλαίει εἰπεῖν, νομίζοντες μήτι καταγνοὺς ἁπάντων τοῦτο ποιεῖ· παρεκάλουν τε αὐτὸν καὶ εἰς τὴν σύναξιν σὺν αὐτοῖς εἰσιέναι. Ὁ δὲ Παῦλος ἀποσεισάμενος αὐτοὺς ἐκαθέζετο ἔξω, ἀποδυρόμενος πάνυ τὸν οὕτως ὀφθέντα αὐτῷ. Μετ΄ οὐ πολὺ δὲ τῆς συνάξεως ἀπολυθείσης, καὶ πάντων ἐξιόντων, πάλιν κατεμάνθανεν ὁ Παῦλος ἕκαστον, βουλόμενος γνῶναι οἷοι ἐξέρχονται· καὶ ὁρᾷ τὸν ἄνδρα ἐκεῖνον, τὸν μέλαν καὶ ζοφῶδες ἔχοντα τὸ πρὶν ὅλον τὸ σῶμα, ἐξερχόμενον ἀπὸ τῆς ἐκκλησίας λαμπρὸν τῷ προσώπῳ, λευκὸν τῷ σώματι, καὶ τοὺς δαίμονας μακράν που ἀκολουθοῦντας, τόν τε ἅγιον ἄγγελον ἐγγὺς αὐτοῦ παρεπόμενον καὶ χαίροντα ἐπ΄ αὐτῷ σφόδρα. Ὁ δὲ Παῦλος ἀναπηδήσας μετὰ χαρᾶς, ἐβόα εὐλογῶν τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ λέγων· Ὢ τῆς ἀφάτου τοῦ Θεοῦ φιλανθρωπίας καὶ ἀγαθότητος. Δραμὼν δὲ καὶ ἀναβὰς ἐπὶ βαθμοῦ ὑψηλοῦ, μεγάλῃ τῇ φωνῇ ἔλεγε· Δεῦτε καὶ ἴδετε τὰ ἔργα τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὡς φοβερὰ καὶ πάσης ἐκπλήξεως ἄξια. Δεῦτε καὶ ἴδετε τὸν θέλοντα πάντας ἀνθρώπους σωθῆναι, καὶ εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν ἀληθείας ἐλθεῖν. Δεῦτε προσκυνήσωμεν καὶ προσπέσω μεν αὐτῷ, καὶ εἴπωμεν· Σὺ μόνος δύνασαι ἀφαιρεῖν ἁμαρτίας. Συνέτρεχον δὲ πάντες μετὰ σπουδῆς, τῶν λεγομένων ἀκοῦσαι βουλόμενοι. Καὶ συνελθόντων πάντων, διηγεῖτο ὁ Παῦλος τὰ ὁραθέντα αὐτῷ πρὸ τῆς εἰσόδου τῆς ἐκκλησίας, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα πάλιν, καὶ ἠξίου τὸν ἄνδρα ἐκεῖνον λέγειν τὴν αἰτίαν δι΄ ἣν αὐτῷ τὴν τοσαύτην μεταβολὴν αἰφνιδίως ὁ Θεὸς ἐχαρίσατο. Ὁ δὲ ἄνθρωπος ἐλεγχθεὶς ὑπὸ τοῦ Παύλου, ἐνώπιον πάντων ἀνυποστόλως διηγεῖτο τὰ καθ΄ ἑαυτὸν, λέγων· Ἐγὼ ἄνθρωπός εἰμι ἁμαρτωλὸς, φησὶ, καὶ ἐκ πολλοῦ τοῦ χρόνου πορνείαις συνέζων μέχρι τοῦ νῦν· εἰσελθὼν δὲ νῦν ἐν τῇ ἁγίᾳ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐκκλησίᾳ, ἤκουσα τοῦ ἁγίου προφήτου Ἡσαΐου ἀναγινωσκομένου, μᾶλλον δὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ λαλοῦντος δι΄ αὐτοῦ· Λούσασθε, καθαροὶ γένεσθε, ἀφέλετε τὰς πονηρίας ὑμῶν ἀπὸ τῶν καρδιῶν ὑμῶν· ἀπέναντι τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν μου