The Passions

How do I stay pure one day at a time?

He teaches men to aim at a rolling 24-hour perfection: keeping pure for one day at a time is completely doable through vigilance, cutting off stray thoughts quickly instead of feeding them into fantasy. His model is St Joseph the Hesychast, who was severely tempted by the demon of lust for eight years at the monastery and suited up for the battle every single day. Passive men who go with the flow get taken out easily, he warns — a man has to come with as much ferocity as the devil does, treat it as kill or be killed, and after any fall get up and go one hundred percent the next day.