Evil thoughts and bad habits - how to break free
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 พ.ค. 2024
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The video 'Evil thoughts and bad habits - how to break free' was recorded by Fr Seraphim (Aldea) at Iona Monastery (The Orthodox Monastery of the Dormition of the Mother of God and All Saints of Iona), on the Isle of Iona.
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🌳🍎🕰🕯I ♥MULL MONESTARY 🕯🎤📻⛑📿🎆🎀🫖☕🍞
The Jesus prayer is my shield from the arrows of unwanted thoughts.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God; have mercy on me, a sinner.
What a needed message for our present times. When psychologists and psychoterapists encourage us to acknowledge our negative feelings and thoughts and accept them as an integral and perfectly normal part of our being. When we are encouraged to not 'label' thoughts as good nor bad, but just accept everything as 'serving us' and having a purpose for our growth, you clarified that it's actually the opposite. Modern therapy is all about digging into our past, reliving the traumatic episodes (which are often the result of sin), bringing to the surface deep, hidden, unprocessed emotions and making peace with it all. The only real therapy is, as you say, living with Christ, and asking for Him to heal us and restore us. Thank you, father! You are a beacon of light in this world full of traps and illusions.
"When a bad or gloomy thought, fear or temptation threatens to afflict you, don't fight it to try and get rid of it. Open your arms to Christ's love and He will embrace you, then it will vanish by itself. " - St. Porphyrios
Hello, im a catechumen from Norway and im becoming Orthodox during easter. I appreciate your videos a lot, youve been a massive support for me.
Glory be to God, dear one! May Christ bless and embrace you, and may you find the strength and faith to hold on to Him, even when the valleys of death seem to surround you from all sides. There is infinite Beauty and Love in Him - put it in your heart, from the very beginning, to WAIT for the Lord. Please keep us all at the Monasteries on Mull and Iona in your prayers.
Catholic from Italy here. God bless you father! God bless us all!
"He has already won" That is powerful.
I suffer from PTSD, and I find if I fight this fear with faith, it works every time. I have to do this many times a day, especially these days. Put your faith in Jesus. Jesus, I trust in you, Jesus I trust in you. Jesus, I trust in you. The chaplet of Divine Mercy, the rosary, the eucharist and studying the word of God. Thank You father Seraphim. God Bless You. Let Christ fight your battles because in him the battle is already won. The rosary works every time. St Michael, the archangel defend us in battle..
"Run away with courage" I'll take that, thank you, Father
You'll see, dear Miruna, if you turn away from evil and invest yourself in creating a closeness with God, rather than invest your energy in fighting evil yourself, you will find peace. Be blessed and be safe, dear one
Thank you, Father! This is a constant struggle.
Please pray for me, everyone. I am a relatively new convert to Catholicism from evangelical protestantism. However, for the past 8 months I've been studying/praying about Orthodoxy. I want to ensure I am doing the right thing. My fear is that I become one of those typically modern people who jumps from one church to another.
I fully understand that fear, dear Dave. I understand and respect it. It is natural for a protestant person to get to Orthodoxy with a 'station' in Catholicism, because Orthodoxy is virtually unknown to the Protestant world. That being said, try to follow what is in your heart: do not hurry your conversion, neither delay it if it becomes clear that this is the way forward. Be prayerful in your study, and ask Christ to guide you, so you do not end up guiding yourself. Wait for as long as necessary, but not a minute more. May Christ guide you to His Light, my dear one.
I relate, I did some personal study of Orthodoxy as I was being catechized into the Roman Catholic church. short story I was Catholic for 5 months as I found to have enjoyed, more importantly found the fullness of truth in the Orthodox Church. Take your time, it's worth it
I was in the same situation, then I heard from my RC canonicus about "Come & See". Two years later I went, saturday evening vigil, I was a little early, the woman who sold the candles that evening give me a short introduction, I got myself a spot in a dark corner, and then the vigil started.......... I was blown of my feet, literally, I wept almost all 3,5 hours, I was home at last.
Glory to God for his Holy Church where He abides among his people. Amin, amin, amin.
Timely message, Father.
“Wasting months to even years of our time trying to fight it” who’s here because of pornography.
