Archbishop Theophan of Poltava (+1940) whom we commemorate today (February 6/19) was a spiritual son of St. Theophan the Recluse, spiritual father of Archbishop Averky of Jordanville, and confessor for the Russian Royal Family before their martyric deaths in 1918. In these letters we are given general advice on fighting the passions, prayer, and answers to various specific questions many people have today.
0:11 Letter 23: Fighting the Passions
1:32 Letter 24: The Inner Struggle With Vain Thoughts and the Meaning of Humility
3:52 Letter 27: Exhaustion During Prayer and the Concept of Penance
5:28 Letter 8: Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov's Essays and the Proper Attitude Toward the Temptations Which Befall Us
8:00 Letter 21: Fighting the Passions and Dispassion
10:02 Letter 22: Preserving Inner Contemplation and Remembrance of God
11:25 Letter 26: Self-Reliance vs. Social Life; Fasting and Prayer
12:35 Letter 31: How Often Should One Receive Communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ?
13:59 Letter 36: How to Prevent Sorrows From Disturbing One's Peace of Mind and Confession
14:57 Letter 54: The Proper Way to Conduct Spiritual Warfare
These letters come from the book: “Selected Letters of Archbishop Theophan of Poltava”
-BUY books from St. Theophan and Archbishop Averky here:
churchsupplies.jordanville.org/
-FIND an Orthodox parish and monastery near you:
orthodoxyinamerica.org/
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Archbishop Theophan writes:
Until a man achieves dispassion he abides in the passions. The passions are, however, strongly manifest only in some people, in others they are inactive. But inactivity of the passions is not dispassion. In this case the passions are merely latent. When a man enters into battle with them, they assert their existence. "Many are the Saints," said St. Symeon the New Theologian, "but few are the dispassionate (those of perfect dispassion), and there is a great difference between the two" (Homily 84, para. 1; v. 2, p. 398).
-Letter 21
When we forget about God, passions and evil thoughts arise.
-Letter 22
One must compel oneself to remember God.
-Letter 22
Until we reach the harbor of dispassion we must fight the passions and vain thoughts. There will be both victories and defeats, but we must conduct this battle until the end of our life. The battle will be successful only if it is conducted properly, and it will be conducted properly only if we depend not on our own might to conquer our passions and vain thoughts, but on God's might. In order to accomplish this we must constantly call upon God to help us by incessant appeal in God's name.
-Letter 23
Penance is not, in the legal sense of the word, a punishment for a crime, but rather a spiritual remedy, the aim of which is to rid the person who uses it of a certain spiritual infirmity. The number of prostrations depends on the nature of the transgression or sin.
-Letter 27
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