@@ethnocentricfun991 one should be careful. Despondency here is a reference to spiritual despondency and loss of hope of salvation or of getting nearer to God. Depression is a mental illness with feelings of hopelessness and helplessness but here it is a psychological despondency towards the things of this world and life on earth. They are different. Certainly spiritual prayers and life help in preventing as well as manage and decrease the gravity of depression but medical or psychological treatment should be used if needed. Spiritual despondency is a sin that needs to be prevented and be addressed in confession and with help from a spiritual father.
Thank you very much Father, I feel embarrassed for not having watched this very helpful and inspirational video. Your explanations and instructions touch my soul and my bones. I feel more secure in addressing these moments today and in the future and I feel I would like to share what Zi learned with others should the opportunity arise. Although I know a few people who overtime slip away from the church and spiritual life and Zi do not know how to approach them. I pray that they ask
I was an atheist for fifteen years - I sometimes am so used to apathy I don't even know when it's happening. I still can't mourn properly for my dead in my family. For years after my conversion, I could barely bring myself to irregularly pray or become upset over my sin. But as he said, the one thing I tried as hard as I could to do when apathy overtook me is to fast. Even when I felt God totally absent within me, I tried to fast. I am still Orthodox because of God's goodness in the parts of fasting where success found me in the darkest days after my conversion from atheism/antitheism.
That is so kind, dear one - thank you for your blessing. I always go into the chapel with no idea about what I should talk about. I pray a little, I wait a little, then I think of someone I love from confession and I talk to him / her. I cannot do it otherwise - it feels impersonal and sterile. May we all be blessed.
Thank you again Father. So very well said. As someone who lives with chronic illnesses that can affect my mind at times, it is a blessing to be reminded that I am not my mind, and that my inherent worth and value isn’t dependent on how well it is working from one day to the next. My worth and value is in who I am in Christ and the divine image in me. Christ’s sufficiency is my sufficiency.
Thank you for sharing this message. How often I forget that God gives me the strength to shut that door of darkness. This is exactly why I believe I have been so miserable lately and feeling empty. God is bringing me to something and it will be wonderful. Thank you and God bless you!
This hit close to my own sins, namely porn. My brain and heart work against me and the will of God in so many ways that it sometimes feel so futile, no matter what I do or restrict myself, even with the help of psychiatry and medicine. I can now only turn to God for help, do pray for me father Seraphim and anyone reading this.
Keep praying and meditating on Gods word. Keep planting seeds of scripture I highly recommend listening to proverbs and psalms - hearing David’s lament 😪 to God after his sexual sin is inspiring.
You are alive. Praise God ! You are alive ! You just don't feel it anymore. But carry on : you're not alone in pitch black darkness. Carry on, the sky awaits at the other side. Be blessed, and carry on 🙏
I am so very glad to hear you expand on this topic. After spending all day trying to actively pray while I care for 5 children and 6th growing, I don't have much to give. Thank you Father so much.
Gosh! Nearly fell out of my chair when I heard about using your body as a structure for prayer. Connecting the verses of the Lord’s Prayer to parts of my body, is something I have been doing for quite some time. It slows down and grounds the prayer. It’s so true. The body remembers. I have often found that my fingers would find their way on the guitar when I was on auto pilot and my mind could not remember the song. It was so good to hear this!
I have been experiencing such dryness in prayer for the past year. Although I have been forcing myself to pray devotions I find myself feeling like a empty shell. I wonder if I have lost my faith and there is no-one to talk too. Thank you Father....Donna
I think it’s important as we grow from ‘baby’ Christians to full grown strong Christians the hard work of praying when we are empty is essential and a real test of faith. We struggle as Christians with purpose, there’s never Christian struggle with with out purpose ✨ keep going sister this is a really hard time for the faithful but Christ will keep us✨
I don’t believe in coincidence, I know for sure that God wanted me to find this blessed channel and this amazingly beautiful videos , I thank God for you father seraphim , i was extremely happy that I watched them all In one day(maybe 2!)I thank God every second , I thank you dear father for blessing us all with such wisdom 🙏❤️
Thank you, dear one, for your kind words. We try our best to help a bit. This really is the time when we should all try our best to heal each other and to lighten the weight of our crosses. Be blessed, dear one.
