Prelest
Prelest, also known as spiritual delusion, spiritual deception, or spiritual illusion, is an Eastern Orthodox Christian term for a spiritual state of false holiness or deluded self-righteousness, believing in one's own spiritual superiority.
Prelest should not be confused with mental illness, but is a spiritual illness caused by vainglory, pride, and demonic suggestion. It is said to be cured by humility and the Holy Sacraments under the guidance of one's spiritual father. In a broad interpretation, prelest afflicts everyone, as everyone has wrong thoughts, without fully understanding the meaning of life and the gravity of their sins. In a narrow sense, it refers to a person initially on the path of a pious Christian life, instead becomes proud and conceited about his or her own sanctity and triumph over sin.
In Eastern Orthodox thought, the closer people are to God, the more they see their failings, and all true saints see the foulest sins not in others, but in their own hearts and actions. The opposite state to prelest is spiritual sobriety; its opposite virtue is spiritual discernment.
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