A trap, or about spiritual dryness. Spiritual emptiness From which despondency and its offspring grow

Here is the real story of one of our contemporary. He is 35. He is a fairly successful businessman. He has a beautiful and modest wife and a little daughter, a large apartment in Moscow, a dacha, two cars, many friends... He has what many people strive for and dream about. But none of this pleases him. He forgot what joy is. Every day he is oppressed by melancholy, from which he tries to hide in business, but to no avail. He considers himself an unhappy person, but cannot say why. There is money. Health, youth - there is. But there is no happiness.

He is trying to fight, to find a way out. He regularly visits a psychologist and goes to special seminars several times a year. After them, he feels relief for a short time, but then everything returns to normal. He says to his wife: “Even though this doesn’t make me feel any better, at least they understand me.” He tells friends and family that he suffers from depression.

There is one special circumstance in his situation, which we will talk about a little later. And now we have to admit that, unfortunately, this is not an isolated example. There are many such people. Of course, not all of them are in such an outwardly advantageous position, so they often say: I’m sad because I don’t have enough money, or I don’t have my own apartment, or the job is wrong, or the wife is grumpy, or the husband is a drunk, or the car is broken, or no health, and so on and so forth. It seems to them that if only they could change and improve something a little, then the melancholy will go away. They spend a lot of effort on achieving what they think they are missing, but they barely manage to achieve what they want when, after a brief joy, melancholy sets in again. You can look through apartments, places of work, women, cars, friends, hobbies, but nothing can satisfy this all-consuming, hopeless grief once and for all. And the more wealthy a person is, the more, as a rule, it torments him.

Psychologists define this condition as depression. They describe it as a mental disorder that usually occurs after negative events in a person's life, but often develops without any apparent reason. Currently, depression is the most common mental illness.

The main symptoms of depression: depressed mood, regardless of circumstances; loss of interest or pleasure in previously enjoyable activities; fatigue, “loss of strength.”

Additional symptoms: pessimism, worthlessness, anxiety and fear, inability to concentrate and make decisions, thoughts of death and suicide; unstable appetite, disturbed sleep - insomnia or oversleeping.

In order for a diagnosis of depression to be made, the presence of two main and two additional symptoms is sufficient.

If a person finds these symptoms, what should he do? Many people go to psychologists. And what do they get? Firstly, soul-searching conversations, and secondly, antidepressant pills, of which there are a great many. Psychologists say that depression can be successfully treated in most cases. But at the same time they recognize that this is the most common mental illness. There is a contradiction here: if the disease is successfully treated, then why does it not disappear, and the number of patients even increases over time? For example, smallpox has been successfully eradicated, and for a long time there have been no people who fell ill with it. But with depression the picture is exactly the opposite. Why?

Is it because only the manifestations of the disease are treated, while its true foundations are still preserved in the souls of people, like the roots of weeds that again and again produce harmful shoots?

Psychology is a young science. It received official registration only 130 years ago, when in 1879 W. Wundt opened the first laboratory of experimental psychology in Leipzig.

Orthodoxy dates back 2000 years. And it has its own view of the phenomenon that psychology calls “depression.” And it would be a good idea to familiarize yourself with this view for those who are really interested in the possibility of successfully getting rid of depression.

In Orthodoxy, the word “despondency” is used to denote this state of soul. This is a painful condition in which a melancholy mood penetrates the soul, becoming permanent over time, a feeling of loneliness, abandonment by family, friends, all people in general, and even God comes. There are two main types of despondency: despondency with complete depression of spirit, without a feeling of any bitterness, and despondency with an admixture of feelings of anger and irritability.

This is how the ancient holy fathers of the Church talk about despondency.

“Despondency is relaxation of the soul and exhaustion of the mind, a slanderer against God - as if He is unmerciful and unloving of mankind” (Rev. John Climacus).

“Despondency is a grave torment of the soul, an unspeakable torment and a punishment more bitter than any punishment or torment” (St. John Chrysostom).

This condition also occurs among believers, and among non-believers it is even more common. Elder Paisius the Svyatogorets said about them: “A person who does not believe in God and in the future life exposes his immortal soul to eternal condemnation and lives without consolation in this life. Nothing can console him. He is afraid of losing his life, suffers, goes to psychiatrists, who give him pills and advise him to have fun. He takes pills, gets stupid, and then goes back and forth to see the sights and forget the pain.”

And here is how Saint Innocent of Kherson wrote about this: “Do sinners who are not concerned about the salvation of their souls suffer from despondency? Yes, and most often, although, apparently, their life consists mostly of fun and pleasure. Even in all fairness, it can be said that internal discontent and secret melancholy are the constant lot of sinners. For conscience, no matter how much it is drowned out, like a worm, eats away at the heart. An involuntary, deep premonition of future judgment and retribution also disturbs the sinful soul and upsets for it the insane pleasures of sensuality. The most inveterate sinner at times feels that there is emptiness, darkness, ulcer and death inside him. Hence the irrepressible inclination of unbelievers to incessant entertainment, to forget themselves and be beside themselves.

