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

    
    

24. Part XXIV: Explaining more about how the devil tries to draw us away from reasoning and from the things of God: https://catholiccandle.org/2026/07/29/about-the-temperaments-part-xiv-how-the-devil-draws-us-away-from-reasoning-and-the-things-of-god/
    

25. Part XXV – Explaining the Devil Attempts to Destroy Our Prayer-Life and How We Should Counterattack: https://catholiccandle.org/2026/08/31/lesson-60-about-the-temperaments-part-xxv-the-devil-attempts-to-destroy-our-prayer-life/
    

Mary’s School of Sanctity

Lesson #61 – About the Temperaments, Part XXV – The Fight against Worldliness which is a Huge Detriment to a Deep Prayer Life

In our last lesson we saw how the devil sought to undermine and destroy St. Teresa of Avila’s salvation. We saw how her worldliness weighed her down and hindered her desire to give herself completely to God. We will now apply this lesson to ourselves and search our souls to see if we are also inordinately attached to the world (as she had been, earlier in her life). Our worldly attachment can be determined primarily by our use of creatures (i.e., all things created by God). Thus, it is important to examine our use of creatures.

Because worldly attachments draw us away from prayer and from God, we must avoid inordinate attachments to the world. In this lesson we will focus on the creatures that particularly draw our minds away from God, which imperceptibly also draw our hearts from God. However, before we delve into the use of creatures, let us remind ourselves of what Our Lord says about worldliness and keep His words in our mind as we consider our use of creatures.

Let Us Remember What Our Lord Says About Worldliness

Our Lord explained to His Apostles that they must be “in the world” but not “of the world.” Praying to His Father, Our Lord says the following words:

I have given them Thy word, and the world hath hated them: because they are not of the world, as I also am not of the world.

I pray not that Thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldst keep them from evil.

They are not of the world, as I also am not of the world.

St. John’s Gospel, 17:14-16.

These precious words of Our Dear Lord should keep us focused on God’s Will and on our Eternal Good, so that we make a thorough and sober examination of conscience concerning our use of creatures.

Our Use of Creatures – Including Time

St. Ignatius of Loyola explains in his Spiritual Exercises how creatures must be used to help us to attain our end, namely heaven.¹ But how do we know if something is detrimental to the attainment of our end?

We must weigh whether the object (viz., the creature in question) distracts us from God and from the proper service and love that we owe to God. To help us to conduct this careful weighing, let us consider how we use time, which itself is a creature.

Our Lord alludes to the proper use of time when He warned His Apostles that we will be judged on every idle word.

But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall render an account for it on the Day of Judgment.

St. Matthew’s Gospel, 12:36.

Fr. Martin von Cochem, in his book The Four Last Things, expands this consideration further when he says:

If it is so hateful to a criminal to be brought before an earthly magistrate, well may the poor soul quake with fear when she [meaning the soul²] is introduced into the presence of God, the strict and omniscient Judge, and required to give the most accurate account of all of the thoughts, words, deeds, and omissions of her past life.³

With these quotes in mind, let us investigate the tactics of the devil to tempt us to be worldly, waste time, and not use our intellects.

As we discussed recently in our lessons, the things that the devil especially does not want us to focus on are:

• Filial love towards God;
  

• Deep and careful thinking;
  

• Knowledge of God;
  

• Knowledge of ourselves; and
  

• The purpose for which we were created.

Therefore, the devil presents his allurements to our souls principally to obstruct these five focuses.

The Devil First Attacks the Intellect of Man

In striving to wreak the greatest destruction upon man, the devil seeks first to attack man’s ability to reason. For in doing this, the devil can easily conquer the soul of the man by destroying his focus on the other four areas listed immediately above. As we explained in a recent lesson,⁴ the devil first tries to distract man in order to hinder him from a life of prayer. Below, we discuss this further.

Distractions of Our Minds

The devil uses creatures which distract our minds and prevent us from developing a desire to think deeply. He wants this desire to be weak in us or, better yet, to be entirely absent from us.

He also tries to make us worldly by tempting us to put ourselves and other interests ahead of God – that is, have false gods before God.

Satan wants us to focus on this world and its problems, activities, and allurements, instead of submitting our wills and our lives to God. He wants us to be distracted with the concerns of this world – whether fables such as manmade climate change, or simply seeing the evils all around us, the devil wants us to be so worried about anything except our salvation. He certainly doesn’t want us to trust in God and to turn to Him in prayer.