μάθετε καλὸν ποιεῖν. Καὶ ἐὰν ὦσιν αἱ ἁμαρτίαι ὑμῶν ὡς φοινικοῦν, ὡς χιόνα λευκανῶ. Καὶ ἐὰν θέλητε καὶ εἰσακούσητέ μου, τὰ ἀγαθὰ τῆς γῆς φάγεσθε. Ἐγὼ δὲ, φησὶν, ὁ πόρνος, ἐπὶ τῷ λόγῳ τοῦ προφήτου κατανυγεὶς τὴν ψυχὴν, καὶ στενάξας ἐν τῇ διανοίᾳ μου, εἶπον πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν, ὅτι Σὺ ὁ Θεὸς, ὁ ἐλθὼν εἰς τὸν κόσμον ἁμαρτωλοὺς σῶσαι, ἃ νῦν διὰ τοῦ προφήτου σου ἐπηγγείλω, ταῦτα καὶ εἰς ἐμὲ πλήρωσον τὸν ἁμαρτωλὸν καὶ ἀνάξιον. Ἰδοὺ γὰρ ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν δίδωμί σοι λόγον, συντάσσομαι δὲ καὶ ἐκ καρδίας ἐξομολογοῦμαί σοι, ὅτι οὐ μὴ πράξω ἔτι τι τῶν κακῶν· ἀλλὰ ἀποτάσσομαι πᾶσαν παρανομίαν, καὶ δουλεύσω σοι ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν ἐν καθαρᾷ συνειδήσει. Σήμερον, ὦ Δέσποτα, καὶ ἐκ τῆς ὥρας ταύτης, δέξαι με μετανοοῦντα, καὶ προσπίπτοντά σοι, καὶ ἀπεχόμενον τοῦ λοιποῦ πάσης ἁμαρτίας. Ἐπὶ ταύταις, φησὶ, ταῖς συνθήκαις ἐξῆλθον ἀπὸ τῆς ἐκκλησίας, κρίνας ἐν τῇ ἐμαυτοῦ ψυχῇ, μηκέτι μηδὲν φαῦλον πρᾶξαι ἀπέναντι τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἀκούσαντες δὲ πάντες ἀνεβόων μιᾷ φωνῇ πρὸς τὸν Θεόν· Ὡς ἐμεγαλύνθη τὰ ἔργα σου, Κύριε, πάντα ἐν σοφίᾳ ἐποίησας. Γινώσκοντες τοίνυν, ὦ Χριστιανοὶ, ἐκ τῶν θείων Γραφῶν, καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἁγίων ἀποκαλύψεων, ὅσην ἔχει ὁ Θεὸς ἀγαθότητα περὶ τοὺς εἰς αὐτὸν γνησίως καταφεύγοντας, καὶ διὰ μετανοίας τὰ πρότερον αὐτοῖς ἐπταισμένα διορθουμένους, καὶ ὅτι ἀποδίδωσι πάλιν τὰ ἐπηγγελμένα ἀγαθὰ, οὐκ εἰσπραττόμενος δίκας ὑπὲρ τῶν προτέρων ἁμαρτιῶν, μὴ ἀπελπίσω μεν τῆς ἑαυτῶν σωτηρίας. Ὥσπερ γὰρ διὰ Ἡσαΐου τοῦ προφήτου ἐπηγγείλατο, τοὺς ἐν ἁμαρτίαις βεβορ βορωμένους πλύνειν, καὶ ὡς ἔριον καὶ ὡς χιόνα λευκαίνειν καὶ τῶν ἀγαθῶν τῆς ἐπουρανίου Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἀξιοῦν· οὕτως αὖθις διὰ τοῦ ἁγίου προφήτου Ἰεζεκιὴλ, μεθ΄ ὅρκου ἡμᾶς πληροφορεῖ μὴ ἀπολλύειν· Ζῶ γὰρ, φησὶ, λέγει Κύριος, ὅτι οὐ βούλομαι τὸν θάνατον τοῦ ἁμαρτωλοῦ, ὡς τὸ ἐπιστρέψαι καὶ ζῇν αὐτόν. Ἀποφθέγματα Των Ἁγίων Γερόντων, Παλλάδιος Γαλατίας Source: Migne PG 65.381c-385b

