Why does love hurt? About lust, passion, hormones and love. Lust is indulging base desires

The room was dark. The woman stood at the window and watched the sunset. The bedroom door opened and a man burst into the room. He approached her from behind, grabbed her by the hair, pulled his head back and began to sniff her hair like an animal, lick and bite her neck, earlobes, chest. With his left hand, he grabbed her tight chest and began to knead, causing pain. The woman, in a fit of lust, rested her butt against his penis, her elastic buttocks aroused the man even more. With an imperious movement of his hand, he bent her forward on the windowsill, lifted the shirt, his gaze opened up two beautiful halves, which parted, inviting him to enter. The woman arched her back, spread her legs, put her knees on the windowsill. He watched as she inserted the clubs of her left hand into her anus and began to move them intensively while making swaying movements with her backside. The man with a sharp movement inserted his penis into her vagina, which grabbed him with a tight ring, with rough frequent jerks he entered and exited her. Her white buttocks and thighs twitched with his thrusts and anticipation of passion. She put her hands on the window frame and gave herself to him like a female, without any hesitation or shame spreading her legs and back even more, and he penetrated so deeply into her, filling her all, causing pain and satisfaction at the same time. With his hands he then crushed, then hit her on the buttocks, then pulled back and bit him and again with sharp, rough jerks entered the vagina, then between the buttocks. He wanted to be in it everywhere at the same time. They both made guttural, non-penile sounds. Finally, the peak of pleasure was reached, their bodies shook with the pleasure they had experienced. It took them a minute to recover. The man detached himself from the woman, tucked in his shirt, buttoned his pants and left. She never saw his face, she was still alone, she was waiting for the next male to indulge in animal lust with him, because only at these moments she is happy, because her heart is empty in him there is no place for love in him she lives only lust, that's how she was brought up.
Passion.
They met again this time in the ballroom. He entered the hall and immediately understood she was there, he began to look for her with his eyes. She talked with her friends, laughed, flirted with men, suddenly she felt a burning sensation in the back of her head and realized "he came." Their gazes met, crossed. He approaches her, invites her to dance. They danced a slow dance, both were silent, words were useless. Both knew what the next meeting would lead to, they had not seen each other for three months, which means their passion increased threefold .. He caught her with a glance, a nervous tremor began to beat him. She stared at him, stroking his muscular shoulders.
- Let's go, he said quietly and they left the hall, the sun was going down. The evening was warm, grasshoppers were singing in the grass, they went to the river. They were left alone, no one bothered them. He began kissing her fiercely and passionately, biting her lips, capturing her tongue, she responded in kind. He stroked her smooth passionate body, she pressed herself against him, rubbed against him. He quickly undressed her, laid his shirt on the grass and laid it down, examining her body, as if seeing it for the first time. He took one breast in his palm, played with the nipple, then dug his lips into the rounded, hardened nipple, captured and the other breast, he could not get enough of the taste of her nipples, he wriggled over her like a volcano. Slowly he began to kiss her belly, navel and finally got to the secret place. He sat down between her spread legs and admired her curly curls, pinched her thighs, and she caressed herself with her hands in the most intimate place. Unable to withstand this torture for a long time, he stuck his lips to her bosom, he entered her with his tongue, he drank her filled with nectar of love, she moaned, scratched his shoulders, it was not enough for her, she begged him to end this torture, she spread her legs more and more to the sides trying to absorb it. Finally he broke away from her bosom and thrust his huge spear into her cave. She grabbed him in the ring of her legs, their bodies began to move in time, quickly and furiously. At the same time he kissed her body, lips, breasts, he raised her hands and pressed them to the grass over her head. Thus, they were captured by each other. He took her again and again, and she gave herself up, but everything was not enough for them. And this has always been the case, they can never get enough of each other. He called her a witch, she cried, how many times they tell each other that they need to part, they are too different, different upbringing, interests, outlook on life, age difference. He is a married man, she is a bride., But the longer they do not see each other, the more their passion flares up when they meet, each time they surrender to each other with fury plunging headlong into the abyss of passion. He studied her body as his own, she knows every muscle in his body. They are happy only when their hearts beat in unison with a love fight. And yet this is not love

Love.
He and she are two elders. They were sitting by the fireplace in rocking chairs covered with blankets. Their eyes seemed to shine, with warmth and peace they looked at each other and their faces lit up with a smile. He took her hand in his and stroked it gently. Together they went through separation, loss, there was lust and passion in their lives. They have two children. He taught her to appreciate moments of happiness, together they learned to trust each other. He looked at her withered body, gray hair, wrinkled hands, and saw in front of him a dignified, beautiful woman, he saw a friend, mistress, wife. And now, when all the excitement of youth, intrigue, and raging passions are behind them, they understand how strong their love is if they meet the sunset of their life together hand in hand ..

Reviews

An excellent piece, positive in every line.
I would also like to be able to "spray" the buttocks of men. What could be better? An unwanted subject came up, began to "wriggle like a volcano," bared her buttocks, and that was all. There was a man and no. Only a pile of ash remained and a slight hydrogen sulfide aroma.
And another question arose. Did they have two rocking chairs by the fireplace? And how did they swing, facing each other or synchronously side by side, as if on the same wavelength?
In general, thank you for your good mood. :))

The years were hungry, men were rare, irresponsible and unpleasant in appearance. And Marina married a Lebanese. The Lebanese was hot and mustache. He gave gifts, took them to restaurants and spoke many words that make you feel the height of perfection.
And she agreed to leave.

At home and after the wedding, the husband, naturally, changed. In which direction, I will not explain, you yourself, go, you know. Once he even beat Marina for the fact that in the evening she talked with his cousin, who had arrived from Beirut. The cousin wore miniskirts, smoked thin cigarettes and drank wine. In the eyes of the marina's mustachioed husband, she was a fallen woman, depraved and god-loathing. And Marina was on the verge of falling into the abyss of sin. But her husband beat her and saved her. Over time, Marina understood the rules of the game. She made friends with one of her husband's relatives. A relative was a pariah in the family, because she could not make her husband happy and give birth. Marina was a pariah because she was not local. A relative of her husband secretly bought contraceptives for Marina, because Marina's mustachioed husband had already repaired two children, and she did not want to rub it. In general, the thought that it was necessary to give birth incessantly did not warm Marina. Well, Marina also did something for a relative. Bash on bash, as they say.

You could also complain about everything to the imam. For example, on the various actions of her husband. The Koran is like a tongue.
In short, when a person falls into a subordinate position, he becomes a cunning manipulator. Because there is no other way.
But that's not the point. Marina once came to visit her mother. The imam helped. Because, although Russia is a country of shameless prostitutes, according to Marinin's husband, it is everyone's duty to honor and take care of their parents and there is no reception against the Koran.
Marina talked with her friend and drank tea. She, in essence, could stay. But she adapted there too. And a friend asked Marina: how, they say, there are women in general. Why is everything forbidden to them and they walk around wrapped in rags from head to toe. Maybe, - suggested a friend, - maybe because they are all terribly lustful there. Let go of the reins a little, and they will be carried with terrible force. Loosen your grip a little, and they rush into someone's arms. Open your face a little, and these women will decide that everything is allowed.

Marina thought. I remembered all sorts of Lebanese women whom I saw in the cafe, their quick glances at men, not glances, but straight away from a flamethrower. She remembered the hot stories of comrades and relatives, overheard surreptitiously. After all, with Marina, as with a pariah, no one really shared.

Yes, - said Marina, - yes! such, protichospadi, lustful women still look.

Saved by

The years were hungry, men were rare, irresponsible and unpleasant in appearance. And Marina married a Lebanese. The Lebanese was hot and mustache. He gave gifts, took them to restaurants and spoke many words that make you feel the height of perfection. And she...

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Christianity does not deny either love or sexual relations, but in the understanding of any person, even a weak believer, lust is a sin. Why? What is the difference between normal and lust? We will try to figure this out further.

What does lust mean?

In order to more accurately understand the biblical view of sex, it is worthwhile to clearly understand where exactly the very fine line passes, which separates a blessed relationship from a low, sinful one.

Implies bright feelings in relation to the object of his interest. And the main components of these feelings are respect and the desire to do something pleasant to the partner, without demanding anything in return. Love does not accept selfishness, since it is deliberately aimed at sacrifice.

While lust is the desire to use a person for their own purposes, namely to satisfy base passions, sexual needs, and momentary desires. What kind of respectful and to a partner can we talk about here?

A person who follows lust indulges his desires, not knowing or simply rejecting any attempt to restrain them. Lust is selfish and therefore destructive. She eats up the soul, accustoming a person to the fact that all his desires must be fulfilled.

What separates lust from normal sex drive?

Lust is often a consequence of sexual dissatisfaction and the impossibility, due to complexes or objective reasons, to realize one's own. But in itself is not lust.

