Here Begins the Enumeration of Remedies against Temptations, and First on the Part of the Mind, the Strength and Cheerfulness Which We Should Keep in Dealing with Them

OR the rest, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put ye on the armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the snares of the devil (Eph. vi. 10-11). The blessed St. Anthony, a man well versed and experienced in these spiritual wars and battles, used to say that one of the principal means to overcome our enemy is to show courage, strength, and cheerfulness in temptations, because thereby the enemy is at once put out and discouraged and loses all hope of being able to hurt us. Our Father, in his Book of Spiritual Exercises, sets down an excellent rule and instruction to this effect. He says that the devil our enemy behaves with us in temptations like a woman quarreling with a man; if she sees that the man stands out and shows fight, she at once subsides, turns her back, and flies; but if she has an inkling of pusillanimity and cowardice in the man, she thereupon plucks up and conceives greater boldness and daring, and turns into a tiger. So when the devil tempts us, if we show fight and spirit and withstand his temptations manfully, he thereupon loses heart and gives himself up for beaten; but if he notices in us signs of pusillanimity and discouragement, he then gathers greater spirit and strength, and turns into a lion and tiger against us. So the Apostle St. James says: Resist the devil and he will fly from you (James iv, 7). St. Gregory confirms this by that Scripture saying in the Book of Job (iv. 11), where according to the Septuagint the devil is called mirmicoleon, that is, lion and ant. He is the lion of ants, but if you show him the strength of a lion, he will be an ant to you. For this reason the saints advise us not to be sad under temptation, but carry on the fight cheerfully, as Holy Scripture tells us of Judas Maccabaeus and his brethren and companions: They fought the battles of Israel with great joy (I Macc. iii. 2) ; and so they won.

And there is another reason for this; it is that, as the devils are so envious of our good, our cheerfulness is a torment and pain to them, and our sadness and pusillanimity gladdens them. Thus, if it were only for that reason, we should endeavor to make no show of pusillanimity and sadness, and not give them that satisfaction, but show great courage and cheerfulness to make them rage the more. The ecclesiastical histories tell of the holy martyrs, that one of the things that made their executioners rage, and whereby they tormented their executioners more than their executioners tormented them, was the courage and fortitude which they showed in their torments. In this way, then, we should behave towards the devils in our temptations, to make them rage and be angry. On account of this being such a main means to overcome temptations and gain the victory and triumph over our enemies, we will go on in the following chapters to mention some things that will aid us to maintain this courage and fortitude in them.