What to say to unbelievers about their despondency? It is good for them; for it serves as a call and encouragement to repentance. And let them not think that any means will be found for them to free themselves from this spirit of despondency until they turn to the path of righteousness and correct themselves and their morals. Vanity pleasures and earthly joys will never fill the emptiness of the heart: our soul is more spacious than the whole world. On the contrary, as time goes on, carnal joys will lose their power to entertain and charm the soul and will turn into a source of mental heaviness and boredom.”

Someone may object: is every sad state really despondency? No, not everything. Sadness and grief, if they are not rooted in a person, are not a disease. They are inevitable on the difficult earthly path, as the Lord warned: “In the world you will have tribulation; but take heart: I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

The Monk John Cassian teaches that “in only one case should sadness be considered useful for us, when it arises from repentance of sins, or from the desire for perfection, or from contemplation of future bliss. The holy apostle says about it: “Sorrow for God’s sake produces unchangeable repentance leading to salvation; but worldly sorrow produces death” (2 Cor. 7:10). But this sadness, which produces repentance towards salvation, is obedient, friendly, humble, meek, pleasant, patient, as if it comes from love for God, and in some way cheerful, encouraging with the hope of its perfection. And demonic sadness can be very severe, impatient, cruel, combined with fruitless sadness and painful despair. Weakening the one subjected to it, it distracts from zeal and saving sorrow, like reckless... So, in addition to the above-mentioned good sorrow, which comes from saving repentance, or from zeal for perfection, or from the desire for future benefits, all sorrow, as worldly and causing death, must be rejected, expelled from our hearts.”

The first consequence of despondency

As Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk rightly notes, from a practical point of view, this “worldly sadness is useless, for it cannot return or give a person anything of what he grieves over.”

But from the spiritual side it also brings great harm. “Avoid despondency, for it destroys all the fruits of asceticism,” the Monk Isaiah the Hermit said about this.

The Monk Isaiah wrote for monks, that is, for those who already know the basic principles of spiritual life, in particular that patiently enduring sorrows and self-restraint for the sake of God brings rich fruit in the form of cleansing the heart from sinful dirt.

How can despondency deprive a person of this fruit?

You can take a comparison from the world of sports. Any athlete has to endure hard work during training. And in wrestling sports you also have to experience real blows. And outside of training, the athlete seriously limits himself to food.

So, he can't eat what he wants, he can't go where he wants, and he has to do things that make him exhausted and cause real pain. However, with all this, if the athlete does not lose the goal for which he endures all this, then his perseverance is rewarded: the body becomes stronger and more resilient, patience tempers it and makes it stronger, more skillful, and as a result, he achieves his goal.

This happens to the body, but the same thing happens to the soul when it endures suffering or restrictions for the sake of God.

An athlete who has lost his goal, ceases to believe that he can achieve results, becomes despondent, training becomes meaningless torture for him, and even if he is forced to continue it, he will no longer become a champion, which means he will lose the fruit of all his labors which he voluntarily or unwittingly endured.

It can be assumed that a similar thing happens to the soul of a person who has fallen into despondency, and this will be fair, since despondency is a consequence of loss of faith, lack of faith. But this is only one side of the matter.

Another is that despondency often causes and is accompanied by murmuring. Murmuring manifests itself in the fact that a person shifts all responsibility for his suffering onto others, and ultimately onto God, while he considers himself to be innocently suffering and constantly complains and scolds those who, in his opinion, are to blame for his suffering - and there are more and more “guilty” people as a person sinks deeper and deeper into the sin of murmuring and becomes embittered.

This is the gravest sin and the greatest stupidity.

The essence of grumbling can be illustrated with a simple example. Here’s a man coming up to the socket, reading the inscription above it: “Don’t stick your fingers in - you’ll get an electric shock,” then he sticks his fingers into the socket - shock! - he flies to the opposite wall and begins to scream: “Oh, what a bad God! Why did He allow me to be electrocuted?! For what?! Why would I do this?! Oh, this God is to blame for everything!”

A person, of course, can start by swearing at the electrician, the outlet, the one who discovered electricity, and so on, but he will certainly end up blaming God. This is the essence of murmuring. This is a sin against God. And the one who grumbles about circumstances means by this that the One who sent these circumstances is to blame, although he could have made them different. That is why among those who grumble there are so many “offended by God,” and vice versa, “those who are offended by God” constantly grumble.

But, the question arises, did God force you to stick your fingers into the socket?

Murmuring reveals spiritual and psychological infantilism: a person refuses to accept responsibility for his actions, refuses to see that what is happening to him is a natural consequence of his actions, his choice, his whim. And instead of admitting the obvious, he begins to look for someone to blame, and the most patient, naturally, turns out to be the extreme one.