A wonderful meditation on why seemingly repetitive and meaningless Catholic prayer habits are important. I have read of dementia patients who can only remember the Our Father, Glory Be, and Hail Mary. When there isn't anything left, what is left is Holy.
I dont feel dead inside I feel fine. Keep ministering I implore you. In Jesus Christ. I am Orthodox. Yes I am frozen. Father the Lord told me that yesterday. That really strange. Ok I will do that.
I wish if I could give my body as those Christians to be burned to glorify God the Father. He gave his Son to die our death.And his own life the Holy Spirit to sustain our life for eternity.What a gift! What a compassion! I too gladly sacrifice my life to this limitless love as gratitude for my Lord. But I fear that l may not be worthy. Father may God give you eternal life! (from Ethiopia)
Can i ask you something........how am i to let something go and yet be persistent in my prayers and petition for what i am asking God to do ? .......You are in my prayers as well as those there with you thank you teaching us♡ pray God restores my relationship with my ex-boyfriend of 4 years....Jacob....he is truly an amazing man and i was the fool i was selfish i was depressed and panicked i was on new medications i was right where the devil wanted me and i gave in and i left....i abandoned the beautiful man God gave me.....how horrible ....God has forgiven me...i have grown and learn so much i spend my days in prayer that he will reunite us....i sent him a letter today just so that he knows the full story i sent it with love in my heart ....please pray his heart is softened towards me and God's voice ♡ i dont care if it takes years i love him and i have faith my God can help .....ive been in constant prayer for the Lords blessing and mercy of a miracle....my name is Rebecca.i am 33 i love him and i want to go home every second of every day
I have given my relationship over to Our Heavenly father .... i have tried oh my very hardest not to say anything or bother with my ex and let God work.
How to fight against pride? I know that this is what triggers this dark state, the dead alike state. Even if I know, mentally, I am nothing, I can't convince myself. How to fight against self pitty? What can I? Practical? God bless you, father.
Thank you for your evangelisation Father We don’t stop often to consider what it means that God made all existence ex nihilo. That includes ourselves. We would rather be our own god as Satan told us in the garden. God said to St. Catherine of Siena - I am and you are not. She got it. St. Therese of Lisieux approached God with empty hands because she knew she had nothing of her own to give. And St. Augustine said our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee Oh Lord. An atheist will say there is no after-life and feel happy about it because that means there is no suffering. (It’s funny how the atheist only seems to be aware of a hellish after-life and the fear of it, rather than a heavenly after-life and the love of it). It’s akin to having lost hope and thrown the gift of life away as being worth nothing. It is in fact the unforgivable sin because it’s the ultimate refusal to accept the gift of life. And it does not allow for ever thinking we are lost in this life; there should be no reason for these feelings in the atheist world view. It’s an obvious lie. When you feel dead inside then sing and dance for joy because you have been blessed and placed on the road to eternal life. The prayer I said at the time was, `O.K I will live if you want me to but you know you have to do it for me’. The `you have to do it for me’ was the key that unlocked the door and let the light shine in for me. God gives me the gift of life (‘you have to do it for me’) and I accept it (‘I will live if you want me to’ - but even now it is only because God continually gives me my life every moment. If He stopped making me even for a moment I would cease to exist. And what is this life of God in whom I act and live and have my being as St. Paul said. It is all beauty and all freedom and all glory and all peace. Yes it is all these things but don’t forget it also almighty and nothing can take it away from you, not even death). We all have our own version of this desperate prayer of calling to God for life. Some have it during a war when the bullets start flying or when approaching the gallows, but it’s the prayer of truth and it’s the prayer that will set you free. I knew I could not carry this dark rock of life upon my shoulders, this great unbearable burden of having to be my own god. It was like a hundred ton rock upon my shoulder and I knew very well there was no hope for me, left to my own devices. When I handed this burden over to God Himself, it was as if the rock was lifted and thrown into the ocean. Light shone upon me. The fight remains while we live. That’s why tombstones have RIP on them. Then is the time for rest and now is the time for labour. Sex and drugs and rock n roll always beckon us as the way of escape but not to life.
