“Abnormal functioning is when reason is dominated by the will or feelings. A willful person's approach is: 'I want to, so I will.' Many say that a good person is a willful person, but this sort does not deserve to be praised. There are people that are sentimental, who are dominated by their feelings. This is a disease of the mind, of the intellectual faculty, that occurs due to one's thoughts taking their cues from the appetitive faculty instead of from God… This is the mind relying on emotions, on feelings. In these instances people say: 'Your heart won't deceive you; listen to your heart.' It will lie to you, however, because man's heart is extremely corrupted, as the Scriptures say, and that is the simple truth. When a person lives by his feelings, his reason is so enveloped by emotional appetitive energy that, like a slave, he serves his appetites instead of the other way around. A person starts doing absolutely crazy things because that is what his emotions are urging him to do. This is where jealousy and adultery stem from, as well as various passions connected with hatred and malice. All this arises when emotions control the mind. This disease leads to a person's ruin, since emotions run dry as well.”

Hieromartyr Daniel Sysoev
Talks on the Passions

• From your point of view, should women work?
“If they want to. The children shouldn’t be cast aside. There are different types of women: For some, if they don’t work, they’ll completely wither up, while others, on the contrary, like not working and prefer to sit at home. There were various types of women in the past too, such as Princess Olga — state wives and housewives. Both are fine. I don’t think we need to artificially make something up here. There are women who are happy just to deal with children. It’s a special gift. Not everyone has it. Everyone has different gifts. Previously, when women stayed home, it was a household or an estate with cows, goats, and chickens. If it was a rich home, then she also had to watch after the servants and farmhands. The woman was a real businesswoman. She had work with a large house, not just sitting within four closed walls.”

• Very often you hear Orthodox women say: “I don’t want a husband or children at all…”
“If they don’t want them, they don’t have to have them. God will help them. We’ve always had 'chernichki' [women in black] — who devoted their entire lives to serving God. They worked at ordinary jobs and helped at church in their free time, and it was they who defended many churches during the post-revolutionary persecutions. Such active women can help with missionary work now, with charitable deeds…”

• In Europe there’s a movement — “child-free” — voluntary childlessness. “Child-free” people claim that their lives can be complete without offspring. How do you feel about them?
“They break the commandment of God to be fruitful and multiply. It’s one thing when someone doesn’t want to get married — that’s fine. But if you’re married and don’t want to have children, then you sin, and quite seriously so. They are onanists, and not just spiritually. This was Onan’s sin: He didn’t want children.”

Hieromartyr Daniel Sysoev
Interview with Elena Tyulkina

“Troubles are sent to people either in punishment, or in retribution, or so that they might receive crowns. If a person has committed a sin, God sends him punishment so that the person might not commit it again. Punishment in the form of retribution may take two forms: death or madness. Retribution differs from punishment in that it no longer gives the person the opportunity for correction. When God sees that a person's will is incorrigible He visits His retribution upon him, to serve for the correction of others as well. When a person does not deserve punishment, yet trouble still comes, that trouble is a crown.

The Lord sends trouble that it might become a battlefield, and that man, by emerging victorious, might receive a reward in the heavens. If people quarrel with you, yet you manage to keep silent and even pray for your offender, you have conquered, and this will do you nothing but good. Troubles must be endured for the sake of the name of Christ…

It should be remembered that sufferings on earth are an inevitability, but they should be borne properly — for the Lord's sake — and then together with Him we will inherit eternal life. Christ said, Where I am, there shall also My servant be: if any man serve Me, him will My Father honour (Jn. 12:26). But no-one has ever been saved by suffering without the Lord. The Lord says, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you (Mt. 5:44). One must guard oneself against despondency and despair, and then the will of God will be accomplished in us! How can joy be used to learn God's will? Any joy a person possesses must become an occasion for giving thanks to God. Trust in God, depend upon Him, seek and obey Him, and the Lord will help you!”

Hieromartyr Daniel Sysoev
How Can I Learn God’s Will?

https://youtu.be/LvtzvAZCDio?si=33A0P6W13VtaLshG

YouTube

Baptism by Immersion - Fr. Daniel Sysoev

Fr. Daniel Sysoev (+2009) was a priest, husband, confessor, and martyr. Listen to a brief reading of his life here: https://youtu.be/ufXoK\_C1eyU From "Catechetical Talks", p. 328-336. Buy here: https://mission-shop.com/product/catechetical-talks/ 0:09 Baptizing…

“Of course the departed themselves are not able to change their situation, but this is still within the almighty power of Him Who holds the keys of hell and of death (Rev. 1:18); and He has told Orthodox Christians: and all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive (Matt. 21:22). It is for this very reason that we implore Him on behalf of our brethren — all the more so since until the Last Judgment the fate of each person is not completely determined, or the Judgment itself would be pointless. And also, our Redeemer, because He continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them** (Heb. 7:25). We believe that His power knows no bounds, except for man's voluntary rejection of Him; and because of this the Church commemorates all its children except for those who openly opposed God and, in so doing, committed the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which is not forgivable either in this world or in the next (Matt. 12:31-32). Incidentally, from these words of Christ it follows that the remission of sins is possible after death, as well.”