And it was precisely with this sin that the vegetation of humanity began. How was it? The Lord said: You can eat from any tree, but don’t eat from this one. There is only one commandment, and how simple it is. But the man went and ate it. God asked him: “Adam, why did you eat?” The Holy Fathers say that if at that moment our forefather had said: “I have sinned, Lord, forgive me, I’m guilty, it won’t happen again,” then there would have been no exile and the whole history of mankind would have been different. But instead Adam says: “What about me? I’m okay, this is all the wife you gave me...” That’s it! This is who first began to shift responsibility for his own actions to God!

Adam and Eve were expelled from paradise not for sin, but for their unwillingness to repent, which manifested itself in grumbling - against their neighbor and against God.

This is a great danger to the soul.

As St. Theophan the Recluse says, “shattered health can also shake salvation when grumbling speeches are heard from the lips of a sick person.” Likewise, the poor, if they are indignant and grumble because of poverty, will not receive forgiveness.

After all, grumbling does not relieve trouble, but only makes it worse, and humble submission to the determinations of God’s Providence and complacency take away the burden of trouble. Therefore, if a person, having encountered difficulties, does not complain, but praises God, then the devil bursts with anger and goes to someone else - to the one who complains, in order to cause him even greater trouble. After all, the more a person grumbles, the more he destroys himself.

The exact impact of these destructions is evidenced by the Monk John Climacus, who compiled the following spiritual portrait of the murmurer: “The murmurer, when given an order, contradicts and is unfit for action; Such a person does not even have a good disposition, because he is lazy, and laziness is inseparable from grumbling. He is resourceful and resourceful; and no one will surpass him in verbosity; he is always slandering one another. The murmurer is gloomy in charitable matters, incapable of receiving strangers, and hypocritical in love.”

It would be useful to give one example here. This story happened in the early 40s of the 19th century in one of the southern provinces of Russia.

One widow, a woman from the upper class, with two young daughters endured great need and grief, began to grumble first at people, and then at God. In this mood she fell ill and died. After the death of their mother, the situation for the two orphans became even more difficult. The eldest of them also could not resist grumbling and also fell ill and died. The younger sister grieved excessively both over the death of her mother and sister and over her extremely helpless situation. Finally, she too became seriously ill. And this girl saw in a spiritual vision heavenly villages filled with indescribable beauty and joy. Then she was shown terrible places of torment, and here she saw her sister and mother, and then heard a voice: “I sent them sorrows in their earthly life for their salvation; If they had endured everything with patience, humility and gratitude, they would have been granted eternal joy in the blessed villages you have seen. But with their grumbling they ruined everything, and for this they are now tormented. If you want to be with them, go and complain.” After this, the girl came to her senses and told those present about the vision.

Here, as in the example of the athlete: whoever sees a goal ahead, believes that it is achievable, and hopes that he personally can achieve it - he can endure hardships, restrictions, labor and pain. A Christian, who endures all those sorrows that an unbeliever or one of little faith presents as reasons for despondency, has a higher and more holy goal than any athlete.

It is known how great the saints are. Their exploits are recognized and respected even by many non-believers. There are different ranks of holiness, but among them the highest are martyrs, that is, those who accepted death for confessing Christ. The next rank after them is confessors. These are those who suffered for Christ, endured torture, but remained faithful to God. Of the confessors, many were thrown into prison, like Saint Theophan the Confessor; others had their hand and tongue cut off, like Saint Maximus the Confessor, or their eyes were torn out, like Saint Paphnutius the Confessor; still others were tortured, like Saint Theodore the Inscribed... And they endured all this for the sake of Christ. Great job!

Many will say that they, ordinary people, are unlikely to be able to do this. But in Orthodoxy there is one important principle that allows every person to become a saint and be numbered among the confessors: if someone glorifies and thanks God in misfortune, he bears the feat of a confessor. Here is how Elder Paisius the Svyatogorets speaks about it:

“Let's imagine that I was born crippled, without arms, without legs. Completely relaxed and can’t move. If I accept this with joy and praise, God will number me among the confessors. So little needs to be done for God to number me among the confessors! When I myself crash my car into a rock and accept what happened with joy, God will count me among the confessors. Well, what more could I want? Even the result of my own carelessness, if I accept it joyfully, God will recognize it.”

But a person who falls into despondency deprives himself of such a great opportunity and goal; it closes his spiritual eyes and plunges him into murmuring, which cannot help a person in any way, but brings a lot of harm.

The second consequence of despondency

This is the first consequence of despondency—murmuring. And if anything could be worse and more dangerous, then this is the second consequence, because of which the Monk Seraphim of Sarov said: “There is nothing worse than sin, and there is nothing more terrible and destructive than the spirit of despondency.”