This is a natural, genetically inherent psychological and physiological process that serves as a component of that very bright feeling, which we call love. No, of course, he is not the main or determining one in love, but without him, you must admit, it would not make sense.

After all, love between a man and a woman is not only mutual respect and the desire to make the life of a loved one more beautiful, but also the desire to leave behind offspring. And without it, it would simply disappear from the face of the Earth.

So what is lust?

A lustful person constantly remembers about sexual desire, it does not leave him. It constantly makes him want someone who doesn't really need him, and if needed, the same passion will drive him away, in search of new pleasures, while trampling down, humiliating the feelings given by the partner. After all, lust is based only on sexual desire, which has thrown away respect and sacredness of feelings.

And in order to better understand lust, the meaning of this state for the human soul can be conveyed by the following statement: the torment from temptation is always insignificant in comparison with the torment from the consequences of sin itself. After all, a person who is in the grip of the sin of lust is not able to think sensibly, not able to control himself, and therefore he does things that he himself will then be ashamed of.

By and large, lust can be attributed to lust for everything that does not belong to a particular person at the moment, and it, as a rule, is so great that it does not matter to him in what ways he will achieve the fulfillment of his desire. So lust turns a man into its slave.

And to be absolutely exact, for this feeling, the true pleasure is the very process of desire, which pushes a person who has dissolved in base impulses to more and more insane actions, and he gradually turns into a kind of drug addict, dependent on his needs that do not know the measure.

When Sex Drive Takes Perverse Forms

Normally, any person has an innate relationship to the opposite sex. But lust is lust that can pervert it, turning it into a constant need for sex, which does not recognize any conditions and barriers.

Allowing this to develop, a person gets bogged down in the opportunity to receive momentary pleasures, gradually sinking to perverted needs and sometimes not even understanding why he is so attracted to minors, old people, dead people, animals and other endless list that can interest a psychiatrist. But it all starts with self-indulgence!

How to get rid of lust?

Lust can overcome everyone, but it does not make everyone a slave. And if a person realizes that his desires have ceased to be innocent, that base lust has taken possession of him, it is important to be able to get rid of it. To avoid becoming a slave to lust, you must make a decision once and for all and stick to it. Even if you break off, start over and over again - and this eternal itch will leave you.

Try to distract yourself with an activity that will not give you time for base thoughts and aspirations. Indeed, in psychology, it is not for nothing that it is believed that suppressed sexual desires are the strongest stimulus for a person's realization in another type of activity.

It was in this state that most of the discoveries in science were made, a huge number of masterpieces in art were created - so maybe it is this suppressed and directed in a righteous force that will lift you up?

Check your feeling

Love and lust are on opposite sides of the border, drawn by generally accepted concepts of spirituality, morality, and culture. And they contradict each other.

So ask yourself a question to check: your feeling is love or just lust. The main thing is to weigh whether you can give yourself to your partner. Are you ready to read it? Do you value him as a person? Or maybe he is just an object that should (note - should) satisfy your desire for sexual intercourse?

And if you agree with the statement that God gave us sexual relations and the associated pleasant impressions, then using such a gift for the sake of lust is a dangerous deception, behind which there is a lot of sinfulness.

Hello Irina. Everything will be fine and wonderful with you. You think correctly, you want there to be prosperity and love. A long-term and serious relationship is built on feelings that pass after a while, and on respect, which should remain, and on money. This is how our life is arranged, which requires funding. If it requires, then you need to look for ways to do it. One of the ways is a successful marriage. But there are too many applicants for rich men now, and where is the guarantee that you will succeed ... Working with magic conspiracies, you increase your chances, but you need to be able to use these chances: to hang out correctly, communicate competently, skillfully manipulate sexually. Yes, and we should not forget that rich men are now very sophisticated in the female issue, and to tag one of them is a whole plan of hostilities. At this level, most often there is no talk of love, other categories are hovering there, so try to determine some real goals that are attainable for you, and act. As far as I understand, in your letter you are talking about not very great wealth, but about average income. Men with average incomes, as a rule, have been married for a long time and are looking only for sexual adventures. Attempts to take one of them out of the family are more doomed to failure, and this should not be done. Other men of this level, who are not married, have hidden or obvious flaws and vices: alcoholism, sexual perversion, sadistic inclinations, despotism. Do you need it? I recommend that you find yourself a man who, in your opinion, has good potential, and help him rise in finances, of course, not forgetting about your interests. Where can I find it? Not lying on the road? The time will come, there will be, most importantly, look! And about orgasm, it just seemed to me that your subconscious guilt complex, fear from childhood, prevented you from experiencing it. As soon as you find yourself a normal reliable man, a guy, live with him for a very long time and understand that this is your destiny, you will not have any physiological problems. More than half of all women feel what you are talking about, imitating intimate experiences.

Everything will be great with you. You are young, with humor, you know what you want. God will help you.

I wish you happiness, love, material wealth.

Sex and passion

Conspiracy on the occurrence of passion with a casual acquaintance

Sometimes sexual desire becomes like an obsession when you see a woman. This passion can be satisfied by using a conspiracy for passion. But I advise you to first think about the consequences of your relationship: if everything is fine–forward

I dream of your kiss. I want to hug you and own you (name). Our meeting was not accidental, it was I who wanted to give you pleasure. You can't give up my gaze. It beckons you and fills you with passion. Be mine, my casual beauty, and tell me "yes" when I demand it.

Evoke lust and passion

The conspiracy is for both man and woman. Read by an open fire: bonfire, candles, fireplace

I light a fire of passion in the lower abdomen (name). Raise that passion to my head. Let her get drunk and intoxicated. Let the brains blow and dominate the body.

Passion burns in (name), burns and torments. My legs tremble, my lips dry, my hands reach out to me. This passion cannot be extinguished. There is no way to get rid of her. Only I can extinguish this passion, only I can direct this passion.

Everything on me for (name) fits. Everything is done on me for him. I want (name) my body. I want it so much that it gets dark in my eyes. I am for (name) the biggest dream, the sweetest piece. To be together in the heat of passion! To test us lust and lust!

Burn, fire, and burn to the bone. Burn, fire, and support me!

To be my wish fulfilled!

Hantaa ular.

Before the deprivation of virginity

The conspiracy is read in order to improve fate, find marital happiness soon after the first intercourse

Rejoice, my God Vizardas, in your work. It's time for (name) to become a woman. She was preparing for this and striving, she prayed and desired it. Create for her a bright light, kind words, purity of thoughts, care and tenderness. May (name) become the happiest of all whom I know and have heard of. Show your mercy, Lord, give her love! Protect her from deception and cruel cynicism. Save her from disappointment. Get rid of mental anguish, pain and tears. Make her passion a desire of the spirit. Protect her beauty with your care. Take care of her health and joys in life. Do your job so, Lord, so that the deprivation of virginity for (name) becomes the discovery of her fate for family happiness and all kinds of benefits. Let her never know betrayal and loneliness. May she be lucky, and happiness will come to her house and not go away in the name of Your glory.

Hantaa ular.

Magic pickup

A conspiracy is used to breed someone for sex

The city is buzzing like a beehive. I am my own person in the city. I am a city hunter of female bodies and heads. I have a gun of words in my arsenal. I have a tongue knife in my arsenal. In my arsenal - acting.

My prey will not leave me. My booty belongs only to me. My booty will fall into my webs.

I'm ready to hunt today. Both the weather and the time of day are favorable to me.

My art lies in the ability to hunt.

Hantaa ular.

For strong love

While reading the plot, tie together two laces of two shoes, one–male, other–female

I will tie the laces of two shoes together, one for men and the other for women. I will tie the destinies of two people (name) and (name) together. Let them walk and stand together, lie together and sit together, work together and rest together, live together and sleep together. Determined, Done, Tied, Done.

To be held in high esteem by girls

Feminine attention–it’s a kind of energy, energy is quite pleasant. She helps a man to assert himself, to feel more confident. Many men use it to maintain their own image, health, and well-being. Many–just to perform sexual feats and manipulations. They like it, and God bless them, as long as no one really suffers from it. Speak about an item that you need to carry with you

As the glue "Moment" glues everything and causes a trance, so I would glue the girls and cause them to be trance, so that they would be obedient to me, they would hang on my neck and do what I wanted to do.

Magical binding

A conspiracy is used to create a magical bond in relationships and sex from someone to someone.

God tied the moon to the earth tightly and firmly. The moon will not go anywhere from the earth, it will not go anywhere, although it walks in its orbit. So forever determined, set for centuries. And (name) will be tied to (name). Will walk around and not go anywhere. Will sigh, suffer, desire, stir up lust. Will always be there, always around. Always help, always forgive, always give a hand.

Strong friendship, faithful love, eternal relationship.

