"If you have no temptations, then the devil is your friend, your guide, and your shepherd." (St. Gregory)
On love of earthly things...
"...dearest brethren, we must keep carefully in mind, that our ancient enemy, whenever he draws our minds to the love of earthly things, will then stir up against us some neighbour, one weaker than ourselves, who will begin to strive to take away from us whatever it is we love. And he, our ancient enemy, will do this, not simply to take away from us our earthly possessions; but to kill charity within us. For of a sudden we burn with hate; and while all eager to be victors in this outward strife, we receive a grievous wound within. While outwardly we defend what are but trifles, inwardly we are losing what is most precious: in giving our love to a temporal thing, we lose true love. No doubt he who seeks to rob us is an enemy. But once we begin to hate our enemy, we begin to lose what is good in us. So therefore, when we outwardly suffer anything from a neighbour, let us rather be on our guard within, against the hidden robber, who is never more surely beaten, than when we love the robber without. For the supreme proof of our charity is that we love even him who is against us." (Quote from "Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers," Volume IV, page 171; St. Gregory's sermon for 17th Sunday after Pentecost -- "This is My Commandment That You Love One Another")
"the devil goeth about seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8)
"When the intellect through rejection of the passions attains to unwavering hope, then the enemy makes it visualize its past sins on the pretext of confessing them to God. Thus he tries to rekindle passions which by God's grace have been forgotten, and so secretly to inflict injury. Then, even though someone is illumined and hates the passions, he will inevitably be filled with darkness and confusion at the memory of what he has done. But if he is still befogged and self-indulgent, he will certainly dally with the enemy's provocations and entertain them under the influence of passion, so that this re-collection will prove to be a prepossession and not a confession." (St. Mark the Ascetic)
"...but he that is aware of the snares, shall be secure." (Proverbs 11:15)
"The guile of the devil, Dearly Beloved, against those who strive in this contest for the rewards of heaven, especially lies in wait to undo the faith of those whose virtue he cannot overthrow. For whoever is led away from the path of the true faith, and changed to another, his whole journey is an apostacy; and the further he travels from the Catholic light, the near he comes to the darkness of death." (Quote from "Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers", Volume II, page 148; St. Leo's sermon for Passion Sunday -- "Faith in the Divinity and Humanity of Christ")
"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in the clothing of sheep, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." (St. Matthew 7:15)
On overcoming temptations...
"By conquering one temptation, a man acquires not only additional strength to repel future assaults, but also diminishes the power of the devil. And, on the other hand, when we yield to temptation, the devil becomes like a giant, and we become so weak, that we have scarcely strength to resist him any longer." (Quote from "The Sermons of St. Alphonsus Liguori for all the Sundays of the Year"; 23rd Sunday after Pentecost -- "On Impenitence")
"he [the devil] makes the temptation appear to be dead; but when a soul descends, and exposes herself to the occasion of sin, he stirs up temptation, and devours her." (Quote from "The Sermons of St. Alphonsus Liguori for all the Sundays of the Year"; Low Sunday -- "On Avoiding the Occasions of Sin")
"Flee from sin as from the face of a serpent." (Eccl. 21:2)
"St. Augustine says that the devil deludes Christians in two ways "by despair and hope." After a person has committed sin, the enemy, by placing before his eyes the rigour of divine justice, tempts him to despair of the mercy of God. But, before he sins, the devil by representing to him the divine mercy, labours to make him fearless of the chastisement due to sin. Hence the saint gives the following advice: ”After sin, hope for mercy; before sin, fear justice." If, after sin, you despair of God’s pardon, you offend him by a new and more grievous sin. Have recourse to his mercy, and he will pardon you. But, before sin, fear God’s justice, and trust not to his mercy; for, they who abuse the mercy of God to offend him, do not deserve to be treated with mercy." (Quote from "The Sermons of St. Alphonsus Liguori for all the Sundays of the Year"; 12th Sunday after Pentecost -- "On the Abuse of Divine Marcy")
"With fear and trembling work out your salvation." (Philippians 2:12)
On temptation after conversion...
"Son, when thou comest to the service of God, stand in justice and in fear, and prepare thyself for temptation." (Eccl. 2:1)
"Trials are of two kinds. Either affliction will test our souls as gold is tried in a furnace, and make trial of us through patience, or the very prosperity of our lives will often-times, for many, be itself an occasion of trail and temptation. For it is equally difficult to keep the soul upright and undefeated in the midst of afflictions, as to keep oneself from insolence and pride in prosperity." (Quote from "Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers", Volume III, page 325; St. Basil's sermon for the 8th Sunday after Pentecost -- "I Will Pull Down My Barns")
"Fear of trouble hinders many from perfectly purifying their hearts. This is the device of the enemy: the wiley foe -- knowing that on a true and thorough cleansing of heart depends not thy salvation and perfection alone, but also that of others, and, above all, My glory -- strives by every means, to keep thee from this undertaking." (Quote from "Imitation of the Sacred Heart" by Rev. Peter J. Arnoudt, S.J., Book 1, Chapter VI, page 60)
"The devil deceives the minds of many, but those with clear minds, he uses discouragement to silence our efforts to proclaim Truth." (source?)
On forgiveness...
"And there is nothing more efficacious against the wiles of the devil, dearly beloved, than the kindness of forgiveness, and bountiful charity, by means of which sin is either avoided or overcome." (Quote from "Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers", Volume II, pages 454-5; St. Leo the Great's sermon for Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension -- "The Lord's Ascension II")
On making known our good works...