Hieromartyr Daniel Sysoev
A Protestant’s Walk Through an Orthodox Church

“Why is there such a false approach to religion today? Indeed, the very essence of religion demands that we question not the traditional or non-traditional status of a religion, but its truth. Every religion is built on this foundational claim of being true. Hinduism, Islam or Christianity are all built upon this, and in this way they operate in the same field. Why then are we encouraged to view religion as merely a social institution and nothing more?

Such an approach is unacceptable within the Church. We must be at peace with all people, we must coexist peacefully with representatives of other religions; yet it is only a question of formal peace, lest we lapse, as St. John Chrysostom says, into the state of universal war of all against all. But by no means should we allow people to perish under this pretext.”

Hieromartyr Daniel Sysoev
Instructions for the Fisher of Men

During one of his catechetical talks while speaking on the Holy Eucharist, Fr. Daniel Sysoev was asked, “Would it be sacrilegious to ask about the risk of infection, like atypical pneumonia? Everyone using the same spoon is sure to spread disease like wildfire.” He responded by saying:

“But for some reason it doesn't! People were communed in times of the plague and cholera, and there was no spread of infection. Communion is the Body and Blood of Christ the Life-creating Savior. It heals, and in all two thousand years of Christian history there has never been a single case of disease being transmitted. Such thoughts are demonic, and the demons like nothing better than to divert people from Communion, in this case by using false hygiene. What's more, I have seen people who were squeamish about communing, yet lived amid frightful squalor at home. Here the demonic influence is obvious, since the demons are terribly afraid of Communion: they tremble and quake before it, because through it they lose their power over a person.”

“Fr. Daniel always had meaning. And this meaning was always clearly expressed with such an evangelical character. He didn’t care for empty words. If he spoke, it was a clear, dogmatic expression and the concrete application of it in the life of the Church. The peculiarity of his activity, of his lively preaching, was that he thought very dogmatically. I would say that it is, in fact, a rare gift now to speak about the truth. He didn’t like to just tell some random stories, maybe with some dubious content. He always spoke the good news, no matter what he was talking about. But since his preaching was sharp, sometimes he was perceived as almost offensive. Many contrived to take offense, but they were taking offense to the truth…

The Apostle said: Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called (1 Cor. 7:20). So be a Christian. You can be a worthy, conscientious, fervent confessor in the family, at work, or in any place. Not everyone can be a missionary, bearing the word of God within himself. Not all are apostles, as not all are prophets; not all are teachers — this is from the Scriptures. Fr. Daniel had this gift to bear the word of God in such an apostolic way. He had this gift and he used it. Develop this gift within yourself, and let each one answer for what he didn’t finish, what fruits he didn’t manage to bring forth, after the example of those who brought forth worthy fruits.”

https://orthochristian.com/135461.html

Orthodox Christianity

He Managed to Unite All of Moscow

He didn’t care for empty words. If he spoke, it was a clear, dogmatic expression and the concrete application of it in the life of the Church. The peculiarity of his activity, of his lively preaching, was that he thought very dogmatically.

“'In his shadow, I love to sit...' (Cant. 2:3). In which shadow? That is to say, I love to dwell under the protection of God. A Christian should know that there is a time to act and a time to be at peace. A person who acts continuously can skip past Christ. A person should know how to calm down. No wonder there is a commandment of God about Sabbath rest. Why was it given? Not just for a person to rest, but for them to be with God. And here the Christian soul says, 'In the shadow of Christ, I love to sit.' It is good to be with Christ — just to sit, to rest with Him. I often advise after Communion to go into the woods or somewhere quiet and peaceful to be alone with God. Not to run, not to rush anywhere, not to engage in hectic activities, but to be able to stop. Many people lack this. Some people do not know how to act at all, while others are too active — spinning, turning, always organizing everything, building, but they forget about God, busy with vanity.”

Hieromartyr Daniel Sysoev
Conversations on the Book of The Song of Solomon

“How did the Bible originate? God acts when man's mind is cleansed by prayer and his heart is not overcome by the raging of the passions. Then, in an ineffable way, God inscribes certain knowledge in the mind, which the mind transforms into words. It is not words that God puts in the mind, but knowledge — simply put, information. Our mind then clothes the knowledge with words. The result is a certain cooperation between man and God. But God ensures that no errors are made in communication. We know for a fact that there are no errors in the Word of God; it is infallible, unerring. But because people's minds are different due to their various educations, personalities, and peculiarities of thought, the sacred texts vary in style. The prophet Amos, who was a shepherd, had one style; the prophet Isaiah, who was a great poet and courtier, had another style; and King David had a third style. The Gospel of Mark is written in very simple language.”

Hieromartyr Daniel Sysoev
Talks on the Passions