Abbey-Roads2

…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

Courage

Courage is related to the virtue of fortitude.  As Garrigou-Lagrange writes; “Fortitude is the moral virtue which strengthens the soul in the pursuit of the difficult good so that it does not allow itself to be shaken by the greatest obstacles.  It should dominate the fear of danger, fatigue, criticism, and all that would paralyze our efforts toward the good.  It prevents a man from capitulating in a cowardly manner when he should fight - it also moderates audacity and untimely exaltation which would drive him to temerity.”-  III Ages 

As one considers the meaning of these terms on a deeper spiritual level, keeping in mind that what is most important in life is our sanctification and the salvation of souls, a person may more easily put into perspective some of the moral struggles each of us face in our pilgrimage.  While recognizing the need for divine grace; through perseverance in prayer, penance, and above all, the sacraments.

“The principle act of fortitude is endurance…” - St. Thomas

“Fortitude has two principal acts: to undertake courageously and to endure difficult things.  The Christian should endure them for the love of God; it is more difficult to endure for a long time than, in  moments of enthusiasm (fervor), to undertake something difficult.” - III Ages

This is often the case when one is required to live chastely and celibately, especially if one is inclined to habits  of auto-eroticism, or temptations associated with same sex attraction, and/or fantasizes or acts out homosexually.  Such a battle can be long and difficult for the young, and requires patient endurance, even if in one’s first fervor one was initially confident he had overcome these tendencies.  Nevertheless, as the philosopher says, if a man is overcome in his battle(s), “he is to be pardoned if he struggles against them.”

“Fortitude is accompanied by patience to endure the sorrows of life without being disturbed and without murmuring (without self-pity), by longanimity which endures trials for a long time, and by constancy in good, which is opposed to obduracy in evil.”- III Ages 

The vice of effeminacy and perseverance.

It is very difficult for the effeminate to endure the long struggle against inordinate affection and avoid sins against chastity.  I believe the primary cause of failure can be attributed to the degree of attachment to the pleasures derived from sinful sexual and/or emotional gratification, as well as the lack of courage to persevere in the struggle against it.  I found the following from St. Thomas Aquinas on the subject:

“…Perseverance is deserving of praise because thereby a man does not forsake a good on account of long endurance of difficulties and toils: and it is directly opposed to this, seemingly, for a man to be ready to forsake a good on account of difficulties which he cannot endure. This is what we understand by effeminacy, because a thing is said to be “soft” if it readily yields to the touch. Now a thing is not declared to be soft through yielding to a heavy blow, for walls yield to the battering-ram. Wherefore a man is not said to be effeminate if he yields to heavy blows. Hence the Philosopher says (Ethic. vii, 7) that “it is no wonder, if a person is overcome by strong and overwhelming pleasures or sorrows; but he is to be pardoned if he struggles against them.” Now it is evident that fear of danger is more impelling than the desire of pleasure: wherefore Tully says (De Offic. i) under the heading “True magnanimity consists of two things: It is inconsistent for one who is not cast down by fear, to be defeated by lust, or who has proved himself unbeaten by toil, to yield to pleasure.” Moreover, pleasure itself is a stronger motive of attraction than sorrow, for the lack of pleasure is a motive of withdrawal, since lack of pleasure is a pure privation. Wherefore, according to the Philosopher (Ethic. vii, 7), properly speaking an effeminate man is one who withdraws from good on account of sorrow caused by lack of pleasure, yielding as it were to a weak motion. - St. Thomas  

“When you come to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for trials.” 

From this exposition, it seems to me we might more easily understand why a man would abandon the struggle and give into homosexual inclination, or even return to such a lifestyle.  Many do not realize the cost, much less the long duration the struggle sometimes requires, and they succumb to the erroneous belief it (gay life) is God’s will.  “Do not then surrender your confidence; it will have great reward.  You need patience to do God’s will and receive what he has promised.” - Hebrews 10: 35-36 

(Please understand, I’m using the word effeminate in more philosophical/theological terms.  Effeminacy is a vice opposed to manliness, as cowardice is to courage.  Although I do reference it in connection with homosexuality, I do so only to show how it is opposed to the virtue of fortitude and magnanimity.  It is not to be confused with, or limited to, modern definitions associated with outward feminine mannerisms or behavior.)

