You should know that parents’ curses and even simple indignation have a very strong effect. Even if the parents did not curse their children, but only became indignant over them, then the latter will not have a single bright day: their entire life will be one long torment. Afterwards such children suffer greatly throughout their entire life on earth. It will naturally be easier for them in the after-life, because through their suffering they pay off some of their debts here; by suffering here, in this life, they reduce their torment of hell, because suffering in this life is a taste of the torment of hell.

But even those parents who damn their children to the devil, “dedicate” them to him. Afterwards the devil has rights to such children, and he says: “You’ve dedicated them to me.” In a certain village there lived a husband and wife. Their baby was whining all the time, and the father often said: “The devil take you!” And what do you think: the father would say this to the infant, and by God’s allowance the infant began to disappear from the cradle. Afterwards the wretched mother went to see the venerable Arsenius (of Cappadocia). “Bless me, father! The demons have dragged away my child.” The venerable one would go over to their home, would read prayers over the cradle, and the infant would reappear. And this just went on and on. One time the venerable one said to the mother: “The day will come when the devil will tire of this, and then he will leave your son alone.” From that very day the child ceased to disappear. But when he grew up, he was nicknamed “the devil’s cub.” He stirred up the entire village – no one was left alone, he made everyone quarrel among themselves and greatly succeeded in his treachery. A real “devil’s cub!” God allowed this, so that the people, seeing such a continuation of the story with the disappearing infant, would come to their senses, would restrain themselves, and would become more attentive. We will not talk of how God will judge such a person. It is understandable that such a one had many extenuating circumstances.

The greatest treasure for people living in this world is their parents’ blessing. Just as in monastic life the greatest blessing is to have your spiritual father bless you. That is why it is said: “Do not to miss your parents’ blessing.” I remember a mother who had four children. None of them were married. The mother cried: “I will die of sorrow, – she said, – for none of my children has gotten married. Pray for them.” She was a widow and her children were orphans. I felt sorry for them. I prayed and prayed, but without any success. “Something is wrong here,” – I thought. “We have been subjected to the evil eye,” – said her children. – “Oh, no,” – I said, – this is not from an evil eye, for one can see the results of an evil eye… Maybe your mother cursed you?” – “That’s right, father, – they replied, – we were very prankish in childhood, and she kept saying to us day and night: ‘May you be like tree stumps’!” – “Go to your mother, – I said, – and tell her the true cause of your unsettled state, that she may come to her senses. Tell her to repent, confess, and from this day to bless you incessantly.” Afterwards, within a year-and-a-half all four of them had their own families! Apparently this wretched mother was not only a widow, but also easily fell into a state of irritation and despair. The naughty children tried her patience, and for this she cursed them.

– And what if parents curse their children and then die – how can the children get rid of the parental curse?

– If they look carefully at themselves, they will most likely acknowledge that in their own time they were troublemakers and had tormented their parents, and that was why the latter cursed them. If the children acknowledge their guilt, repent sincerely, and confess their sins, everything will go well for them. By succeeding spiritually they will also help their deceased parents.

– And I, too, Geronda, when leaving for the monastery, was cursed by my parents.

– Such curses are the only ones that turn into a blessing.

– Geronda, is it right, when someone offends you, to say about the offender: “God will send retribution upon him for his malice”?

– Whoever says such words makes himself a laughingstock for the evil one. Such a person does not understand that in saying such words he is “nobly” cursing others. Some people believe themselves to be sensitive and loving, possessing a delicate soul, and tolerant of injustice towards themselves on the part of others. But at the same time they say of the people who offend them: “May the Lord send retribution upon them for their malice.” In this life every person takes exams for passing into the other, eternal life. My reason tells me that such a “noble curse” merits a failing grade in spiritual terms and is unacceptable for a Christian. Christ did not teach us that kind of love. “Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do,” – such is the love He teaches. Moreover, the best blessing of all is when we are cursed undeservedly, while we silently and good-naturedly accept it.

