Power of Discernment

Question:
What is a man to do when the demon takes the form of an angel of light and tries to seduce him?

 

Answer:
In this case a man needs great power of discernment to discriminate rightly between good and evil.  So in your heedlessness, do not be carried away too quickly by what you see, but be weighty (not easy to move) and, carefully testing everything, accept the good and reject the evil.  Always you must test and examine, and only afterwards believe.

 

Know that the actions of grace are manifest and the demon, in spite of his transformations, cannot produce them, namely, meekness, friendliness, humility, hatred of the world, cutting off passion and lust - which are the effects of grace.

 

Works of the demons are: arrogance, conceit, intimidation and all evil. By such actions you will be able to discern whether the light shining in your heart is of God or of Satan.

 

Lettuce looks like mustard, and vinegar in color like wine; but when you taste them the palate discerns and defines the difference between each.  In the same way the soul, if it has discernment, can discriminate by mental taste the gifts of the Holy Spirit from the fantasies and illusions of the Deceiver Satan.

 

 

 

From the Instructions to Hesychasts of St. Gregory of Sinai
Writings from the Philokalia on Prayer of the Heart
translated by E. Khadloubovsky and G. E. H. Palmer
Faber and Faber, 1951 (Tenth printing, 1983), London