A great reminder.
I have been besieged by so many problems lately; I don’t know where to turn. I have been thinking it could be the devil trying to bring my soul down like a zebra being brought down by hyenas. I’ve been putting it all in God’s hands, but this is a good reminder to beg Mary for help too. Thanks!
This reminds me of the great invocation in the Akathist: “O Trauma, much dirged of demons!”
I think I’ll get my Akathist book off the shelf and shout out a little. Basement Cat is after me today.
“How many myriads there are of evil demons and how numberless are their varied wiles! . . . They urge us to speak evil of one another, or, speaking sweet words, to conceal bitterness in our hearts, to criticize the outer aspect of our brother, while we harbor a wild beast in ourselves, to quarrel among ourselves and oppose one another, wishing to have our own way and appear as the most upright. Every man who enjoys sinful thoughts falls willingly when he welcomes (as in sympathy with) the suggestions of the enemies and when he expects to justify himself solely by his visible deeds, while within he is the abode of the spirit of wickedness, who teaches him every evil. The body of such a man will be full of shameful uncleanness - for he becomes a prey to devilish passions, which he does not repulse from himself. Demons are not visible bodies, but we become their bodies when our souls accept dark thoughts from them. For, having accepted these thoughts, we accept the demons themselves and make them bodily manifest.” +Anthony the Great, The Philokalia