The blessed father Paul the Simple, the disciple of Father Anthony, told the Fathers about a certain affair. One day he came to a monastery to observe it and to make himself useful to the brethren. After the customary conference, the brothers entered the holy church of God to perform the usual prayers. The blessed Paul looked closely at each of those who went into the church, considering the state of the soul of those who entered into prayers, for he had this grace given to him by the Lord, that he could see the state of each man's soul, just as we see the faces of others. When all had entered with sparkling eyes and shining faces, and with each one's angel rejoicing over him, he said, 'I see one who is black and dark in his whole body, and the demons come with him, dominating him, drawing him to them, and leading him by the nose, and his holy angel following at a distance is sad and his head is cast down.' And Paul wept and beat his breast with his hand, and sitting down in front of the church, he cried bitterly over the man he had seen. The brethren, seeing this strange conduct and the sudden change that had moved him to tears and grieving, questioned him, calling on him to tell them why he was weeping, thinking that he might be doing it as an accusation against all of them, and then they asked him to go to the prayers with them. But Paul refused them and remained sitting outside, lamenting over him whom he had seen. A little after the end of prayers, with everyone was coming out, Paul again studied each one of them, wishing to know in what state they were coming away, and he saw the man, who had been black and dark in his whole body before, coming out of the church with a shining face and a white body, and now the demons followed at a distance and his holy angel was close to him, rejoicing greatly over him. Paul leapt up for joy, crying out blessings to God, saying 'O the unspeakable love and goodness of God!' Then running up to an elevated place, he said with a great voice, 'Come, see the works of the Lord, how awesome they are and worthy of all wonder! Come and see Him who wishes that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth! Come, let us prostrate ourselves and throw ourselves down before Him and say, 'You alone can take sins away!' 1 Everyone ran together in haste, wanting to hear what was being said. When they were all assembled, Paul told them what he had seen at the entrance to the church and what had happened afterwards, and then he asked that man to tell them why God had suddenly bestowed such a change on him. The man whom Paul addressed, standing there before everyone, told them what had happened to him, saying, 'I am a sinful man and for a long time I have lived in fornication, right up until today. But when I went into the holy church of God, I heard the holy prophet Isaiah being read, or rather, God speaking through him: 'Wash yourselves, be clean, take away the wickedness from your hearts, learn to do good before my eyes. Even if your sins are as scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. And if you will, and if you listen to me, you shall eat the good things of the earth.' 2 'And I, the fornicator,' the man said, 'because of this word of the prophet, was stunned in my soul and I groaned in my mind, and said to God: 'God, you who came into the world to save sinners, what you now proclaim through your prophet, fulfill in me who am a sinner and an unworthy man. For from now on, I give my word to you, and am firmly resolved in my heart to confess to you, that I will not do evil any longer, but I renounce all unrighteousness, and henceforth I will serve you with a pure conscience. Today, O Master, and from this hour, receive one who repents and throws himself down before you, he who shall abstain from every sin.' He continued, 'Having vowed these things, I came out of the church, determined in my soul that I would no longer commit any evil before God.' Hearing this, they all with one voice cried out to God, 'How manifold are your works, Lord, in wisdom you made them all.' 3 As Christians, then, who have learnt from the holy Scriptures and from holy revelations, let us know the great goodness of God for those who sincerely take refuge in Him and who correct their past faults by repentance, and let us not despair of salvation. For as it was proclaimed by the prophet Isaiah, God cleanses those who are foul with sin, and whitens them as wool and as snow, and makes them worthy of the good things of the heavenly Jerusalem, just as in the prophet Ezekiel He swore an oath to strengthen us and not to ruin us. 'As I live, says the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of a sinner, so turn and live. ' 4 Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia 1 Ps 45,9, Ps 65.5, 1 Tim 2.4, Ps 94.6 2 Isaiah 1.16-19 3 Ps 104.24 4 Ezek 18.32

