1. A true Christian is one who, during his Baptism, sincerely confessed before God and the Angels that he has renounced the devil and all his satanic works and vowed to serve Christ the Lord, fulfilling all His holy commandments, and thus was granted the ability to mysteriously receive the hidden grace of God and to sense it in the spirit, that is, to recognize in the spirit that he has received it. As soon as one receives grace, he immediately turns away from carnal desires, begins to hate worldly lusts, and by the grace of God becomes invulnerable to them and dead to them; therefore, he fulfills the divine commandments of Christ with all joy and zeal, and his soul no longer desires any carnal pleasures, or acquisitions, or honor and glory, as if he were outside the body and outside the world, as the Lord says: " Ye are not of the world " ( John 15:19 ). Being thus united with the grace of the All-Holy Spirit, he always rejoices and sings: But I will rejoice in the Lord, I will rejoice in God my Savior ( Ps. 103:34 ; Luke 1:47 ).
2. Nor is it possible for anyone to become a true Christian by any other means. These three—love of pleasure, love of money, and love of glory—enslave a person to the devil. A Christian who indulges in carnal pleasures is no longer a slave of Christ, but a slave of sin and the devil. Likewise, a Christian possessed by the love of money and avarice is no longer a Christian, but an idolater, as St. Paul says. Likewise, one who loves human glory is not a true Christian, but a kind of distinguished warrior of the devil. Anyone who is possessed by any one of these passions, or by any one of them entirely, has no communion with God—the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—even though he fasts, keeps vigil, sleeps on the bare ground, and otherwise endures suffering, even though he possesses omniscience and wisdom. For this, he must first be freed in spirit from these passions by Christ the Lord, Who says: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, That whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And a servant abideth not in the house forever" ( John 8:34-35 ). This house is the kingdom of heaven. Do you see the Savior's fearful decree? " If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed ," adds the Lord ( John 8:36 ). Thus, when one is freed from these three passions, then let him sing, then let him worship, glorifying God, then let him pray, as one who has already become a true Christian and a servant of Christ. He is deemed worthy of great mercy. For truly, whoever is enslaved by these three tyrannical passions, or at least one of them, even if he wanted to, cannot free himself from them, because this liberation is in the hands of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and King, according to the authority which He received from God, His Father, through the cross and death which He took up, as He Himself confirmed after the Resurrection: All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me ( Matthew 28:18 ).
3. Let us then have recourse to the Liberator of all, Christ the Lord, as the only One who holds power, employing every means to gain freedom from those three passions. Let us fast, pray, and give alms, so that God may see how sincerely we desire freedom for ourselves and how earnestly we seek it, doing such deeds for its sake. And, seeing this, He, the Desirer of Mercy, may grant us the desired freedom. The sign of such freedom is hatred for those passions—such that one who has been freed from them abhors them as an abomination, more repulsive to him than any material abomination. Thus, a good deed is to sing, pray, fast, keep vigils, give alms, keep oneself in humility, become poor, for the love of Christ. Yet we see many of our brethren who have labored and continue to labor in vain, performing such deeds. And the reason for this is obvious. Whatever anyone does, they do it for a certain purpose. Since all human nature, through the transgression of the first commandment, became corruptible and mortal, and therefore weak and feeble, susceptible to all evil and folly, how is it possible for it alone to free itself from the corruption of its thoughts, when this corruption has become, in a sense, natural within it? But how can it be freed? If it fasts, keeps vigil, prays, undertakes every labor and effort, and distributes its possessions to the poor, with the sole purpose of being vouchsafed liberation from this corruption of thoughts, through the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, the only Liberator, Who came into the world for this very purpose, to take away the sins of the world. And whoever fasts, prays, labors, and does other good deeds with the goal of being set free by Christ will be ultimately set free, will recognize his Liberator, will give thanks to Him, and will humble himself and submit to the invincible power of Christ the Lord. But whoever does not live according to Christ with this goal in mind will labor in vain and will pass into the next life as a poor and miserable Christian.