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Extracts from the holy fathers against lust, lust, drunkenness and gluttony, and on asceticism

Against lust:

"The temple of God is holy: and this temple is you." (1 Cor. 3:17)

Let us strive for purity even to death and be kept from any impurity that is not characteristic of nature, according to the words of the firstborn among the prophets - Moses. In particular, let us beware of debauchery. The angels fell and were cast out of their state of glory and honor, allowing their eyes to gaze unacceptably. There is nothing worse than looking lustfully at a woman. Many perished because of women ... Do not be slaves to nasty passions below natural, nor shameful lusts that are so vile before God. Write the name of God on your hearts; let the voice in you ceaselessly ring out: "you are the temple of God" (1 Cor. 3:16) and the place of the Holy Spirit. A person deceived by impure lust is like dumb beasts before God, devoid of all consciousness. Venerable Anthony the Great.

Fornication is intensified from five reasons: from idle talk, vanity, a lot of sleep, from a tendency to beautiful clothes, from satiety. He who wants to remove from himself the abuse of fornication, let him be kept from the above-mentioned reasons for it ... for passions hold on to one another, like links in a chain. Venerable Abba Isaiah.

The Apostle said: "Fornication and all uncleanness and covetousness should not even be called among you, as is fitting for the saints" (Eph. 5: 3). Fornication is a sin committed by the body. Uncleanness is a passionate touch of one's own and another's body, laughter and free treatment of others. A monk must maintain continuous sobriety, so as not to faint in attention, so that the passions do not harm him in any way. Sayings of nameless elders.

Fornication first ignites in the soul of a voluptuary, and then produces bodily corruption. Saint Gregory of Nyssa.

The spirit of fornication is not limited to subjecting one person to dishonor; his comrades immediately join him; feasts, drunkenness, shameful stories and an obscene woman who drinks together, smiles at one, seduces the other and inflames everyone to the same sin, is this infection really small, is such a spread of evil unimportant? Saint Gregory of Nyssa.

A woman who dresses up in order to arouse the lust of the intemperate is already committing adultery in her heart. Saint Basil the Great.

The fornicator harms himself, he pierces himself with the arrow of dishonor. The thief decides to steal in order to feed the body, and the fornicator takes care of robbing his own flesh. The covetous person is encouraged to steal by the thought of self-interest, while fornication is detrimental to the purity of the body. The glory of another causes suffering to the envious, but the fornicator himself commits his own dishonor. For what is more dishonorable than the burden of the fornication of a garment? Saint Gregory of Nyssa.

"If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will punish him" (1 Cor. 3:17), - says the Holy Scripture ... Resist the demon of fornication vigorously; do not agree to be carried away by thought, because coals are kindled from a spark and bad wishes multiply from a bad thought. Try to destroy the memories of them too. Monk Ephraim the Syrian.

Adultery is rooted out in himself by one who turns his eyes downward and his soul toward the Lord. Monk Ephraim the Syrian.

Those who commit adultery feel ashamed if even one person sees them; in what shame should they appear there, when heaven and earth gaze at them? Monk Ephraim the Syrian.

Completely remove from you adultery, for they will cast those who remain guilty of them into the pit of destruction. Monk Ephraim the Syrian.

If a prodigal passion is struggling with you, depress your body with exploits, falling down before God with humility, and you will find peace. Venerable Abba Isaiah.

If you feel a prodigal battle in yourself, then incessantly depress yourself with vigilance, hunger and thirst, humbling yourself before everyone. Venerable Abba Isaiah.

Woe to the fornicator who defiles the wedding garment! With shame he is driven out of the royal bridal chamber. The Monk Nilus of Sinai.

It is in your power to either feed [the demon of fornication] with obscene deeds, or with anger put him to flight with prayers, psalmics, fasting, vigils. The Monk Nilus of Sinai.

The pillar rests on the foundation, and the lust rests on satiety. The Monk Nilus of Sinai.

Adultery ... violates the condition of marriage, humiliates the nobility of children, breaks family ties and upsets the entire human life.

We move away from God not by place, but by deeds. For the former is impossible, as the prophet says: "Where will I go from Thy Spirit, and where will I flee from Thy presence?" (Psalm 139: 7). But sins separate us from God. Saint John Chrysostom.

He who looks at a woman lustfully, whether he is a layman or a monk, will be equally punished for adultery. Saint John Chrysostom.

When a husband turns his heart to another, then, being divided in his soul and already ruled by the devil himself, he fills his house with all sorrow. And if the wife is carried away by a similar passion, then everything turns upside down. Saint John Chrysostom.

The temptations of this sin are strong, and nothing excites (adolescence) more than this passion. Therefore, we will shield them (young) from everywhere with advice, admonition, fear and threats. Saint John Chrysostom.

Why are you staring at someone else's face? Why are you striving into the abyss? Why are you plunging yourself into the net? Shield your eyes, shield your vision, lay the law in your eyes, listen to Christ, Who, threatening, equates a shameless look with adultery. Saint John Chrysostom.

What is the use of pleasure if it ... exposes incessant fear, eternal torment? Isn't it much better, having slightly abstained from the power of your thoughts, to be rewarded with eternal joy than to suffer endlessly for a little pleasure from vicious wishes? Saint John Chrysostom.

He who loves to look at beautiful faces, most of all, kindles the flame of passion in himself and, making the soul a prisoner of passion, soon begins to fulfill the wish. Saint John Chrysostom.

If you want to look and enjoy the gaze, then constantly look at your wife and love her; no law forbids it. If you look at someone else's beauty, you will offend both your wife, turning your gaze away from her, and the one you are looking at, because you touch her contrary to the law. Saint John Chrysostom.

Don't say: what if I gazed at a beautiful woman? If you commit adultery in your heart, you will soon dare to commit it in the flesh. Saint John Chrysostom.

Fornication finds a helper in the property of the body .... Where fornication, the devil dwells there. Saint John Chrysostom.

Do not offend yourself, man, do not reject the whole armor of the Holy Spirit, so that your enemies do not easily defeat you; take the shield of repentance, and repel the arrows of lust. Saint John Chrysostom.

Avoid fornication that defiles our soul and body; fornication, which removes us from God and from the saints; fornication, which has prepared for us an eternal and unquenchable fire. Saint John Chrysostom.

[Adultery is] a consequence of vanity, sensual inflamedness and excessive voluptuousness. Saint John Chrysostom.

Fornication makes people dishonest, pitiful, ridiculous and despicable among people, does what the enemy could do. And often fornication plunged into disease and danger. Many even died at the hands of harlots. Saint John Chrysostom.

Avoid adultery, remembering that, falling into it, you simultaneously become a breaker of the law, and kill your body, and dishonor yourself, and torment your soul, and dishonor your race, and anger God. Saint John Chrysostom.

If your brother has seduced, do not revile him with offensive words, do not mock him. You will not do him any good, but you will only harm him. Saint John Chrysostom.

Think, how can a fornicator enter the church after fellowship with a harlot? How will he stretch out his arms to the sky, with which he hugged her? How dare he pray with the lips with which he kissed the harlot? Saint John Chrysostom.

If it were only bodily impurity, you could, as you should, purify yourself by washing. But since the fornicator has defiled and made the whole soul unclean, let him seek such a cleansing agent that could wash away its defilement. And if he does not do this, then even if he emanated from all the river sources, he will not be able to remove even the smallest part of this sin. Saint John Chrysostom.

Better, of course, not to be familiar with this vile sin at all. But if anyone has slipped, let him continue to use such means that can eliminate the very essence of sin, promising never to fall into this sin again. If we, in sinning, although we condemn the committed sin, but again take it for the same, then we will not be of any benefit from cleansing. Saint John Chrysostom.

We are faced with a feat against the spirit of fornication, this fight is longer than others, constant and cruel. In it, very few win a perfect victory. Beginning to disturb from a young age, it does not stop until other passions are conquered. Since the attack is twofold, on the body and on the soul, then it is necessary to resist with two weapons, otherwise it is impossible to win only if both the body and the soul fight together. Bodily fasting alone is not enough to acquire or maintain the purity of chastity, unless a broken spirit and constant prayer against this unclean spirit precede. Then you need a prolonged meditation on the Holy Scriptures with spiritual understanding, work and handicrafts, curbing the fickle wanderings of the heart. And first of all, true humility must be put into the foundation, without which no vice cannot be overcome.

If we want to legally strive for spiritual struggle and defeat the unclean spirit of fornication ... we must rely not on our own strength (for this cannot be done by human effort), but on God's help. For the soul inevitably suffers attacks from this passion until it realizes that it is waging a war that exceeds its strength, and cannot gain victory by its own diligence and labor, unless it is backed up by the help and protection of the Lord.

