“Spiritists of our day accept every manifestation from the spiritual world as though sent by God, and immediately they boast that God has been ‘revealed’ to them. I knew an eighty-year-old monk whom everyone respected as a great spiritual director. To my question, ‘Have you ever in your life seen anything from the spiritual world?’ the monk answered me, ‘No, never, praise be to God’s mercy.’ Seeing that I was astonished at this, he said: ‘I have constantly prayed to God that nothing would appear to me, so that I would not have occasion to fall into deception and receive a fallen devil as an angel. Thus far, God has heard my prayers.’

“The following recorded example shows how humble and cautious the elders were. The devil, clothed in the light of an angel, appeared to a certain monk and said to him: ‘I am the Archangel Gabriel, and I am sent to you.’ To this the brother responded: ‘Think–were you not sent to someone else? For I am not worthy to see an angel.’ The devil instantly became invisible and vanished.”

-St. Nikolai Velimirovich