How We Must Remedy Small Temptations.
Now, as to these small temptations of vanity, suspicion, sadness, jealousy, envy, wantonness, and others of like kind, which, like little flies, come buzzing before our eyes, and sting us now on the cheek, now on the nose, since it is impossible to be altogether free from them, the best course is not to trouble ourselves about them; for none of this can do us harm, however vexatious it may be, provided we are firmly resolved always to serve God.
Therefore, despise these feeble assaults, and do not even deign to consider what they mean; let them buzz in your ears as long as they will, and fly here and there about you, as flies do; and when they come to sting you, and you see them linger ever so slightly in your heart, do nothing but simply brush them away; do not fight against them, nor answer them, but occupy your heart with something good, and especially with the love of God. For, if you take my advice, you will not persist in opposing to the temptation the virtue contrary to it, because that would be almost like arguing with it; but after making an act of the virtue directly contrary to it, supposing you have been able to recognize the nature of the temptation, simply turn your heart back to Jesus Christ crucified, and, standing in spirit at His feet, kiss them with all the love you can. This is the best means of overcoming the enemy, in small temptations as well as great ones; for the love of God, containing within itself all the perfections of all the virtues, and that in greater excellence than the virtues themselves, is also a more sovereign remedy for all vices. And your mind, becoming accustomed in every temptation to have recourse to this universal refuge, will not need to look and examine what temptations it has; but, simply feeling itself troubled, it will go seek peace in this great remedy, which the devil fears so greatly that, when he sees his temptations incite us to this divine love, he ceases to tempt us.
Now, as to these small temptations of vanity, suspicion, sadness, jealousy, envy, wantonness, and others of like kind, which, like little flies, come buzzing before our eyes, and sting us now on the cheek, now on the nose, since it is impossible to be altogether free from them, the best course is not to trouble ourselves about them; for none of this can do us harm, however vexatious it may be, provided we are firmly resolved always to serve God.
Therefore, despise these feeble assaults, and do not even deign to consider what they mean; let them buzz in your ears as long as they will, and fly here and there about you, as flies do; and when they come to sting you, and you see them linger ever so slightly in your heart, do nothing but simply brush them away; do not fight against them, nor answer them, but occupy your heart with something good, and especially with the love of God. For, if you take my advice, you will not persist in opposing to the temptation the virtue contrary to it, because that would be almost like arguing with it; but after making an act of the virtue directly contrary to it, supposing you have been able to recognize the nature of the temptation, simply turn your heart back to Jesus Christ crucified, and, standing in spirit at His feet, kiss them with all the love you can. This is the best means of overcoming the enemy, in small temptations as well as great ones; for the love of God, containing within itself all the perfections of all the virtues, and that in greater excellence than the virtues themselves, is also a more sovereign remedy for all vices. And your mind, becoming accustomed in every temptation to have recourse to this universal refuge, will not need to look and examine what temptations it has; but, simply feeling itself troubled, it will go seek peace in this great remedy, which the devil fears so greatly that, when he sees his temptations incite us to this divine love, he ceases to tempt us.
This, then, is what concerns the petty temptations; if one wished to take them up in detail, one would weary oneself and accomplish nothing.