After making his confession, stephen feels:

Often Stephen feels slothful — lethargic, apathetic, and unable to pray. He feels that "a wave of vitality [has passed] out of him," taking with it his resistance to temptation. Stephen feels contaminated by every kind of sin, but he continues to serve as the prefect of the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

the answer is: the start of world war i, and russia’s hopes of benefiting from it

during world war i russian joined due to in their current crisis they were being supported by france and the war was already declared to them by germany, they needed to maintain their political goal and leadership role in the balkans, and is the same feeling that this excerpt evoke the eager of maintain the land value.