If superficial or malicious people – those who have evil in their hearts and distort the truth - slander us or treat us unjustly, let us try, if we can, not to seek self-justification in cases where the injustice concerns us personally. And let us not use the words: “May God send retribution upon them,” because that also is a curse. It would be well if we were to forgive our offenders whole-heartedly and were to ask God to give us strength to bear the weight of slander, and let us continue our spiritual life as unnoticeably as possible. May those whose canons are the passing of judgment on other act unjustly towards us – they thus unfailingly prepare golden crowns for us in the eternal life. Of course those people who live with God never curse others, because they have no anger in them, only kindness. The malice that is directed against these sanctified people by others is neutralized, no matter how strong it may be, while the ones who live with God experience a great and externally invisible joy.

Envy which contains malice can harm others. That is what the evil eye is about – it is a demonic action.

– Geronda, do you mean to say that the Church believes in the evil eye?

– Yes, there is even a special prayer “against malice of the eyes,” which can be read only by a priest. The evil eye harms others in those cases, where a person says something with envy.

– Geronda, many people are asking us for amulets to protect infants from the evil eye. Can such amulets be worn?

– No, they cannot. Tell the mothers to put crosses on their children.

– Geronda, what if someone makes a beautiful thing, another person praises it, the first one accepts the praise with pride, and then this thing becomes damaged somehow – is that the evil eye?

– No, that is not the evil eye. In this case spiritual laws come into play. God takes away His grace from the prideful person, and it is for this reason that harm occurs. The evil eye occurs in rare instances. In particular, it is people who entertain envy with malice, – and there are not too many such, – who can give others the evil eye. For example, an envious woman sees a mother with a delightful baby and says in great wrath: “Why do I not have such a child? Why did God give this child to her?” In this case the infant can suffer harm: it will cease to sleep and will begin to cry and become tormented, because the woman said it with wrath. And if such an infant would have sickened and died, then such an evil and envious woman would have been overjoyed. Another person, for example, sees someone else’s calf, passionately wishes for it to belong to him, and the animal soon dies.

However, a mother herself is often to blame for her child’s anguish. For example, the mother sees someone else’s thin infant and says: “What a skeleton! Only skin and bones!” She admired her own child and despised another’s. However, the words spoken so maliciously about a stranger’s child boomerang upon her own infant. And the child, without being guilty of anything, suffers because of the mother. The unfortunate infant wastes away in front of her eyes – as a punishment to the mother so that she would acknowledge her guilt. Of course the infant itself in such a case is regarded as a martyr. God’s judgment is a deep abyss.

Wars, droughts, illnesses, locust plagues – all of these are scourges. And this is not because God wishes in such a manner to give mankind a lesson – no, these misfortunes are the consequence of man’s abandonment of God. All of this happens because man breaks off from God. And God’s wrath is manifested in order to make man remember God and ask Him for help. It is not as though God organized all these misfortunes and ordered one or another of them to visit man. No, it is simply that God, seeing the extent to which the evil in men will proceed and knowing that they will not change – allows misfortunes to occur for their instruction.

God commanded Joshua not to exterminate one pagan tribe – the Philistines, so that whenever the Jews forgot God, the Philistines became their scourge. Thus, when the Jews alienated themselves from God, the devil came into his rights, incited his “mafia” – the Philistines, and they went to war against the Jews. However, when the enemy attacked Israel without the Jews being to blame, then God Himself fought on the side of the Jews. God struck the pagans with a volley of rocks and destroyed them, because in this case the Israelis had the right to divine intervention.

When someone becomes the cause of God’s wrath, and innocent people also suffer for it, then, despite the fact that the innocent sufferers merit a reward, the one who is to blame for their suffering is regarded as a criminal, because the innocent people could have earned the Heavenly Kingdom even without suffering. We should know that people who are believers and keep God’s commandments attract God’s grace, and God definitely helps them in these difficult times. I have heard that a new illness has appeared in American (AIDS). Many of those who live an unnatural and sinful life become afflicted with it and die. And now I have learned that this illness has appeared among us, too. You see, it is not God who destroys people, but people who destroy their own kind, who destroy themselves. In other words, it is not God who punishes them, but through their sinful life they create their own punishment. And one can see that those people are being eradicated, whose life is meaningless.

