Good and bad spiritual guides

Dr. Nikolaos Koios

Source: Pemptousia

October 21, 2016

Many Christians are troubled by the issue of how to choose spiritual guide. What characteristics should they look for and what kind of relationship should develop between them?

Photo: http://pemptousia.com/2016/10/good-and-bad-spiritual-guides/ Photo: http://pemptousia.com/2016/10/good-and-bad-spiritual-guides/
    

In an address to an international conference, Elder Elisaios, the abbot of the Holy Monastery of Simonos Petras on the Holy Mountain, said that it’s a good and useful thing for Christians to seek spiritual guides who they feel comfortable with and in whose presence they are happy. Looking for a spiritual guide with supernatural gifts, however, is a delusion. In an exclusive interview with Pemptousia, the same elder said that people today want to talk more than to repent in their search for divine Grace. In the old days, their used to be spiritual guides who were unlettered but had the sense of serving the sacrament [of confession] and left room for the Grace of God to speak, depending on the receptivity of the person confessing. Today, confessors have to have patience, because it’s hard to shift people away from their own will and self-image.   

According to Saint Païsios the Athonite, people often put forward the excuse that they can’t find a good confessor. For Saint Païsios, however, every spiritual guide who wears a stole has divine authority and performs the sacrament, while the prayer of forgiveness he reads has the power to expunge all the sins which are declared aloud through genuine repentance. He explains: ‘Someone who had psychological problems came to my kelli, in the belief that I have the gift of foresight and would be able to help him. “What do you see for me?”, he asked. I told him to go and find a good confessor instead of taking pills and he’d sleep like a log. “There aren’t any good confessors today”, he said. “There used to be”. These people come with the right idea- that they’ll be helped- but then don’t accept what you tell then, so they’ve wasted the money they spent on the fare’.

Before he went to confession, Saint Silouan the Athonite prayed that the Holy Spirit would enlighten his elder so that he would guide him in accordance with the will of God. And he accepted the first thing his elder said and implemented without the slightest reservation. He recognized that, being human, it was likely that the man might err. But when obedience is confidently given during the sacrament of confession, then divine Grace with bring the fruits of the Holy Spirit to Christians engaged in the spiritual struggle.

Dr. Nikolaos Koios

Pemptousia

10/21/2016

See also
What is Spiritual Direction? What is Spiritual Deception? Orthodox Spirituality, Part 6 What is Spiritual Direction? What is Spiritual Deception? Orthodox Spirituality, Part 6
Fr. Alexey Young
What is Spiritual Direction? What is Spiritual Deception? Orthodox Spirituality, Part 6 What is Spiritual Direction? What is Spiritual Deception? Orthodox Spirituality, Part 6
Fr. Alexey Young
"It is very easy to be deceived in our fallen state and we often deceive ourselves by trying to understand what’s going on. Thus it’s very important to have a spiritual father. The basic cause of deception is despair and a lack of repentance. Proper repentance leads to joy because by it we get in touch with our true self as a creature of God our Creator."
Making Choices. Should Your Spiritual Father Tell You What to Do? Making Choices. Should Your Spiritual Father Tell You What to Do?
Fr. Ted Bobosh
Making Choices. Should Your Spiritual Father Tell You What to Do? Making Choices. Should Your Spiritual Father Tell You What to Do?
Fr. Ted Bobosh
Sometimes we come to a crossroads in life where we have to make a decision as to which way to go.
Spirituality and the Role of a Spiritual Father Spirituality and the Role of a Spiritual Father
Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh
If we think about the Latin roots of the word humility, we see that it comes from the word humus, which indicates fruitful earth. St. Theophan writes about this. Just think about what earth is. It lies there in silence, open, defenseless, vulnerable before the face of the sky. From the sky it receives scorching heat, the sun’s rays, rain, and dew. It also receives what we call fertilizer, that is, manure—everything that we throw into it. And what happens? It brings forth fruit. And the more it bears what we emotionally call humiliation and insult, the more fruit it yields.
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