St Pio on Temptation

Good day my friends, here are some snippets of St Pio’s letters to his spiritual children, on the subject of temptation:

I know the Lord permits the devil to make these assaults because his mercy renders you dear to him and he wants to make you similar to him in the anguish of the desert, the garden [Gethsemane] and on the cross.
But you must defend yourselves casting aside and despising his evil insulations observe well that as long as you are displeased by the temptations you have nothing to fear….

These troublesome temptations come from the evil of the devil, but the displeasure and suffering experienced come from the mercy of God, who contrary to our enemies will, draws holy tribulation from his malice, through which he purifies the gold that he wants to be part of His treasure…

Remember that it is not the thought that makes the sin, but the consenting to these thoughts. The trails to which the Lord subjects you and will subject you are all signs of divine love and are jewels for the soul. Winter will pass, the never-ending spring will come, all the more rich in beauty as violent were the storms…

When the will groans under the trial presented by the tempter and does not want it there is not only no sin but there is virtue…

Take heart and don’t fear the gloomy wroth of Lucifer, always remember this that it is a good sign when the enemy makes and uproar and roars around your will as this shows that he is not within you… Rest assured that the more a soul is pleasing to God the more it must be tried, therefore, courage go forward always…

I understand that the temptation seems to stain rather than purify the soul, but this is not really the case. Temptations are like soap which when spread on laundry seem to soil it, but in reality cleanse it…

Be careful never to become discouraged when you see yourself surrounded by spiritual infirmities, if God lets you fall into some weakness it is not to abandon you but only to establish you in humility and make you more careful in the future…

Let us hasten confidently to the tribunal of penance (confession) where he awaits us at every instance with the love of a Father, and even though we are aware of our inability to repay him let us have no doubts about the solemn pardon pronounced over our errors. Let us place a tomb stone over them as the Lord has done.

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