Elder Arsenie Papacioc of Romania, blessed memory, was part of the great generation of confessors for Christ that had suffered much while imprisoned for their faith under the atheist communist regime of the east.
I invite you to watch this video in which he shared some words of wisdom about various topics.
On the Church: Salvation exists only in Christ and His Orthodox Church. If you are Orthodox, you ought to hold tight to its teachings, if not you’ll fall into heresy. We cannot renounce even an iota from the Orthodox truth. This is a great matter that concerns God. Such it was with the fall of Catholicism! Personally, I no longer consider it a church, but a government body with a clerical name.
Miscellaneous: Intelligence and education have no value, if they are not in the service of love. The Mother of God represents the human race. Peace is greater than justice. We must refute immediately all [evil] thoughts that come to mind, and they will come until our last breath. Believe in God, love the church and follow the [spiritual] fathers of the church. Walk your life on the road of humility. Acquire a good name near Christ. Insist more in prayer. You’ll be free only when you walk with love towards those who hate you! Stay still in Christ for eternity…
On Salvation: God does more for our salvation than Satan for our destruction. Outside the Church, there is no salvation! Hell exists only outside the Church. He who can do good but does not do it, commits sin. Only the devil cannot be saved. Without God’s grace, it is impossible to be saved only by your actions, no matter how great of an ascetic you may be. It is the Cross that saved mankind! Not God’s justice or His miracles, but His Cross! When Jesus was crucified, Satan was defeated. Heaven is full of repentant sinners. And those from hell, He also loves. But they are whipped by His love, by His justice. And what Christ did not do to save us from hell? Fear of death is not caused by death but by life. If you want not to fear death, live as a Christian! Only those who don’t live in Christ, fear death! There is no sense or purpose, if there is no God. Nothing is lost, as long as our faith is alive!
On Marriage and Family: Love joins everything in the two. This is the symbol of the wedding ring. A marriage done just for pleasure has no meaning. Marriage means reaching together into eternity. On Prayer God is very rich! And He’s awaiting us!… He waits for us to ask! Wherever you are, and whenever you’re tempted, pray and do not be discouraged! Anyone who wants to acquire the gift of prayer, must keep silent and pray. We speak so much about prayer. That’s one thing that it cannot be discussed but practiced.
About Satan: To the devil, we don’t need to give explanations! We cannot talk about the devil without speaking about God. In God’ creation, the devil is a tolerated. Do you believe that the devil is free? No! He’s the most bounded for he is not in Christ… So do not be afraid of him. He is a tolerated, not a power. There is no relationship between good and evil. Our Savior says, “Give Me your whole heart!” But the devil says, “I only need one of your finger.” But through it, soon he’ll take over your whole being. The whole you. If you wound know how much zeal Satan puts to interrupt our prayer! It is a great mistake to enter into conversation with the devil. We ought to converse only with God. If you want to drive him away, say: “Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me”, and speak to God. The power of His Name will rid him. It suits the devil to enter into a dialogue for it means that you acknowledge him. Thus through prayer, we ignore him. If we first address the issue of hell, then we ignore heaven! Walking on a wrong path, sinning means hell. Pride is a devilish state, an absolutely diabolical one. No other passion brings man closer to devil’ resemblance, as does pride. If you do not listen to those whom God had appointed for you, it is easily understood that you rather obey Satan. Lucifer fell hopelessly. The greatest fall and only two words: “I am”… Indirectly, the devil confesses God through temptations.