Today the most useful thing is for men to find a spiritual confessor, to confess and have confidence in him and take advice from him. If they have a confessor and make a program of prayer, if they read Orthodox books and go to the church and commune they have nothing to be afraid of in this life.
The soul must be overseen by the confessor so that he may not get lost on the way. In the ascetic struggle it may be of help the spiritual study, but if someone doesn`t have any spiritual confessor he may give his own interpretations to what he reads and be mistaken. You see, when someone goes somewhere by car, he may search on the map, but it is preferable to stop and ask for not taking a wrong way. Let`s say he goes from Athens to Florina[1].
He has a map but he asks at a kiosk if he goes on the right way because at a crossroad there is the danger to go on another way and arrive in Kavala or fall into a precipice and be in a deadly danger.
Of course, someone may ask but go on another way than the indicated one and arrive in another place or he may not take heed at the dangerous points and suffer something bad. But who shows him the way and in the same time he tells him `take care, at that point there is a dangerous curve, somewhere else is a precipice, one like this will get his reward
What I mean is that in the same way it should be done in spiritual life. It is absolutely necessary for every believer to have a confessor who will give him advice and help him by the sacrament of confession. Only in this way he may live an Orthodox life and be sure he is on the right way.
Of course everyone will choose his spiritual confessor. He won`t entrust his soul to anyone at random. In the same way he seeks a good doctor for his physical health, for the health of his soul he will seek a good confessor he will visit regularly having him as doctor of his soul
[1] Town in the Northern Greece at the border with Serbia.
Excerpt from Ascetic struggle– Pious Paisios the Athonite, Evanghelismos.