This video feels like it was made for me, I try so hard to fight it and end up losing the fight ever time
Found this today, oh father what a great timing. I'm implementing this now, we shouldnt be afraid of unning away from the devil and run towards Christ himself
I am Catholic and I like your advices, I trust you more than many nowadays Catholic priests.
I've been trapped in my anger for longer than I can remember. Thank you for your message Father. Your caring towards us is a blessing.❤
Anger 😠 at stuff I’ve experienced too especially things that are truly wrong and hypocritical. Ugh ! Then, just to picture the anger as a blob. You put the blob in a sack and imagine yourself placing it at the feet of our Lord. He is the one and only who can provide peace to our ❤. Maybe you have to fill a bunch of sacks with lots and lots of blobs. He knows our pain. Hug 🤗 ❤
I needed to hear his. Thank you, my brother. God bless you.
God bless you Father
This Video was very timely for me as I just woke up from one of the spiritual attacks which has been happening to me for the past few months .Dear father I thank God for for your advice.
Hi folks ❤, may the Lord bless us all amen 🙏
“Do not focus on your old sins, lest the war will be renewed on you.”
+St. Anthony the Great
Thank you, I really needed this. All glory to God amen☦️☝🏽✝️ God bless.
Thank you so much, Father. I've been in a deep struggle, and without your words, I never would have learned how horribly I've been approaching and dealing with it.
❤ A method that helps me is similar: the evil thought 💭 is a cloud ☁️ that passes by, nothing more. I interrupt a repetitive thought with singing 🎵. I sing to God a favorite comforting song like Be Still My Soul or Praise God from whom All Blessings Flow. I have several. Singing helps me return to joy. Singing lightens my heart and my grief disappears.
Psalm 91 is always there to further comfort me. ❤
Thank you and be blessed in Christ, Dear Father Seraphim, for being vis-a-vis us in order to draw us in to the divine magnet of Christ's great glory intended to be contemplated by man through the inspired, godly communication and communion in the time of human life! Be blessed for bringing us close and closer to Christ's love and power and to the healing order of The Trinity which restores life. You words reach us through the shared gift of your videos shared with us for the three years or so now - in such profound openness of heart for the glorification of God !
Thank God for your sacrificial actions! May you rejoice in the growth to fruition of the Word-seeds you sow!
Truly the Holy Spirit works through you, Father Seraphim Aldea.
I am trying to quit watching pornography and today i had a relapse. This brought me back into sanity.
I know Book of Psalms: 116 by heart. I will recite it.
God bless you father seraphim
May we all be blessed, dear one.
Thank you for this video, Father Seraphim. There is so much wisdom in this. I love the humility and simplicity of the idea that the only escape from sin is to run straight to Christ like little children. Thank you for your prayers.
You ask if this may have reached or not to people.
I tell you what my beloved brother, I woke up in the morning and fell on my knees asking the Lord to forgive me my sins and my weakness against the evil one and his polluted thoughts that puts in my head. I told the Lord that I'm lost and I need His guidance. Next I felt His presence and as soon as I left home and go to work This video popped up first in my phone as a recommendation to watch. And then, you explained so perfectly like I never heard before. The way you approach this I have never heard or thought. God bless you and yes, I'll pray for you and even donate from heart to your monastery and all of us should do doesn't matter the amount but the pure hearted intentions. Keep the fresh videos up, I'll watch all of them
Speaking to my soul🙏🏽🌹💙😇
By the grace of God, dear one. Please keep us in your prayers.
I will for sure
Father, thank you so much for today's "sermon/ lecture". For me it was perfectly timed, and has given me exactly the help and support that I need, as I continue my journey as a hopefully devout Orthodox Christian. Glory to God
Listened, received and appreciated 🙏🏽YES it reached me 🙏🏽💜Thanku
To pray indirectly through Psalms! That's brilliant! Thank you Fr. Seraphim.