We must also know that the entire work of the devil and his demons, and all the wiles they hatch against every Christian, are aimed at sowing misunderstanding and ignorance among Christians, so that they will not recognize the revealed goal, but will instead hold in their minds that they can save themselves through the good deeds they perform. Demons often even facilitate prayers, almsgiving, fasting, vigils, and all other good deeds, so that those who perform them do so without the goal we have outlined, yet still thinking they are doing genuine good, and thus remain unhealed by Christ. For this law of Christ is absolute: Christ Himself cannot heal one who has not recognized his illness, does not know the physician, and does not seek one.
4. So, as we have said, fasting, almsgiving, and the rest are good works; it is also good to grieve over the sins of both one's own and one's brethren, and also to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice; but all these good works, praiseworthy and wonderful, serve nothing and are lost in vain, if the one who does them does not become a partaker of the holiness of God, for all good works must be done for this purpose, as the Apostle says about those who are deemed worthy to be chastened by God as sons, that God chastens them for their profit, that they may partake of His holiness ( Heb. 12:10 ). If anyone does not partake of God's holiness, then his labor is in vain, and his faith is in vain, especially when it is impossible to perform these good works properly, according to the law and commandments of God, without the help of Jesus Christ our God. And he who labors unlawfully is not crowned, as divine laws determine. For the law is that these works be done in secret, with all guardianship and caution, before the face of the one God, so that even the left hand should not know what the right hand is doing.
What is this right and what is this left? Listen. The right is when a Christian fulfills what Christ commanded in the following words: When ye have done all that is commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: for we have done what we ought to have done ( Luke 17:10 ). But is it possible that anyone could ever be found who did all that he should have done? Even if someone did all that he should have done, or even a part of it, who could ever have done it alone, by his own strength, without first being strengthened by the mysterious divine power of Christ? Whoever does any good without Christ—woe to him and his work! But the left is when someone, doing what he should do, thinks he is worthy of all honor from God for it. Such a person will never partake of God’s holiness, even after such feats and such sweat, and woe to him after death!
What signs, then, indicate that someone has received the grace of God? When someone is free from anger, undefiled by carnal lusts, quiet and meek, possesses humility, gentleness, and compassion, with a pure and sincere love for others, and faith in God, unwavering and firm, so that it can be said of him: " He believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness" ( Rom. 4:3 ). And he who lacks such signs of Christ's grace undoubtedly does all his deeds to be glorified by men. Let him say he does not seek human glory, yet, seemingly reluctantly, he is susceptible to it. For where Christ is not, there are demons, and where demons are, righteous thoughts are perverted and corrupted. Just as bats fly about during the night, seeking food, so do demons, along with their forefather, the devil, the chief of darkness, roam the earth, the air, and all places beneath the heavens during this corrupt and darkened life, transporting themselves from place to place in an instant. For demons are, by nature, mental creatures. This can be understood by anyone judging by the actions of our own human minds, which, having once seen something—be it far away or spread over a vast expanse—runs over it mentally in an instant, despite being bound by the flesh. This is why it is impossible for a true Christian to raise his mind to God, to reflect on divine things, to converse with the All-Good Lord, and through such holy remembrance and mental prayer to receive enlightenment and illumination from God, unless he is sealed with the grace of the Holy Spirit. As soon as the devil sees that the mind (spirit) of a Christian lacks the seal of God's grace and is naked of it, and yet desires to mentally traverse the air and ascend to the Most High God, to converse with Him through prayer and entreat Him for his sins, he fearlessly stands before him on the road by which he ascends, and seems to say to him: "Where are you going, wretched one? How dare you pass through places in my power? I am the ruler of darkness, I have received the name of the ruler of the world, and I am the head of those who speculate about worldly things and reason in worldly ways. I am the prince of this corrupt world, the king of the air, Satan. You have not yet escaped from under my power; Christ has not yet transferred you from the realm of Satan to God" ( Acts 26:18 ). Therefore, as my subject, you should think about my things and seek my things. But this is what I have: carnal lust, unrighteousness, malice. I have shown you all this before and demonstrated how good it is; and you have seen that it is so, tasted, experienced, and enjoyed it. And now where are you going? Whither can you ascend to heaven? Remain here—below, in worldly impurities and sins." Therefore it is written: " No one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit" ( 1 Cor. 12:3 ).