“Despondency and incessant anxiety can crush the strength of the soul and bring it to extreme exhaustion,” testifies St. John Chrysostom.

This extreme exhaustion of the soul is called despair, and this is the second consequence of despondency, unless a person copes with this sin in time.

Here is how the holy fathers speak about this stage:

“Despair is called the gravest sin of all sins in the world, for this sin rejects the omnipotence of our Lord Jesus Christ, rejects the salvation given by Him - it shows that arrogance previously dominated in this soul and that faith and humility were alien to it” (St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov) )).

“Satan maliciously tries to sadden many in order to plunge them into Gehenna with despair” (Reverend Ephraim the Syrian). “The spirit of despair brings the most severe torment. Despair is the most perfect joy for the devil” (Reverend Mark the Ascetic).

“Sin does not destroy as much as despair” (St. John Chrysostom). “To sin is a human matter, but to despair is satanic and destructive; and the devil himself was cast into destruction by despair, for he did not want to repent” (Rev. Nile of Sinai).

“The devil plunges us into thoughts of despair in order to destroy hope in God, this safe anchor, this support of our life, this guide on the path to Heaven, this salvation of perishing souls... The evil one does everything to instill in us the thoughts of despair. He will no longer need efforts and labors for our defeat, when those who have fallen and lie down do not want to resist him... and the soul, once despairing of its salvation, then no longer feels how it strives into the abyss” (St. John Chrysostom).

Despair already directly leads to death. It precedes suicide, the most terrible sin, which immediately sends a person to hell - a place far from God, where there is no light of God, and no joy, only darkness and eternal despair. Suicide is the only sin that cannot be forgiven, since the suicider cannot repent.

“During the free suffering of the Lord, two fell away from the Lord - Judas and Peter: one sold, and the other denied three times. Both had equal sin, both sinned grievously, but Peter was saved and Judas perished. Why weren’t both saved and why weren’t both killed? Some will say that Peter was saved by repenting. But the Holy Gospel says that Judas also repented: “... having repented, he returned the thirty pieces of silver to the high priests and elders, saying: I have sinned by betraying innocent blood” (Matthew 27: 3-4); however, his repentance was not accepted, but Petrovo was accepted; Peter was saved, but Judas died. Why is this so? But because Peter repented with hope and hope for the mercy of God, but Judas repented with despair. This abyss is terrible! Without a doubt, it needs to be filled with hope for God’s mercy” (St. Demetrius of Rostov).

“Judas the traitor, having come to despair, “hanged himself” (Matthew 27: 5). He knew the power of sin, but did not know the greatness of God's mercy. This is what many do today and follow Judas. They recognize the multitude of their sins, but do not recognize the multitude of God’s mercies, and so they despair of their salvation. Christian! the heavy and final blow of the devil is despair. He represents God as merciful before sin, and as just after sin. Such is his cunning” (St. Tikhon of Zadonsk).

Thus, tempting a person to sin, Satan instills in him the thoughts: “God is good, He will forgive,” and after the sin he tries to plunge him into despair, instilling completely different thoughts: “God is just, and He will punish you for what you have done.” . The devil inspires a person that he will never be able to get out of the pit of sin, will not be pardoned by God, will not be able to receive forgiveness and reform.

Despair is the death of hope. If it occurs, then only a miracle can save a person from suicide.

How despondency manifests itself and its products

Dejection manifests itself even in a person’s facial expressions and behavior: a facial expression that is called sad, drooping shoulders, a drooping head, a lack of interest in the environment and one’s condition. There may be a persistent decrease in blood pressure. Also characterized by lethargy and inertia of the soul. The good mood of others causes bewilderment, irritation and obvious or hidden protest in the sad person.

St. John Chrysostom said that “a soul overwhelmed by sadness cannot speak or listen to anything healthy,” and St. Neil of Sinai testified: “Just as a sick person cannot bear a heavy burden, so a sad person is unable to carefully fulfill God’s works; for this one’s bodily strength is in disarray, but this one has no spiritual strength left.”

According to the Monk John Cassian, such a state of a person “does not allow one to perform prayers with the usual zeal of the heart, nor to engage in sacred reading with benefit, does not allow one to be calm and meek with brothers; makes one impatient and incapable of all the duties of work or worship, intoxicates feeling, crushes and suppresses with painful despair. Like a moth to clothing and a worm to a tree, so sadness harms a person’s heart.”

Further, the holy father lists the manifestations of this sinful painful state: “From despondency are born discontent, cowardice, irritability, idleness, drowsiness, restlessness, vagrancy, inconstancy of mind and body, talkativeness... Whoever it begins to overcome, it will force him to remain lazy, careless, without any spiritual success; then he will make you fickle, idle, and careless in every matter.”