– Geronda, why cannot a treatment for cancer be found? Is God not allowing it, or are people themselves refusing to ask for divine aid?

– The worst thing is that even if a treatment for cancer were to be found, some other illness will appear. At first there was tuberculosis – a treatment for tuberculosis was found – then cancer appeared. And if God helps cancer to be vanquished, another illness will appear. The cause for the appearance of a new illness will be people themselves, and this process will be never-ending.

People are constantly hurrying and rushing somewhere. At such-and-such a time they have to be in one place, at another time – in another place, then in a third, and so on… It is well that amid such a mad rush they have not yet forgotten their names! They do not even know their own selves. And how can they know themselves – can one see oneself in murky water as in a mirror? The world has turned into a veritable madhouse. People have no thought for the other life, they only seek greater and greater material wealth. And, consequently, they are unable to find peace and must constantly be in a rush somewhere.

Fortunately there is another life. People have made their life on earth such that were they to live here eternally, there would be no greater torment of hell. If they were to live with such anxiety in the soul for 800 or 900 years – like in Noah’s times – their life would be one long torment of hell. In those times people lived simply. And their lives were of such long duration in order to preserve the holy Tradition. But now we are witnessing that which is written in the Psalter: “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow” (Psalm 90:10).

Once someone described life in America to me. People there spend entire days at work. Each family member must have his own car. Besides that, at home, in order for everyone to feel comfortable, there must be 3-4 television sets. And so it goes – go to work, become worn out, earn a lot of money, just to say that you are well-off and happy. But what has this to do with happiness? Such a life, full of anxiety, always in a mad rush – this is not happiness, but the torment of hell.

For this reason many people, being unable to cope with life in such circumstances, leave the cities and wander off without direction or purpose – simply to get away. They bunch together into groups, live in nature – some engage in physical development, others are into jogging, still others go into the mountains and climb to a height of 6,000 meters. And all of it is such nonsense! It only proves that anxiety is like a heavy burden upon their hearts, and the heart is searching for a way out.

The majority of the technical equipment which people use today for their convenience makes a great deal of noise. Ah, with their noise people have violated the tranquility of nature, with all their technology they have altered and destroyed it. And what silence there used to be! How man changes, and changes everything around him, without even realizing it.

Today everyone has become used to living with noise. Many children nowadays like to listen to rock music while they read. That is, they prefer to read to the accompaniment of noisy music rather than silence. They feel better when they are agitated, because agitation dwells within them. Noise is heard everywhere. A person wants to drill one tiny hole for a nail, and already he turns on a buzzing device. Why? And he is happy with it and – surprisingly enough – even proud of it. In order to have some cool air, people buy an electric fan and listen to its hum. Formerly, whenever it was hot, people simply fanned themselves, while now they destroy their own ears for the sake of cool air. Even at sea they produce an enormous amount of noise. There was a time when ships noiselessly sailed the seas under their own sails, while now even the smallest motorboat rattles around. Soon the majority of people will circle the earth in airplanes. And do you know what this will lead to? The earth still deadens noise somewhat, while in the air there will be such thundering – God forbid!

With all his modern noisy technology a Christian drives away from himself the proper conditions for prayer and spiritual life. For this reason a Christian should refrain as much as possible from using noisy technology. All the things that people consider to be convenient do not generally assist a Christian in attaining his goal.

Silence is a great thing. While remaining silent, a person is already in a state of prayer without even praying. Silence is a secret prayer, and it greatly helps in attaining prayer and a healthy spiritual state, just as the breathing of the skin benefits people by unobtrusively regulating their body temperature and maintaining the vitality of their entire organism. Whoever silently engages in spiritual work, afterwards becomes immersed in prayer.

