January: Day 31: Teaching 1: Saint Nikitas, Bishop of Novgorod

January: Day 31: Teaching 1:
Saint Nikitas, Bishop of Novgorod
 
(Prayer and Fasting as Weapons in the Fight Against the Devil)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Saint Nikitas, Bishop of Novgorod, remembered today by the Church as a Wonderworker, was at first a recluse and monk of the Kiev Caves. Having been elevated to the rank of Bishop of Novgorod, he shepherded the Novgorod Church for 13 years, and was glorified during his lifetime with the gift of miracles.

At the beginning of his asceticism, when he withdrew into seclusion, with the aim of being glorified, he was deceived by the devil. The devil appeared to him in the form of an angel and said: "Do not pray, but only read and teach others, and I will pray instead of you." The holy ascetics, contemporaries of Nikitas, came to him, brought him to his senses, and, by their prayers and fasting, drove the devil away, and led him out of seclusion.

Saint Nikitas reposed in 1108, his relics were found in 1558 and are openly resting in the Novgorod Hagia Sophia Cathedral.

II. The evil spirit, intending to destroy Saint Nikitas, was driven away by the prayers of the holy Kiev Caves ascetics, combined with fasting. Thus, "prayer and fasting" are powerful means in the fight against the devil.

The Lord Jesus Christ, pointing out the power of prayer and fasting against evil spirits, said: “This kind,” namely the demonic, “cannot come out except by prayer and fasting” (Mark 9:29). These words teach that all of us, brethren, in order to be freed from the power of the devil, in order to cast out the spirit of evil that takes possession of us, must arm ourselves against the enemy of our salvation with prayer and fasting.

a) Prayer repels the arrows of the enemy from a person by the fact that it elevates the one who truly and reverently prays above the world, makes the one who diligently prays inattentive to the devil's slander, breaks the alliance with the devil: for prayer, in the words of the great man of prayer Saint John Climacus, is the co-existence, the union of a person with God, and whoever is with God is against His enemies. A spiritual warrior, standing before the King of kings, is terrible for his enemies, who, seeing him conversing with God, flee from him, as if scorched by some fire. And, what is most important, the highest grace-filled help of the All-Holy Spirit, without which no spiritual guard and foresight, no power of spiritual courage and weapons would protect Christ's warrior from the enemy's wiles and captivity, is acquired by prayer. For although the Lord, as the All-Knowing, knows our needs before we pray (Matt. 6:8), and as the All-Good, is always ready to send us grace-filled help, however, in His wisdom, not wanting to violate the freedom given to us, He sends His help only to those who ask Him for it day and night (Luke 18:4). The Spirit of God Himself strengthens the one who prays for battle, Himself fights for him, as once for Moses, who stood on the top of the mountain and raised his hands to God to overcome the Amalekites (Ex. 17:10, 11), Himself defeats and drives away the hordes of Satan. Saint Nilus likens the ascetic who prays diligently, to an eagle chick soaring in height: the latter cannot be caught by bird-catchers, just as the evil spirit is unable to catch the human soul ascending to heaven on the wings of prayer in its nets. And how many victorious miracles were performed by the holy intercessors of God!

b) To acquire a prayer that is strong and effective in the struggle with the ancient enemy of our salvation, the devil, strict abstinence from food and drink and from all sensual pleasures is necessary: prayerful feats without fasting are impossible for a true warrior of Christ. Fasting, according to the words of Saint Basil the Great, precedes prayer to heaven, becoming for it like wings during the ascent of the soul upward and, in combination with prayer, has great power not only over our material flesh, over its passions and lusts, but also over the most immaterial producer of passions and lusts – the evil spirit, the devil, according to the immutable assurance of Christ the Savior (Mark 9:29).

Since the spirit of malice makes us its captives, enslaving the spirit of our flesh, then in order to free ourselves from the captivity of the devil we must return to our spirit the dominion over the flesh, mortifying its desires, and we can do this through fasting. Experience shows that all desires grow stronger in us to the extent that they are satisfied, and, conversely, weaken to the extent that they are refused satisfaction, and therefore, through strict fasting, refusing to satisfy our carnal desires, we thereby naturally weaken these desires in ourselves. A military leader, wishing to subdue his enemies, locked in an impregnable fortress, tries first of all to take away from them food supplies and water, and the enemies, tormented by hunger and thirst, submit to him unquestioningly and without bloodshed. Our soul should act in a similar way when it wants to conquer the enemies of its salvation and ascend with its mind and heart to God. She must leave everything that weighs her down and drags her down, she must renounce all carnal desires and pleasures, she must take away from her enemies as much food and drink as possible, and especially take away delicious and fattening dishes for the body, which feed and strengthen lusts, and drinks, which inflame passions to unbridledness; in a word, she must observe the fast according to the rules and instructions of the holy Orthodox Church. Through fasting, the immutable word of the Holy Apostle is truly fulfilled in us: “Though our outer man is decaying, yet the inner man is being renewed day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16).

III. Thus, brethren, prayer and fasting are necessary for us to gain victory over the enemy of our salvation – the devil: prayer makes the soul inattentive to the enemy’s slander and strengthens it in the struggle with the enemy by the grace of the All-Holy Spirit, and fasting disposes the spirit to prayer and enslaves the flesh to the spirit. 

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.