by Bishop Theophan the Recluse

            The enemy will not slumber.  The saints of God have noted that on beginners he acts in two ways:  some he bothers not at all and offers no resistance.  Meeting no obstacle either within or without, and seeing that everything is going smoothly, these begin to dream that “we’re quite something! – all the enemies have been driven away and don’t dare show themselves.”  As soon as these thoughts occur, the enemy is there immediately and begins to arouse vainglorious dreams from which are born self-assurance and forgetfulness of God’s help – failure to seek it, and thus, deprivation of it.  When things have gone this far, the enemy already begins to act tyrannically – to excite evil within and strong hindrances from without, – and the poor self-assured one falls.  These cases are not uncommon.  And please keep this in mind right now as you consider how to arrange things in your life, so that when you begin a new life, and everything proceeds smoothly, you will not start to dream about yourself, but will see in this a most dangerous ambush of the enemy and will double your caution and attentiveness.  Perfection, apparent only a little, comes after much hard labor, after years and years, and not from one’s first beginnings and earliest days.

            On the other hand, the enemy attacks others from the very first with all his strength and violence, so that the beginner feels lost.  Wherever he turns, everything is against him:  in his thoughts and feelings and within can be seen only that which hinders good intentions, and there is nothing favorable.  The enemy does this in order to frighten the new believer from the very beginning and to try to force him to discard his good intentions and to turn back to a careless and inattentive life.  But as soon as he notices that the new believer will not give in, but stands fast, he himself immediately retreats.  For courage in standing fast before the enemy earns wreaths for the laborers, and he does not want to provide them.  It is important to keep this in mind so that in a situation of strong pressures from hindrances you will not immediately grow timid, but will know that this is a trick of the enemy, which he will at once abandon as soon he notices steadfastness. 

(Excerpt from Letter XXIX; reprinted from Orthodox Life, 1971, No. 5)