External silence, combined with constant prayer, quickly leads to inner silence, which brings peace to the soul, while inner silence is a prerequisite for refined spiritual contemplation. And at that point all external disquietude ceases to bother a person, because essentially it is only his body that remains on earth, while his mind sojourns in Heaven.

Modern people unfortunately make use of noisy technology even for the most insignificant tasks. Therefore, if someone temporarily finds himself in a noisy environment, he must cultivate benevolent thoughts within himself. You cannot make people turn off one or another piece of noisy equipment. However, in lieu of that you should straightaway put benevolent thoughts to work. This affair requires the power of reasoning and some ingenuity, or the art of turning on benevolent thoughts. For example, you hear the hum of a concrete mixer, the working of a crane, some other noises. You should say: “Glory to Thee, O God, that buildings are not being bombed and destroyed! On the contrary – people are living in peace and building dwellings.”

– But, Geronda, what if the nerves are shot to pieces?

– Nerves shot to pieces? What does that mean? There is nothing better than a benevolent thought. I will show you an example, so that you could see how a single good thought puts the person in order no matter what happens. I was once riding somewhere on a bus. The driver had the radio on very loudly. Our fellow travelers included a group of young religious believers. They told the driver that there was a monk on the bus and repeatedly asked the driver to turn off the radio, but the latter couldn’t care less and even increased the volume. “Just let him be, – I told the young people, – it doesn’t bother me. I’m singing church hymns, and the radio is singing along.” And in my mind I said to myself thus: “If, God forbid, there were an accident somewhere on the road, and the injured people were placed on our bus – one with a broken leg, another with a broken head, – how would I have been able to stand such a sight? Thank God that people are alive and well! And even singing songs!” Thus I calmly continued to ride along, singing church hymns. It was a wonderful trip!

You should do the same – parry all temptations by means of benevolent thoughts. For example, someone banged a door during the night. Say to yourself: “What if, God forbid, something happened to this person, if he fell and broke his leg, – would I be able to fall asleep? And now he just banged the door – well, he obviously had to go somewhere on an errand.” However, if you begin to grumble and say: “What a scatterbrain! Banging doors all around! How outrageous!” – do you think you’ll be in a peaceful state of mind afterwards? Just as soon as you accept such thoughts, the evil one will rile you up. Therefore, a single benevolent thought helps a person more than any other spiritual endeavor.

– Geronda, does busyness always alienate man from God?

– Listen to what I’ll tell you: when a father comes up to a child who is busy playing and pats him affectionately on the head, the latter, engrossed in his toys, does not even notice it. He will notice his father’s affection only of he distracts himself from his games. Thus we, too, being engrossed in various concerns, are unable to feel God’s love. We do not appreciate what God gives us. Be attentive and do not waste your precious efforts on extreme busyness and vain concerns that will eventually turn into dust. By being busy and concerned with all that is needless and vain, you become physically exhausted and scatterbrained for no purpose, and afterwards, during prayer, you offer God your exhaustion and yawns – just like the offering presented by Cain. Consequently, your inner state will be Cain-like, filled with spiritual anxiety and trepidation which will be encouraged in you by the demon standing nearby.

Let us not aimlessly waste the core of our strength; otherwise, we will later have only chaff and husks left for God. Extreme concern with things siphons from the heart all its inner strength and leaves nothing for Christ. If you notice your mind being constantly distracted by cares, concerns, etc., you should realize that you have wandered off to where you should not be, and you should beware alienation from God. You must realize that earthly affairs have become more important to you than God, creation more important that the Creator.

Extreme busyness causes man to forget God. Father Tikhon used to say with his characteristic manner: “The Pharaoh gave the Israelis a lot of work and a lot of food, so that they could forget God. In our times the devil has completely enticed people with material matters, with earthly concerns. He teaches men to work a great deal and to eat a lot – in order that they forget God and thus be unable, or rather, lack the wish to draw benefit from the freedom that was given to them for the sanctification of the soul. Fortunately, however, contrary to the wishes of the devil, such haste leads to one positive thing – people do not find enough time for sinning as they would wish.”