Art:  St. Sebastian, Martyr.  If Sebastian is to be a patron for people who suffer homosexual tendencies - then he ought to represent the virtue of fortitude and perseverance needed to give testimony to a truth of faith and the grandeur of Christian virtue, lived in opposition to transitory worldly values. 

Bosch: “Temptation of St. Anthony”

Temptations against chastity

Summer is upon us, and already the navel gazing starts.  Tight, low, low rise shorts, jeans, bare midriffs, low cut tops - but enough about what I’m wearing.  Nevertheless, it’s a distracting time of year, living in a pagan culture not unlike ancient Rome or Greece.  “Body, body…”  “Shake your groove thing, yeah, yeah…”  We are surrounded by all of that nudity, no longer just on the beach either.

Tanquerey on continence:

“Absolute continence is a duty of those who are not united in the bonds of lawful wedlock.”  (Now there’s a term you don’t hear very often these days - “lawful wedlock”.)  “Chastity is a frail and delicate virtue that cannot be preserved unless it be protected by other virtues.  It is, as it were, a citadel that requires for its defence the raising of outward ramparts.  These are four in number:

1)  Humility, which produces mistrust of self and prompts one to flee from dangerous occasions.

2)  Mortification, which by means of waging war against the love of pleasure, reaches the evil at its roots.

3)  Devotion to the duties of one’s state in life, which protects one from the perils created by idleness. 

4)  Love for God, which by filling the heart, prevents it from giving itself over to dangerous affections.

Within these four ramparts the soul is not only ready and able to repulse the onslaughts of the enemy, but also to grow in purity.” - The Spiritual Life 

Humility

Tanquerey goes on to discuss how humility is the guardian of chastity.  Now that I am older, I can tell you how lacking in humility I was as a young man, and even more so now.  Humility is so necessary in the spiritual life, the foundation of it.  The author of “The Spiritual Life’ explains that the virtue produces in us three dispositions;distrust in self and confidence in God, avoiding dangerous occasions of sin, and candid sincerity in the Sacrament of Penance.  Tanquerey quotes from another author in connection with his own statement, “Many a soul falls into impurity through pride and presumption.”

“Father Olier thus explains; ‘God, who cannot suffer pride in the soul, humbles it to the very depths; and, desiring to show the soul its weakness, and that it has no power of itself to resist evil and persevere in well doing…allows it to be tormented by those terrible temptations, and at times, even to fall, because such temptations are the most shameful and leave behind them the greater confusion.” -ibid

Distrust self - have confidence in God

Tanquerey warns, “This distrust must be universal.  It is necessary to those who have sinned grievously, for the temptation will return, and without the help of grace they will be exposed to a fresh fall.”  -ibid 

So fellas, pray, keep custody of the eyes - and ears - music is pretty titillating as well - pray some more, and when you feel that tickle - run like hell.  Get thee to Church, get back to work, run a marathon, whatever.

Even though we’d like to say, “The devil made me do it!” it is always our own fault.  Remember, we are tempted by the world, the flesh and the devil - and the first two usually save the devil a lot of work.

Pictured, “The Temptation of St. Anthony”  Witness how the saint is lifted by demons and temptations, suspended from rational thought.  An excellent illustration of temptation.

The saints felt as if they had sinned as well.

A friend asked me that question the other day, “Why does temptation feel like sin?”  Since he was a young man, I suspected it may have had something to do with temptations against chastity.  However, he never clarified it for me, but I answered accordingly.  (It is an excellent question.)

When one is engaged in the spiritual battle with temptation to any sin, especially if one is conscious of it as a temptation, it can be difficult to differentiate from consent and resistance.  Since the passions or appetites are immediately engaged, and the proposed good is so appealing, the senses anticipate, as it were, some manner of gratification - albeit not willed or fully consented to.  

