Devotion to the Saints: the thought of Padre Pio today 18 October

4. I know that the Lord allows these assaults on the devil because his mercy makes you dear to him and wants you to resemble him in the anxieties of the desert, of the garden, of the cross; but you must defend yourselves by distancing him and despising his evil insinuations in the name of God and holy obedience.

5. Observe well: provided that temptation will displease you, there is nothing to fear. But why are you sorry, if not because you don't want to hear her?
These temptations so importunate come from the malice of the devil, but the sorrow and suffering that we suffer from them come from the mercy of God, who, against the will of our enemy, withdraws from his malice the holy tribulation, by means of which he purifies the gold he wants to put in his treasures.
I say again: your temptations are of the devil and hell, but your pains and afflictions are of God and of heaven; the mothers are from Babylon, but the daughters are from Jerusalem. He despises temptations and embraces tribulations.
No, no, my daughter, let the wind blow and don't think that the ringing of the leaves is the sound of weapons.

6. Do not try to overcome your temptations because this effort would strengthen them; despise them and do not hold back on them; represent in your imaginations Jesus Christ crucified in your arms and on your breasts, and say kissing his side several times: Here is my hope, here is the living source of my happiness! I will hold you tight, O my Jesus, and I will not leave you until you have placed me in a safe place.

7. End it with these vain apprehensions. Remember that it is not sentiment that constitutes guilt but consent to such sentiments. Free will alone is capable of good or evil. But when the will groans under the tempter's test and does not want what is presented to it, not only is there no fault, but there is virtue.

8. Temptations do not dismay you; they are the proof of the soul that God wants to experience when he sees it in the forces necessary to sustain the fight and weave the wreath of glory with his own hands.
Up to now your life was in infancy; now the Lord wants to treat you as an adult. And since the tests of adult life are much higher than those of an infant, that is why you are initially disorganized; but the life of the soul will acquire its calm and your calm will return, it will not be late. Have a little more patience; everything will be for your best.

9. Temptations against faith and purity are goods offered by the enemy, but do not fear him except with contempt. As long as he cries, it is a sign that he has not yet taken possession of the will.
Thou shalt not be disturbed by what you are experiencing on the part of this rebel angel; the will is always contrary to its suggestions, and live calmly, because there is no fault, but rather there is the pleasure of God and the gain for your soul.

10. You must have recourse to him in the assaults of the enemy, you must hope in him and you must expect every good from him. Do not voluntarily stop on what the enemy presents to you. Remember that whoever runs away wins; and you owe the first movements of aversion against those people to withdraw their thoughts and appeal to God. Before him bend your knee and with great humility repeat this short prayer: "Have mercy on me, who am a poor sick person". Then get up and with holy indifference continue your chores.