He wants us to waste time, especially with entertaining ourselves. He wants man to lead a life of dissipation. Thus, the devil doesn’t want anyone to ever use his God-given intellect.

The Gadgets – the Tools of Satan

For decades the devil has used technology and promoted gadgets that are effective tools to lure souls away from God. One could say that the start of many moral perils was the motion picture. After the advent of movies, then came television. Television was fashioned into a highly effective means to corrupt society. What a great many souls have been corrupted by these tools! This corruption came in the form of:

• Indoctrination with lies – both explicit and implied;
  

• Promotion of worldliness;
  

• Promotion of covetousness and envy;
  

• Promotion of immodesty and impurity;
  

• Promotion of passively received sights and sounds which are not filtered by our intellect; and
  

• All the while squandering huge amounts of our time.

Then came a more recent gadget: a very portable cellular phone which the devil mockingly (and ironically) inspired to be named “the smart phone”. This tool encourages modern man to not use his intellect and instead to blindly believe whatever he sees and hears on this gadget. This gadget contains all of the dangers of television and many more – all in a device small enough to allow a person to carry it easily and to engage in these evils everywhere he goes.

When one considers all of the ramifications of having and using this gadget often, one can readily see how this tool of Satan is a masterful stroke to sweep souls into hell. From pornography to satisfying one’s idle curiosity – all readily accessible at one’s fingertips. This so-called “smart phone” is a classic trap of Satan!

Adding further evil, the devil presents this gadget as a status symbol. It is widely implied in society that one is “strange” if one does not use a so-called “smart phone” – and indeed, if that device is not a newer-model one. Thus, having a so-called “smart phone” can be a temptation to envy and to pride (unreasonable human respect) because the pressure is so strong to follow the crowd. People do not want this latest fad to leave them behind.

The fact that the world promotes these so-called “smart phones” for use everywhere and for all types of transactions and interactions, shows the devil’s influence is behind this gadget. There is hardly any place one can go without seeing people immersed in their phones. The devil’s servants push so heavily the impression that no one can “get by” without having one of these phones, that our times seems almost apocalyptic.⁵

These so-called “smart phones” certainly promote the spirit of the world and direct users to the pool (or we could say “cesspool”) of information tainted and twisted to match the prince of this world, namely Satan. What should a person do if he has one of these phones? He should do what would please Our Lord. He should avoid having one of them by trying to retain a land-line even if it is more expensive. If one has a cellular phone, it would be best to try to not get the latest fad or status phone but instead to be poor-in-spirit and not be like everyone else.

Also, it would be best to use the phone very sparingly – rarely, even. Let us look at what St. Bonaventure says when he is addressing the obstacles to the prayer of contemplation. He explains how St. Bernard of Clairvaux describes the fourth obstacle to contemplation as “the phantoms of corporeal images.” St. Bonaventure says,

This last [meaning the fourth obstacle to contemplation] is more difficult to overcome than the others [viz., barriers to contemplation], and therefore solitude is especially recommended in contemplation. It behoveth the man who contemplates to be in some sense dumb, deaf, and blind so that seeing he may not see, and hearing he may not hear, nor take delight in talking; that is, that he may be so withdrawn from transitory things, and so united to God, that he may not, by hearing, seeing, speaking, cease to contemplate, but that he may avoid interruption as much as possible. And if necessity obliges him to break off [from his prayer], he must not lay up in the soul those images of things which have passed through its windows. ⁶

If St. Bonaventure could say this of the distractions of simple everyday discourse with one’s fellow man, how much more he would say if he saw man’s modern technological gadgetry? Furthermore, if one considers the nature of the so-called “smart phone”, where what one hears and sees on this phone is passively absorbed by the mind, and these images on the screen are constantly flashing from one thing to the next, it is easy to understand how this is disruptive to one’s ability to concentrate.

All of this, likewise, harms one’s ability to focus on his prayers and fight the distractions of all that he has seen and heard. Hence, the use of the so-called “smart phone” is not conducive to the soul’s ability to focus on heavenly things and a deep prayer life. Instead, it distracts and agitates the soul, making it more difficult to settle down into the proper frame of mind to ponder and pour out one’s heart to God. One could also see that the degree of this dissipation one experiences corresponds to the degree in which the will is weakened in its efforts to serve God.