I dont know if i feel dead but this nights prayer was awful, i couldnt concentrate and it wasnt from the heart and it was like just to get over it and i was waiting to stop this prayer and go watch a movie with my parents it was awful.
I'm awfully worried about those candles being so close to the wall as well as being close to the art work like that. My neighbors house actually burned down a few years back doing the same thing.
Binecuvantati ! Parinte drag, as avea nevoie sa va scriu mai mult legat, sa spunem, de tulburarile noptii. Va pot gasi la adresa de email afisata la facebook ?
Father God bless you! I am Roman Catholic but you have no idea how much of a blessings these videos are. God bless you and your communtiy now and always 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🕊️
I have been feeling very anxious, lonely, and down lately. I am truly praying for The Lord to guide me and give me strength during these bizarre times we’re living through. Please pray for me.
Bless you brother in Christ. Bless you for these past two videos. I have been the most depressed I have ever been in my life these past couple months. Trying to find my place in this world amongst all the evil and chaos as a 26 year old man has proven difficult. As a conservative and Traditional Catholic trying to walk the path of Sainthood, I find myself ostracized from society and so many of my peers. I'm laid off from work, money is tight, I have no idea what to do for a career, or what God's will is for me. My family is falling apart, some of us are walking the faith, others are chasing drugs and bound by sin. Often I don't feel like praying at all. But your videos are a beacon of light in darkness. I must be obedient, I must offer it all to His glory. Please say a prayer for my family, and thank you. God bless you.
May you be blessed, dear one, and may you grow into the source of light your family and friends need. Try to follow your calling. Place Christ above everything and everyone. You are not helping anyone if you drown with them; rather, you need to grow strong in your faith, you need to reach that unshakable foundation of holiness which we all can acquire in Christ and then, only then reach out to pull them from their fall. Focus on Christ and He will take care of all those around you.
A very critical topic for me Father . Thank you for that and thank God . Also pray for me because this afternoon will be my first confession , and tommorow I will be baptized and chrismated in to the Orthodox Church . I am ready , but at the same time humbled down to my core with all that it means for me personally.
May Christ give you the strength to hold on to the Grace you will receive, my dear Joshua. May you be able, through His action in you, to reach the full potential of His Grace, which is you-as-a-holy-person. Keep us all in your prayers - the world needs your prayer, unworthy as it may be (like the prayer of us all).
I’m pretty sure that I’ve already left the Protestant tradition and am walking towards the Orthodox Church. I am afraid of my wife’s and family’s reaction, so I’m praying about how to approach them all. Thanks for the videos.. these have blessed me and impacted me in a profound way.
Excellent video. Perfect timing. I've felt dead for the past month. I've stopped praying, talking to God, stopped reading the Bible. I've attended church & Bible study via Zoom, but am only going through the motions. Your talk today has given me hope. Thank you! May God bless you & the monastery.
Hello, could your pray for me. I was asked one time if I was religous and I was afraid so I said I do not know. I repented of doing that but I still feel ashamed
Don't worry, I have experienced the same thing once in the past. I prayed for forgiveness and when your faith will be better, you will confess your faith next time. I did this next time in public and God will bless you for this.
The fact you feel bad is good. That means you are aware of wrong doing. Think of sin and bad decisions as being childish rather than evil. If you were evil you wouldn't have posted your comment in the first place .
Thank you Father! Thank you for your blessing. When i crossed periods like this, the only thing that i could do was to hold tight the Cross in my hand and sleep with it at night
Never give up, hang in there, and it will inevitably be worth it (this is the main message of the Old Testament Book Of Job and the New Testament Book Of Revelation)!
God bless you, father. You have breathed air into this little nurse's dimming light. He is the Good Shepherd. How He finds us... Praise be to God for all things. The Holy Spirit is in you. Your light shines bright. Please do not cease to shine. I pray that He continues to bless you and keep you in all of your ways and works. We need more watchmen and spiritual fathers like you. If you would, please keep praying for us who strive to fight this real and invisible battle as lay men and women. God bless you. Lord have mercy on us all.