Earning A Crown

Ἐφ' ὕβρει, καὶ ἀτιμίᾳ, καὶ ἐπιβουλῇ τῇ καθ' ἡμῶν διὰ παντὸς ἰδρῦσθαι βούλονται οἱ δαίμονες, ἀλλὰ καθὼς λέγει ὁ Προφήτης, αἰσχυνθήσονται οἱ καθ' ἡμῶν ἐφ' ὕβρει, καὶ ὑψηλῇ καρδίᾳ, καὶ ταπεινωθήσονται. Ἡμῖν δὲ ἔσται ὁ στέφανος τῆς ζωῆς, καὶ δόξης, καὶ ἀφθαρσίας, ὁ πλακεὶς τοῖς τὸν Κύριον ὑπομένουσιν. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ Ε´ Μαρκελλινῳ Μοναχῳ Source: Migne PG 79.85a

In their pride and without shame demons always wish to prevail against us, but as the Prophet says, they who are opposed to us in their pride shall be disgraced and their elated hearts shall be humbled. 1 But for us there shall be a crown of life and glory, incorruptible, fashioned for those who endure for the Lord. Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 5, to Marcellinus the Monk 1 Ps 39.15

Fasting And Power

Et dixit illis, hoc genus in nullo potest exire, nisi in oratione et ieiunio. Ad hoc dicendum sicut saepe diximus quod Domini potestas in eiiciendo Daemones non fuit operans, sicut per claves, sed sicut absoluta et libera potestas, cui nihil obstat: et ideo in sua operatione non fuit opus iniunctione orationis et ieiuni. Sed hac postestatem discupulis non dedit: quia haec est potestas excellentiae et divina: sed potius dedit discipulis potestate clavium, ut per ministrerium instrumenti orationis et ieiunis, et exorcismorum contra malitiam daemonis operatentur, et ideo: Das potestaem ligandi et absolvendi, praemittit potestatem ligandi, dicens, quodcunque ligaveris super terram, erit ligatum et caelis. Et subiungit potestatem solvendi, dicens: et quodcunque solvris super terram, erit solutum et in caelis: ac si dicat, Si vis ut non erret clavis, liga prius ad opera satisfactionis: et tun solve a vinculis daemonum, quibus ligati sunt peccatores: tunc portae, hoc est, malitiae daemonum tibi praevalebunt. Sanctus Albertus Magnus Commentarium In Evangelium Divi Marci, Caput IX Source: Here p101

And He said to them, this type is not able to be driven out unless by prayer and fasting... 1 Concerning this it must be said, as we have often said, that the power of the Lord in casting out demons was not done as through keys, but by a perfect and free power, which nothing may resist, and therefore in His work there was no need for the addition of prayer and fasting. But this power was not given to the disciples, because such power belongs to the Divine excellence, but rather He gave to the disciples the power of the keys, that by the ministry of the instruments of prayer and fasting, they might perform exorcisms against the wickedness of demons, and therefore, giving the power of binding and loosing, He first set forth the power of binding, saying, 'whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,' and then He added the power of loosing, 'and whatever you loose on earth, it shall be loosed in heaven.' 2 As if He said, 'If you wish not to err in the use of the keys, be bound first to the works of satisfaction, and then loose the bonds of demons by which sinners are bound. So the gates, that is the wickedness of demons, shall not prevail against you.' 3 Saint Albert The Great, Commentary On The Gospel of St Mark, Chapter 9 1 Mk 9.28 2 Mt 16.19 3 Mt 16.18

The Tongue's Flame

Et inflammat rotam nativitatis nostrae inflammata a gehenna. A gehenna dicit a diabolo et angelis ejus, propter quos gehenna facta est, et qui ubicunque vel in aere volitant, vel in terris aut sub terris vagantur, sive detinentur, suarum secum ferunt semper tormenta flammarum, instar febricitantis, qui et si in lectis eburneis, et si in locis ponatur apricis, fervorem tamen vel frigus insiti sibi languoris evitare non potest. Sic ergo daemones et si in templis colantur auratis, et si per aerea discurrant, igne semper ardent gehennali, et ex ipsa sua poena commoniti , deceptis quoque hominibus fomitem vitiorum, unde ipsi pereant, invidendo suggerunt. Cui contra sancta Dei civitas nova Jerusalem de coelo a Deo descendere dicitur, quia nimirum quidquid coeleste in terris agimus, hoc profecto ut ageremus coelesti munere accepimus. Rotam autem dicit nativitatis nostrae incessabilem vitae temporalis procursum, quo a die nativitatis usque ad mortem velut semper currente rota curriculi incessanter agimur. Unde bene Salomon cum diceret: Memento Creatoris tui in diebus juventituis tuae, antequem veniat dies afflictionis, paulo post addidit: Et confringatur rota super cisternam et reveratur pulvis in terram suam unde erat. Inflammat ergo lingua rotam nativitatis nostrae, cum statum omnem nostrae conversationis prava loquendo contaminat. Item rotam nativitatis nostrae dicit, quia merito primae praevaricationis ab interna stabilitate projecti, huc atque illuc mente vaga raptamur, et incertis per cuncta discursibus, ubi periculum, ubi salus, ignoramus. Inflammatur autem haec rota nostrae nativitatis igne linguae maculantis, cum vitium nativae perturbationis ineptis etiam ac noxiis sermonibus accumulatur. Sanctus Beda, Super Divi Jacobi Epistolam, Caput III Source: Migne PL 93 35b-c