Thank you Father for this great message, this is exactly what I needed to hear as a catechumen coming from a Protestant background. May the Lord have mercy on us all! ☦️
I have spent most of my adult life in the Protestant world, dear one. I am constantly growing in my love and compassion for you, and I pray Christ will give you the patience and the strength to slowly grow in your faith. It will take time to convert your mind, dear one. The heart reacts faster to the Beauty of Christ, but the mind remains captive in its old ways for a long time - have patience, remain humble, stay open to change and growth in your faith, and all will be well. Be blessed, my dear one, be blessed.
IN MY LIFE THE LORD HAS BROUGHT ME HERE. YOU ARE A BLESSING!
MY HOPE IS IN CHRIST WHEN THE EVIL ONE PUTS NEGATIVE THOUGHTS IN MY MIND, TELLNG ME GOD DOES NOT LOVE ME.
IN CHRIST I FIND HOPE, HE ALONE HELPS ME.
MY PSALM OF COMFORT, IT BRINGS PEACE.
Psalms 28:7-8
7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him.
8 The LORD is the strength of his people, a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.
May God bless all of you and the monasteries, Father.
Thank you for your kindness and prayers, dear one. May Christ return your good wishes upon yourself and your beloved ones a hundredfold.
Thank for your powerful words. They spoke to me deeply.
🙏
Fill oneself with the Holy Spirit when confronted with evil.
@mullmonastery Thank you so much Father, that was just what my heart needed to hear. Have been struggling with Anxiety & Depression and needed to be reminded to run to Christ's Love. God bless you all
Thank you Father. Very helpful and timely. Thank you and God bless you.
I love your beautiful videos full of wisdom
Glory be to God that you can find something useful in the, dear one. Please keep us in your prayers.
Blessings, Father. This message spoke to me, directly! I am so grateful for your teaching on this subject. I was doing everything wrong! I will now work at correcting the mistake and working on the battle properly!
Dear Father..... I pray to God to bless you and your community.
This idea of not engaging with the bad thoughts is what I desperately needed to hear. I will work on this. This is the only way to deal with my problem Resentment and Anger. Thank you for simplifying our task as followers of Christ.
I remember when I first started believing and had these intrusive thoughts. The most useful thing for me was identifying Them and knowing that they were not from me. So this message just being here and exposing the thoughts as they are is probably quite helpfull. Then it was so much easier to ignore them.
Thank you for this! Beautiful message and powerful! Very much in need for many, myself included. May the Lord bless you!
I complete my RCIA at Easter. Your videos are a true inspiration and the Holy Spirit is very clearly deeply within you. May He bless your spirit brother
Amen 🙏😊
Thank you so much for your advice, God bless you Father ❤
Today is Ash Wednesday, also 14 February, St. Valentine's Day according to the secular world. The Gospel of today really Jesus is telling us how to run to him. I went to Mass this morning. The homily I heard was very helpful. Prayer ai asking, fasting is begging and in almsgiving you receive from God all kinds of graces. The 3 weapons against evil we are given by the church as we prepare for Easter. Also, I was reminded this morning, by another very wise priest, that our ego is always there. This is the most difficult. From there comes my pride. Hope this helps people struggling like me. Courage, God loves me as I am, even with this very large ego I have. Thanks Fr. Seraphim for preparing my heart so I could hear these messages this morning. I'm praying for you. Please pray for me. My Dad's anniversary yesterday. We miss him so much. Addition. Fasting is not just from food, but anything at all. The fruit of the tree that is forbidden. Our scripture doesn't say apple. It says fruit. Jesus, the new Adam. Mary the new Eve, who help us run away from this tempting fruit.
Father, your message is well received by me, and the timing is impeccable. Speaking for myself, I have been wrestling so many wicked thoughts for quite a long time for years, and it's a real struggle. Your words today give me a pause and to regroup for a better way of dealing with this better. I am going to begin cutting off the sources of these thoughts and temptations, literally run away. This is the best advice yet. Thank you and God bless. I would like to add that your love for people is truly felt through these videos, your caring is touching. Thank you. Patrick
Boy I needed this today. All day long I was beating myself up for having such negative, nasty thoughts.
Thank you so much! God bless.
New glasses Dear Father! 🤓😎 🙏
I knew someone would notice... Yes, apparently I am now even older, and therefore even more blind, so new glasses were required. I am changing my old ones into reading glasses (I am like my grand-dad now, I have several pairs!) and I shall get back to my old frames as soon as I get them!