When the mind has been engaged in worldly matters and the allurements of the senses, one is less apt to desire to engage in mental work (including spiritual work). The devil can take advantage of the wounds of Original Sin and can easily tempt a person to believe that intellectual work is so tedious and difficult that he will think that mental work is such a “chore” or a “plague.”

We can see this attitude in the world around us where most people do not desire to think carefully or to think independently of the world. Many simply spend hours mentally loitering, frittering away their day on their so-called “smart phone.” How often do we find that when we ask someone a question, he immediately pulls out his so-called “smart phone” to find the answer? He’d rather trust a worldly gadget than his own intelligence. In conclusion, it seems prudent to be very leery of this modern thought-blocking gadget.

One Can Do a Simple Examination of Conscience to See His Attachment to This Gadget:

• How often do I use this phone?
  

• How long am I on this phone during a single use?
  

• Do I ever just leave the phone behind and go about my day?
  

• Do I find that I have it with me all day?
  

• Do I have it at my bedside at night?
  

• Do I check my phone as soon as I awaken in the morning?
  

• Do I use my phone in bed?
  

• Has my phone been a source of past sins?
  

• Does it interrupt my family or social interactions?
  

• Do I quickly get onto my phone when I have a “spare minute”?
  

• Has this phone really become a strange god before God?
  

Some Tips on How to Treat a So-Called “Smart Phone”:

• Never use the phone without real need.
  

• Never use the phone for entertainment.
  

• Never use the phone for social media.
  

• Never use the phone for “window shopping.”
  

• Before using a “smart phone”, ask yourself what you specifically need to accomplish on the phone. Do this task and get off of it. Do not expand the scope of your original reason for using the phone.
  

• Never forget that the devil’s minions use this tool to keep track of and indoctrinate society.

As one weans himself off of his so-called “smart phone”, a person discovers that he has a new freedom. In this way one can see that the “smart phone” really makes one a slave to a mere creature.

It is Important to Test Ourselves to See How Attached We Are to Objects, that is, to Creatures:

One can ask himself questions similar to the ones regarding the “smart phone” and substitute another object in its place. If one finds he is inordinately attached to any object or person, he should pray to Our Lord to help him to detach himself and to order this creature and all creatures to God and to our final end. As St. Ignatius teaches, we must be indifferent to all objects and persons “in so far as it is left to the choice of our free will and is not forbidden”.

The simple rule-of-thumb to test our attachment to an object, i.e., to a creature, is to recall these words of Our Lord:

For what doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his own soul? Or what exchange shall a man give for his soul?”

St. Matthew’s Gospel, 16:26.

We should ask ourselves who really comes first with us, God or a creature? Do our actions and habits show this? Here is a strong sign: what comes first with us and what we love most, tends to be what we seek to spend our time with, when we are able to do so.

In Conclusion:

This self-awareness of our use of creatures is extremely important in fostering a healthy prayer life and Divine Friendship. Also, God put it in man’s nature for him to take the greatest delight in using his highest faculty (viz., his intellect). This should be a great incentive to improve our minds as well as to avoid all worldly dissipations. These dissipations and the creatures that foster them must be avoided if we are to have the degree of Divine Friendship that the Good Lord wills for us to have with Him.

A Preview…

Having considered how the devil tries to destroy our desire and likewise our delight in using our intellects, in our next lesson, we can concentrate on how the devil lures us to bodily pleasures, concerns, and desires as a means to draw us away from God and from a life of prayer.

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/

    
    

24. Part XXIV: Explaining more about how the devil tries to draw us away from reasoning and from the things of God: https://catholiccandle.org/2026/07/29/about-the-temperaments-part-xiv-how-the-devil-draws-us-away-from-reasoning-and-the-things-of-god/
    

Mary’s School of Sanctity

Lesson #60 About the Temperaments – Part XXV –
The Devil Attempts to Destroy Our Prayer-Life.
How Should We Counterattack?

The Importance of Fostering a Strong Prayer Life

On many occasions, Our Lord emphasizes of the importance of prayer. He tells us to (1) persevere in prayer;¹ (2) be humble in prayer;² and to (3) trust in God saying, “And all things whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive.”³

He assures us that His heavenly Father cares about us. He taught His Apostles The Lord’s Prayer, viz. The Our Father, which includes all of these aspects. In fact, The Lord’s Prayer is the perfect prayer⁴ and is meant to be said with humble submission to God’s will and a desire to receive our intellectual and spiritual daily bread.