These are the manifestations of despondency. And despair has even more severe manifestations. A person who is desperate, that is, who has lost hope, often indulges in drug addiction, drunkenness, fornication and many other obvious sins, believing himself to be already lost anyway. The extreme manifestation of despair, as already mentioned, is suicide.

Every year, a million people around the globe commit suicide. It’s scary to think about this number, which exceeds the population of many countries.

In our country, the highest number of suicides was in 1995. Compared to this indicator, by 2008 it decreased by one and a half times, but Russia still remains among the countries with the highest suicide rate.

Indeed, more suicides occur in poor and disadvantaged countries than in rich and economically stable ones. This is not surprising, since in the former there are more reasons for despondency. But still, even the richest countries and the richest people are not free from this misfortune. Because under the external well-being, the soul of an unbeliever often feels even more acutely the painful emptiness and constant dissatisfaction, as was the case with that successful businessman whom we remembered at the beginning of the article.

But he can be saved from the terrible fate that befalls a million people every year by the special circumstance that he has and which many of those unfortunate people who drive themselves to the point of suicide in despair are deprived.

Where do despondency and its offspring come from?

Dejection arises from distrust of God, so we can say that it is the fruit of lack of faith.

But what, in turn, is distrust of God and lack of faith? It does not appear by itself, out of nowhere. It is a consequence of the fact that a person trusts himself too much, because he has too high an opinion of himself. And the more a person trusts himself, the less he trusts God. And trusting yourself more than God is the clearest sign of pride.

The first root of despondency is pride

Therefore, according to the Monk Anatoly of Optina, “despair is a product of pride. If you expect everything bad from yourself, then you will never despair, but only humble yourself and repent peacefully.” “Despair is an accuser of unbelief and selfishness in the heart: he who believes in himself and trusts in himself will not rise from sin by repentance” (St. Theophan the Recluse).

As soon as something happens in the life of a proud man that exposes his powerlessness and unfounded trust in himself, he immediately becomes despondent and despairs.

And this can happen for a variety of reasons: from offended pride or from something that is not done our way; also from vanity, when a person sees that his equals enjoy greater advantages than he; or from the constraining circumstances of life, as the Monk Ambrose of Optina testifies.

A humble person who believes in God knows that these unpleasant circumstances test and strengthen his faith, just as the muscles of an athlete are strengthened during training; he knows that God is near and that He will not test him more than he can bear. Such a person, who trusts in God, never loses heart even in difficult circumstances.

The proud man, who relied on himself, as soon as he finds himself in difficult circumstances that he himself is unable to change, immediately becomes despondent, thinking that if he cannot correct what happened, then no one can correct it; and at the same time he is sad and irritated because these circumstances have shown him his own weakness, which a proud man cannot bear calmly.

Precisely because despondency and despair are a consequence and, in a certain sense, a demonstration of unbelief in God, one of the saints said: “In a moment of despair, know that it is not the Lord who leaves you, but you the Lord!”

So, pride and lack of faith are one of the main causes of despondency and despair, but still far from the only ones.

St. John Climacus speaks of two main types of despair, arising from different reasons: “There is despair that comes from a multitude of sins and aggravation of conscience and unbearable sadness, when the soul, due to the multitude of these ulcers, plunges and, from the severity of them, drowns in the depths of hopelessness. But there is another type of despair, which comes from pride and exaltation, when the fallen think that they did not deserve their fall... The first is cured by abstinence and trustworthiness; and from the latter - humility and not judging anyone.”

The second root of despondency is dissatisfaction of passions

So, as for the second type of despair, which comes from pride, we have already shown above what its mechanism is. What is meant by the first type, “coming from a multitude of sins”?

This type of despondency, according to the holy fathers, comes when any passion has not found satisfaction. As the Monk John Cassian writes, despondency “is born from the dissatisfaction of the desire for some kind of self-interest, when someone sees that he has lost the hope born in his mind to receive some things.”

For example, a glutton suffering from peptic ulcers or diabetes will be depressed because he cannot enjoy the desired amount of food or the variety of its taste; a stingy person - because he cannot avoid spending money, and so on. Despondency is accompanied by almost any unsatisfied sinful desires, if a person does not renounce them for one reason or another.

Therefore, St. Neil of Sinai says: “Whoever is bound by sadness is overcome by passions, because sadness is a consequence of failure in carnal desire, and desire is associated with every passion. He who has conquered passions is not overcome by sadness. Just as a sick person is visible by his complexion, so a passionate person is revealed by sadness. He who loves the world will grieve much. And whoever does not care about what is in the world will always have fun.”

As despondency increases in a person, specific desires lose their meaning, and what remains is a state of mind that seeks out precisely those desires that cannot be achieved, precisely to feed the despondency itself.

Then, according to the testimony of the Monk John Cassian, “we are subjected to such grief that we cannot receive even our kind persons and relatives with usual friendliness, and no matter what they say in a decent conversation, everything seems untimely and unnecessary to us, and we do not give a pleasant answer to them, when all the bends of our heart are filled with bilious bitterness.”