And the tongue inflames the wheel of our birth, set aflame by hell. 1 By hell he means by the devil and his angels, on account of whom hell was made, and who fly about everywhere in the air, or wander on the earth, or beneath the earth, or are bound, carrying with themselves their own torment of flame, just like a fever, they who even if placed on an ivory couch or in a sunny place, yet by fever or chill within would not be able to be free of sickness. Therefore, even if demons dwell in golden temples, even if they race through the air, the fire of hell always burns them, and impressed by this same punishment, by envy they counsel deluded men to kindle vice, by which they perish. Against which the holy city of God, the new Jerusalem, is said to descend from heaven by the will of God, because whatever we do on earth that is heavenly, certainly for what we have done, we receive the heavenly reward. And he speaks of the wheel of our birth as the unceasing rush of temporal life, by which, from the day of birth until death, we are as a wheel rolling down its track without pause. Whence well Solomon says: 'Be mindful of your Creator in the days of your youth, before the day of affliction comes,' and after a little he adds: 'the wheel broken on the cistern and dust returns to the earth from whence it came.' 2 Thus the tongue inflames the wheel of our birth when it pollutes our conduct with depraved speech. And again he speaks of the wheel of our birth, because rightly by the first trespass we were cast down from internal stability and struck with a mind that wanders here and there, and is uncertain in every way, not knowing where danger is and where is safety. The wheel of our birth is set on fire by the flame of the defiling tongue, when it has been heaped up with foolish and noxious words for the stirring up of vice within. Saint Bede, Commentary on the Letter of Saint James, Chapter 3 1 Jam 3.6 2 Eccle 12.1, 6-7

Belief And Demons

Omnis qui credit quoniam Jesus est Christus, ex Deo natus est. Et omnis qui diligit eum qui genuit, diligit et eum qui natus est ex eo. Nam et daemones credunt, et contremiscunt, sicut dicit Scriptura. Quid potuerunt plus credere daemones, quam ut dicerent: Scimus qui sis, Filius Dei? Quod dixerunt daemones, hoc dixit et Petrus. Cum Dominus quaereret quis esset, et quem illum dicerent homines, responderunt illi discipuli: Alii dicunt te Ioannem Baptistam, alii Eliam, alii Ieremiam, aut unum ex Prophetis. Et ille: Vos autem quem me esse dicitis? Respondit Petrus et ait: Tu es Christus Filius Dei vivi. Et audivit a Domino: Beatus es, Simon Bar Iona, quia non revelavit tibi caro et sanguis, sed Pater meus qui est in coelis. Videte quae laudes prosequantur hanc fidem: Tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam. Quid est, super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam? Super hanc fidem, super id quod dictum est: Tu es Christus Filius Dei vivi. Super hanc petram, inquit, fundabo Ecclesiam meam. Magna laus! Ergo dicit Petrus. Tu es Christus Filius Dei vivi: dicunt et daemones: Scimus qui sis, Filius Dei, sanctus Dei. Hoc Petrus, hoc et daemones: eadem verba, non idem animus. Et unde constat quia hoc Petrus cum dilectione dicebat? Quia fides christiani cum dilectione est; daemonis autem sine dilectione. Quomodo sine dilectione? Hoc dicebat Petrus, ut Christum amplecteretur: hoc dicebam daemones, ut Christus ab eis recederet. Nam antequam dicerent: Scimus qui sis; tu es Filius Dei: Quid nobis et tibi est, dixerunt? Quid venisti ante tempus perdere nos? Aliud est ergo confiteri Christum, ut teneas Christum, aliud confiteri Christum, ut repellas a te Christum. Ergo videtis quia quomodo hic dicit: Qui credit, propria quaedam fides est; non quomodo cum multis. Itaque, fratres, nemo haereticorum dicat vobis: Et nos credimus. Ideo enim de daemonibus exemplum proposui, ne gaudeatis ad verba credentium, sed exploretis facta viventium. Videamus ergo quid est credere in Christum; quid, credere quia Iesus ipse est Christus. Sequitur: Omnis qui credit quod Iesus sit Christus, ex Deo natus est. Sed quid est credere illud? Et omnis qui diligit qui genuit eum, diligit eum qui genitus est ab ipso. Statim fidei coniunxit dilectionem; quia sine dilectione fides inanis est. Cum dilectione fides christiani, sine dilectione fides daemonis: qui autem non credunt, peiores sunt quam daemones, et tardiores quam daemones. Nescio quis non vult credere in Christum; adhuc nec daemones imitatur. Sanctus Augustinus Hippoensis, In Epistolam Iohannis Tractatus X Source: Migne PL 35.2054-2055

