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Δευτέρα 8 Σεπτεμβρίου 2025
Father Nikon answers questions
How can we understand where we are if we are really progressingor we are stagnant and not making progress, how can we win ourselves to the right pace of spiritual advancement because many times we do our spiritual life not for God but to feel some inner rest and self-satisfaction. We understand that we have progressed spiritually when our love for others has increased more. We have progressed spiritually when this love we feel for others is shown in action. We show her. Then we know we have made spiritual progress. But at the same time and when doing what we do we feel that everything we do is done by God's grace and not that it is our own achievement. Where we have progressed spiritually when we have increased our humility. The more humble we become, the more spiritually advanced we are. When we do acts of virtue, when we work on virtues, give alms, say something to others and feel that we really have virtues, this shows that we have not progressed spiritually at all. Because people who are virtuous and know it, who have virtues and know it, are very hard and sharp to others, while the humble always feels himself worse than others. The virtuous is demanding of others. The humble man who has love for others is demanding of himself. So when we want to know how far we have advanced in virtue, we will look to see if we confess often, if we think well of others, the best for others. When we hear of cases like the priest who threw away his robes or someone else who has some other accident, we pray more for him. If we pray more, if we show our love more, if we prevent someone from criticizing someone else we love both the one who criticizes and the one who is criticized, then yes we have progressed in virtue. and in the spiritual life. Otherwise the virtues become dangerous. Even the devil has virtues. And the devil angel is, but a black angel. And the devil fasts, the devil virgins, and the devil vigils. No matter how many virtues we acquire, we will never acquire the virtues that the devil had. one he has not and destroys all his other virtues. He has no humility. And all virtues are wasted and become dangerous. That is why Saint Isaac Syros speaks of virtues that become snakes in the hands of the one who has them. That is precisely why many times the good God withdraws his grace from someone virtuous and allows him to fall, to sin in order to be humbled. And this humiliation will save him. Not his virtues which he acquired with the grace and help of God. This is exactly why St. John says in a scale, "We were after hunger or victory with pride." I'd rather fall with humiliation than achieve virtue with pride. In this, someone said, the sinner differs from the Saint. In which In that both are sinners. Only the Saint knows. While the sinner does not know it. And because the saint knows he is a sinner, he is humble. The sinner who does not know that he is a sinner is proud and thereby will perish. Not out of pride. We will not perish because we sin. We will perish because we do not repent. And repentance shows humility. That is precisely why we will pursue these two with all our might. Humility and practical love. to others the love shown in action. hey
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