That’s why despondency is like a swamp: the longer a person plunges into it, the harder it is for him to get out of it.

Other roots of despondency

The reasons that arouse despondency in non-believers and people of little faith have been described above. However, despondency attacks, although less successfully, on believers. But for different reasons. Saint Innocent of Kherson writes in detail about these reasons:

“There are many sources of despondency - both external and internal.

Firstly, in souls that are pure and close to perfection, despondency can occur from their abandonment for a time by the grace of God. The state of grace is the most blissful. But so that the one in this state does not imagine that it comes from his own perfections, grace sometimes withdraws, leaving his favorite to himself. Then the same thing happens to the holy soul as if midnight had come in the middle of the day: darkness, coldness, deadness and at the same time despondency appear in the soul.

Secondly, despondency, as people experienced in spiritual life testify, comes from the action of the spirit of darkness. Unable to deceive the soul on the way to heaven with the blessings and pleasures of the world, the enemy of salvation turns to the opposite means and brings despondency into it. In this state, the soul is like a traveler suddenly caught in darkness and fog: it sees neither what is ahead nor what is behind; doesn't know what to do; loses vigor, falls into indecision.

The third source of despondency is our fallen, unclean, weakened nature, deadened by sin. As long as we act out of self-love, are filled with the spirit of peace and passions, until then this nature in us is cheerful and alive. But change the direction of life, get off the broad path of the world onto the narrow path of Christian self-sacrifice, take up repentance and self-correction - immediately an emptiness will open inside you, spiritual impotence will be revealed, and heartfelt deadness will be felt. Until the soul has time to be filled with a new spirit of love for God and neighbor, then the spirit of despondency, to a greater or lesser extent, is inevitable for it. Sinners are most subject to this kind of despondency after their conversion.

The fourth, ordinary source of spiritual despondency, is lack, especially cessation of activity. Having ceased to use its strengths and abilities, the soul loses vitality and vigor, becomes sluggish; the very previous activities contradict her: discontent and boredom appear.

Dejection can also occur from various sad events in life, such as: the death of relatives and loved ones, loss of honor, property and other unfortunate adventures. All this, according to the law of our nature, is associated with unpleasantness and sadness for us; but, according to the law of nature itself, this sadness should decrease over time and disappear when a person does not indulge in sadness. Otherwise, a spirit of despondency will be formed.

Dejection can also occur from certain thoughts, especially gloomy and heavy ones, when the soul is too indulged in such thoughts and looks at objects not in the light of faith and the Gospel. So, for example, a person can easily become despondent from frequent reflection on the untruth that prevails in the world, on how the righteous here grieve and suffer, while the wicked are exalted and blissful.

Finally, the source of mental despondency can be various painful conditions of the body, especially some of its members.”

How to deal with despondency and its consequences

The great Russian saint, Venerable Seraphim of Sarov, said: “You need to remove despondency from yourself and try to have a joyful spirit, not a sad one. According to Sirach, “sadness has killed many, but there is no benefit in it (Sir. 31:25).”

But how exactly can you remove despondency from yourself?

Let us remember the unhappy young businessman mentioned at the beginning of the article, who for many years could not do anything about the despondency that gripped him. From his own experience he was convinced of the truth of the words of St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov): “Earthly entertainments only drown out sorrow, but do not destroy it: they fell silent, and again sorrow, rested and, as if strengthened by rest, begins to act with greater force.”

Now it’s time to tell you in more detail about that special circumstance in the life of this businessman, which we mentioned earlier.

His wife is a deeply religious person, and she is free from that gloomy, impenetrable melancholy that shrouds her husband’s life. He knows that she is a believer, that she goes to church and reads Orthodox books, and that she does not have “depression.” But in all the years that they were together, it never occurred to him to connect these facts together and try to go to church himself, read the Gospel... He still regularly goes to a psychologist, receiving short-term relief, but not healing.

How many people are exhausted from this mental illness, not wanting to believe that healing is very close. And this businessman, unfortunately, is one of them. We would like to write that one fine day he became interested in faith, which gives his wife the strength not to succumb to despondency and maintain the pure joy of life. But, alas, this has not happened yet. And until then, he will remain among those unfortunates about whom St. Demetrius of Rostov said: “The righteous have no sadness that does not turn into joy, just as sinners have no joy that does not turn into sadness.”

But if suddenly this businessman turned to the treasury of the Orthodox faith, what would he learn about his condition and what methods of healing would he receive?

He would have learned, among other things, that there is a spiritual reality in the world and there are spiritual beings at work: good ones - angels and evil ones - demons. The latter, in their malice, strive to cause as much harm as possible to a person’s soul, turning him away from God and from the path to salvation. These are enemies who seek to kill a person both spiritually and physically. For their purposes, they use different methods, among them the most common is instilling certain thoughts and feelings in people. Including thoughts of despondency and despair.

