Elder Paisios on Demons and the Power of the Cross

Elder Paisios was asked the following regarding demons (called "tagalakia" by some Greeks) and the power of the Cross:

- Elder, my thoughts tell me that the devil, especially nowadays, has a lot of power.

- The devil has evil and hatred, not power. The love of God is all-powerful. Satan tries to appear all-powerful, but he does not succeed. He seems strong, but he is completely weak. Many of his destructive plans are spoiled before they even begin to be manifested. Would a very good father allow some punks to hit his children?

- Elder, I'm afraid of tagalakia.

- What is there to fear? Tagalakia have no power. Christ is all-powerful. Temptation is rotten to the core. Don't you wear a Cross? The devil's weapons are weak. Christ has armed us with His Cross. Only when we discard our spiritual weapons, then the enemy has power. An Orthodox priest showed a small Cross to a magician, which made the demon he invoked through his magic tremble.

Elder Paisios: On General Prayers for the Dead

- Elder, the dead who do not have people to pray for them, are they helped by those who pray generally for the dead?

- Of course they are helped. When I pray for all the reposed, I see in my sleep my parents, because they are at rest by the prayers I do. Whenever I have a Divine Liturgy, I do a general memorial for all the reposed. If sometimes I do not pray for the reposed, the reposed who are known to me appear before me. One relative of mine, who was killed in the war, I saw in front of me after the Divine Liturgy, during the time of the Memorial Service, because I didn't have him written with the names of the reposed, since he was memorialized during the Proskomide with the other fallen heroes. And you also during the Holy Prothesis, do not only give the names of the sick, but also those of the reposed, because the reposed have great need.