Devotion to the Saints: the thought of Padre Pio today August 19th

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.

11. Keep it in mind that the more the assaults of the enemy grow, the closer God is to the soul. Think and interpenetrate well of this great and comforting truth.

12. Take heart and do not fear Lucifer's dark ire. Remember this forever: that it is a good sign when the enemy roars and roars around your will, since this shows that he is not inside.
Courage, my beloved daughter! I utter this word with a great feeling and, in Jesus, courage, I say: there is no need to fear, while we can say with resolution, although without feeling: Long live Jesus!

13. Keep in mind that the more a soul is pleasing to God, the more it must be tried. Therefore courage and always go on.

14. I understand that temptations seem to stain rather than purify the spirit, but let's hear what the language of the saints is, and in this regard it suffices to know, among many, what St. Francis de Sales says: that temptations are like soap, which widespread on the clothes seems to smear them and in truth purify them.

15. Confidence I always inculcate you; nothing can fear a soul who trusts in his Lord and places his hope in him. The enemy of our health is also always around us to snatch from our heart the anchor that must lead us to salvation, I mean confidence in God our Father; hold on tight, hold this anchor, never allow it to abandon us for a moment, otherwise everything would be lost.

16. We increase our devotion to Our Lady, let's honor her with true filial love in all ways.

17. Oh, what happiness in spiritual battles! Just wanting to always know how to fight to certainly emerge victorious.

18. Walk with simplicity in the way of the Lord and do not torment your spirit.
You must hate your flaws, but with a quiet hatred and not already annoying and restless.

19. Confession, which is the washing of the soul, must be made every eight days at the latest; I don't feel like keeping souls away from confession for more than eight days.

20. The devil has only one door to enter our soul: the will; there are no secret doors.
No sin is such unless it was committed with the will. When the will has nothing to do with sin, it has nothing to do with human weakness.

21. The devil is like an angry dog ​​on the chain; beyond the limit of the chain he cannot bite anyone.
And you then stay away. If you get too close, you get caught.

22. Do not abandon your soul to temptation, says the Holy Spirit, since the joy of the heart is the life of the soul, it is an inexhaustible treasure of holiness; while sadness is the slow death of the soul and is of no use to anything.

23. Our enemy, conjured against us, becomes stronger with the weak, but with whoever confronts him with the weapon in his hand, he becomes a coward.

24. Unfortunately, the enemy will always be in our ribs, but let us remember, however, that the Virgin watches over us. So let us recommend ourselves to her, reflect on her and we are sure that the victory belongs to those who trust in this great Mother.

25. If you manage to overcome the temptation, this has the effect that the lye has on messy laundry.

26. I would suffer death countless times, before offending the Lord with my eyes open.

27. With thought and confession one must not go back to the sins accused in previous confessions. Because of our contrition, Jesus forgave them in the penance court. There he found himself before us and our miseries as a creditor in front of an insolvent debtor. With a gesture of infinite generosity he tore apart, destroyed the promissory notes signed by us by sinning, and which we certainly could not have paid without the help of his divine clemency. Going back to those faults, wanting to resurrect them only to still have their forgiveness, only for the doubt that they have not been really and largely remitted, would perhaps not be considered as an act of mistrust towards the goodness of which he had shown, tearing himself every title of the debt contracted by us by sinning? ... Come back, if this can be a reason of comfort to our souls, let your thoughts also turn to the offenses caused to justice, to wisdom, to the infinite mercy of God: but only to cry over them the redemptive tears of repentance and love.