“Vianney!”
…
The devil would contemptuously call to him thus…
St. John Vianney knew much about the devil and his temptations. He also knew much about the “morning-dew-piety” of presumptuous souls who trust in their own strength. For the Saint’s feast day I leave this quote, from one of his sermons on temptation:
“Look at this other one, who seems to want to give his whole life for God, whose ardor all the torments there are cannot damp. A tiny bit of scandalmongering … a word of calumny … even a slightly cold reception or a small injustice done to him … a kindness returned by ingratitude … immediately gives birth in him to feelings of hatred, of revenge, of dislike, to the point, often, of his never wishing to see his neighbor again or at least of treating him coldly with an air which shows very plainly what is going on in his heart. And how many times is this his waking thought, just as it was the thought that almost prevented him from sleeping? Alas, my dear brethren, we are poor stuff, and we should count very little upon our good resolutions!” - Source
