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"Our Divine Lord, having been our model in every thing, would be our model in temptation also. For this end He allowed Himself to be led into the desert.The good soldier has no fear of the battle, and so a good Christian ought to have no fear of temptation. All soldiers are good in garrison: on the field of battle we see the difference between the brave and the cowardly.

The greatest of all temptations is to have none. We may almost say that we are happy in having temptations; it is the moment of the spiritual harvest, when we lay up stores for heaven. It is like the time of harvest, when we rise very early, and take a great deal of trouble; but we do not complain, because we gather in a great deal.

The devil tempts only those souls that wish to abandon sin and those that are in a state of grace. The others belong to him: he has no need to tempt them.

A saint, passing one day before a convent, saw a quantity of devils tormenting the religious, without being able to succeed in seducing them. He passed afterwards by a town, and saw a single one sitting down with his arms across, and guiding the whole population. Then, the saint asked him how he came to be alone in a great town, while there were so many tormenting a handful of religious. The devil answered him that he was quite enough for the town, because he tempted those who were already inclined to hatred, impurity, drunkenness, and it was done in a moment; while with the religious, it was more difficult. The army of devils occupied in tempting them lost their time and their trouble; they could gain no ground. So they waited till others should come, who might grow weary of the austerity of the rule.

In a monastery, during the Holy Sacrifice, one of the brothers saw devils prowling round those good religious. He saw one in particular stamping on the head of a monk, and another advancing and receding by turns. After Mass, this brother asked the two religious what had occupied their minds during Office. The first said he had thought of a floor he wanted to have made in the convent; and the second said that the devil had come to attack him, but he had always tried to drive him away. This is what all good Christians do; and, therefore, temptation is to them a source of merit.

The most ordinary temptations are pride and impurity. One of the best means by which we can resist them is a life of activity for the glory of God. Many people give themselves up to idleness and indulgence; so it is not surprising that the devil has them in his power.

A religious complained to his superior of being violently tempted. The superior ordered the gardener and the cook to call him every moment. Some time after, he asked him how he was getting on. "O father," he said, "I have no time now to be tempted !" If we were penetrated with the holy presence of God, we should find it easy to resist the enemy. With this thought, God sees thee! we should never sin.

There was once a good saint - I think it was St. Teresa - who complained to our Lord after having been tempted, and said to Him, "Where wert Thou then, O my most loving Jesus, during that horrible tempest?" Our Lord answered her, "I was in the midst of thy heart, taking pleasure in seeing thee fight against it."

At the moment of temptation we must firmly renew our baptismal promises. . . . Now listen well to that. When you are tempted, offer to the good God the merit of that temptation, to obtain the opposite virtue. If you are tempted to pride, offer the temptation to obtain humility; that of immodest thoughts, to obtain purity; or charity, if it is against your neighbor. Offer also the temptation to obtain the conversion of sinners; that spites the devil and puts him to flight, because the temptation is turned against himself: yes, after that he will be sure to leave you alone.

A Christian ought always to be ready for battle. As in time of war sentinels are always placed here and there to see if the enemy is approaching, so we ought to be always on our guard to see if the enemy is not laying snares for us, and if he is not coming to surprise us. One of two things: a Christian either rules his inclinations, or his inclinations rule him; there is no medium. It is like two men taking each other by the collar to try which is the strongest - one will throw the other down. One will almost always end by overthrowing the other; and when he has him on the ground, with his foot upon his neck, he does not care much for him: he has the upper hand. So with our passions; the struggle is seldom equal, either we guide our passions, or they guide us.

My brethren, how sad it is to let ourselves be led by our passions! A Christian is noble; he ought to command his vassals like a noble. Our vassals are our passions. A shepherd was asked what he was. He answered, that he was a king. Over whom do you reign? Over my subjects. And who are your subjects? My inclinations. This shepherd was quite right in saying that he was a king.

We are in this world like a ship upon the sea. What causes the waves? The storm. In this world the wind is always blowing. Our passions raise a tempest in our soul; and these struggles will gain us heaven.

We must not imagine that there is any place on the earth where we could escape from this war. We shall find the devil everywhere; and everywhere he will try to deprive us of heaven. But everywhere and always we may be the conquerors. It is not like other battles, in which one of two parties is always beaten; in this, if we choose, with the grace of God, which is never refused us, we may always triumph.

When we think all is lost, we have only to cry out, "O Lord, save us; we perish!" For our Lord is there, close to us, looking at us with complacency, and saying to us with a smile: "In truth thou lovest Me; I see that thou lovest Me." It is indeed by battles against hell, and by resistance to temptations, that we give God proofs of our love.

How many souls, unknown in the world, will one day be seen enriched by these victories of every moment! The good God will say to these souls, "Come, ye blessed of My Father, enter into the joy of your Master."

Our guardian angel is always there by our side, pen in hand, to write down our victories. We must say every morning,"Come, my soul, let us labor to obtain heaven. This evening our battles will be over." And in the evening, "Tomorrow, my soul, all the troubles of life will perhaps be over for thee."

We have not yet suffered like the martyrs. Ask them if they are sorry now... The good God does not require so much from us. There are some people who are upset by a single word. One little humiliation capsizes the ship... Courage my brethren, courage! When the last day comes, you will say, "Happy struggles, that have purchased heaven!"

Let us then fight generously. When once the devil sees that he has no power over us, he will leave us in peace. This is the way he usually treats sinners who are returning to God; he lets them taste the sweetness of the first moments of their conversion, because he knows very well that he would gain nothing; they are too fervent. He waits a few months, till their first ardor has passed away; then he begins to make them neglect prayer and the Sacraments; he attacks them with divers temptations; then come the battles, and then indeed is the time to ask for strength, and not to let ourselves be overcome. Some people are so weak that when they are a little tempted, they give way, like soft paper. If we were always marching forward like good soldiers, we should raise our hearts to God when war or temptation come upon us, and take courage. But we linger behind; we say, "Provided I am saved, that is all I want. I do not wish to be a saint." If you are not a saint, you will be lost, there is no medium - you must be one or the other; mind that.

All those who will one day possess heaven will be saints. The souls in purgatory are saints, because they have no mortal sins; they have only to be purified, and they are friends of the good God. Let us work hard, my children; the day will come that we shall find we have not done at all too much to gain heaven."

Source: The Spirit of the Cure d'Ars by l'abbe Monnin, p.133, 1865.

Prayer for Lent: O Lord who, for our sake, didst fast forty days and forty nights; give us grace to use such abstinence that, our flesh being subdued to the spirit, we may worthily lament and acknowledge our wretchedness, and may obtain perfect remission and forgiveness of Thee, the God of all mercy, who livest and reignest with the Father and Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen

Source: Lent with the Cure d'Ars Compiled by the CAPG