Pope: Guard against deceit of the devil

Tribulation Times
October 18, 2013  
(Mat 4:8-11) Again the devil took him up into a very high mountain, and shewed him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, And said to him: All these will I give thee, if falling down thou wilt adore me. Then Jesus saith to him: Begone, Satan: for it is written: The Lord thy God shalt thou adore, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil left him; and behold angels came and ministered to him. 

VATICAN RADIO: Pope: Guard against deceit of the devil

THE CATHOLIC THING: The Devil’s Dictionary
MEDITATION: Thoughts by St Theophan (1815-1894)
[Eph. 5:25-33; Luke 4:1-15] 

The Temptation of Christ, 1854 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The devil approaches the God-man with temptations. Who among men is free of them? He who goes according to the will of the evil one does not experience attacks, but is simply turned more and more toward evil.

As soon as one begins to come to himself and intends to begin a new life according to God's will, immediately the entire satanic realm enters into action: they hasten to scatter good thoughts and the intentions of the repentant one in any way they can. If they do not manage to turn him aside, they attempt to hinder his good repentance and confession; if they do not manage to do that, they contrive to sow tares amidst the fruits of repentance and disrupt his labours of cleansing the heart. If they do not succeed in suggesting evil they attempt to distort the truth; if they are repulsed inwardly they attack outwardly, and so on until the end of one's life. They do not even let one die in peace; even after death they pursue the soul, until it escapes the aerial space where they hover and congregate.

You ask, “What should we do? It is hopeless and terrifying!” For a believer there is nothing terrifying here, because near a God-fearing man demons only busy themselves, but they do not have any power over him. A sober man of prayer shoots arrows against them, and they stay far away from him, not daring to approach, and fearing the defeat which they have already experienced. If they succeed in something, it is due to our blundering. We slacken our attention, or allow ourselves to be distracted by their phantoms, and they immediately come and disturb us more boldly. If you do not come to your senses in time they will whirl you about; but if a soul does come to its senses they again recoil and spy from afar to see whether it is possible to approach again somehow.

So be sober, watch, and pray — and the enemies will do nothing to you.

VIA A Moment With Mary: We will be victorious through Mary

Today we fight a very intense spiritual battle. I think that some of us have not completely understood the intensity of this battle. It is a battle of love. (...)

We forget that the evil one exists. God took the most humble of all creatures, and the most magnificent because of her humility, to be the Queen of Heaven and Earth, so she could dominate that ugly old creature, the devil.

So if we lean on Mary, we have nothing to fear. Because on top of that, she will take care of us tenderly, with the heart of a mother. We know that the Lord is with us, and that Mary is there to protect us. We know for certain that we will be victorious, and victorious through Mary. (...) She is our mantle, and with her we are safe.

Pierre Goursat (1914-1991)

The Desert Fathers: sayings of the Early Christian Monks: Compunction

4. Elias said, 'I fear thre things: the first, the time before my soul leaves my body: the second, the time before I meet God face to face: the third, the time before He pronounces His sentence upon me.'

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