After having spoken of the usefulness and even the necessity of temptations, we must now say something about the manner in which we ought to act when the temptations come. This matter, which is quite practical, is not one of the least essential in the spiritual life. Whole treatises have been written upon it: I will confine myself to the most important points.
Temptations differ according to the different states of the persons they attack; and this is something to which we must pay great attention, that we may discern them well. The temptations of the generality of Christians lead them to evil under the appearance of some sensible good. These temptations are quite easy to recognise; and as they have nothing to do with persons who have given themselves entirely to God, for whom I am specially writing, I shall say nothing about them, except that the only means of sheltering ourselves from these sort of temptations is to resolve most firmly to be attentive and faithful to Divine grace even in the smallest matters, and to avoid not only mortal sin and all occasions which might lead us into it, but also venial sin and the slightest appearance of sin.
Whoever has generously decided on this course, and who faithfully pursues it, will no longer be exposed to this sort of temptations, which have no other root than the indecision of our will, as long as it is fluctuating between virtue and vice.
When we have given ourselves entirely and once for all to God, He generally allows us to enjoy for some time a certain peace and tranquillity of soul; He does not allow the devil to trouble us, wishing to give us time to get up our strength and to put ourselves in a state to resist his attacks. But, as virtue has need of being tried, that thereby it may become confirmed, the temptations will come when God sees fit, or when the soul herself gives occasion for them by leaning too much on herself, or reflecting too much on herself.
The object of these temptations is, 1st, to withdraw us from a certain good through the fear of committing evil. For instance, the devil will try to keep a soul away from Holy Communion through the fear of communicating unworthily, or under pretence that the soul derives no profit from it. This fear is only a vague fear with which he troubles the imagination, and the only way is to despise it and take no notice of it. This pretence only comes because we wish to judge of ourselves of the profit we derive from our communions, which is what we ought never to do.
2nd. The object of these temptations is, to turn us away from doing good under pretence of loss of time and idleness. This happens above all with regard to prayer, when we have no longer good thoughts and affections, and when we are assailed with distractions. Then we immediately think we are doing nothing, and we are tempted to give up our way of prayer and return to ordinary meditation. This is a delusion which we must fight against strenuously. Prayer is the death of self-love, and it is never more effective for producing this death than when it is dry, distracted, and without any consolation or sensible devotion.
3rd. The third object of these temptations is, to propose to us another way of doing good than that which God wills for us. For instance, God draws us to Himself by a love of retirement, of solitude, by a desire of enjoying His Presence in peace and silence. And under pretence of zeal for souls, or charity, or edification to our neighbour, we allow ourselves to be drawn into all sorts of exterior good works, and association with the outside world, and we even wish to undertake the conversion of souls to God. This is a temptation which is very frequent; and we must resist it by waiting until God Himself furnishes us with the occasion of serving our neighbour, and shows us plainly that it is His Will: we should never take the initiative of ourselves.
4th. The devil will try to tempt us in the matter of obedience, either by giving us a bad impression of our director, or suggesting to us that he is deceived in our regard, or that he goes beyond his authority. On this matter I have only one thing to say, and it is this: when we once have sufficient proof (and we always have it in the beginning) that our director is a good and upright man, that he is learned and enlightened, and that he is guided by the Spirit of God, then we must obey him in all things as we would obey God Himself; we must never allow ourselves to judge him; and we must listen to nothing which might weaken our good opinion of him. Of course I except those cases where there is palpable and notorious evidence of his having conducted himself badly; but such cases are very rare, and they are always easy to be recognised.
The temptations of more advanced souls are quite of another order, and they are rather trials than temptations. God, Who wishes to humble them, to purify them, and to annihilate self in them, allows the devil to try them with violent temptations against purity, or against faith, or hope, or their love of God and their neighbour; He allows a kind of universal upheaval or unchaining of the powers of evil; He may even allow exterior and evident faults, to which the soul believes she has consented, though in reality she is very far from having done so.
It is, above all, in these kind of temptations that the guidance of an experienced and skilful director is absolutely necessary, and we have need of a perfect obedience of judgment and will; for the soul then is so troubled, the understanding is so obscured, that the soul is incapable of judging rightly on what is passing within herself, and she must absolutely rely on the judgment of another. What she must do then and this is most essential is to hide nothing from her director, but to tell him faithfully and honestly, without fear or shame, and with great simplicity, exactly what she experiences; to let him form his own judgment, without trying to influence him by hers, and without disputing with him; to agree with his decision, without examination or reflection, and then to do without hesitation whatever he may command; in spite of any fear she may have, or any feeling that she has offended or is going to offend God.
These states of the soul are very strange, undoubtedly, and the conscience suffers in them a terrible perplexity. But God allows them, that the soul may die completely to herself, to her own will, to her own interest; and the only way to pass through them safely is in a spirit of blind obedience, of perfect fidelity, and of entire resignation to the will of God.
Besides what I have just said as to the manner in which we ought to behave during these different temptations, there are a few general rules to observe before, during, and after the temptations.
Before the temptation comes, we must neither fear it, nor even think of it, nor take any measure to anticipate it or to prevent it. I am speaking of the temptations of trial, in which the soul is entirely passive: we must simply keep ourselves, like little children, in the arms of God, placing in Him all our confidence, and expecting everything from His help. The best preparation is an inviolable fidelity to Divine grace and a generous courage in overcoming ourselves in all things; for the more we conquer nature the less hold temptation has upon us; the devil is only strong against us in proportion as we are weak through self-love.
During the immediate time of the temptation, we must let it pass over us like a stormy cloud, we must hold fast to God, and we must not give up any of our ordinary practices of devotion. Thus, even if we are assailed by the most horrible thoughts during the time of prayer, we must not leave off our prayer until the usual hour for doing so; still less must we give up Holy Communion on the pretext of the impure or blasphemous thoughts which trouble us at that sacred moment. It is very often just this very time which the devil chooses to torment us. Let us make a rule to ourselves never to yield to him, however hard he may press us.
"Resist the devil" says Saint James, "and he will flee from you." He can do nothing against a soul which is firm and immovable; he must retire, overwhelmed with confusion. If our director has prescribed any particular practice during the time of temptation, we must be very faithful to it, because God always blesses obedience.
When the moment of temptation is over, we must enjoy the calm which is restored to our soul without examining whether we have consented or not: this could only serve to trouble and discourage us, for it is certain that it is not by the manner in which the soul is affected during the temptation that she can judge whether she has resisted or yielded. She is then too much agitated to be able to discern what is free and what is not.
It is her general conduct after the temptation is over which alone can tell her of her victory or her defeat. If she is humble, docile, obedient, faithful in the observance of all her duties, ready to renounce her own will, God will never allow her to be overcome, and it is upon this rule that the confessor must decide and reassure the soul, if he sees that it is right to do so. Therefore it is necessary for the soul to give him a faithful account of all she has experienced, neither adding to or diminishing anything, telling as certain what she believes to be certain, and as doubtful what she thinks doubtful. Everything else rests with the director.
What she ought, above all things, to forbid herself, are reasonings and reflections upon the temptation and its circumstances. She ought never to think about it at all, except to speak of it to her director, and when that is once done, she ought never willingly to let her mind dwell upon it at all.
- taken from Manual for Interior Souls, by Father Jean Nicolas Grou