Τhe devil asked three monks what they would change from the past
Vložit
- čas přidán 11. 09. 2024
- Wisdom of the Holy Fathers:
~When the devil asked three monks what they would change from the past:
One day, the devil appeared to three monks and asked each one individually what they would change from the past.
Satan: "If I gave you the power to change something in your past, what would you change?"
The first monk quickly replied with great apostolic zeal:
-“I would not allow you to let Adam and Eve fall into sin, lest mankind turn away from God.”
The second monk, who had a heart full of mercy, replied:
-“I would prevent you from turning away from God who would condemn you forever.”
The third monk was the simplest of the three. Instead of answering the devil, he fell on his knees, crossed himself, and prayed:
-“Lord, deliver me from the temptation of what could and could not have been.”
Then the devil let out a piercing cry and, whirling in pain, disappeared.
Astonished, the other two asked their brother:
“Brother, why did you answer like that?”
The monk explained:
-“First of all, we must never enter into dialogue with the enemy. Secondly, no one in the world has the power to change the past. Thirdly, the devil has no interest in helping us, but in imprisoning us in the past to neglect the present.
Why? Because for the present is the only time when we can, by God's grace, cooperate with Him.
The devil's strategy, the one that most imprisons people and prevents them from living the present in union with God, is the one that ‘could have happened and did not happen.’
Let us leave the past in the hands of God's Mercy and leave the future in the hands of His Providence. The present is in our hands together with the hand of God."