Volume III, Treatise IV, Chapter VIII

Several Other Remedies Against Temptations to Impurity

Sr. GReGoRY says that temptations to impurity, and wicked thoughts which often torment men, are sometimes the effect of a wicked life, and remain as a punishment of those vicious habits, / ‘

210 CHASTITY.

which they had before contracted. Wherefore this kind of fire is to be extinguished by tears, and by bitterly weeping and bemoaning our past follies. St. Bonaventure says, that it is a very good remedy against these temptations, to look upon them as a due chastisement for our past disorders; and by an humble and patient submission to them, to say with Joseph’s brethren, “We deserve to suffer all this, because we have sinned against our brother” (Genesis 42:21) God is moved with mercy, when man acknowledges that he deserves the punishment which the divine justice inflicts upon him, as the same father observes; and holy Scripture tells us, that the people of Israel made frequent use of this means to obtain their pardon from God. Another admirable means to obtain God’s assistance in all our temptations, and particularly in impure ones, and to make us come off always conquerors, is to diffide in our own strength, and put all our confidence in God. I have already spoken of this, and I shall speak more hereafter, when I come to treat of the fear of God: so that at present it shall suffice to say that, generally speaking, humility is a sovereign antidote for all manner of temptations. The revelation which St. Anthony had, is well known. He one day saw in spirit the whole Earth covered with snares, and all of them were so dexterously laid, that being affrighted at the vision, he cried out, Lord, who can escape all these? And presently it was answered him, The humble of heart: be you therefore humble, and God will deliver you from those tempting snares of the flesh. “God has a particular care of little ones”, says David: ‘‘ I myself was humbled, and he delivered me” (Psalms 114:6) The highest mountains suffer most from storms; a tempestuous wind roots up the tallest oak; whilst the little shrub and the osier, by yielding and plying to the wind, resume their former attitude as soon as the violent blast is over.

According to this, one of the advantages we are to derive from these temptations, is to humble ourselves before God, acknowledge our misery and frailty, and to say to him: You see, O Lord, what I am: what can be expected from filthy clay but poisonous exhalations? Who can hope for anything else from an earth that you have cursed, but thorns and briars? It can produce nothing else, unless you cultivate it by your grace. Here is matter enough for our humiliation. If a poor coarse coat, which is an exterior thing, serves, as the saints take notice, to humble him that wears it, what must an infinity of shameful thoughts, which every moment pass through our hearts, wherein they make so much havoc, do to us? Holy brother Giles compared our flesh to a hog, that takes pleasure in wallowing continually in the mire, and to a beetle, that always lives in dirt. This consideration ought to prevail so far upon us, as to divert our attention from impure thoughts; and commonly it is better not to dwell on, or combat the objects which the temptation presents, but immediately to turn our eyes from them, and contemplating our own condition, say with an humble heart, certainly I am a very wicked creature, since so many bad thoughts as these come into and fill my mind; for by this we evade the stroke intended by the Devil, and so put him to confusion. It.is also very profitable, when we are surprised with bad thoughts and evil motions, to conceive as much confusion for them as if we were really in fault, for hereby we shall be very far from consenting to them. The Devil, the first author of pride, cannot see so much humility without being in a fury. And you cannot vex him more, or sooner oblige him to leave you in peace, than by turning those means by which he designed to ruin you, to your own good and advantage. Moreover, this holy confusion is a sign that the will is very far from consenting to the sin, and consequently brings along with it great confidence and satisfaction. —

It may be useful likewise, sometimes to say abusive words to the Devil. For example, to say to him, Get thee behind me, thou unclean spirit; vile wretch as thou art, hast thou lost all shame? Certainly thou art the filthiest of creatures, since thou presentest me with such filthy imaginations. For the Devil is so full of pride, that he will sooner quit the place than suffer such reproach and contempt. St. Gregory (Lib. 3, Dial. c. 4) relates that Dacius, a holy bishop of Milan, on his way to Constantinople, passed by Corinth, where he found no other lodging but one in a house which had been a long time deserted by reason of its being haunted with spirits. Here he and his retinue lodged. About midnight the devils, in the shape of divers kinds of beasts, began to make a terrible noise. Some of them roared like lions, others hissed like serpents, and others bellowed like bulls. The bishop, awakened by this noise, and looking upon them with scorn and indignation, spoke thus to them: Ye are come finely off indeed; ye who desire to be like God, have transformed yourselves into beasts, in whose shape ye best show what you are.

This raillery, says St. Gregory, so confounded the devils, that they immediately disappeared, forsook the house, and never returned to it any more, so that it was inhabited again. St. Athanasius (in Vita S. Anton., c. 3) writes, that when St. Anthony was much troubled with temptations to impurity, a little filthy ugly black, that even turned his stomach, came one day and threw himself at his feet, saying: I have subdued many thousands, but you are the only person I cannot overcome. The saint asked him who he was; he answered, the spirit of fornication; very well, replied the saint, since thou art so despicable, I am resolved hereafter to contemn thee more than I have done yet; whereupon he disappeared. Our Saviour also, as St. Luke relates, called the spirit of fornication the unclean spirit, saying, “When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man” (Luke 11:24) And hence, to treat the Devil thus, and to despise him as he deserves, is the way to free ourselves from him. Not that it is always necessary to speak, or to discourse with him; no, it may be sufficient sometimes to show our contempt of him by any other exterior sign.

About ReligiousBookshelf.com · A Supernerd Media project