“The more time passes, the closer the devil comes to his end, so he fights and struggles with extreme rage to condemn us all to hell. Especially now during Great Lent, which is coming, the thoroughly malicious demons incite many temptations and disturbances against us. Since we oppress them more severely with fasting and prayer during this time, they also become more fierce against us. So see to it that you win crowns in this arena of struggling. You must become braver and array yourself face to face against those bodiless enemies. Don’t be afraid of them. You don’t see how many of them fall and turn their backs with every prayer you say. You only see how much you are wounded. But they are also thrashed; they also suffer. Every time we are patient, they flee with leaps and bounds, and every time we say the prayer, they are seriously injured. So at the time of battle, when you are firing shots and bullets, don’t expect them to throw marshmallows and chocolates.”

Monastic Wisdom: The Letters of Elder Joseph the Hesychast