Correction of this vice-fornication mainly depends on the perfection of the heart, from which, according to the word of the Lord, sickness proceeds ... (Matt. 15, 19). Therefore, first it is necessary to cleanse the heart, which contains the source of life and death, as Solomon says: "Most of all that is preserved, keep your heart, because from it are the sources of life" (Proverbs 4:23). For the flesh is subject to his will and power, and therefore with special zeal one must observe a strict fast, so that the flesh, resisting the suggestions of the soul, by outraging, does not expel its ruler-spirit. However, if we attach all importance only to taming the body, and the soul does not also abstain from other vices and is not occupied with divine reflection, then we will in no way be able to ascend to the very top of true integrity when the main thing in us is to violate the purity of the body. So, according to the Lord, we must first cleanse "the inside of the cup and dish, so that the outside of them may be clean as well" (Matt. 23, 26). Venerable John Cassian the Roman (Abba Kheremon).

There should be no doubt that the passion of fornication and uncleanness can be destroyed in us, because the Apostle commanded to cut them off in the same way as covetousness, idle talk, ridicule, theft, the cutting off of which is convenient. Venerable John Cassian the Roman (Abba Kheremon).

But for all of us who fight with all our might against the spirit of fornication, victory is not to expect a means (to victory) from our efforts [but from God]. Venerable John Cassian the Roman (Abba Kheremon).

He who, through bodily labors and sweat, wages war with this rival (the prodigal demon), he is like one who has bound his enemy with a weak rope ... He who fights against him with abstinence and vigilance is like one who has surrounded his enemy with iron chains ... Who is armed with humility, anger and thirst , he is like one who killed his opponent and buried him in the sand.

Do not think to cast down the demon of fornication with objections and proofs, for he has many convincing excuses, for he fights against us with the help of our nature. Venerable John Climacus.

He who attempts to satisfy prodigal abuse by abstinence alone is like a man who thinks to swim out of the abyss by moving one hand. Combine humility with abstinence, for the former is useless without the latter. Venerable John Climacus.

This demon (prodigal) more carefully than all others watches for an opportunity to catch us, and when he sees that we cannot pray against him bodily, then he especially attacks us. Venerable John Climacus.

Our inhuman enemy and teacher of fornication instills that God is loving to mankind and that He will soon forgive this passion as natural. Venerable John Climacus.

The devil, out of jealousy, raised a fight against you. Take care of your eyes and do not eat until you are full. Drink a little wine, and then because of the weakness of the body, if necessary. Acquire the humility that breaks all enemy networks. The Monk Abba Dorotheos.

“But I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for the guilt of fornication, gives her an excuse to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery” (Matthew 5:32). Moses commanded that he who hated his wife should divorce her, so that something worse would not happen, because the hated one could be killed. But such a husband was obliged to give his wife a divorce, which was called a vacation, so that the ex-wife would not return to him and there would be no trouble if he began to live with another ... The Lord does not violate the Mosaic Law, but corrects it and forbids the husband to hate his wife without guilt. If he leaves her for a good reason, that is, for adultery, he is not subject to condemnation, and if not for adultery, then he is subject to court, because by this he forces her to commit adultery. But he also becomes an adulterer who takes her, because if no one took her, she, perhaps, would return to her former husband and submit to him ... And a Christian should be a peacemaker for strangers, especially for his own the wife that God united to him. Blessed Theophylact.

But maybe someone will say: what an offense to Christ God from the fact that someone defiles his body with a prodigal sin? Indeed, this is a great offense to Him, for the body of every Christian is not his, but Christ's, according to the words of Scripture: "You are the body of Christ, and individually you are members" (1 Cor. 12:27). And it is not fitting for you to defile and defile the body of Christ with carnal, voluptuous deeds, except for legal marriage. For you are the house of Christ, according to the apostle: "The temple of God is holy; and this temple is you" (1 Cor. 3:17); and would not he who wanted to drive the owner out of his own house inflict the greatest offense on him? Yes, I would. And the master driven out of his house would take a sword or something else and raise a rebuke against the one who drove him out. Likewise, Christ the Lord, driven out by us from ourselves, from His own house, by our wicked carnal deeds, suffers an offense from us and takes the sword in hand to repay us for His offense.
Let us see how displeasing to the Lord is everyone who does not fight the passions of his body, does not win, but loves them, who does not quench the fire of lust in himself, but kindles it even more, attracted by voluptuousness, as the Scriptures say: “everyone is tempted, being carried away and being deceived by his own lust "(James 1:14).
But whoever wants to stubbornly resist his passions for the love of Christ, how can he overcome them? By killing yourself. "Put to death," says St. Paul, "your earthly members" (Col. 3: 5). Such was this holy ascetic, who said to himself: "I subdue and enslave my body" (1 Cor. 9:27). And no one can otherwise conquer his flesh, overwhelmed by passions, but by mortifying it ... Everyone himself can see enough in the lives of the saints how many exhausted themselves with various mortifications, quenching in themselves the flame of carnal lust. Suffice it to say that he who has killed his passions is a good ascetic and a bloodless martyr. Saint Demetrius of Rostov.

Fornication is poison that mortifies the soul Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk.

Whoever fornicates denies Christ. Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk.

The sin of fornication has the property that it unites two bodies, although not legally, into one body. For this reason, although he forgives immediately after repentance and confession, under the indispensable condition that the repentant leave him, but the cleansing and sobering of the body and soul from prodigal sin requires a long time for the connection and unity established between the bodies ... and those who infected the soul, became dilapidated and destroyed.

In the New Testament (the sin of fornication) received a new weight, because human bodies received a new dignity. They have become members of the Body of Christ, and the violator of purity is already inflicting dishonor on Christ, dissolving union with Him ... The love-lover is executed by spiritual death, [from him] the Holy Spirit retreats, the sinner is recognized as having fallen into mortal sin ... the pledge of imminent death ... if this sin is not cured in due time by repentance.

It is very important to preserve the body from falling into fornication, but this alone is not enough for God-loving purity that sees God. We have an indispensable duty to cleanse the very soul of voluptuous thoughts, dreams and sensations. Bishop Ignatius (Brianchaninov).

Bodily lust fades away from confession more than from fasting and vigilance. Bishop Ignatius (Brianchaninov).

The Law of Moses forbade adultery. The Lord forbade carnal lust. Bishop Ignatius (Brianchaninov).

Vanity in relation to true glory is fornication.

Those who have not yet acquired true heartfelt prayer are helped (in the struggle with the prodigal demon) by suffering in bodily prayer ... Bishop Ignatius (Brianchaninov).

The gratification of carnal lusts makes a particularly heavy impression on us. The Fathers call them defilers of the spiritual temple of God. Bishop Ignatius (Brianchaninov).

It was never so timely as in that period to instill in Gentile Christians abstinence from fornication, because the corruption of pagan morals never reached such a degree as in that period. The Jews, one cannot but tell the truth, of all the tribes could be considered the people of the purest morality, but they did not view this sin as a crime against morality, because such a view was established only by Christianity. As for the pagans, even Socrates did not consider fornication to be reprehensible, and Cicero argued that not one of the moralists even thought of imposing a prohibition on this matter. The view of the sensuality of the ancient man has changed in the new due to the purity that breathes and which every page of the New Testament instills. The basis for such a change in outlook is the highest moral truths taught to the world in the teachings of the Lawgiver and the Lord. But the duty of justice requires giving thanks to the one whose teaching was a broad explanation of these great truths - the Apostle Paul. If the insane waste of the precious gifts of life should be considered a terrible disaster for individuals and nations, if debauchery is a curse and shame, eating at the root of human happiness much faster than all other vices, and if, on the contrary, the blush of modesty on young cheeks is considered one of the most precious accessories of youth, then a true benefactor, under the influence of the spiritual and moral teachings of which these truths were sown and grew in the hearts of young men of every Christian country, one should be recognized who, under the influx of the grace of the All-Holy Spirit, with greater clarity, with greater calmness, with great conviction, than anyone else, explained the vileness, humiliation, infectiousness of sin, through the body that betrays and spreads its poison to the soul, which also has that special property that destroys the soul of more than one person, but makes him responsible before God for blocking the path to salvation other personalities. Barsov M.V.

In Lower Egypt, there was a certain hermit who was famous because he was silent alone in a cell in a desolate place. According to the action of Satan, a certain woman of depraved behavior, having heard about the hermit, said to the young men she knew: "What will you give me if I depose your hermit?" They agreed to reward her generously. She went out in the evening, as if she had lost her way, came to the hermit's cell, knocked on the door. He came out, seeing her, was embarrassed and asked: "How did you come here?" She feigned tears and replied: "I lost my way." Having compassion on her, he led her into the vestibule in front of the cell, and he himself entered the cell and locked the door behind him. But she began to shout: "Abba! Beasts will eat me here!" He was again embarrassed, but at the same time he was afraid of the Judgment of God for his cruel act and said to himself: "Where did this attack come from for me?" Opening the door, he led her into the cell. Then the devil began to kindle his heart with the arrows of lust. Realizing that the devil was at work here, the hermit said to himself: "The path of the enemy is darkness, and the Son of God is light." With these words, he lit the lamp. Feeling that lust is kindled more and more, he said: "Since those who satisfy lust will go to torment, try yourself, can you withstand the eternal fire?" With these words, he placed one of the fingers of his hand over the fire of the lamp. The finger began to burn, but he did not feel pain due to the extraordinary ignition of carnal passion, and until the daybreak he burned all his fingers on his hand. The woman, seeing what the hermit was doing, seemed to be petrified with horror. Early in the morning the aforementioned young men came to the hermit and asked him: "Did a woman come here late at night?" He replied: "She came. Here she is, sleeping there." The young men, coming up to her, found her dead and said: "Abba! She is dead." Then he, opening the little robe, in which he was, showed them his hands: "This is what this daughter of the devil did to me. But the Scripture says that one cannot repay evil for evil." After praying, he raised the dead woman to life. She repented and spent the rest of her life piously. Puffiness.

