St. Isaac the Syrian :

Counsel 2

We cannot prevent causes for passions from being in us, and so we are tempted even against our will. We do not wish to sin, but we often accept with pleasure the causes which lead to sins ; then these causes become instrumental in making sins active. He who loves what causes passions involuntarily becomes a slave to passions. He who hates his sins will cease to sin; and he who confesses them will receive absolution.

It is impossible for a man to get free from the habit of sin if he does not first acquire a hatred of sin; and it is impossible to receive absolution before a confession of sins. While a man bears within himself the poison of intoxication with his sins, everything he does seems fitting to him. And when nature leaves its rightful place, it is no matter whether intoxication be with wine or with lusts, for one and another alike drive it from its proper state-each will produce an identical inflammation in the body; the means may be different, the result is the same.

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