By humility and a desire to love God, we begin to pray, which is so effective against the devil that he tries to convince us not to
2 min • Digitized on May 13, 2022
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From The Dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena, page 158
By St. Catherine of Siena
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
Of the means which the soul takes to arrive at pure and generous love; and here begins the Treatise of Prayer.
When the soul has passed through the doctrine of Christ crucified, with true love of virtue and hatred of vice, and has arrived at the house of self-knowledge and entered therein, she remains, with her door barred, in watching and constant prayer, separated entirely from the consolations of the world.
Why does she thus shut herself in? She does so from fear, knowing her own imperfections, and also from the desire, which she has, of arriving at pure and generous love. And because she sees and knows well that in no other way can she arrive thereat, she waits, with a lively faith for My arrival, through increase of grace in her.
How is a lively faith to be recognised? By perseverance in virtue, and by the fact that the soul never turns back for anything, whatever it be, nor rises from holy prayer, for any reason except (note well) for obedience or charity’s sake.
For no other reason ought she to leave off prayer, for, during the time ordained for prayer, the Devil is wont to arrive in the soul, causing much more conflict and trouble than when the soul is not occupied in prayer.
This he does in order that holy prayer may become tedious to the soul, tempting her often with these words: “This prayer avails thee nothing, for thou needest attend to nothing except thy vocal prayers.”
He acts thus in order that, becoming wearied and confused in mind, she may abandon the exercise of prayer, which is a weapon with which the soul can defend herself from every adversary, if grasped with the hand of love, by the arm of free choice in the light of the Holy Faith.