A disciple of a holy elder was overcome by the spirit of fornication, but with the help of the grace of God he courageously resisted the foul and unclean thoughts of his heart, very diligent in fasting, prayer and handicrafts. The blessed elder, seeing his intensified deed, said: "If you want, son, I will pray to the Lord that He will take away the abuse from you." The disciple replied: "Father! Although I work, I see and feel good fruit in myself: because of this battle, I fast more and practice more and more in vigils and prayers. But I ask you: pray to the merciful Lord to give me strength to withstand the abuse and to strive legally. " Then the holy elder said to him: "Now I have learned that you have correctly understood that by this invisible battle with the spirits, through patience, the eternal salvation of your soul is accomplished." Puffiness.

A certain brother had the abuse of fornication. He went to the elder and told him about his thoughts. The elder instructed him, comforted him and let him go in peace. The brother, feeling the benefit, returned to his cell. But then the abuse came again. He again went to the elder and did this several times. The elder did not insult him, but instructed him not only not to go into relaxation, but, on the contrary, to come to him every time, denouncing the enemy when he begins to attack. Thus, the elder said, the enemy, being exposed, will retreat: nothing is so contrary to the spirit of fornication as when his business is opened, and nothing brings him such joy as when the thoughts he brings are hidden. Puffiness.

Once the devil erected such fleshly warfare in the arduous body of Saint Ignatius that he, being burnt by this hellish flame, fell to the ground and lay for a long time like half-dead, then he came to his guardian Elder Akaki and, explaining his misfortune to him, asked him for consolation. The good old man, as befits him, consoled and confirmed him with divine words and examples of holy men. After that, the blessed ascetic came to the church, took the icon of the Mother of God in his hands and kissed it, with tears asking the Ever-Virgin to help him in trouble and deliver him from this intolerable battle and the devil's obsession. The Blessed God did not leave her slave to be tempted more than he could: by the grace of the Mother of God, he was surrounded by a certain ineffable and indescribable fragrance, and from that time this deadly battle left him. Athos Patericon.

Against lust:

Many who are tempted by voluptuousness commit fornication with thought; preserving the virginity of the body, they corrupt the virginity of the soul. Beloved! It is necessary to renounce the delight in prodigal thoughts and dreams, from communication with them and attention to them, according to the instruction of Scripture: "Most of all that is kept guard your heart, because from it are the sources of life" (Proverbs 4:23). Avva Gerontius.

Keeping the heart from sinful thoughts is the primary reason and essence of salvation. Bishop Ignatius (Brianchaninov).

“But I tell you that everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28). Jesus Christ forbids here not every desire, but the desire that is born in us from the view of women. For he who loves to look at beautiful faces predominantly ignites the flame of passion within himself, makes the soul a captive, and after that he soon begins to make a wish ... by lust ", that is, someone who produces desire in himself, who, without any compulsion, draws this beast into his calm heart; this no longer happens from nature, but from negligence ... That is why the Savior did not at all forbid looking at women, but only forbade looking at them with lust. Saint John Chrysostom.

“If your right eye tempts you, pluck it out and throw it away from you, for it is better for you that one of your members should perish, and not your whole body was cast into Gehenna” (Matthew 5:29). The Savior did not speak these words about the members. He never condemns the flesh, but everywhere he accuses a corrupted will. It is not your eye that looks, but your mind and heart look through it. If the soul is directed to other objects, the eye often does not see the objects in front of us. Therefore, not everything must be attributed to the action of the eye. If Christ spoke of the members, he would not speak of one eye, the right, but both. Because if someone is seduced with the right eye, he is undoubtedly seduced by the left. So why did the Savior only mention the right eye and the right hand? Because you know that we are not talking about members, but about people who have a close relationship with us. So, if you love someone so that you rely on him as on your right eye, and recognize him so useful that you consider him for your right hand, if he corrupts your soul, then cut off such a person from yourself. Saint John Chrysostom.

Prodigal lust must be suppressed by memory, which for this sin greatly torments and torments the conscience. Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk.

"Everyone who looks at a woman ... has already committed adultery with her" (Matthew 5:28). What if, living in society, one cannot but look at women? But it is not just "who looks at a woman ... commits adultery," but "who looks with lust."
Look - look, and keep your heart on a leash. Look through the eyes of children who look at women purely, without any evil thoughts. Women should also be loved, because they are not excluded from the commandment of love for neighbors, but with pure love, which thinks about the soul and spiritual kinship, among other things ... In Christianity, as before God, "there is no male or female" ( Gal. 3:28), and in the mutual relations of Christians. In all respects, you will say, it is difficult. Yes, there is no struggle without struggle, but struggle presupposes the unwillingness of evil; unwillingness by the merciful Lord is imputed to purity. Bishop Theophan the Recluse.

The holy fathers praise certain persons who are glorious in their Christian life, which consists in the fact that they were resurrected before the General Resurrection. What is the secret of such a life? In that they have assimilated the characteristics of life after the Resurrection, as indicated in the word of God, and made them determinative in themselves. The future life seems to be detached from everything fleshly: there they neither marry nor encroach, they will not eat dead food there, and the body itself will receive the spiritual.

So, whoever lives detached from everything fleshly, he receives or regains in himself the elements of the future life after the Resurrection. Get to the point where everything flesh is frozen in you, and you will rise before the Future Resurrection. The way to this is indicated by the apostle when he says: "walk in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh" (Gal. 5:16). And it certifies that this path can certainly achieve the desired: "he who sows to the Spirit from the Spirit will reap eternal life" (Gal. B, 8). Bishop Theophan the Recluse.

Against drunkenness:

If a lot of wine is drunk, it becomes like a tormentor who burst into the fortress, who from its height produces incessant rebellions in his soul, without denying himself any unlawful demand, but first of all, having enslaved reason, confuses and disorganizes the entire conscious order of life: the voice makes it loud, arouses obscene laughter, rash anger, unbridled lust, a fierce and frenzied passion for all lawless pleasure. Saint Basil the Great.

Drunkenness is the beginning of atheism, for it darkens the mind, by which God is usually most cognized. Saint Basil the Great.

The Lord accepts the fasting person inside the sacred fences, but does not allow the drunkard there, as bad and alien to the shrine. Saint Basil the Great.

Avoid drinking so that it no longer separates you from God. Saint Basil the Great.

Drunkenness gives no place to the Lord, drunkenness drives away the Holy Spirit. Saint Basil the Great.

Fasting and prayer will not enter a soul defiled by drunkenness. Saint Basil the Great.

Drunkenness is enmity against God. Saint Basil the Great.

Drunkenness is the mother of vice, resistance to virtue; it makes the courageous timid, the chaste - lustful, does not know the truth, takes away prudence. Saint Basil the Great.

Drunkenness is a voluntarily called demon, invading the soul through voluptuousness. Saint Basil the Great.

Wine drowns reason and mind and stirs up passions and lust. Saint Basil the Great.

Do not drink wine to the point of ecstasy, so as not to be deprived of Divine joy. Venerable Abba Isaiah.

He who spends his time in drunkenness, revelry and gorging, he has fallen under the cruel power of the devil. Saint John Chrysostom.

Drunkenness is the root of all evil. Saint John Chrysostom.

A drunkard is a living dead. Saint John Chrysostom.

Drunkenness is a fall, deprivation of justification, a general shame of our kind. Saint John Chrysostom.

The main evil of drunkenness is that it makes Heaven inaccessible to the drunkard and does not allow the attainment of eternal blessings, so that along with the shame on earth, those suffering from this ailment and in Heaven await a grave punishment. Saint John Chrysostom.

Drunkenness does not come from wine - and wine is created by God ... but a vicious will produces drunkenness. Saint John Chrysostom.

A drunkard is worse than a possessed one: we all feel sorry for the possessed one, but we are indignant and angry with the drunkard. Why? Because the one has an illness from the devil's misfortune, and this one - from infirmity; in that - from the intrigues of enemies, in this - from the intrigues of their own thoughts. Saint John Chrysostom.

Drunkenness is a misfortune that is laughed at, a disease that is bullied; arbitrary insanity, which is worse than insanity. Saint John Chrysostom.

