From a footnote in “The Ladder of Divine Ascent” by St. John Climacus; Translated by Archimandrite Lazarus Moore (Harper & Brothers, 1959) ~ “Obviously heresy is the greatest of sins. But since the passion of fornication has a tyrannical power due to pleasure and attracts attention, it often causes men to fall after repentance…By the practice of a strict life, fornicators are trained to forget the pleasure of lust. For whereas the evil of heresy lies only in the mind, the passion of fornication also affects the body with corruption. The man who repents of heresy is at once cleansed by turning to God with his whole personality. But one who returns to God from fornication usually needs time and tears and fasting to get rid of the pleasure and heal the wound in his flesh and stabilize his mind.”
Author’s note: This moves to the heart of what I have come to understand; after years of hoping and praying for an immediate “cure;” to end once and for all every temptation of the flesh; that desires would no longer haunt my memory. Yet, the road to salvation goes by way of Calvary and the Via Dolorosa – we forget that there was a Good Friday before there was ever an Easter Sunday. For Christ, this took three days – for us: it may take a lifetime. Therefore, we shouldn’t get impatient; or worst of all – angry with God. Instead, we must embrace the Cross; not as a burden, but as something ultimately in God’s plan.