Furthermore, Our Lord instructed His Apostles (and us) to pray always. Our Lord said, “Watch ye, therefore, praying at all times, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that are to come, and to stand before the Son of man” ⁵, and “Pray, lest you enter into temptation”.⁶

Since prayer is the lifting of the heart and mind to God,⁷ we fulfill this precept of Our Lord when we live in the presence of God and keep Him in our minds as we try to please Him in all of our thoughts and actions.

The Four Temperaments and How They Typically Affect the Soul’s Spiritual Life

As we saw in our last lesson,⁸ it is important to know ourselves so we can better use our inclinations to make spiritual progress and to avoid spiritual harm. This is one of the many reasons why it is crucial to discover our own particular temperament. But a person might say, “I do not know what temperament I have.” It is a major goal of this present study of the four temperaments that we will all gain a deeper understanding of the temperaments and discover our own temperament (if we have not already identified it). However, for the present, we list below some general characteristics and spiritual tendencies of persons with a predominance of one of the four temperaments:

A Choleric Tends to:

• Be extremely high strung;
  

• Be very excitable and prone to become agitated;
  

• Have lots of nervous energy;
  

• Allow his thoughts to race “a mile per minute” and thus he has a tendency to be superficial in his thinking. He needs to force himself to slow down and to deliberate carefully, especially to consider what is most pleasing to God. He has to force himself to relax and be calm; and

• Be undaunted by anything and tends to be overconfident; this makes it difficult for him to cultivate a deep trust in God and also a healthy mistrust of himself.
  

A Sanguine Tends to:

• Predominantly use his imagination;

• Love beauty, especially in art and religious pictures;
  

• Be easily distracted and must strive to stay focused; and
  

• Be a shallower thinker and must make efforts to form the habit of probing deeper into a subject.
  

A Melancholic Tends to:

• Use lots of considerations to analyze truths and to draw many conclusions;
  

• Be a deeper thinker and be attracted to prayer;
  

• Be prone to scruples; and
  

• Be prone to worry and to a lack trust in God’s Providence; he has to make efforts to look for hope in difficulties.
  

A Phlegmatic Tends to:

• Lack energy;
  

• Have a hard time motivating himself, as well as feeling and showing enthusiasm;
  

• Be a slow and methodical thinker; and
  

• Have a difficult time observing the movements of his soul because impressions need to be repeated many times before they leave a mark.

We can see from this short list of the spiritual tendencies of each temperament that some temperaments are more prone to reflection and prayer, while others are more prone to spiritual laziness. But we must remember that no temperament is immune from the traps of the devil! WE MUST NOT FORGET that the devil’s pull to sloth can affect ALL souls although some souls fall into this trap more easily than others do. No one should disdain those souls who fall more easily into this snare. Instead, we should foster pity if we find that prayer is easier for us than for some souls who find it almost impossible to focus and pray!

We must all be on our guard. In this lesson we will look at the Life of St. Teresa of Avila and find some striking snares that Satan used on her. We will see Satan’s subtle temptations to lure her soul away from prayer. We will see how well she endured these temptations and see the ones for which she fell.

By looking at her experience we will be able to see how it is paramount for us to study ourselves and to be on high alert for anything that is detrimental to our prayer life.

Four Aspects Regarding the Spiritual Life of St. Teresa of Avila

In our present consideration of prayer and the devil’s tricks, we will consider four aspects of the life of St. Teresa of Avila:

1. Her need to read a book in order to try to pray;
   

2. Her need to see a picture in order to pray;
   

3. Her description of her sloth; and
   

4. Her temptation to give up mental prayer in her meditations because she was not humble and sinless enough to pray.

With the help of William Thomas Walsh, one of her biographers, and using the Rules for the Discernment of Spirits of St. Ignatius of Loyola,⁹ we will be able to make the necessary connections between these four aspects in St. Teresa’s prayer life. Indeed, we will see how Satan was pulling her soul one way into one form of pride and then in another direction to drag her into a different form of pride.

Mr. Walsh explains how St. Teresa was vain, was caught up in worldly friendships, and was not willing to abandon herself completely to God.¹⁰ Furthermore, although she was careful to not commit any mortal sins, she was not cautious about venial sin and did not give up occasions of sin. We will see how these things led to her downfall.

Since St. Teresa was trying to avoid mortal sin, Satan tempted her with false reasoning in a different way. As St. Ignatius explains in his Rules for the Discernment of Spirits, this is a typical tactic of the devil.¹¹ The devil certainly did not want her to succeed in having a prayer life, so he deceived her to be disappointed that she needed to use a book to occupy her mind and needed to use a picture to touch her heart in order to move herself to make acts of love for God. Her disappointment in herself and her discouragement about her problems praying were temptations to pride.