A drunkard is unpleasant for friends, ridiculous for enemies, despised by subordinates, disgusting for a wife, unbearable for everyone ... Saint John Chrysostom.

It is especially difficult that drunkenness, full of so many evils and giving rise to so many misfortunes, is not even considered by many to be their fault. Saint John Chrysostom.

A drunken man does not know how to dispose of his speeches with reasoning, does not know how to arrange the wealth of thoughts ... he spends and overthrows everything. Saint John Chrysostom.

The drunk is more pathetic than the dead. The dead are insensitive and cannot do good or evil, but a drunk man is capable of doing evil and, having buried his soul, as in a grave, in the flesh, he mortifies his body. Saint John Chrysostom.

Even a drunkard cannot take advantage of pleasure, because pleasure is in moderation, and in immoderation - insensibility. Saint John Chrysostom.

Drunkenness is always evil, but especially on Holy Holidays. Here, along with sin, there is also the greatest insult and humiliation of Divine things; there may be double punishment for this. Saint John Chrysostom.

Drunkenness in itself can serve instead of any punishment, filling souls with confusion, filling the mind with darkness, making a drunken prisoner, exposing countless diseases, internal and external. Saint John Chrysostom.

Whether anyone has acquired chastity, modesty, decency, or meekness, or humility - all this drunkenness plunges into a sea of ​​wickedness. Saint John Chrysostom.

Drunkenness ... this is a diverse and many-headed beast ... here fornication grows in him, there - anger; here is the dullness of mind and heart, and there is shameful love. Saint John Chrysostom.

The drunkard cannot see the Kingdom of Heaven. And what am I saying: Kingdoms! The drunkard does not see real objects either. Drunkenness turns days into nights, light into darkness; drunk, looking with all his eyes, does not see what is under his feet. Saint John Chrysostom.

The temple of God is those in whom the Spirit of God dwells. The temple of idols (and the devil) are those who defile themselves with drunkenness and intemperance. Saint John Chrysostom.

Christ wants to dwell with you, and you trample on Him with gusto and drunkenness. Saint John Chrysostom.

Wine, like everything created by the Creator for our benefit, is good, "for every creation of God is good," says the apostle, "and" nothing is reprehensible if it is received with thanksgiving "(1 Tim. 4: 4). And in the book of Genesis it is written: "And God saw everything that He had created, and, behold, it was very good" (Genesis 1:31). "Wine is good for a person's life if you drink it in moderation ... A delight to the heart and consolation to the soul is wine, used in moderation at the right time," says Sirach (Sir. 31, 31, 33), infirm. That is why the apostle wrote to Saint Timothy: "Henceforth drink more than one water, but use a little wine, for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments" (1 Tim. 5, 23). That is why Saint Paul forbids not to drink wine, but to get drunk: “Do not get drunk with wine” (Eph. 5:18). For one thing is to drink wine, another is to get drunk with wine. Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk.

The cause of drunkenness, like other sins, is an evil and unrestrained heart, idleness, frequent feasts, companies, increased meals, communication with the wicked and intemperate. Frequent repetitions generate passion and evil custom. Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk.

Drunkenness is the fault of many grave sins. It gives rise to quarrels, fights with subsequent bloodshed and murder, foul language, blasphemy, blasphemy, annoyance and resentment to others. It teaches to lie, flatter, rob and kidnap, so that there is something to satisfy the passion. It ignites anger and rage. It leads to the fact that people wallow in the mud like pigs in a swamp - in a word, it makes a person a cattle, a verbal one - dumb, so that not only the internal state, but also the external human appearance often changes. Therefore, Saint Chrysostom says: "The devil loves nothing more than luxury and drunkenness, since no one fulfills his evil will like a drunkard." Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk.

A drunken person is capable of all evil, goes to all sorts of temptations. The one who so treated him becomes a participant in all his iniquities, since a sober one would not accept such temptations. If even a small spark of reason shines in a sober person, then in a drunken person it is completely extinguished. Although the sober one is attracted by the lust for lawlessness, the conscience arms itself and resists, and so it takes away from lawlessness, and in the drunken lust prevails, and the conscience weakens. Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk.

From these caring and poisonous treats, a person falls into a passion of drunkenness, in which he becomes so stiff that he cannot free himself from it. And it often happens that in this disastrous insensibility, his life also ends without hope of salvation. For this death and his alleged benefactor, or rather; villain, will be condemned. Because whoever opens the way to death is guilty of this death. Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk.

Drunkenness is the cause of not only mental, but also temporary bodily evil, relaxes the body and leads to weakness. Therefore it is written: "Against wine do not show yourself brave, for wine has ruined many" (Sir 31, 29). Drunkenness leads to squalor and poverty. "The drunken worker will not get rich," says Sirach (Sir 19: 1). It takes away fame and a good name, on the contrary, leads to lack of glory, contempt and disgust, for people do not disdain anyone so much as a drunkard. A drunken man causes grief and sadness to his family, relatives, and friends, while he makes his enemies ridicule. Drunkenness makes its adherent incapable of any business, In whatever rank the drunkard may be, he will bring more troubles and misfortunes than benefit to society. Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk.

Young people should not be allowed to drink anything intoxicating, because young people are more likely to get used to it, and what they learn in their youth, they will be addicted to this all their lives. They should not be allowed to hang out with drunkards and depraved ones. And those who have reached maturity do not need to drink wine unnecessarily. We must retire from bad companies and feasts. It must be reminded that it is very difficult to keep up with this passion. And many die from this very passion in soul and body. And those who are accustomed to this passion must firmly arm themselves against its torment, stand, not give in, pray and call upon God's all-powerful help. It is necessary to recall the troubles that happen from drunkenness and compare the state of a sober life with the state of a drunk. It should be reminded that many die drunk in their sleep and pass from this world to another without any feeling, and therefore without repentance. Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk.

The wife of an employee, a certain Maria Gordeeva, told Archimandrite Kronid at the Trinity courtyard the following story about herself. “My husband,” she said, “did not stop leading a drunken life after marriage. He spent all his free time in crazy drunken orgies. Sergius of Radonezh. I prayed so fervently to him that tears poured out in a stream. Suddenly I see: my whole room was illuminated by an unearthly light. In this light, a wondrous old man of indescribable spiritual beauty and kindness comes to me ... Approaching, he said to me in a fatherly friendly manner: "Calm down , the servant of God Mary! Your prayer is heard, and your husband will not come to you drunk anymore. "I bowed at his feet. He blessed me and became invisible. A few minutes after this vision a sharp bell rang out in our apartment. I opened the door and saw my husband. But he He was not at all as violent as he had been before. Entering the hall, he knelt in front of me, sobbed and began to ask me for forgiveness for his crazy life and the torment inflicted on me. After that he became unrecognizable, completely sober and worthy. And For 35 years of our further married life, I lived with him in peace and harmony. " Trinity flowers.

Against gluttony:

The image of this passion, to which even a Christian of spiritual and lofty life necessarily obeys, is quite rightly designated by the likeness of an eagle. Although he soars above the clouds and hides from the eyes of people and from the face of the whole earth, but, at the request of the womb, he is forced to descend again on the lowlands, descend to the ground and feed on ... corpses. Likewise, gluttony can in no way be suppressed, like other vices, or completely exterminated, but only excessive excitements and desires can be limited and curbed by the strength of the soul. Abba Serapion.

If the defeated spirit of gluttony with his humility begins to flatter you, begging you to make him some indulgence, to reduce jealousy in abstinence and a measure of severity, do not give up in response to his obedience. Seeing that you have become a little calmer from bestial incitement, do not think that you are not in danger of attack, do not return to your former intemperance or the whims of gluttony. For the conquered spirit of gluttony says, as it were, "I will return to my house from whence I went out" (Matthew 12, 44). Then immediately the seven spirits - vices that come from him will be even angrier for you than the passion that you first conquered, and they will soon lead you to sins ... Therefore, we must try, having conquered the passion of gluttony by continence and fasting, not to leave our soul empty of necessary virtues, but carefully fill all the curves of our heart with them, so that the spirit of gluttony, upon returning, does not find us empty, not occupied with virtues, and, not content with opening the door for himself alone, he does not introduce seven passions into our souls, so that the latter will be worse than the former. For after this it will be more vile, dirtier that soul that boasts that it has renounced this world, while all eight passions reign in it. She will be subjected to a more severe punishment than when she did not pledge herself either with dignity or with a Christian name. For these seven spirits are therefore called the most evil of the spirit that had previously gone out, because the desire of the womb in itself would not be harmful if it did not introduce behind it other, more important passions, that is, fornication, love of money, anger, sorrow, despondency, vanity and pride which in themselves, no doubt, are harmful and disastrous for the soul. And therefore, one who hopes to acquire it by abstinence alone, that is, bodily fasting, can never achieve perfect purity, unless he learns that abstinence is necessary so that, after pacifying the flesh by fasting, he can enter into warfare with other passions. Abba Serapion.