We must first of all seek the Heavenly Kingdom. This should be our primary concern, while all the rest will be added. If man forgets about this in his life here, he is losing the time he has been given, he is wasting it in vain. If he does not forget and is preparing himself for the other life, then his life on earth has meaning. If one thinks of the other life, then many things change. However, if a person thinks only of how to establish himself here most comfortably, then such a person becomes tortured, loses all his strength, and is consigned to eternal torment.

Beware of becoming infected with anxious disquietude and a passionate engagement in worldly affairs: “Now we must do one thing and after that – another…”, because Armaggedon will come upon you in such a state. Even a single small moment of concern over various affairs is the work of the demon. Switch your mood toward Christ, because otherwise you will only present an appearance of living with Christ, while inside you will retain the same worldly philosophy, – and I fear that you will become subject to the same misfortune as the foolish virgins.

The wise virgins not only possessed good deeds, but also a wise concern for things – they did not shut their eyes, they did not remain indifferent. The foolish virgins were indifferent and did not try to remain alert. For this reason the Lord said: “Watch therefore.” They were virgins, but foolish and mindless ones. If a virgin is mindless from birth, this is a blessing to her from God. She passes on into the other life without any examinations. However, if she is mentally capable, but lives foolishly, then on the Day of Judgment she will be unable to exonerate herself.

And what about the case of Mary and Martha, described in the Gospel? Do you see how extreme concern over things brought Martha to a state in which she behaved to some extent heedlessly? It appears that initially Mary, too, was helping her, but seeing that Martha was not about to finish with her preparations, Mary left her and went off. “How can I be deprived of my Christ, – thought Mary, – for the sake of salads and pies?” One could think that Christ was coming over to their house exclusively to enjoy Martha’s cooking! This was precisely what bothered Martha, and so she said: “Lord, dost Thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone?” (Luke 10:40).

Let us make sure that we do not end up in the same situation as Martha. Let us pray that we become good Marys.

In honing his mind by means of cunning instead of divine things, a man gives himself over to the devil. But in such a case it would be better for him to lose his mind completely, in order to have extenuating circumstances on the Day of Judgment.

– Geronda, does simplicity differ from cunning?

– Yes, just as a fox differs from a jackal. When a jackal wants to make off with something, he boldly goes and takes what he wants. A fox, on the other hand, will try to get what it wants with the aid of cunning.

– Can a person consider cunning to be keenness of mind?

– Yes, he can, but looking within himself, it will become clear to him what is cunning and what is keenness of mind. What are the gifts of the Holy Spirit? Love, joy, peace, and the like. Does he have any of these gifts within himself? A person who does not possess any of the above manifestations will exhibit the distinguishing characteristics of an unclean spirit.

An intelligent man is a purified man, one who has become free of passion. Whoever has sanctified his mind is truly intelligent. If the mind does not become sanctified, its keenness is of no use. Look at journalists and politicians – they are smart people, but many of them, not possessing a purified mind, along with intelligent statements make very inane ones also. From too much intelligence they utter the greatest stupidities! If a person himself does not gain benefit from his own mind, then the devil will make use of it. If a person will not use his mind for good, then the devil will use it for evil.

– In other words, by not making use of his keen mind, a person gives over his rights to the devil?

– If a person does not use his keen mind for good deeds, then the rights to it automatically pass on to the devil. For example, someone is intelligent, but also lazy and does not put his mind to work. So, since the person does not use his head, what is the use of his being smart?

– Can a person who is intelligent, but prey to passions, be capable of sound judgment?

– First of all, he must be quite attentive to not trusting his own reason. By trusting his own reason, a spiritual person falls into temptation, while a worldly person loses his mind. One should not trust, but rather question and seek advice, and one must sanctify one’s mind. A sanctified keen mind promotes the acquisition of sound judgment. A smart but not sanctified mind will not possess the faculty of spiritual reasoning. A person who is na?ve may regard as holy men those who have been seduced into spiritual vanity, while a purified keen mind becomes quite judicious.

