The priest spoke about the most common mistakes of believers in the Day of Spirits

One of the mistakes believers make on Spirit Day, as on other church holidays, is to indulge in superstition instead of prayer and participation in worship, Vladislav Beregovoy, head of the missionary department of the Pesochenskaya Diocese, told Izvestia. He also advised those who are trying to figure out if they are living "in the Holy Spirit" not to rely solely on their own emotions and feelings.

"The question arises: how do I know if I am acting by grace or not? After all, the priest says that one can confuse well—fed complacency with the action of grace, and aesthetic or emotional experience with the action of the Holy Spirit," said the interlocutor of Izvestia.

According to him, there is such a criterion of spiritual life as the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Their presence in a person's life indicates his agreement with God. There are nine such fruits in total: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, goodness, mercy, faith, meekness and temperance.

The priest explained that love should be understood not just as a feeling, but as an action, a manifestation of an attitude towards one's neighbor, joy — a spiritual state of peace with God, people and oneself, and long—suffering - the ability to patiently endure all the hardships of life, without looking for someone to punish for the injustices of his life.

"Goodness is an amazing fruit of the Holy Spirit. We rarely pay attention to this virtue, but it is probably one of the most important. This is a kind of kindness, benevolence towards everyone, a real manifestation of love. We see this in many people who may not be famous speakers or popular preachers, but being in their presence already inspires you with peace, serenity and tranquility," the priest noted.

Mercy, according to Beregovoy, manifests itself in concrete acts of help, without the expectation of gratitude. Faith is not only a belief in the existence of God, but also faithfulness to Him in all circumstances. Meekness — gentleness, non-irritability, absence of malice. Abstinence is the ability to control one's desires and not be their slave.

"If opposite qualities manifest themselves in a person's life, this is a reason to think that he may be deceiving himself, considering himself good and pious, but not noticing the fruits of the Holy Spirit's action in himself. In this case, he may confuse emotions with real spiritual life," Father Vladislav emphasized.

Read more about the fruits of the Holy Spirit in the Izvestia article:

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