Catholic Candle note: The article below is Part XXIV of the study of the temperaments, starting with the Choleric temperament. Here are links to the first twenty-three parts:

1. Part I: Beginning our Study of the Choleric Temperament: https://catholiccandle.org/2024/08/27/lesson-35-about-the-temperaments-the-choleric-temperament/
   

2. Part II: A general overview of the weaknesses of the Choleric Temperament: https://catholiccandle.org/2024/09/26/lesson-37-about-the-temperaments-continuation-of-the-choleric-temperament/
   

3. Part III: A consideration of the pride of the Choleric Temperament: https://catholiccandle.org/2024/10/24/lesson-38-temperaments-choleric-temperament-their-spiritual-combat/
   

4. Part IV: A general discussion of anger as a passion – in order to establish a foundation for studying anger in the Choleric Temperament: https://catholiccandle.org/2024/11/26/lesson-39-temperaments-choleric-temperament-their-spiritual-combat-part-iv/
   

5. Part V: Concerning the motivations for anger: https://catholiccandle.org/2024/12/30/lesson-40-temperaments-choleric-temperament-their-spiritual-combat-part-v/
   

6. Part VI: Concerning what anger does to the body: https://catholiccandle.org/2025/01/27/lesson-41-temperaments-choleric-temperament-a-cholerics-spiritual-combat-part-vi/
   

7. Part VII: Explaining when anger is sinful: https://catholiccandle.org/2025/02/21/lesson-42-temperaments-choleric-temperament-a-cholerics-spiritual-combat-part-vii/
   

8. Part VIII: Explaining how being slighted provokes anger: https://catholiccandle.org/2025/03/27/lesson-42-temperaments-choleric-temperament-a-cholerics-spiritual-combat-part-viii/
   

9. Part IX: Explaining how anger turns into the sin of holding a grudge: https://catholiccandle.org/2025/04/23/lesson-44-temperaments-choleric-temperament-a-cholerics-spiritual-combat-part-ix/
   

10. Part X: Recommendations to help cholerics to overcome pride: https://catholiccandle.org/2025/05/20/lesson-45-temperaments-choleric-temperament-a-cholerics-spiritual-combat-part-x/
    

11. Part XI: Explaining how a person sins by not using his reason: https://catholiccandle.org/2025/06/28/lesson-46-temperaments-choleric-temperament-a-cholerics-spiritual-combat-part-xi/
    

12. Part XII: Explaining some reasons why a choleric does not use his reason properly: https://catholiccandle.org/2025/07/24/lesson-47-temperaments-choleric-temperament-a-cholerics-spiritual-combat-part-xii/
    

13. Part XIII: Explaining why the choleric fears to use his reason well: https://catholiccandle.org/2025/08/29/lesson-48-temperaments-choleric-temperament-a-cholerics-spiritual-combat-part-xiii/
    

14. Part XIV: Explaining generally how Satan targets our fallen and weakened intellects: https://catholiccandle.org/2025/09/24/lesson-49-temperaments-choleric-temperament-the-cholerics-spiritual-combat-part-xiv/

15. Part XV: Explaining the passions in general, to lay the foundation for our consideration of the passion of fear: https://catholiccandle.org/2025/10/26/3050/

16. Part XVI: Explaining fear as a passion: https://catholiccandle.org/2025/11/25/lesson-51-temperaments-choleric-temperament-the-cholerics-spiritual-combat-part-xvi/

17. Part XVII: Explaining how fear works in the soul and influences all of the temperaments: https://catholiccandle.org/2025/12/29/lesson-52-temperaments-choleric-temperament-the-cholerics-spiritual-combat-part-xvii/

18. Part XVIII: Explaining how pain and death are objects of fear for persons of any temperament: https://catholiccandle.org/2026/01/26/lesson-53-temperaments-choleric-temperament-pain-and-death-are-objects-of-fearf-any-temperament/

19. Part XIX: Explaining in what way sin is an object of fear for all temperaments: https://catholiccandle.org/2026/02/26/lesson-54-temperaments-choleric-temperament-whether-sin-is-an-object-of-fear-for-all-temperaments/
    

