A schematic reflection on :
A Spiritual Psalter or Reflections on God: Excerpted by Bishop Theophane the Recluse from the Works of our Holy Father Ephraim the Syrian
Section 117, pp. 186-188, St. John of Kronstadt Press, text ©1990 Antonia Janda
Know that there are eight evil thoughts that bring about all that is vile: Sensuality, Lechery, Love of Money, Anger, Inappropriate Grief, Despondency, Vainglory, and Pride.
All these conduct warfare with every man.
To combat these evils bring to mind fear of God, never losing sight of your impending death, and:
- Practice restraint, wakefulness, thirst, non-acquisitiveness, frugality, meekness, generosity, returning good for evil, self-reproach, enduring all things, keep silence:
Exercise the will.- Strive to honor those who hate you, to repent without anxiety:
Do not judge anything.- Seek tranquility and peruse it through accepting all things as from the hand of God and through practicing the crafts given for your occupation, cheerfully receive reprimand, insult, and false charges:
Pray always.- Eschew the society of others and all particularity, all refinements, and every honor:
Cultivate gracefulness- Be thankful God accomplished anything by you and gave you strength to make an offering to God your vigilance, hours, or the participation in common work, to be attentive in performance of ascetical fetes, rough sleeping, or prostrations:
Praise the Lord at all times and in every place of His dominion.