One way I look at what you are saying, I think of it as not running away in battle, but instead, retreating to gather your forces in Christ
Wonderful message
Thank You.
I do admit that I pray a lot, but I'm just human and evil temptations hit me from time to time and I do my best to resist whether its not to get angry, swear, or whatever. I came up with a sort of bumper sticker slogan that I keep repeating to myself and it appears to repel evil temptations. It goes like this, "MY FAITH! - MY SHIELD!".
❤father
Thank you… so bad this days with dreams, I had no idea what to do… ☦️😞❤️
Im so greatful to find this channel ❤❤❤❤😊 thankyou jesusxxxxxxx
Thank you so much. Jesus bless you.
Multumim frumos, parinte! A ajuns mesajul la noi, cum sa nu ajunga... Ne luptam zilnic cu asa ceva. Chiar aveam nevoie de niste incurajari. Salutari din Bucuresti! Doamne ajuta!
Thank you. I am working on a couple different addictions and you are easy to listen to. I feel like I’m actually hearing what your saying
Father, this has been a very beneficial weapon in fighting sinful thoughts! Thank you so much for sharing, glory to God and thank God for your obedience to his calling.
goodness!! this video was exactly what i needed to hear. thank you so much. i felt your spiritual authority in this video. God bless you from a pentecostal teen
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! I needed your words so much. So much. Thank you. God bless you.
Sterling, Kansas here
Thank you for your videos
God bless you father praise be to god thank you for this message.
This video was a God sent,I have been struggling with bad thoughts and this video helped me understand what I am doing wrong.Thank you and may God bless you!😄
Thank you father for the good advice, this is one of the things i struggle with, the thoughts come so bad theres like temptations to hit my head and punch objects and nearly every night i try sleep but im tempted with alot of things, i will remember this and this will be helpful now and hopefully when i join a monastery in the future. God bless.
Thank you, Father.
My husband ordered a prayer rope for me from your website. I had wanted one for awhile! It is so beautiful and such a spiritual treasure for me! Thank you so much for all you do and for the work of prayer at Mull and Iona.
I recently read "Wounded By Love" by St Porphyrios, and he discusses exactly this. It's very powerful: do not take an adversarial approach to the adversary, he will beat you with experience; or, to put it in the vulgar words of the younger generations, "dude just ignore your temptations lmao"
Thank you Fr. Seraphim, often I must think of myself as a vulnerable lamb, fleeing from the wolf running to my Shephard. "But I am poor and needy; Make haste to me, O God! You are my help and deliverer; O Lord do not delay." Psalm 69 (70) : 5. Do not rely on your own strength. God will answer those who call upon Him with a pure heart.
Father for me The JESUS PRAYER ✝️
Helps in all issues to pray on my knees and in bed anywhere really. THOUGHTS YES RUN TO CHRIST TO GET THAT THOUGHT AWAY. GOD BLESS YOU FATHER FOR ALL YOUR HELP✝️🙏🕯️📿🕊️❤️
This was exactly the message I needed to hear tonight. Thank you.
Wow I literally was going through this exact dilemma a few minutes ago fighting lust and was doing what you say not to do, so I asked God to please guide me and I was browsing for a video to watch and when I saw the title I knew it was meant for me, and effectively you went on to literally give an answer to what I asked God about, thank you so much! And thank you lord Jesus Christ for listening and answering my prayers! I learned psalm 1 recently and I will start reciting it whenever evil thoughts arise🙏🏼
Thank you!
God Bless You i really really you have no idea needed this, GOD led me here everything happened for two days to lead me here, God truly hears and sees us i am beyond overwhelmed by his infinite Love, God Bless you I tryly thankyou for caring enough to speak on here, God Bless you for eternity🖤☦️
Me too! Everything he described was literally how I have been trying to battle temptation and failing for so long! Thank you God
Thank you Father, I can't count how many times I've heard this message and forgotten it. I am grateful to have been reminded once again.
Thanks for lovely msg
Thank you, thank you, thank you. Amen and amen.❤❤❤
This video has truly been a blessing. Thank you father. Peace and love, Christopher.