20. Part XX: Explaining the causes of fear – applying to all temperaments: https://catholiccandle.org/2026/03/31/marys-school-of-sanctity-3/
    

21. Part XXI: Explaining the Effects of Fear in All Temperaments: https://catholiccandle.org/2026/04/26/about-the-temperaments-part-xxi-explaining-the-effects-of-fear-in-all-temperaments/
    

22. Part XXII: Explaining How to Order Our Loves So We Can Use the Passion of Fear Properly, and How the Devil Attempts to Prevent this Ordering: https://catholiccandle.org/2026/05/28/about-the-temperaments-part-xxii-how-to-order-our-loves-so-we-can-use-the-passion-of-fear-properly/
    

23. Part XXIII: Explanation of Sloth in Order to Analyze This Snare of Satan and to Combat Him: https://catholiccandle.org/2026/06/26/about-the-temperaments-part-xxiii-explanation-of-sloth-in-order-to-analyze-this-snare-of-satan/
    

Mary’s School of Sanctity

Lesson #59: About the Temperaments – Part XXIV – Explaining More about How the Devil Tries to Draw Us Away From Reasoning and From the Things of God

Let us begin our investigation about the allurements the devil uses to drag us away from the use of our reason, as well as the great benefit and the enjoyment that come from thinking deeply. Undertaking this study is crucial if we want to form strategies to fight our arch-enemy.

In a recent lesson we considered the beautiful reality of filial love¹ (i.e., the love of a son or daughter) and the satisfaction we get when using our reason and especially thinking deeply. Let us look at some initial considerations regarding filial love and careful thinking.

Some Important Considerations about Filial Love

• Filial love brings satisfaction to the soul;
  

• Filial love draws us close to the heart of God and to a deep, meaningful friendship with Him;
  

• Filial love helps us to discipline ourselves and to bring order to our souls;
  

• Filial love increases the soul’s hunger for God and our desire to have companionship with Him; and
  

• Filial love makes our soul more disposed to understand the truths of God.

Mindful of these considerations, we are able to see how important it is to foster this kind of love in our souls.

Some Important Considerations about Using One’s Reason and Thinking Deeply

• Reasoning (i.e., thinking deeply) strengthens man’s highest faculty, namely, the intellect;
  

• Reasoning (i.e., thinking deeply) fosters a love of this faculty;
  

• Reasoning (i.e., thinking deeply) helps one to increasingly appreciate God and all truth;
  

• Reasoning (i.e., thinking deeply) ignites a burning hunger to know more truth.

Because of these great benefits, Satan makes every effort to distract people from using their intellects.

Sin Depends Upon the Abuse of Reason

Sin occurs when man does not use his reason for the purpose that God intended and when he puts reason’s admonitions aside (viz., his conscience) and consents to evil. Of course, the devil wants people to commit sins. Satan’s goal is the downfall of souls. He seeks sin because he knows that every sin is a step closer to his goal of bringing another soul to damn itself.

Satan strives to weaken man’s power of reasoning and to induce him to abandon the proper use of his reason. The old proverb is true, “If you don’t use it, you lose it.” Hence, when a man begins to reason less, he will soon form the habit of not reasoning well. Then, he will become progressively inclined to not think of the consequences of his actions, which, in turn, leads him to live more and more by his emotions. He will weigh things only based on how he feels, or worse yet, upon the yearnings of his base passions. . Hence, his life will become very unstable, unreasonable, and disorderly. In this way, he will increasingly lead a life of vice (as we will explain next).

Habits Can Be Stronger than Natural Tendencies

We have discussed how, with our fallen human nature, effort is needed to reason well. We weak humans are disinclined to make efforts. But we can develop good habits that can completely overcome those weaknesses and ill-directed tendencies. But for this to occur, we must work against these tendencies and force ourselves to make the effort to think and especially to think carefully.