More to follow here...
On the occasions of sin...
"...we must keep the doors of our senses closed against dangerous occasions, otherwise the devil will make us his slaves." (Quote from "The Sermons of St. Alphonsus Liguori for all the Sundays of the Year"; Low Sunday -- "On Avoiding the Occasions of Sin")
"Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the doors of her house." (Proverbs 5:8)
"the devil is careful to find pretexts to make us believe that certain occasions to which we expose ourselves are not voluntary, but necessary" (Quote from "The Sermons of St. Alphonsus Liguori for all the Sundays of the Year"; Low Sunday -- "On Avoiding the Occasions of Sin")
"the devil will tell you not to be afraid of being overcome by the temptation." (Quote from "The Sermons of St. Alphonsus Liguori for all the Sundays of the Year"; Low Sunday -- "On Avoiding the Occasions of Sin")
"He that loveth danger shall perish in it." (Eccl. 3:27)
"This, says St. Ephrem, is one of the artifices of the devil: when he has caught a soul in his net, he makes him a snare, or a decoy, to deceive others." (Quote from "The Sermons of St. Alphonsus Liguori for all the Sundays of the Year"; 13th Sunday after Pentecost -- "On Avoiding Bad Company")
On the passions...
"It is a common artiface of the devil to inflame daily more and more our predominant passion, and thus he brings us into many horrible excesses." (St. Gregory)
"And as I knew that I could not otherwise be continent, except God gave it, ... I went to the Lord, and besought him." (Wisdom 8:21)
"I know that to fornicators, to adulterers, who are not content with their own wives, he says that the sins of the flesh are not grievous... It is through the enticements of the flesh the enemy deceives the Christian; making light of what is grave sin, mild what is fierce, sweet what is bitter." (Quote from "Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers", Volume II, page 225; St. Augustine's sermon for Easter -- "To the People and to the Children, or, to Those Baptized This Day")
"He well knows to whom he may apply the fever of greed, to whom suggest the pleasures of gluttony; whom he may seduce by the allurements of sensuality, in whom to pour the poison of envy. He knows how to unsettle us by grief, and whom he may deceive by pleasure, whom he can overcome through fear, or deceive by flattery." (source?)
"He unsettles the minds of all men, preying upon our anxieties, searching into our dispositions; seeking opportunities of causing evil, where he sees each one to be most vulnerable..." (Quote from "Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers", Volume I, page 156; St. Leo's sermon for Christmas Day -- "For the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ")
"But the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat. For in what day soever thou shalt eat of it, thou shalt die the death." (Genesis 2:17)
"And the serpent said to the woman: No, you shall not die the death. For God know that in what day soever you shall eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened: and you shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil." (Genesis 3:4-5)
On praying...
"For the devil who is full of evil knowing we can do great things by the power of prayer will attack us when we pray so as to deprive us of the fruits of it, and leave us as it were striving in vain." (Quote from "Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers", Volume II, page 390; St. Chrysostom's sermon for 5th Sunday after Easter -"On Prayer")
"It is easy to understand why the devil is so intent upon turning our thoughts towards worldly affairs during prayer. On the one hand, he desires to rob us of the benefit we derive from fervent prayer; and on the other he wishes to make us guilty of disrespect towards God, and therefore, deserving of punishment." (Quote from "12 Steps to Holiness and Salvation" by St. Alphonsus Liguori; Chapter 11 - Prayer)
"Banish the thought that meditation is difficult or disagreeable. That is the great temptation of the devil, and is an utterly false idea." (source?)
On repentance...
"The devil seeks to make you slow in shaking off your fetters [of sin]." (Quote from "The Sermons of St. Alphonsus Liguori for all the Sundays of the Year"; 23rd Sunday after Pentecost -- "On Impenitence")
"Whenever, then, the devil temps you to sin, by holding out the hope that you will go to confession and repair the evil you have done, say to him in answer: How do I know that this shall not be the last day of my life? And should death overtake me in sin, and not give me time to make my confession, what shall become of me for all eternity?" (Quote from "The Sermons of St. Alphonsus Liguori for all the Sundays of the Year"; 4th Sunday after Pentecost -- "Death is Certain and Uncertain")
"If he would advise you instead of going to confession once a year, not to go at all, he would frighten you, and you would not believe him. But he is contented to let you remain in your own bad habits, and to rule over you in that way." (Quote from "Sermons for the Sundays & Feasts of the Year" by St. Jean Baptiste Marie Vianney; Low Sunday -- "Easter Confession")
"Can a man hide fire in his bosom, and his garments not burn? or can he walk upon hot coals, and his feet not be burnt?" (Proverbs 6:27, 28)
On our weakness...
"Watch ye, and pray that ye enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." (St. Mark 14:38)
"It is certain, that of ourselves we have not sufficient strength to resist the temptations of the devil, the flesh, and of the world. It is God that prevents our enemies from assailing us with temptations, by which we would be conquered. Hence Jesus Christ has taught us the following prayer: "And lead us not into temptation". He teaches us to pray that God may deliver us from the temptations to which we would yield, and thus lose His grace." (Quote from "The Sermons of St. Alphonsus Liguori for all the Sundays of the Year"; Passion Sunday -- "On the Danger to which Tepidity Exposes the Soul")
CALL TO ACTION: When praying the Our Father ("and lead us not into temptation"), ask God's help not to be attacked by temptations that would deprive us of His grace.
Photo by GR Stocks