The trick is that demons try to convince a person that these are his own thoughts. A person who is an unbeliever or has little faith is completely unprepared for such a temptation and does not know how to relate to such thoughts; he actually accepts them as his own. And, following them, he comes closer and closer to death - in the same way, a traveler in the desert, mistaking a mirage for a true vision, begins to chase him and goes further and further into the depths of the lifeless desert.

A believer and spiritually experienced person knows about the existence of the enemy and about his tricks, knows how to recognize his thoughts and cut them off, thereby successfully confronting demons and defeating them.

A sad person is not the one who experiences thoughts of despondency from time to time, but the one who is overcome by them and does not fight. And vice versa, free from despondency is not the one who has never experienced such thoughts - there are no such people on earth, but the one who fights with them and defeats them.

Saint John Chrysostom said: “Excessive despondency is more harmful than any demonic action, because even if demons rule in someone, they rule through despondency.”

But if a person is deeply struck by the spirit of despondency, if the demons have gained such power in him, then it means that the person himself has done something that gave them such power over him.

It was already said above that one of the reasons for despondency among non-believers is the lack of faith in God and, accordingly, the lack of a living connection with Him, the source of all joy and good. But lack of faith is rarely something innate to a person.

Unrepentant sin kills faith in a person. If a person sins and does not want to repent and renounce sin, then sooner or later he inevitably loses faith.

Conversely, faith is resurrected in sincere repentance and confession of sins.

Non-believers deprive themselves of the two most effective ways to combat depression - repentance and prayer. “Prayer and constant meditation on God serve to destroy despondency,” writes St. Ephraim the Syrian.

It is worth giving a list of the main means of combating despondency that a Christian has. Saint Innocent of Kherson speaks about them:

“No matter what causes despondency, prayer is always the first and last remedy against it. In prayer, a person stands directly in the face of God: but if, standing against the sun, one cannot help but be illuminated by light and feel warmth, much less spiritual light and warmth are the direct consequences of prayer. In addition, prayer attracts grace and help from above, from the Holy Spirit, and where the Comforter Spirit is, there is no place for despondency, there sorrow itself will be turned into sweetness.

Reading or listening to the word of God, especially the New Testament, is also a powerful remedy against despondency. It was not in vain that the Savior called to Himself all those who labored and were burdened, promising them peace and joy. He did not take this joy with Him to heaven, but left it entirely in the Gospel for all those who mourn and are discouraged in spirit. He who is imbued with the spirit of the Gospel ceases to grieve joylessly: for the spirit of the Gospel is the spirit of peace, tranquility and consolation.

Divine services, and especially the holy sacraments of the Church, are also a great medicine against the spirit of despondency, for in the church, as the house of God, there is no place for it; The sacraments are all directed against the spirit of darkness and the weaknesses of our nature, especially the sacrament of confession and communion. By laying aside the burden of sins through confession, the soul feels lightness and cheerfulness, and by receiving the flesh of the Lord’s body and blood in the Eucharist, it feels revived and joyful.

Conversations with people rich in the Christian spirit are also a remedy against despondency. In an interview, we generally emerge more or less from the gloomy inner depths into which the soul plunges from despondency; In addition, through the exchange of thoughts and feelings in an interview, we borrow from those talking to us a certain strength and vitality, which is so necessary in a state of despondency.

Thinking about comforting objects. For a thought in a sad state either does not act at all, or circles around sad objects. To get rid of despondency, you need to force yourself to think about the opposite.

Engaging yourself in physical labor also drives away despondency. Let him begin to work, even reluctantly; let him continue the work, although without success: from movement, first the body comes to life, and then the spirit, and you will feel vigor; in the midst of work, the thought will quietly turn away from objects that make me sad, and this already means a lot in a state of despondency.”

Prayer

Why is prayer the most effective remedy against despondency? For many reasons.

Firstly, when we pray during times of despondency, we thereby fight against the demon who is trying to plunge us into this despondency. He does this so that we despair and move away from God, this is his plan; when we turn to God in prayer, we destroy the tricks of the enemy, showing that we did not fall into his trap, did not surrender to him, but, on the contrary, we use his intrigues as a reason to strengthen the connection with God that the demon tried to break .

Secondly, since despondency in most cases is a consequence of our pride, prayer helps to heal from this passion, that is, it pulls out the very root of despondency from the ground. After all, every humble prayer asking God for help - even such a short one as “Lord, have mercy!” - means that we recognize our weakness and limitations and begin to trust God more than ourselves. Therefore, each such prayer, even pronounced through force, is a blow to pride, similar to the blow of a huge weight, which destroys the walls of dilapidated houses.

