Encouragement to the soul that is in temptation.
These great assaults and such powerful temptations, Philothea, are never permitted by God save against souls whom He wills to raise to His pure and excellent love; yet it does not follow that thereafter they are assured of attaining thereto; for it has often happened that those who had been steadfast amid such violent attacks, failing afterward to correspond faithfully to the divine favour, have found themselves vanquished in very small temptations. I say this, so that if it should ever befall you to be afflicted with such great temptations, you may know that God grants you an extraordinary favour, whereby He declares that He wills to exalt you in His sight; and yet that you may ever remain humble and fearful, not promising yourself that you can overcome lesser temptations, after having surmounted the great ones, save by a continual fidelity to the movements of grace.
These great assaults and such powerful temptations, Philothea, are never permitted by God save against souls whom He wills to raise to His pure and excellent love; yet it does not follow that thereafter they are assured of attaining thereto; for it has often happened that those who had been steadfast amid such violent attacks, failing afterward to correspond faithfully to the divine favour, have found themselves vanquished in very small temptations. I say this, so that if it should ever befall you to be afflicted with such great temptations, you may know that God grants you an extraordinary favour, whereby He declares that He wills to exalt you in His sight; and yet that you may ever remain humble and fearful, not promising yourself that you can overcome lesser temptations, after having surmounted the great ones, save by a continual fidelity to the movements of grace.
This being understood, though some temptations come upon you, and some delight ensue therefrom, so long as your will refuses its consent, not only to the temptation, but also to the delight, be not troubled at all; for God is not offended thereby. When a man has fainted away, and shows no sign of life, they place a hand upon his heart; and if they feel the least movement there, they judge that he is alive, and that by means of some strong and subtle liquor they may restore his senses. So it sometimes happens that, through the violence of temptations, it seems that our soul has fallen into a total failing of its powers, and that, as if swooning, it has neither movement nor spiritual life; but if we would know how matters stand, let us place a hand upon the heart. Let us consider whether the heart and the will still have their spiritual movement—that is, whether they duly perform their duty by refusing to consent to the temptation and the delight; for so long as the movement of refusal remains in our heart, we are assured that charity, the true life of our soul, is within us, and that Jesus Christ, our Saviour, is in our heart, although He be covered and hidden there; so that through the continual practice of prayer, the sacraments, and trust in God, our strength shall return, and we shall live a life most sweet and most perfect.