Chapter II

_All must expect to be tried by temptations_; for the Lord assures us: “the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence and the violent bear it away” (St. Matth. xi, 12); now our indolence tempts us to shirk this violence. Our Blessed Saviour allowed Himself to be tempted, and we are to be made like unto Him: “The disciple is not above his master” (ib. x, 24). Those who aim at a closer resemblance to their Divine Master must expect to be more violently tempted; and therefore Ecclesiasticus warns us: “Son, when thou comest to the service of God, stand in justice and in fear, and prepare thy soul for temptation. Humble thy heart and endure” (ii, 1). In fact those who please God must be tempted; the two things are inseparable, as the Angel explained to Tobias: “Because thou wast acceptable to God, it was necessary that temptation should prove thee” (xii, 13). Read the lives of the Saints, and you will not find one who had not to endure severe temptations, from St. Paul and the other Apostles down to the latest Saint.