Chapter XI. Of the Diligence which the Devil employs to disturb this Peace, and how we ought to guard ourselves against his Devices

AS it is our adversary's custom to seek to devour souls, he uses every possible means to lead us to forsake humility and simplicity, and to make us attribute something to ourselves, to our own industry and efforts, irrespective of the grace which is given to us, without which no one can name the Name of Jesus.

And though of ourselves by the exercise of our free-will, we can resist this grace, we cannot even receive it without its assistance. Thus, if any man does not receive grace, it is his own fault; but if he does receive it, he can only do so through the same grace—a grace, however, which is sufficiently bestowed upon all. Our adversary, then, would make us think and believe that of ourselves we are more diligent than others, and that we are better disposed for receiving the gifts of God, and in this way would lead us to pride, and make us forgetful of our own insufficiency, when unaided, and then would induce us to despise others in our hearts, who do not the same good works that we do.

Therefore, unless you are very watchful, and instantly turn with all promptness to humble, abase, and annihilate self (as has been said), he will make you fall into pride, like the Pharisee of whom you read in the Gospel, who gloried in his own good deeds, and condemned the deeds of others. And if in this manner he should ever get possession of your will, he will make himself master of it, and put into it all kinds of vices, to your great hurt and peril. And therefore the Lord warns us to watch and pray. It is indispensable, then, that you should use the utmost vigilance, in order to prevent the enemy from robbing you of so great a treasure as peace and quietness of mind; for with all his might he tries to deprive you of this repose, and to make you live in continual unrest, knowing that such a state is fraught with danger and injury to your soul: for if a soul is at peace, all things are done with ease, and great things are done well; hence it willingly perseveres and surmounts all opposition with ease. And on the other hand, if it is disturbed and unquiet, it does but little, and that little very imperfectly, and soon becomes weary, and, in fact, lives in a fruitless martyrdom. If you wish, then, to come off victorious, and to foil the enemy, when he attempts to destroy your labours, there is nothing about which you must be more on your guard than not to let your soul become disturbed, nor to consent even for a moment to any temptation to disquietude.

And that you may know the better how to guard yourself against the wiles of the enemy, make it a certain rule in this case, that every thought which discourages you and lessens your love and confidence towards God, is a messenger from hell, and therefore to be driven away, and banished from your presence without an audience. For the office of the Holy Spirit is none other than always to unite the soul on all opportunities more and more closely with God, enkindling and inflaming it with His sweet love, and with fresh confidence in Him; whilst the work of the devil ever points in the opposite direction, and consists in the employment of all means in his power, such as, inordinate fear, exaggeration of our natural weakness; scruples as to the dispositions for Confession, Communion, or prayer, so that by these suggestions he may render us distrustful, fearful, and restless. The absence of warm feelings in our devotions, of delight in our prayers and other exercises, he uses as an opportunity for producing impatient sadness, construing it into a sign that all is lost, and into a reason for discontinuing our spiritual exercises; and finally into a ground for despair, so that, do what we will, we think it will be in vain and fruitless. Thus sadness and fear go on increasing, till we imagine that we are forgotten by God. But this is not the truth; for innumerable benefits are derived from dryness and the absence of devotional feelings, if only we understood what God by these means would work in us, provided we on our part would exercise patience and persevere in well-doing to the best of our power. And that I may make this more clear to you, and that the great advantages which God wills to bestow upon you may not, through your want of preception, tend to your hurt, I will briefly state what are the blessings of humble perseverance in these dry devotions, that, bearing these in mind, you may not lose your peace, when you suffer from this dryness of spirit and oppression of heart in consequence of lack of sweetness and consolation in devotion, or of any other temptation, however horrible it may be.