Regarding the Need to Use a Book

She thought it was impossible for her to practice mental prayer without a book, and so she says,

Reading is of great service towards procuring recollection in anyone who proceeds in this way [viz., the way of prayer]; and it is even necessary for him, however little it may be that he reads, if only as a substitute for the mental prayer which is beyond his reach.¹²

And again,

My soul was as much afraid to pray without one [viz., a book], as if it had to fight against a host [i.e., an army]. With a book to help me — it was like a companion, and a shield whereon to receive the blows of many thoughts – I found comfort; for it was not usual with me to be in aridity: but I always was so when I had no book; for my soul was disturbed, and my thoughts wandered at once. With one, [viz., a book] I began to collect my thoughts, and, using it as a decoy, kept my soul in peace, very frequently by merely opening a book – there was no necessity for more. Sometimes, I read but little; at other times, much – according as our Lord had pity on me.¹³

Regarding Her Need to See a Picture

She expresses her disappointment in her poor imagination as follows:

God never endowed me with the gift of making reflections with the understanding, or with that of using the imagination to any good purpose; my imagination is so sluggish, that even if I would think of our Lord’s Humanity, or picture It to myself, as I used to labor to picture It, I never could do it.¹⁴ …

My understanding was so dull, that I could never represent in the imagination either heavenly or high things in any form whatever until our Lord placed them before me in another way.¹⁵

And again,

I was so little able to put things before myself by the help of my understanding, that, unless I saw a thing with my eyes, my imagination was of no use whatever. I could not do as others do, who can put matters before themselves so as to become recollected thereby. I was able to think of Christ only as man. But so it was; and I never could form any image of Him to myself, though I read much of His beauty, and looked at pictures of Him. I was like one who is blind, or in the dark, who, though speaking to a person present, and feeling his presence, because he knows for certain that he is present – I mean, that he understands him to be present, and believes it – yet does not see him. It was thus with me when I used to think of our Lord. This is why I was so fond of images.¹⁶

During this period of her life, Satan deluded her to such an extent that she really thought that some people just could not engage in mental prayer. She thought that such people simply did not have the ability although they otherwise had normal abilities and use of their minds. She explained in her autobiography that she thought that she and some other people simply could not engage in mental prayer.

The problem was really with her will as she saw later on. We will treat mental prayer later in this lesson.

Regarding Her Dread of Prayer – Her Sloth

Satan deluded her, moving her to a great dread and fear of prayer. These quickly led her to sloth – i.e., a distaste for the things of God and the loss of charity in the soul.

St. Ignatius of Loyola teaches us that Satan studies the soul in order to detect its weaknesses and then he attacks at those weak spots.¹⁷ This includes Satan pushing someone further in a bad direction in which he is already leaning. St. Teresa wrote,

I failed in my duty to God, because I was not leaning on the strong pillar of prayer. I passed nearly twenty years on this stormy sea, falling and rising, but rising to no good purpose, seeing that I went and fell again. My life was one of perfection;¹⁸ but it was so mean, that I scarcely made any account whatever of venial sins; and though of mortal sins I was afraid, I was not so afraid of them as I ought to have been, because I did not avoid the perilous occasions of them. I may say that it was the most painful life that can be imagined, because I had no sweetness in God, and no pleasure in the world.¹⁹

And again,

When I was in the midst of the pleasures of the world, the remembrance of what I owed to God made me sad; and when I was praying to God, my worldly affections disturbed me. This is so painful a struggle, that I know not how I could have borne it for a month, let alone for so many years.²⁰

Later, speaking from the perspective of her better understanding of these matters after her conversion, she says,

I do not understand what there can be to make them afraid, who are afraid, to begin mental prayer, nor do I know what it is they dread. The devil does well to bring this fear upon us, that he may really hurt us. By putting me in fear, he can make me cease from thinking of my offences against God, of the great debt I owe Him, of the existence of heaven and hell, and of the great sorrows and trials He underwent for me …. I was more occupied with the wish to see the end of the time I had appointed for myself to spend in prayer, and in watching the hour-glass, than with other thoughts that were good. If a sharp penance had been laid upon me, I know of none that I would not very often have willingly undertaken, rather than prepare myself for prayer by self-recollection. And certainly the violence with which Satan assailed me was so irresistible, or my evil habits were so strong, that I did not betake myself to prayer; and the sadness I felt on entering the oratory was so great, that it required all the courage I had to force myself in.²¹

We can see by these quotes how the Father of lies attacks souls with great violence so he can dissuade them from practicing mental prayer. In these passages one must keep in mind that St. Teresa of Avila was primarily afflicted in her soul because she was not willing to give up worldly friendships. These are the occasions of sin to which she refers.