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. And every one who loves Him who begot Him, also loves Him who is begotten of Him. 1 For 'even the demons believe and tremble,' 2 as Scripture says. How were the devils able to believe more than they should say, 'We know who you are, the Son of God?' What the demons said, Peter also said. When the Lord asked them who He was, and whom did men say He was, the disciples replied to Him, 'Some say that you are John the Baptist, some Elias, some Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.' And He: 'But who do you say I am?' And Peter answered and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.' 3 And he heard from the Lord: 'Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my Father who is in heaven.' See what praises follow this faith. 'You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church.' What is: 'Upon this rock I will build my Church?' Upon this faith, upon this which has been said: 'You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.' 'Upon this rock,' He says, 'I will build my Church.' Great praise! So Peter says, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God,' and the demons also say, 'We know who you are, the Son of God, the Holy One of God.' Peter said this, so did demons. The words are the same, but not the heart. And how is it clear that Peter said this with love? Because a Christian's faith has love, but a demon's is loveless. How is it loveless? Peter said this that he might embrace Christ, the demons said it that Christ might begone from them. For before they said, 'We know who you are, the Son of God,' they said, 'What have we to do with you? Why have you come to destroy us before the time?' 4 It is one thing to confess Christ so that you may embrace Christ, another thing to confess Christ that you may drive Christ from you. See, then, that in the sense he says here, 'Whoever believes,' it is a faith of one's own, not somehow with many. Therefore, brothers, let none of the heretics say to you, 'We also believe.' For I have given you an example from demons that you should not rejoice in the words of believing, but that you seek out the deeds of the living. Let us see, then, what it is to believe in Christ. He proceeds: 'Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God.' But what is it to believe that? 'And every one that loves Him who begot Him, also loves Him who is begotten of Him.' To faith he has instantly joined love, because faith without love is worthless. With love it is the faith of the Christian; loveless it is the faith of a demon. But they who do not believe are worse than demons, and they are more stupid than devils. Some fellow will not believe Christ: he is not yet even an equal of demons. Saint Augustine Of Hippo, On The Epsitle of John, Tractate 10 1 1 Jn 5.1 2 Jam 2.19 3 Mt 16.13-18 4 Mt 8.29

The First And Second Fear

Ὅταν δι' ὑπομονῆς καὶ εὐχῆς λάβωμεν τὴν ἄνωθεν δωρεὰν, τότε διῶξαι δυνάμεθα τοὺς ἀοράτους βαρβάρους, καὶ ποσιῦνται τρόμῳ ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας ἡμῶν. Φησὶ γὰρ καί τις προφήτης, ὅτι Οὕσπερ τὸ πρῶτον ἐφοβεῖσθε, φοβηθήσονται ὑμᾶς. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΡΠΖ ' Γιγαντιῳ Διακονῳ Source: Migne PG 79 153b

When by endurance and prayer we receive gifts from above, then we are able to put to flight the unseen barbarians, and they fall in fear before our feet. For a certain prophet says: 'As you first feared, they will fear you.' 1 Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 187, to Gigantios The Deacon 1 Isaiah 33.7

