St. Seraphim of Sarov: When a man receives something Divine, in his heart he rejoices...
Labels:
Lessons by our Holy Fathers
When a man receives something Divine, in his heart he rejoices; but when he receives something diabolic, he is disturbed.
"The Christian heart, when it has received something Divine, does not demand anything else in order to convince it that this is precisely from the Lord; but by that very effect it is convinced that this is heavenly, for it senses within itself spiritual fruits: love, joy, peace, and the rest (Gal. 5:22).
"On the contrary, though the devil might transform himself even into an angel of light (II Cor. 11:14), or might produce thoughts seemingly good: still the heart would feel a certain obscureness and agitation in its thoughts. Explaining this, St. Macarius of Egypt says: Though satan might produce also visions of light, he is entirely unable to produce a blessed effect: which is the well-known sign of his works (St. Macarius, Homily 4, ch. 13).
"And thus, from these diverse workings of the heart a man may know what is Divine and what is diabolic, as St. Gregory the Sinaite writes: From the effect one may know whether the light shining in one's soul is of God or of satan."
St. Seraphim of Sarov
Little Russian Philokalia
