Prelest is spiritual delusion. It’s when you accept a false spiritual state as true, when you think you’re holier, more advanced, or closer to God than you actually are.
The word comes from the Slavonic, and the Church Fathers describe it as “the wounding of human nature by falsehood.” That’s St. Ignatius Brianchaninov’s definition, and it’s stuck because it captures something essential. We’re not just talking about being wrong about doctrine. We’re talking about being deceived about your own spiritual condition in a way that wounds you.
This isn’t an obscure monastic problem. It’s something every Orthodox Christian needs to understand, because the path to theosis runs right alongside the cliff edge of self-deception.
What It Looks Like
Prelest shows up in different ways, but there’s a pattern. Someone begins to have what they think are spiritual experiences, visions, special feelings during prayer, a sense of God’s presence, inner lights, whatever. They start to believe they’ve reached a higher state. But their actual life doesn’t match. The passions are still there. Pride is still there. They just can’t see it anymore because they’re convinced of their own holiness.
Sometimes it’s subtler than visions. It can be a quiet certainty that you’ve got prayer figured out, that you’re more dedicated than other people at your parish, that your fasting is particularly pleasing to God. The moment you start mentally comparing yourself favorably to others, you’re in dangerous territory.
The Fathers warn especially about expecting or craving spiritual experiences. If you’re sitting in your prayer corner waiting for consolations, anticipating some special gift or sensation, that expectation itself opens the door to delusion. Real grace doesn’t usually arrive when you’re looking for it. And when it does come, it leaves you more aware of your sinfulness, not less.
Why It Happens
Pride is the root. Not always the loud, obvious kind. Often it’s a secret self-satisfaction, a hidden sense that you’re doing pretty well spiritually. The scary thing is that prelest can masquerade as humility. You might say all the right humble-sounding words while internally flattering yourself about your spiritual attainment.
St. John Climacus and the other ascetic Fathers are clear about this. The person in prelest has lost the ability to see themselves accurately. They’ve accepted a flattering lie about their spiritual state, and that lie cuts them off from real repentance. You can’t repent of sins you’re convinced you don’t have.
How to Avoid It
The Church gives us safeguards, and they’re not complicated. They’re just hard to maintain consistently.
First, stay under spiritual guidance. You need a confessor, a priest, someone who can look at your spiritual life from the outside and tell you the truth. Don’t trust your own assessment of your prayer life or your spiritual experiences. Bring everything to your spiritual father. The Fathers are unanimous on this, isolation and self-direction are recipes for delusion.
Second, practice actual humility. Not the performance of humility, but the daily work of seeing your sins clearly and repenting of them. If you’re growing in real holiness, you’ll become more aware of how far you have to go, not less. St. Silouan said the sign of a humble soul is that it always sees itself as worse than everyone else. That’s not false modesty. It’s accurate vision.
Third, stick to the ordinary means of grace. Show up for Liturgy. Go to confession regularly. Pray your morning and evening prayers. Fast on the fast days. Give alms. Don’t go looking for extraordinary experiences or special spiritual gifts. The Christian life is mostly ordinary obedience over decades, not mystical fireworks.
And fourth, be suspicious of spiritual consolations. I don’t mean reject them if they come. But don’t seek them, don’t expect them, and don’t trust them without discernment. Test everything against Scripture, the Fathers, and the counsel of your priest.
Why This Matters Here
Living in Southeast Texas, you’re probably used to church environments where spiritual experiences are expected and celebrated, altar calls, being slain in the spirit, speaking in tongues, that whole framework. Orthodoxy is different. We’re cautious about religious experiences precisely because we take the spiritual life seriously enough to know how easily we can be fooled.
That doesn’t mean God doesn’t give real grace or that mystical experience doesn’t happen. It means we approach it with sobriety and discernment, not enthusiasm and expectation. The goal isn’t to feel close to God. The goal is to actually become united to Him through repentance, the sacraments, and the long slow work of letting Him transform us.
Prelest is what happens when we shortcut that process, when we mistake the feeling of holiness for the reality of it. The antidote is simple: humility, obedience, regular confession, and the sacramental life of the Church. Not exciting, but it’s the path the saints actually walked.
If you’re worried you might be experiencing prelest, that’s actually a good sign. The truly deluded don’t worry about it. Talk to your priest. Bring your prayer life, your thoughts, your experiences to confession. Stay connected to the Body of Christ, and let the Church’s wisdom keep you grounded. That’s what she’s here for.