Angels And Demons And Virtue

Ἄγγελοι μὲν χαίρουσι μειουμένης κακίας, δαίμονες δὲ τῆς ἀρετῆς· οἱ μὲν γάρ εἰσιν ἐλέους καὶ ἀγάπης θεράποντες, οἱ δὲ ὀργῆς καὶ μίσους ὑπήκοοι· καὶ οἱ μὲν πρότεροι πλησιάζοντες πνευματικῆς θεωρίας ἡμᾶς πληροῦσιν, οἱ δὲ δεύτεροι προσεγγίζοντες εἰς αἰσχρὰς τὴν ψυχὴν φαντασίας ἐμβάλλουσιν.  Αἱ ἀρεταὶ οὐ τὰς τῶν δαιμόνων ὁρμὰς ἀνακόπτουσιν, ἀλλ' ἡμᾶς ἀθῴους διαφυλάττουσιν. Εὐάγριος ὁ Ποντικός, Ὁ Πρακτικός Source: Migne PG 40 1234a

Angels rejoice when vice decreases but demons rejoice when virtue decreases; the one are servants of mercy and charity, the others are subjects of anger and hatred; the first draw near to fill us with spiritual contemplation, the latter to draw the soul into disgraceful fantasies. The virtues do not prevent the assault of demons, but they do preserve us from harm. Evagrius Ponticus, The Praktikos

Sins And Enemies

Nam multis annis pro suis offensis multis regibus servierunt, et iterum conversi liberati sunt. Sed quid est, quod saepe peccantes in manu hostili traduntur, nisi quod nostra peccata, quando delinquimus, vires hostibus praebent, et quando nos facimus malum in conspectu Domini, tunc confortantur adversarii nostri, id est, daemones, spiritualium nequitiarum virtutes? Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis, Mysticorum Expositiones Sacramentorum Seu Quaestiones In Vetus Testamentum, In Librum Judicum, Cap I Source: Migne PL 83.379c-d

For many years, for their many wrongs, they were under the power of kings, 1 and again turning from their wrongs they were liberated. But what is this, that sinning often they were given into the hand of the enemy, unless that our sins, when we err, give strength to the enemy, and when we do evil in the sight of the Lord, then our adversaries are strengthened, that is, demons, powers of spiritual iniquity? Saint Isidore of Seville, Expositions of Sacred Mysteries or Questions on the Old Testament, On The Book of Judges, Chap 1 1 Judges 3

Demons And Souls

Μὴ παραδῷς με, φησὶν, εἰς ψυχὰς θλιβόντων με· ψυχαὶ γὰρ τῶν δαιμόνων τὰ ἀνόσια πάθη, ὦν εὐκτέον δυσθῆναι. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΡΟΗ''  Λιμενιῳ Μονακῳ Source: Migne PG 79 152

'Do not hand me over to souls that trouble me,' he says. 1 For the souls of demons are afflicted with impiety, that to be free from is what one should pray for. Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 178 to Limenius the Monk 1 Ps 26.12

Dwelling Places Of Demons

Sed quid existis videre? Hominem mollibus vestitum? Ecce qui mollibus vestiuntur, in domibus regum sunt. Vestem ambitum corporis quo induitur anima significat, quod luxu ac lasciviis mollescant. Sed qui vestiti mollibus sunt in domibus regum sunt. In regibus, transgressorum angelorum nuncupatio est: hi enim saeculi sunt potentes, mundique dominantes. Ergo vestiti mollibus in domibus regum sunt, id est eos, quibus per luxum fluida et dissoluta sunt corpora, esse daemonum habitationem, consimilem sedem propsitis suis atque operibus eligentium. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, In Evangelium Matthaei Commentarius, Cap XI Source: Migne PL 9.980b-c

But what did you go out to see? A man in soft vestments? Behold, they who wear soft vestments are found in the the palaces of kings. 1 This signifies the covering of the surrounding body by which the soul is endowed, which luxury and lust soften. But they who are garbed in softness are found in the the palaces of kings. And among kings means among the fallen angels, for these are the powers of the world and the rulers of it. Therefore those garbed in softness are found in the palaces of kings, that is, those who by luxury have weak and dissolute bodies and being a dwelling place of demons have chosen a similar place for their thoughts and works.   Saint Hilary of Poitiers, from the Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chapter 11 1 Mt 11.8