Oh my, how I wish I had heard this earlier in my life. I think back to times when I allowed misery to take hold of me, and self-pity to bring me to the point of suicidal thinking. Your words are vital in these dark times.
Precisely, dear one: muscle memory of prayer, an instinct of spiritual survival, these are the things that keep one alive when this darkness collapses over one's heart.
@@mullmonastery dear father you have no idea how important your videos are to me , your words give me strength and help me live my struggles with gratitude and peace in Christ ❤ You are in my prayers Lebanese Orthodox from London 🙏
I have felt this darkness in my soul for a while,sometimes a little light ,then I relapse again into darkness,sometimes its the weight of my sin,sometimes its just nothing, or a kind of anger... Glad to hear these words,I feel like this is what Christ wants me to know today..God bless you Fr.
I am so happy to hear this. This year has been extra hard. I cry inside because I have no words. Now I know I can use my body life a scaffold to offer it in prayer. I am nothing but the power of Christ the Resurrection will raise me up.
I needed every word of this. I am missing my church and it's people, I am tempted to allow myself to be lifeless and in the dark. I need Christ more than ever and you have bridged that gap. Shalom.
Oh dear father I can't pray and I feel I drift away from God. As you say...I m frozen. Thank you for the great advice.It is a consolation.I won't stop trying I promise you!
Yes I feel dead inside.I've been diagnosed with cancer and my faith is crushed at the moment.I took care of my dad for years.He also suffered from same disease.So I feel overwhelmed and I feel betrayed by God.I need help from you father in order to restore my faith.Thank you.
Thank you for the life giving words, Father!!! May God forever bring His words through your blessed self! I lived my whole childhood, teenage and twenties into the feeling nothingness you spoke about, into despair and sin seemed the only joy I had left, what a lie that was. Now my being is so tired because every road of sin promises happiness but instead they all lead like you beautifully said, to despair and despondency. I truly believe God has answered my prayers through this word you gave us, as I am at crossroads now, an old temptation crawls back to ensnare me again. Thank you for the most beautiful teaching so far! May God return all the joy you bring us and make His presence be forever felt by you!
Modern Christians can't even wrap their minds around the Saints of the past and the austerities that they practiced to gain self control and to tame the senses that war against the Spirit. Sometimes I think I'm a strong Christian who studies a lot, yet, when fasting, I'm tempted, and cannot conquer myself. There is nothing better than being around a true Saint of God who have mastered themselves and their desires, who can guide you, teach you discipline.
@@mullmonastery Thank you Father! For these past months, you have been a true διάκονος of the Lord for me, the agent of Divine transformation. May the Lord keep on working thru you, for the benefit of us sinners (of whom I am the foremost), and for the benefit of His Church at large!
This video (and the one before it) came at such a good time, I am certain the Holy Spirit had everything to do with its release. I try everyday to follow our Beloved sweet Jesus but I found myself in such a deep state of dispair over my sins and how often I kept falling. I was literally on the ground as you mentioned in the last video, completely broken with the heaviness of life and struggling to get back up, telling the Lord that I was so tired and could not go on with the crosses He has given me...but listening to your video gave me courage and hope. I'm in a better place now because of it. Thank you Father!! Praying for you and keeping you in my intentions. I know our Lord is so proud of you and we (your viewers) are growing in virtue from your videos. Hope to meet you one day, Mull Monastery is on my top 3 places to visit (along with Medjugorie and Kibeho, Rwanda- from the Marian Apparitions that have taken place there) Praying for your mission!! Your friend in Virginia, USA!
My dear Ashleigh, if Christ allows an affliction to befall us for no fault of our own (which is very rarely the case, if we are fully honest) that means He already knows we can overcome it and that, by fighting against it, we can grow in virtue and closer to Him. Most times, though, we have opened ourselves to the temptations that torment us long before, by allowing lesser evils to enter our hearts. Even so, Christ still blesses us, and the pain of the struggle will fully cleanse us and restore in us the beauty of His Image. Stay strong and never let go, dear one.
