Volume II, Treatise IV, Chapter XVII

Of Two Other Remedies Against Temptations

St. Bernarp says, that when the devil intends to deceive us, he beforehand examines our temper, our humour and inclinations; and always attacks us in those things, he finds us most inclined to.

Those whom he finds of a sweet and easy nature, and who easily receive impressions of joy and pleasure, he attacks with vanity and impurity; and those whom he knows to be of a more rough and harsh temper, he sets upon with continual motions and provocations to anger, choler, indignation and impatience. St. Gregory makes the same remark, and says, that as the greatest skill of those that take birds, is to be well acquainted with the places they most haunt, in order to draw them the more easily into their nets: so the chief-care of the devil, is to know to what we are more naturally inclined, to make us thereby fall more easily into his snares.

Thus it was, that perceiving the great love Adam bore to his wife, he made use of her to tempt him; he triumphed also over Sampson, by means of Dalila, and thus found out the sense of the riddle, and the source of his strength. The devil imitates a skilful warrior, who before he attacks any place, endeavours to find where it is weakest. He carefully observes which is the weakest part of our soul, what passion domineers in us, to what our natural inclination most of all carries us, and there he never fails to attack us. The best means to resist this craft, is, with care to find out, which is the weakest part of our soul, and the least fortified; that is to say, what those things are, to which we find our natural inclination, passion, or constitution of body leads us, and endeavour to fortify ourselves well on that side, where we fear to be most indanger.

_ Masters of a spiritual life propose another remedy, not unlike this; they say that the general maxim to defend ourselves from any temptation, is presently to have recourse to what is most contrary to it. Physicians use the same method in corporal diseases, according to their maxim, that ‘“contraries are cured by contraries.” If the diseases come from cold, they make use of hot remedies; if they proceed from dryness and heat, they apply such remedies as are refreshing; reducing after this manner, the humours of the body, to the just temper they ought to have. We ought to adopt a similar conduct, in the diseases of our soul; and this is what St. Ignatius teaches, when he says, we ought to cure those temptations we are subject unto, by practising what is contrary to them: for example, when we find ourselves carried, away with vanity and pride, we ought exercise ourselves in servile works, and so, on all other occasions, always resist our bad inclinations.

About ReligiousBookshelf.com · A Supernerd Media project