Before modern Christianity’s “Seven Deadly Sins,’ classic Christianity diagnosed these major passions. Saint John Cassian calls these he eight deadly thoughts.
The cures are easy to list. No one is saying the cures are easy to implement. We will struggle against the passions as long as we live in this body – Unless we quit and let them win by default.
How can we reconcile the solemn assertion of the hymns that the Queen of Heaven “saves everyone from misfortune and sorrow” with the harsh reality of a mourning world?
“O heavenly King, accept all those who pray to you and who call on my name for help. Do not let them go away from my icon unheard.”
A joyful feast of our patron, Saint John the Wonderworker of Shanghai and San Francisco!
The life of St. John demonstrates that true Christianity far exceeds the bounds of human goodness.