AMHN I understand so much now🙏thank you your sister in Christ Thomais...Thomais is my Greek Orthodox Christian name ..comes from Thomas the Apostle name...I pray for my best friend ..I heard some bad news about her health yesterday 😥
Drear Thomais, we all pray that your friend regains her health or - if God allows it otherwise - may this cross be the cross of her salvation. Be strong for her: be strong in your faith (for when she falls in hers), be strong in your prayer (for when she fails in hers), keep carrying your cross (and help he carry hers when it gets too heavy). This is an opportunity to LOVE, dear one: embrace it and God Who Is Love will not be far from your heart and the heart of your friend.
Thank you, Father. These are the same directions I have been given by my father confessor many times, and they are true words. I used to suffer from severe depression, some of it from chemical imbalance, some from trauma, much from demonic influence. Now, by the grace of God and years of spiritual and mental work, I am much, much better. But I notice if I even for one day forego my small prayer rule that feels so routine and dry so many times, I suffer greatly. God truly honors and meets us when we "show up" and give him at least our desire to love him.
I knew I should have watched this when you uploaded it and now I know I would have been so well served. But I didn't. Better late than never. :) God bless you father.
Dear Fr. You are so profound in your explanation of spiritual matters but yet so simple to help us understand God. I love your sincerity. I have gone through one of these dark times and I experienced the resurrection of my soul & spirit by truly understanding the power of the presence of God. I never thought how important my body was in this process until you brought this to light. As a RC Christian, I find listening to you more pure. Like refined gold. Life should be intimate with God, something I feel Roman Catholicism has slowly dissipated away from and replaced with confusion. Im crystal clear when I listen to you. God Bless😊
Yes, fasting will bring you out of the darkness. Jesus told us, this kind will only come out through fasting. And yes, if all you can do, is hold up your arms with a broken heart, it is still a prayer, offered up to God Our Father. He sees it and will use it. I know, I've just lived through all of this. Now, pray the Holy Rosary, just start, ask for the grace to pray. Plenty of utube rosaries to pray along with others throughout the earth right now. Know that you are prayed for and loved by God
Thank you Father You are an answer to many prayers of mine. I have been asking for a guide, for true teaching. Your videos are always spot on with were I am and are providing me with the foundation and scaffolding that I have been searching for
So happy to listen to you today more than ever...."La mulți ani, părinte!" I feel there are so many Romanians who are proud and happy that you bring so much comfort to people all around the world...I feel like crying each time I listen to you as while listening I can watch all the barriers between me and Christ being demolished...just your word...Thank you so much dear and beloved father Serafim!
"I can watch all the barriers between me and Christ being demolished...just your word...Thank you so much dear and beloved father Serafim!" Yes, this!!! It's beautiful and awful all at once.
My name is Antonia, from Greece. Ι am dead inside because I am exactly like prodigal son. I am dead inside because I denied Him more than 3 times like Peter. I am dead inside because I betrayed for more than 30 coins. I am dead inside because οf my arrogance. Pray for me!
Father, thank you for the teachings about getting back to prayers and not to falling into despondency. I will remember to hold on to the scaffolding of the prayers no matter what happens. We are not our brains! That is such a wonderful reminder. So often I mistakenly thought it was! And always safe guard our thoughts!
For those of us, dear Keith, who experience this darkness, it is vital to prepare before it falls upon us, because when it does nothing in us functions properly anymore: our brain, our heart, everything is affected. We need to develop a sort of instinct of spiritual survival, a muscle memory of prayer (as someone beautifully said in a different comment) and we need to develop and train this instinct long before we are hit again. be blessed, dear one.
@@mullmonastery Lord Jesus Christ, son of the living god, have mercy on me a sinner. I also pray a couple most holy Theotokos save us, help us. I pray them with a catholic prayer rope and a wear the miraculous medal and I'm thinking to learn the Rosary and I'm protestant. What do you think my dear brother in Christ?