We must first suppress the passion of gluttony, and the mind must be refined not only by fasting, but also by vigilance, and reading, and frequent contrition of the heart about what it recognizes itself as deceived or defeated, now lamenting from fear of vices, now inflamed with the desire for perfection and integrity. until, busy with such concern and reflection, he does not realize that eating is allowed not so much for pleasure as it has served him as a burden, and begins to consider it a more inevitable need of the body than of the desired soul. Engaged in this exercise of the mind and contrition, we suppress the lust of the flesh, intensified by the heat of food, and its harmful stings; Thus, the furnace of our body, which is kindled by the Babylonian king-devil, who constantly gives us reasons for sins and vices ... we can extinguish with an abundance of tears and hearty crying, until the fire of carnal lust is completely extinguished by the dew of God's grace that blows in our hearts ... Abba Anthony.

A sated womb gives rise to the seed of voluptuousness, and a spirit suppressed by the weight of satiety cannot have prudence. For it is not just the excessive consumption of wine that makes a person insane, but the immeasurable consumption of food also upsets, darkens him, deprives him of purity and integrity. Abba Anthony.

The first abuse, the first experience - in striving for perfection to destroy gluttony and gluttony. Not only the excessive desire for food must be suppressed for the sake of virtue, but the food most necessary for our nature must be taken not without heartbreak, as an opponent of chastity. And the course of our life should be established in such a way that at no time should we be distracted from spiritual pursuits, unless only when the weakness of the body prompts us to condescend to the necessary care for it. And when we submit to this necessity, then, satisfying more the needs of life than the lust of the soul, we must hasten to leave it as a distraction from our salvific pursuits. For we can in no way despise the pleasures of real food, if the mind, surrendering to divine contemplation, does not enjoy the love of virtues and the beauty of heaven even more. And thus, everyone will despise everything present, as transient, when he continuously directs the gaze of the mind to the unshakable and eternal, and, while still in the body, he will contemplate the bliss of Eternal Life. Abba Theona.

Gluttony must be conquered not only for itself, so that it does not harm us with burdensome gluttony, and not only so that it does not kindle us with the fire of carnal lust, but so that it does not make us slaves to anger or rage, sadness and all other passions. Abba Theona.

Gluttony is divided into three kinds: one kind encourages eating before a certain hour; the other loves only to be satiated with any food; the third wants tasty food. Against this, the Christian must have threefold caution: to wait for a certain time for eating; do not get fed up; be content with all the most humble food.

Who is stronger than a lion? But he too, because of his womb, falls into the net, and then all his strength does not serve anything. John Kolov.

If the water is divided into many channels, the whole land around them turns green; so, if the passion of gluttony is divided in your heart, it will give water to all the feelings, plant a forest of vices in you and turn your soul into a dwelling of animals. Saint Basil the Great.

If you possess the womb, you will dwell in paradise, and if you do not possess it, you will become the prey of death. Saint Basil the Great.

Avoiding immoderation in pleasure, the goal of eating food should be set not to pleasure, but to its necessity for life, for to indulge in pleasures means nothing more than making the womb your god. Saint Basil the Great.

Learn to keep the womb in a strong bridle: it alone does not give thanks for the benefits rendered to it. Saint Basil the Great.

Gluttony drove Adam out of paradise; it was also the cause of the flood at the time of Noah; it also brought down fire on the Sodomites. Although voluptuousness was a crime, the root of both executions came from gluttony. Saint John Chrysostom.

There is nothing worse, nothing more shameful than gluttony. It makes the mind fat; it makes the soul flesh; it blinds you and prevents you from seeing. Saint John Chrysostom.

Are we preparing to sacrifice ourselves that we are so fattening ourselves? Why are you preparing a sumptuous meal for the worms? Why are you increasing the amount of fat? .. Why are you making yourself useless? .. Why are you burying your soul? Why are you making her fence thicker? Saint John Chrysostom.

Flee from gluttony, which generates all vices, removes us from God Himself and brings us down into the abyss of destruction. Saint John Chrysostom.

You are promised Heaven and the Kingdom of Heaven, and you, submitting to the violence of the womb, do not you endure everything and neglect the promised? This is true shamelessness. Saint John Chrysostom.

Whoever indulges in food eagerly undermines the strength of the body, as well as reduces and weakens the strength of the soul. Saint John Chrysostom.

There is, say, some pleasure in satiety. Not so much pleasure as trouble ... Satiety produces ... worse (than hunger). Hunger in a short time exhausts and brings the body to death ... and satiety, eating away at the body and producing putrefaction in it, exposes it to a prolonged illness and then to the gravest death. Meanwhile, we consider hunger intolerable, and we strive for satiety, which is more harmful than it. Where does such a disease come from in us? Where does this madness come from? Saint John Chrysostom.

Just as a ship, loaded with more than it can accommodate, sinks under the weight of the cargo, so the soul and the nature of our body: taking food in excess of its strength ... overflows and, unable to withstand the weight of the load, sinks in the sea of ​​death and at the same time destroys the swimmers, and the pilot, and the navigator, and the sailors, and the load itself. As is the case with ships in this state, so it is with those who are jaded: no matter how quiet the sea, not the skill of the helmsman, not the multitude of shipmen, not the proper equipment, not the favorable time of the year, nothing else benefits the ship overwhelmed in this way "so and here: no teaching, no admonition, [no reproof of those present], no instruction and advice, no fear of the future, no shame, nothing else can save the soul overwhelmed in this way. Saint John Chrysostom.

Gluttony destroys all that is good in a person. The Monk Nilus of Sinai.

If you hope to withdraw to God, then listen to my advice and quench the fury of gluttony, thereby weakening the incitement to voluptuousness in yourself - this sets us up to eternal fire. Rev. Isidore Pelusiot.

Neglect tasty foods, because they will soon turn into nothing, and during the meal they have a great price. Eating them in excess of the need now gives rise to diseases, and in the future will subject them to responsibility at the Court. Rev. Isidore Pelusiot.

See that satiety and gluttony do not drive you to a passionate fury and you do not become carried away by these two young unbridled horses. Rev. Isidore Pelusiot.

Those who consume food in excess and the need for food offend with satiety, dull the senses and, without noticing it, lose even the very enjoyment of food from excess in pleasure. Rev. Isidore Pelusiot.

If you defeat [the womb], this mistress, then every place will help you to acquire dispassion, but if she possesses you, then until the grave you will be in poverty everywhere. Venerable John Climacus.

He who desires many and different foods is a glutton, even if he eats only bread and drinks only water because of his poverty. Venerable Simeon the New Theologian.

It is impossible to fill the flesh to its fill with food, and spiritually enjoy intelligent and divine blessings. For to the extent that a person works his womb, to such an extent he deprives himself of the taste of spiritual blessings. And on the contrary, the extent to which someone begins to refine his body, in proportion to that, he can be saturated with food and spiritual comfort.

Let us be afraid lest we, having surrendered to gluttony, lose the promised blessing and inheritance from Heavenly Father. Saint Gregory Palamas.

He who nourishes the body without abstaining from food and drink will be tormented by the spirit of fornication. The Monk Abba Theodore.

Run your life with your mind from a young age and remember what you ate and drank for a long time. More than once you ate and drank enough, but all this passed as if it had never happened, and now there is no memory of it and there is no benefit from it. For both then and now, although you will enjoy all the foods and drinks, you will receive nothing more than harm, and for every instance of pleasure there is a heaviness in the soul and a renewal of passions. Therefore, do not wish here to reward yourself in this way, but place all your hope in heavenly. Saint Demetrius of Rostov.

Gluttony is nothing more than a bad habit, a reckless, unsatisfactory gratification of a natural desire damaged by abuse. Bishop Ignatius (Brianchaninov).

From pleasing the womb, the heart is burdened, coarse, hardened; the mind is deprived of lightness and spirituality; man becomes carnal. Bishop Ignatius (Brianchaninov).

Weakness and darkness, communicated to the body by abundance and indiscriminateness in food, are gradually communicated by the body to the heart and heart-mind. Bishop Ignatius (Brianchaninov).

The root of all sins ... is the love of money, and after the love of money ... gluttony, the strongest and most abundant expression of which is drunkenness. Bishop Ignatius (Brianchaninov).

If you please the womb and nourish yourself excessively, then you will plunge into the abyss of prodigal filth, into the fire of anger and rage, you will burden and darken your mind, you will lead your blood to heat. Bishop Ignatius (Brianchaninov).

About asceticism

A Christian Needs Unceasing Feat

Asceticism ... is imitation of all the commandments of the Lord and keeping them; it is not angry, not arrogant, not greedy, not reckless, not proud, obedient, it serves everyone, completely shuns the perishable, is in communion only with the spirit; he has a grateful tongue, a useful prayer, he does everything out of obedience ... Rev. Isidore Pelusiot.

The labor of planting the Word of God in the heart requires such efforts that it is called a heroic deed. Bishop Ignatius (Brianchaninov).

