,, Only through holiness does a person change."
,,To a mother whose nerves were shattered due to difficult trials, the Father told her to struggle to sanctify herself. At the same time, he also gave her practical advice to overcome her state of melancholy: to banish unpleasant memories and fears and to remember only pleasant events, to always cultivate optimistic thoughts about the future, to listen to good music, to take walks, to go together with her Christian friends to the Holy Liturgy, to Vespers, and Vigils, and to pray with hope to Christ.
The Father saw in people's souls what God revealed to him. Regarding an acquaintance of mine, he said:
"I see something not quite pure in his soul, an evil thing. It is an old trauma, something demonic. I do not know exactly what it is. Perhaps God will reveal it to me later."
After a few weeks, when I went to him again, he told me:
"That evil thing I saw in his soul can disappear, but only if he himself sanctifies himself. Only through holiness does a person change. No matter how sinful one might be, they still get cleansed from the wounds of the soul. Today, doctors call them psychasthenias, when, in fact, they are nothing else than demonic influences caused by sins."
-Saint Father Porphyrios, Anthology of Advice and Guidance