Thank you so much. I needed this message.
Sage advice from - a sage.
Thank you Father for your advice, it has gotten through to me. It IS a continual race to run away from the thoughts the devil puts in one’s mind. I like that “run away with courage.” St Sophrony says, “true contemplation begins the moment we become aware of sin in us.” Then, as you say, we don’t allow it to land. In another video you say it’s like swatting away a persistent fly buzzing around your head. God bless you Father and I will keep you in my prayers.
All these images come from something I read at some point in the Fathers, dear one, as I am trying to find my own way forward. As we read, as we look for the wisdom and experience of those who struggled (and succeeded to break free) before us, some things 'stick' to the heart and they become spiritual weapons with which we then travel until the day we die. I cannot conceive my spiritual life without the guidance and the wisdom of those who fought (so much better than we can today) before us.
Praise the Lord, thank you my dear friend for your kind message, God bless you.. Amen and Amen.
May we all be blessed, dear Daniel. May Christ bless and enlighten us all
Thank You, this is very helpful.
Lord I pray that you protect this monastery and all around the world for they are your soldiers of you who serve you to pass your message of truth surround them with your love Amen 🙏
This video is a recipe to remove evil thoughts and temptations totally from our lives. In the beginning it will be hard to wrench our eyes and ears away, but I am sure with practice it can be attained. Thank you dear Father Aldea for these wise and helpful words especially in these times we live in. I am convinced that wisdom comes from monasteries in a clear pure stream. God Bless you for passing on this wisdom. The new glasses suit your face well.
Thank you so much for your videos, they have helped me so much. I recently became aware of a local Orthodox monestary in Oklahoma City of all places! I have been going to the last few days, and already it's been so helpful in my battle with my lust!
Thank you so much for this father - I really needed to hear this!
I am living through a very dark and difficult time in my life - ending a very long emotionally abusive marriage - dealing with adult children who are angry and impatient with me and i am quite terrified about my future - both financially and where I will go when I am able to leave. So I am sure you can imagine it takes the turkey about a nano second to start me off on a spiral of dark thoughts and despair! I have an evangelical and then Catholic background and so “fight” is the response I tend to take and of course that fails right away and then the hopeless and overwhelmed feelings are on steroids! I have been trying to practice the Jesus prayer at those moments but the emotional waves knock out any hope of concentration - so it really isn’t prayer.
Thank you for suggesting the psalms! I think this will be so helpful to break the thought patterns with something so different and attention changing. I want so much to make progress in the spiritual life - and it seems that’s a pretty good way to land flat on your face…sigh!
In any case I have ordered a small pocket sized psalter so I can always have it with me.
Thank you again so much - may God bless you and your work
Hi Beth. Couldn't help but relate to what you said. I'm of a similar background in America. I've also been through a lot of abuse as well as a lot of wrangling around with family. I listen to the book of Akathist on TH-cam every day. That gives me peace. It's a recording of Akathists done by some people in the UK. I hope you find peace that you can keep. Amen.
Thank you!! Very helpful!!
Father many thks for your thoughts and short homilys.
Glory to God for all.❤☦🕊
thank you, I love you. your videos have helped me and my friends so much. May God bless u .
Thank you, Father!
Running away from the people and places that led Christians into sin and sinful thoughts is what brought about the birth of the Monasticism...
Saint John of Damascus says “Flog the demons with the name of Jesus.”
Amen Father, amen. There is nothing silly about your videos…they are a great help to many. Thankfully this is a lesson that was taught to me about 65 years ago by the Irish sisters who were my teachers. They called it avoiding the occasions of sin. It boils down to the same advice: turn away from people, activities or places that lead you to sin. I too have learned that I cannot become the person God wants me to be by my own efforts. Only He can transform me. I am very grateful for these lessons that He has taught me, which you have articulated so well. God bless you and your community and the work you are doing.
Do not be afraid of evil thoughts that’s how they stay in the mind
Almost always a right advice at the right time. God bless you father Seraphim.
Every word got to me, and every word feels so true, I've heard the Holy Spirit, Amen❤
Thank you very much, dear Fr. Seraphim. This video is very helpful!
Thank you Father Seraphim