Keep Thy Mind in Hell and Despair Not (St. Silouan the Athonite) | Modern Russian Elder | Orthodox Christian Hardcover JournalIt was fifteen years after the Lord had appeared to him, and Silouan was engaged in one of these nocturnal struggles with devils which so tormented him. No matter how he tried, he could not pray with a pure mind. At last he rose from his stool, intending to bow down and worship, when he saw a gigantic devil standing in front of the ikon, waiting to be worshipped. Meanwhile, the cell filled with evil spirits. Father Silouan sat down again, and with

For now that the true light has arisen

if one wishes to not be drunk with anger

and never to deny Thee

+ Elder Ambrose of Optina

For if ye are silent concerning me

having no sense of hardship through the expectation of gain

because the days are evil' (Ephesians 5:16)

but of all our possessions

neither was their place found any more in heaven

whom Isaiah in the Holy Spirit saw standing around the throne of God

raised up the dead

The practice of asceticism - called ascesis - is most often associated exclusively with monasticism