And finally, thirdly, and most importantly: prayer helps because it is an appeal to God, Who alone can truly help in any situation, even the most hopeless one; the only one who is able to give real consolation and joy and freedom from despondency. "

The Lord helps us in sorrows and temptations. He does not free us from them, but gives us the strength to easily endure them, not even to notice them.

If we are with Christ and in Christ, then no sorrow will confuse us, and joy will fill our heart so that we will rejoice both during sorrows and during temptations” (Rev. Nikon of Optina).

Some advise praying to the guardian angel, who is always invisibly next to us, ready to support us. Others advise reading an akathist to the Sweetest Jesus. There is also advice to read the prayer “Rejoice to the Virgin Mary” many times in a row, with the hope that the Lord will certainly give peace to our soul for the sake of the prayers of the Mother of God.

But the advice of Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov) deserves special attention, who recommended repeating such words and prayers as often as possible during times of despondency.

"Thank God for everything".

"God! I surrender to Your Holy will! Be Your Will with me."

"God! I thank You for everything that You have been pleased to send to me.”

“I accept what is worthy according to my deeds; remember me, O Lord, in Thy Kingdom.”

The Holy Fathers noted that it is especially difficult for a person to pray in despondency. Therefore, not everyone will be able to fulfill large prayer rules at once, but everyone can say those short prayers that St. Ignatius indicated, it is not difficult.

As for the reluctance to pray in despondency and despair, we need to understand that this is not our feeling, but a demon instilled in us specifically for the purpose of depriving us of the weapon with which we can defeat him.

Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk speaks about this reluctance to pray when despondent: “I advise you the following: convince yourself and force yourself to pray and to every good deed, even though you don’t want to. Just as people whip a lazy horse to make it walk or run, so we need to force ourselves to do everything, and especially to pray. Seeing such work and diligence, the Lord will give desire and zeal.”

Of the four phrases proposed by St. Ignatius, two are phrases of thanksgiving. He himself explains why they are given: “In particular, thanks to God, sorrowful thoughts are driven away; When such thoughts invade, thanksgiving is pronounced in simple words, with attention and often - until the heart brings peace. There is no sense in sorrowful thoughts: they do not relieve sorrow, they do not bring any help, they only upset the soul and body. This means that they are from demons and you need to drive them away from yourself... Thanksgiving first calms the heart, then brings it consolation, and subsequently brings heavenly joy - a guarantee, a foretaste of eternal joy.”

In times of despair, demons inspire a person with the idea that there is no salvation for him and his sins cannot be forgiven. This is the greatest demonic lie!

“Let no one say: “I have sinned a lot, there is no forgiveness for me.” Whoever says this forgets about the One who came to earth for the sake of the suffering and said: “...there is joy among the angels of God even over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10) and also: “I came to call not the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32),” teaches St. Ephraim the Syrian. While a person is alive, it is truly possible for him to repent and receive forgiveness of sins, no matter how serious they may be, and, having received forgiveness, transform his life, fill it with joy and light. And it is precisely this opportunity that demons try to deprive a person of, instilling in him thoughts of despair and suicide, because after death it is no longer possible to repent.

So “none of the people, even those who have reached the extreme degree of evil, should despair, even if they have acquired the skill and entered into the nature of evil itself” (St. John Chrysostom).

Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk explains that the test of despondency and despair makes a Christian more careful and experienced in spiritual life. And “the longer” such a temptation continues, “the greater the benefit it will bring to the soul.”

An Orthodox Christian knows that just as much as the sorrow of all other temptations is greater, those who endure sorrow with patience will receive a greater reward. And in the fight against despondency, the greatest crown is bestowed. Therefore, “let us not lose heart when sorrows befall us, but, on the contrary, let us rejoice more that we are following the path of the saints,” advises St. Ephraim the Syrian.

God is always next to each of us, and He does not allow demons to strike a person with despondency as much as they would like. He gave us freedom, and He makes sure that no one takes this gift from us. So at any moment a person can turn to God for help and repent.

If a person does not do this, it is his choice; the demons themselves are not able to force him to do so.

In conclusion, I would like to quote a prayer composed by St. Demetrius of Rostov just for people suffering from despondency:

God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Father of mercies and God of all consolation, who comforts us in all our sorrow! Comfort everyone who is grieving, saddened, despairing, or overwhelmed by the spirit of despondency. After all, every person was created by Thy hands, wise by wisdom, exalted by Thy right hand, glorified by Thy goodness... But now we are visited by Thy Fatherly punishment, short-term sorrows! “You compassionately punish those you love, and you show mercy generously and look upon their tears!” So, having punished, have mercy and quench our sorrow; turn sorrow into joy and dissolve our sorrow with joy; Surprise us with Thy mercy, O Lord, wondrous in counsels, Incomprehensible in destinies, Lord, and blessed in Thy deeds forever, amen.

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