If a male glimpses pornography for instance.  “Boing!”  The physical reaction can be immediate.  (I’ve written about this before.)  The sexual appetite experiences an immediate gratification.  It’s biological.  The intellect is stimulated and judgement is clouded - so you look a little bit longer or click the mouse to go onto another image.  It’s natural curiosity - although you just entered into a near occasion of sin.  Now you have to watch out.

We must avoid occasions of sin as soon as we perceive them.  And that may take a little bit of time in the admixture of temptation, physical response, along with the process of recognition as to what is going on.

The nature of temptation caused even the saints to feel defiled, perhaps even engulfed in sin.

An example of defiling temptation.

One morning at Mass - when I was much younger and cuter - after a night enduring temptations against chastity, I noticed an attractive young woman as I entered the chapel at St. Olaf’s.  For some reason I turned to look at the same woman, standing across the isle from me,  although a few rows behind.  (I suppose I wanted to see where she was seated - although the act seemed spontaneous and involuntary.)  I caught myself and immediately turned my attention back to the Mass.  Suddenly, my imagination represented the same woman to me in a bikini, smiling at me.  I was so distracted by the image I could not recollect myself for the Eucharistic prayer, the next thing I knew I was receiving communion, in a state of distraction.  I honestly never experienced anything like that before.  I knelt for my thanksgiving, convinced I had committed a sin, repenting for an umworthy communion, yet a tremendous peace came over me, and all of the confusion and impure movements ceased.  That day I understood clearly what temptation is and why it can feel so much like sin.

Oftentimes the memory supplies us with images or experiences from our past.  Images and passionate feelings, physical or otherwise, are not sins, unless willfully accepted and entertained.  The fact that they persist and nearly overwhelm, does not mean a person consents to these.  I think of it as a sudden summer storm, or better, a tropical storm.  Once in Puerto Rico, I was laying in the sun by the pool at my hotel, while across a small inlet, a thunder storm was in progress - maybe just a few blocks away.  I imagined myself on the storm side - looking across the bay at the beautiful sunshine, with the placid ocean and clear blue sky in view.

In the same way, one who is assaulted with temptations, especially visual or sensate experiences, must endeavor to maintain one’s peace, and gaze across the bay, as it were, calling on the Lord and endeavoring to fix one’s attention on Him.  Yet most critically, have peaceful and confident recourse to Our Lady, who can quell even the most violent storms.   Let the images blow by, as leaves in a whirlwind, while keeping your attention fixed upon Jesus and Our Lady.  So often, it is in  and through the confusion and lack of peace that the evil one can easily seduce the soul.  Especially so when one is already stressed or tired.

The flesh wars against the spirit.

God remembers we are flesh and blood, and the flesh wages war against the spirit- He knows this.  Young men, you need to believe this.  There is no sin without fully informed, consent of the will, and deliberate act.  Never let the devil trick you into thinking that you have sinned already and therefore may as well go all the way.  NEVER let him add links to your chain.  

Temptation, by its nature is dirty feeling, hence it feels like sin already.  Sin is worse.  Nevertheless, if you do fall, the Lord in His love and mercy awaits you in the sacrament of penance - this is your victory however - and remember the Lord loves you in your humility and confidence.

Holy Mother St. Teresa was speaking to nuns who are tempted to exaggerated humility when she wrote the following.  Nevertheless it is applicable to all temptation, with the emphasis added, “it will be a great thing if you can recognize it as a temptation.” - When you’re in the throes of it.   

“When you find yourselves in this state, cease thinking, so far as you can, of your own wretchedness, and think of the mercy of God and of His love and His sufferings for us. If your state of mind is the result of temptation, you will be unable to do even this, for it will not allow you to quiet your thoughts or to fix them on anything but will only weary you the more: it will be a great thing if you can recognize it as a temptation.”  Teresa of Avila, “Way of Perfection” Chapter 39