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UID:12319-1721779200-1721865599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading
DESCRIPTION:THE SHIELD OF FAITH \nBy William of St Thierry4 \n◊◊◊ \nTo the devil who was tempting him to blasphemy and saying: All this I \nwill give you if you will fall down and adore me\, the Doctor of truth [Jesus] \nopposed only the shield of truth and authority\, saying: It is written: you will \nworship the Lord your God\, and him only will you serve. But in the Book of \nKings\, when the minions of the Assyrian king blasphemed the Lord\, Hezekiah \nordered his own\, saying: Give them no answer! \nFor we must not answer the spirit of blasphemy in any way or converse \nwith it\, but only oppose to it the shield of faith. Its virulent malice tries to pollute \nwhatever you bring against it. It does not do this to get a satisfying answer\, but \nis only putting on pressure to sadden the conscience of the believer or somehow \nto corrupt the purity of his faith. \nThese are twin evils; one is the sting of the flesh\, the other that of the soul. \nAmong lazy persons they are both like a natural reminder which takes its origin\, \nas I have said\, from [Adam\,] the one who yearned to be like God because of the \nincantation of the old serpent. Immediately given over to the yearnings of the \nflesh\, he blushed at himself and covered those parts of the body which He\, who \nhad created them\, created without any need for covering. Each vice must have \nits own antidote. The same remedy does not apply to all members. What heals \nthe head does not heal the foot\, nor can what heals the weakness of the soul heal \nthe weakness of the flesh. Temptation of the flesh needs afflictions of the flesh \nand physical labors\, but temptation of the soul cries out for the help of prayer\, \nreading and meditation and any other spiritual study there may be. \n  \nIn particular one never acquires purity of faith except by true and \nprofound humility of heart\, dutiful devotion and unflagging perseverance in \nprayer. We must pray frequently\, therefore\, and must say: Lord\, increase in us \nour faith! Often those who are advancing in it\, if they do not have the grace that \nhelps them\, suffer a natural uneasiness. \nRationality\, in itself restless and impudent\, often assaults faith there\, \nwhere it possesses the faculty of reasoning\, although with no intention of \ncontradicting it; not so that it can run against faith but so that it can run with \nfaith. As human reason is accustomed to act in human realities through\, as it \nwere\, the unavoidable medium of believing\, so it tries to break through into the \nrecognition of divine realities. But since it mounts from a different direction\, it \nslips\, it stumbles\, it sinks until it turns back to the door of faith\, to him who \nsaid: I am the door. And once humbled beneath the yoke of divine authority\, as \nit is more humble\, so more securely does it enter in. \n  \n4 (CF 15:37-38).9 \n  \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-208/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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