Habits are formed by repeated actions. Repeated bad actions form a bad habit, i.e., a vice. By contrast, repeated good actions form a good habit, i.e., a virtue. Consequently, it is crucial that we resolutely make every effort to develop patterns of good actions regardless of the “protests” of our passions and without “counting the cost” to our comfort, convenience, and human respect. In this way, we can foster good habits and a life of virtue.

The devil knows these truths about us humans and so he tempts us to give up trying to form good habits. The devil knows that God created an entire spectrum of souls – each soul having its own personal tendencies and inclinations. Thus, what we treat here is the devil’s general plan of action to ruin souls. But he customizes his plan to fit each individual, tailoring his temptations and tantalizing each with a “particular individualized mix” of allurements and fears through which he strives for that individual’s ruin.

Three Things the Devil Does Not Want Us to Know: 1) God;
2) Ourselves; and 3) the Purpose for Which We Were Created.

Knowing God. The devil knows the truths about filial love and deep thinking that we considered above. The devil does not want us to think about God. He does not want us to know God and His Divine attributes. This is because the more we know God, the more we will be drawn to love Him (since He is perfectly loveable) and to unselfishly serve Him. Because the devil hates God as well as us humans, he works against us because he does not want us to have an intimate friendship with God.

Knowing Ourselves. The devil does not want us to know ourselves. True self-knowledge fosters humility and consequently fosters a love of God. Indeed, the devil wants the exact opposite of this. That is, the devil wants us to be full of pride, having an inaccurate and inflated opinion of ourselves, and to hate God. Satan wants us to pamper ourselves and make efforts only to have a life of pleasure, comfort, and honor because these pursuits will lead us to a life of vice – and ultimately to perdition.

Knowing Our End. The devil does not want us to know the purpose of our existence. Knowing our final end will foster a healthy respect for God and fear of the Lord, which in turn, will foster filial love of God. The devil does all he can to distract our thoughts from God. One of the devil’s major strategies is to encourage us to be as selfish as possible. Selfishness leads to a life of wretchedness which naturally will lead to sorrow at the spiritual good of any virtue – which is sloth (as we saw in our last lesson).² Because sloth makes a soul reluctant to begin doing any good, one does not feel inclined to even begin making any effort to amend himself. The devil can easily convince a soul in this sorry state that, indeed, it cannot change. The devil tells this soul that it simply cannot avoid being the way that it is and that it is useless to try to improve itself.

If We Fail to Know Either God, or Ourselves, or Our End, then the Devil Has Succeeded

The devil knows that all it takes for a soul to be lost is to lose knowledge of even one of these three, although often, when a soul is ignorant of one of these, it is also ignorant of one or both of the others. Thus, the devil wages his attacks on the soul to bring that soul to become ignorant of at least one of these.

God, ourselves, and our End: these three critical areas of knowledge influence everything in our lives because our relationship with God and our neighbor depends on this knowledge. In particular, on these three truths depends our willingness to be generous with God and our neighbor.

Charity is necessary for Divine friendship, and indeed, charity is Divine friendship.³ Further, charity is necessary for salvation.⁴ So we can readily see how Satan wants charity to grow cold and to die in us. In fact, Satan would never want charity to exist in us at all!

So the devil likes to use the weapon of sloth and to subtly weaken souls to bring them to this vice because sloth is a vice particularly opposed to charity.⁵ The devil knows that persons of all temperaments have the wounds of Original Sin and so can be steadily drawn to laxity in the moral life.

But where does the devil start in his attempts to wear down the soul? Most commonly, he targets a person’s prayer life because:

Prayer is the lifeblood of the spiritual life.⁶

Prayer is a tremendous source of strength and spiritual growth in the soul. Prayer fosters 1) our filial love; 2) deep and careful thinking; and 3) the three kinds of necessary knowledge (discussed above). Also, these, in turn, reciprocally foster our prayer life and praying well.

But how do we pray well and counteract the devil’s attacks on our prayer life?

A Preview…

In our next lesson we will analyze the devil’s tactics to destroy our prayer life (and so also, the rest of our spiritual life). In that lesson, we will consider the importance of knowing ourselves and finding effective ways to counteract the devil’s tricks regarding prayer.