Love for exploits is hatred for passions; on the contrary, laziness and indolence easily induce passions into the soul. Puffiness.

If a person does not shed sweat in deed for the achievement of every virtue, he will not be able to enter into the rest of the Son of God. Puffiness.

Prudent dejection of oneself by exploits frees one from vices - the consequences of previous negligence. Puffiness.

A person, while in the body, should not and cannot trust himself. He is incapable of immutability. He needs to be in constant exploit. Venerable Abba Isaiah.

Step on the path leading to Heaven; take the narrow and narrow path, walk along it, exhausting and enslaving your body to the spirit. Saint John Chrysostom.

He who serves the Lord only when he is safe does not show great love and does not purely love Christ. Saint John Chrysostom.

Although we must relate everything to God, we ourselves must be active, take upon ourselves labors and deeds. Saint John Chrysostom.

Seeing hope ahead of you, do not neglect work. Where feats are, there are rewards; where there are wars, there are honors; where there is struggle, there is a crown. Saint John Chrysostom.

Having decided to serve God, abide in the fear of God and prepare your soul not for peace, inaction and pleasure, but for temptations and grief. Venerable John Cassian the Roman.

Although Christ, who is always with people, does everything in them, but they, for all their weakness, do a great job just to keep Christ in themselves, because all the cunning and all the wiles of the devil are directed to tempt them to be rejected from hands of Christ and dispose them to speak or think in self-imminence, that it was we by ourselves and by our own efforts engendered such and such a good thought or said a reasonable word. Venerable Simeon the New Theologian.

Devotion - the sacrifice of the flesh to God

Those who ascend in this life will have to fight not with people, but with demons and disembodied forces. That is why their leader is not a man, not an Angel, but God Himself. And the weapons of these warriors correspond to the nature of the battle: they are made not of leather and iron, but of truth, righteousness, faith and wisdom. Saint John Chrysostom.

The Christian feat, which happens not against flesh and blood, but against the spirits of wickedness (Eph. 6, 12), consists in humility, in contempt for vain glory, in patience and meekness, rejecting oneself, crucifying the flesh with passions and lusts, in courage when tempted. When Christians do this, they do not yield their place in the battle to their enemy, the devil. This is how all the saints fought and received the crown of righteousness from the Ascetic Jesus Christ. And we must follow them, beloved Christian, if we want to have a part with them in the Kingdom of Christ. Otherwise, they will not recognize us that we are Christians, and Christ does not recognize us as His own, for we do not have His sign, that is, the patience of the cross, under which His faithful servants ascend. Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk.

Our flesh, which rises up against our spirit and fights us with bodily members, as instruments, and wants to kill our faith, is then sacrificed by Christians when they mortify their members that are on earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil lust and covetousness, which is idolatry, according to the apostle (Col. 3, 5); When they cleanse their heart and circumcise it by circumcision not made by hands; when they cleanse the mind from vain thoughts, from evil, proud undertakings and godly intentions; turn away the will from evil lust and subjugate it to the will of God; they drive out malice and all indecency from memory, turn away their eyes, "so as not to see vanity" (Ps. 119, 37); turn their ears away from slander, slander, seductive songs; keep the tongue from slander, condemnation, slander, curses, blasphemy, profanity, idle talk and other evils ... (Rom. 6, 13). Let them direct the mind to meditation on the wonderful works of God, to the growth of His glory, the benefit of one's own and one's neighbor; will - to please the will of God; the heart is for the love of God and love for one's neighbor; tongue - to the glorification and glorification of the name of God, to the building up of one's neighbor; eyes - to the contemplation of God's wondrous creation and in the creation - the Creator; ears - to hearing the word of God, the glory and praise of God. Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk.

Beware of every sin, lest you perish. There can be no Christian without a good conscience. It is better for a Christian to die than to sin and to placate and irritate his conscience. This feat against sin is needed by all Christians who want to be saved. But, Christian, smash the lawless "baby" while he is small, so that he does not grow up and kill you (Ps. 136: 9). Kill lust, so that it is not fulfilled with deeds, kill a small anger, so that it does not turn into rage and anger ... Kill all evil, until it is not enough, so that it does not grow and ruin you. This feat is difficult, truly difficult, but necessary. Strive, then, so that Christ the Ascetic will give you the crown of life. Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk.

Those who live in the wilderness and in solitude have both a great zeal for piety, as well as a greater temptation from the devil. And the more someone tries to please God, the more temptations the devil inflicts on him. Church history testifies to this enough, but those who fight against this enemy and strive for salvation will also learn this by themselves. Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk.

Physical exploit gradually cleanses the soul from passions and acquaints it with the spirit of the Gospel. Bishop Ignatius (Brianchaninov).

(Physical feat) is essential for driving out the passions by actions opposite to the demand of the passions; it is necessary for planting virtues in the heart as directed by the gospel. Bishop Ignatius (Brianchaninov).

In the life of our venerable father Elijah the hermit we read: “He became a monk in his youth, went to a distant desert, spent seventy years in it and never left it. The path to his cell was so narrow that he could hardly walk along it, because sharp stones surrounded her. Elijah was sitting in such a cramped cave that one could hardly see him. He was one hundred and ten years old. The fathers said of him: "No one remembers that he ever left his cell to the nearest mountain ". As an old man, he ate in the morning and in the evening three biscuits and three berries of olive, and in his youth he ate food only once a week. To the monks who came to him, for the sake of their spiritual benefit, he said the following:" Do not give yourself into the power of Satan ... He has three powers that come to a monk before every sin. The first is oblivion, the second is laziness, the third is lust. If he finds oblivion on a monk, laziness arises in him, lust increases from laziness, and a person falls from lust. If anyone accepts the fear of God, laziness flees from him and evil lust is not conceived in him. And then Satan will not defeat us and lead us into sin, and we will be saved by the grace of God. " Prologue in teachings.

Abba Athanasius said: some say that now there is no deed of martyrdom. Not fair. You can enter into a martyrdom under the guidance of conscience. Die to sin, mortify your earthly attachments and vices, and you will be a voluntary martyr. Martyrs fought with tormentors, kings and princes; and you have a tormentor who torments you - the devil, you have princes who persecute you - demons. Once upon a time, temples and altars were erected to the devil and the demons; abominable idolatry was offered to every false idol; understand that even now there can be a temple and an altar in the soul, there can be a mental idol. The temple is insatiable voluptuousness, the altar is voluptuous lust; idol-spirit of lust. "The one who works for fornication and carried away by voluptuousness has rejected Jesus, worships an idol, has in himself the image of Venus - an abominable fleshly passion. And yet: if someone is conquered by anger and rage and does not cut off these violent passions, he has denied Jesus, has Mars as his god, has subjugated himself Another covetous man: shutting his heart to his brother and not mercy on his neighbor, he denied Jesus, serves idols, has the idol of Apollo in him and worships the creature, leaving the Creator. The root of all sins is the love of money. and will be saved from violent passions, then you trampled on idols, rejected evil, became a martyr and confessor. Puffiness.

The goal of an ascetic life is the salvation of the soul

The ascetic life has one goal - the salvation of the soul. Saint Basil the Great.

He who has endured thousands of deeds for the sake of virtue and to acquire it with an abundance of tested himself in labors, he will live to the end ... Saint Basil the Great.

If the ascetic seeks rewards here for his labors and merits, he causes regret, for, receiving a temporary reward, he loses the eternal. Saint Basil the Great.

Ascetic, wait for the One who exalts, and do not be faint-hearted in the present. For you are a fighter and doer of Christ, having agreed to spend the whole day in the struggle and endure the heat of the whole day. Why then, having not yet fulfilled the measures of the day, do you demand repose? Wait until evening, the limit of life here, and then the Householder will come and count your payment. Saint Basil the Great.

Your feat is temporary, but your reward and praise are eternal; your labor is short, and peace and perfection do not grow old. Monk Ephraim the Syrian.

He who envies his brother's successes excommunicates himself from Eternal Life, and he who helps his brother will be his accomplice in Eternal Life. Monk Ephraim the Syrian.

First, you need to practice your labors and acquire a crown in exploit, so that you can taste Divine grace in this way. The bitterness of achievement is replaced by the sweetness of repose, and the severity of life is replaced by grace. Monk Ephraim the Syrian.

If a person does not perform a proper bodily feat, then the true vision will not be revealed to him. Venerable Abba Isaiah.

When (the ascetic), through a satisfactory bodily achievement, subordinates the senses to the power of the spirit "and frees himself from passions, then true vision is revealed in all glory to the mind. Venerable Abba Isaiah.

If we do not find in ourselves the abundant fruits of love, peace, joy, meekness, humility, simplicity, faith and patience, then all our deeds were in vain and in vain. Venerable Macarius of Egypt.

Small deeds performed here (in a short life) give us great boldness (in the afterlife). Saint John Chrysostom