– Geronda, how does a keen mind become purified?

– In order to become purified, a person must refuse to accept “telegrams” from the evil one and must shun evil thoughts, but instead do everything with kindness and simplicity. In this manner he attains spiritual clarity and divine enlightenment, after which he is able to see the hearts of people and not judge them in worldly terms.

– Geronda, is reasoning connected with knowledge?

– Reasoning results from divine enlightenment. One can read the Holy Fathers, be well-versed in many issues, engage in spiritual labors and prayer, and yet reasoning will appear only as a consequence of divine enlightenment. It is a manifestation of a very different order.

– Geronda, were people better in former times?

– It was not that they were better, just that the people of yore possessed simplicity and good intentions. Today people look upon everything with cunning, because they measure everything with the aid of reason. The western spirit has brought great misfortune. It has maimed people spiritually. Without it the spiritual state of modern men would be better, because now everyone is educated and one could have come to a mutual understanding with other people. However, contemporary people have been taught godlessness, all those Satanic theories, and thus they have been put out of commission, so that it is impossible to achieve mutual understanding with them. And in former times it was impossible to achieve mutual understanding with those who were ignorant. I remember a certain monk, who, while attending a Liturgy of the Pre-sanctified Gifts and hearing the name of its author, the holy Pope Gregory of Rome, decided that the Roman Pope was being commemorated and fell into a rage. “I never expected you to become Papists,” – he wrathfully cried and stormed out of the church. See what ignorance can lead to! And the greatest trouble is brought about by those in whom piety is united with disorder in the head. Without grasping the essence of things, they cause problems.

The whole trouble begins with reason, when it revolves only around science and is completely alienated from God. Such people are unable to find inner peace and balance. On the other hand, people whose minds revolve around God can use even science for their own inner improvement and for the good of the world, because in such a case their reason is sanctified.

– In other words, Geronda, science does not benefit mankind?

– Science brings great benefit to man, but also brings much murk. I knew people who, though fairly uneducated, possessed greater clarity of mind than scientists. Those who, by the grace of God, cleanse their minds of the murk brought in by science will have more tools to work with. And if these tools – learning – are not sanctified, they can only be used for worldly and spiritual activities. People who give preference to their inner education – education of the soul, – and who also use their external education to complement the inner one, quickly become spiritually transformed, and then their mark upon the world is great indeed. Such people of God often have fewer diplomas than learned men, but they provide much greater help to others. Such a person is blessed with much grace instead of a heap of unnecessary papers (diplomas). The world is full of sin and needs a great deal of prayer and personal spiritual experience.

I remember how a certain very old monk in the Esphigmenou monastery was so simple-minded that he even though Ascension was the name of a saint. He would pray on his rosary and say: “O holy saint Analypsia (“Ascension” in Greek), pray to God for us!” One time one of the monks in the monastery hospice became sick, and the simpleton had nothing with which to feed him. He then quickly went down to the lower floor, opened a window facing the sea, stuck out his hands and asked: “My dear Saint Analypsia, give me a little fish for my brother!” And – lo and behold! – a miracle: straightaway a huge fish jumped out of the sea straight into his hands! Everyone who saw this froze in amazement. And the simpleton just looked at them smilingly, as though saying: “Is there anything strange in what you see?” You and I are well-versed in the date of this saint’s feast, and that saint’s commemoration, and when, where, and how the Ascension took place, and yet with all our knowledge we cannot obtain even the smallest little fish! Such are the “oddities” of spiritual life, and such “oddities” are incomprehensible to the logic of the intelligentsia, which carries not God within itself, but its own ego. Totally incomprehensible, because such intelligentsia possesses only the fruitless knowledge of the world, because it is sick with a worldly spiritual illness and lacks the Holy Spirit.