Keep Thy Mind in Hell and Despair Not - St. Silouan and St. Sophrony

A reading of the revelation of Jesus Christ to St. Silouan and commentary on the revelation by St. Sophrony from "Saint Silouan the Athonite" by St. Sophrony (p. 429-431, 208-213)

0:18 The revelation of Jesus Christ to St. Silouan
5:19 St. Sophrony’s commentary

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St. Silouan writes:

'Lord, Thou seest that I desire to pray to Thee with a single mind but the devils will not let me. Tell me what I must do to make them leave me.' And in my soul came the Lord's reply:
'The proud always suffer thus from devils.'
‘Lord,' I say, "Thou art merciful. My soul knoweth Thee. Tell me what I must do that my soul may grow humble?'
And the Lord answered me in my soul:
'Keep thy mind in hell, and despair not.'

Since then I have stayed my mind in hell and I burn in the sombre fire, yearning after the Lord and seeking Him in tears, and saying:
‘Soon shall I die and take up my abode in the dark prison of hell. And alone shall I burn there, and long for the Lord, and lament: 'Where is my Lord, Whom my soul knoweth?'
And I had great profit from these thoughts: my mind was cleansed and my soul found rest.

St. Sophrony writes:

‘Keep thy mind in hell, and despair not.’ What does it mean - to keep the mind in hell? Can it be that we are to use our imagination to conjure up circumstances for ourselves similar to those figured in some primitive painting? In this instance, no. Father Silouan, like certain great Fathers — St. Anthony, St. Sisoes, St. Makarios, St. Pimen — during his lifetime actually descended into the darkness and torments of hell. They did this not once but over and over again until their hearts were so permeated that they were able to repeat the movement at will. They took refuge in it when passion — especially that most subtle of passions, pride — reared its head.
The struggle against pride is, in fact, the final stage in the battle against the passions. To begin with, the ascetic must wrestle with the greater passions of the flesh, then with irritability and, finally, pride. This last combat is undoubtedly the most painful of all. Taught by long experience that pride leads to loss of grace, the ascetic consciously descends into hell where every passion is 'seared with a hot iron'.

Blessed Staretz Silouan said that many ascetics when they approached that state - which is vital if one would be cleansed of the passions - would fall into despair and be unable to continue. But the one who knows how greatly the Lord loveth us' escapes the pernicious effect of total despair and knows how to stand prudently on the verge so that the hellish fire burns away his every passion and he does not fall victim to despair. 'And despair not.’
If the Staretz' account is a simple one - as simple as the shoemaker's of Alexandria - the power and mystery of the matter will remain incomprehensible for anyone who has not known a similar experience of hellish torment, on the one hand, and the great gifts of grace, on the other.

The Staretz declared, 'The Lord Himself taught me the way to humble myself. "Keep thy mind in hell, and despair not". Thus is the enemy vanquished. But when my mind emerges from the fire, the suggestions of passion gather strength again.'
This brief inconsistent exposé is incapable of conveying any real understanding of the ineffably wondrous life where extreme suffering is allied to extreme bliss, the one accompanying the other in the strangest manner. If the suffering existed alone, it would be impossible to bear it. And if there were only bliss, that, too, would be past bearing.
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