5. It may be held that a Christian should not pray and glorify God unless his mind is first imprinted and sanctified by Divine grace, lest he find himself outwardly standing before God, but mentally performing the works of the devil, as his servant. For which reason he becomes even more impure, and for which deed the enemy begins to coerce him even more, leading him to much evil, sometimes through anger, sometimes through carnal lust, to which he rushes with even greater uncontrollability. If someone, having entered a hospital to receive healing, through his own foolishness makes his wounds there worse and more dangerous, then, of course, it would be far better for him not to have entered at all. But again, how can you remain without prayer? It is too tight for both. Take the effort, then, to correct and heal your mind first, lest you risk falling into a worse state if you sing, glorify God, and pray without first correcting and healing yourself. For it is impossible for an impure mind to stand before God, although it is clear that some stand before Him with their bodies and pray with their lips. Indeed, it is absolutely impossible to truly glorify God on your own, but the grace of Christ, which dwells within us, glorifies and hymns God and prays within us.
When people converse with one another, they know what they are talking about: those speaking know what they are saying, and those listening understand what they are hearing. And it would be sheer folly not to pay due attention when one is conversing with another. But if, standing before God, conversing with Him and praying, we fail to pay attention to what we say, then what hope can we have of salvation? Even if someone spends long periods in prayer and praises God day and night with such foolish inattention, thinking they are praying and praising God as they should? For we should at least show the same attention when conversing with God as we do when conversing with others about worldly and vain matters. From what has been said, everyone can understand what it means that the devil mentally confuses the mind of one suffering from this grave illness. Therefore, such a person must, first of all, take every care of his soul, striving to provide it with spiritual medicine and healing, so that Jesus Christ, the only Physician of souls and bodies, seeing his diligence and labor, will heal his great infirmity. And if he does not do this, then his singing of psalms and reciting of prayers to God is in vain and useless. Therefore, let anyone who prays inattentively lament and weep for doing so, and correct himself, forgetting that he ever prayed. If he does not weep and grieve over his inattention, what hope does he have of salvation?
6. Scripture says: "Praise is of no beauty in the mouth of a sinner" ( Sir. 15:9 ). And it says this not of the atheists and unbelievers (for how can an unbeliever pray to a God whom he does not know?), but of those who know God and believe in Him, only they are wicked because of their evil deeds and enemies of God because of their sins. Just as a good, comely, and beautiful object attracts people's eyes to look at it, while an ugly and disgusting object forces them to turn their eyes away from it, so the praise, glorification, and prayer of a sinner force God to turn His eyes away from him, so as not to see him, because he prays only with his lips, but with his mind and heart he converses with the objects of his sins and passions, which, just as they once dominated him, now firmly hold him in their hands. For it is impossible for anyone, while praying to God, not to think of inappropriate and shameful things unless he has first become friends with God through repentance and confession. God's friendship with the soul is a hidden visitation by God. And a sign that God's grace has visited the soul is when it prays with fear and reverence, stands in prayer with decorum, and pays great attention to what it prays for. For no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit ( 1 Cor. 12:3 ). Why are those who do not pray in this way still far from God, be they priests and confessors, be they teachers of the people and their intercessors before God? If the sun, being warm, naturally warms those who sit under its rays, then how could God, Who is holy, not sanctify those who converse with Him through prayer? And yet this does not happen, and why? Because those who sit in the sun know that they sat there to warm themselves, and so they adjust themselves to feel its warmth, while those who pray without attention do not know what they are praying for or what they are asking for, that is, they do not stand before God as they should; that is why God does not give them anything, and will not give them anything, even if they pray in this way for a hundred years.
Therefore, since those who sing and pray labor in vain without first being sanctified by the grace of God, it behooves them to go to reverent teachers and experienced spiritual fathers and learn from them how to pray and what they should ask for in prayer. If they refuse to learn this and do not learn, then, be they wise or ignorant, they will end their lives impure and defiled. God does not listen to those who do not know what they are asking for. Therefore, lest we too suffer and remain forever impure, let us take care from this hour to learn how to pray and what to ask of God, so that our prayer will be acceptable to God, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory, honor, and worship forever. Amen.
Source: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Simeon_Novyj_Bogoslov/slovo/16