There were two occasions in which the Lord brought her to tears of compunction as she was beginning to convert and to change her life. Unfortunately, she viewed those tears as womanly weakness and tried to disregard them. She was choleric-sanguine in temperament and did not appreciate those precious tears as she ought to have done. In a future lesson we will come back to the dangers choleric women face when dealing with their feminine nature.

Regarding Her Temptation to Give Up Mental Prayer Because She Was Not Humble and Sinless Enough

The next form of pride Satan tempted her with was to have her believe that she would overcome her sinful tendencies without Divine aid.

She tells us,

I do not think I ever escaped so great a danger as this device of Satan, which he would have imposed upon me in the disguise of humility. He filled me with such thoughts as these: How could I make my prayer, who was so wicked, and yet had received so many mercies? It was enough for me to recite the [Divine] Office, as all others did; but as I did not do that much well, how could I desire to do more? I was not reverential enough, and made too little of the mercies of God. There was no harm in these thoughts and feelings in themselves; but to act upon them, that was an exceedingly great wickedness. Blessed be Thou, O Lord; for Thou camest to my help. This seems to me to be in principle the temptation of Judas, only that Satan did not dare to tempt me so openly. But he might have led me, little by little, as he led Judas to the same pit of destruction.²²

A little later in her recounting of this horrific temptation, St. Teresa adds:

I do not think I ever gave up my purpose of resuming my prayer; but I was waiting to be very free from sin first.

Oh, how deluded I was in this expectation! The devil would have held it out before me till the Day of Judgment, that he might then take me with him to hell. Then, when I applied myself to prayer and to spiritual reading, – whereby I might perceive these truths, and the evil nature of the way I was walking, and was often importunate with our Lord in tears, – I was so wicked, that it availed me nothing; when I gave that up, and wasted my time in amusing myself, in great danger of falling into sin, and with scanty helps, – and I may venture to say no help at all, unless it was a help to my ruin, –what could I expect but that of which I have spoken?

I believe that a certain Dominican friar, a most learned man, has greatly merited in the eyes of God; for it was he who roused me from this slumber. He made me – I think I said so before – go to Communion once a fortnight, and be less given to evil; I began to be converted, though I did not cease to offend our Lord all at once; however, as I had not lost my way, I walked on in it, though slowly, falling and rising again; and he who does not cease to walk and press onwards, arrives at last, even if late. To lose one’s way is – so it seems to me – nothing else but the giving up of prayer. God, of His mercy, keeps us from this!²³

We can see how insidiously clever Satan is when we consider St. Teresa’s temptations. We see how the devil had earlier lured St. Teresa into the worldly vanities into which she fell. Then because her conscience was pricking her, the devil “took her in the opposite direction” by preying upon her sensitive conscience and trying to drive her into scruples (which is another form of pride). The devil’s motive was to do anything he could to have her give up prayer because that would surely be her downfall.

The devil’s attacks on St. Teresa are interesting and instructive for us concerning the devil’s use of this same tactic especially targeting Catholics – because the damnation of a Catholic is a much greater victory for Satan (as compared to the damnation of a person outside of the Church) and such damnation mocks God’s greater goodness toward Catholics.

An Important Note about Mental Prayer. What is Mental Prayer?

Mental prayer, like all prayer, is lifting the heart and mind to God.²⁴ This speaking to God is making an act of our will. It can be telling Him that we love Him. Our words to God do not have to be elaborate. We simply can tell Him what we are thinking. It is not that He doesn’t already know this, but He wants us to desire to tell Him. He wants us to cooperate with Him in the work of our salvation.

Thus, mental prayer is dependent upon our actions. It is important to keep in mind that St. Teresa really had the human ability to collect her thoughts and say something to God. She explains how she was fooled by the fear (with which Satan deluded her) of trying to gather her thoughts and simply to open her heart to speak to God. She was simply resisting God’s call to give Him her whole heart. Once she was willing to abandon her heart to God, her friendship with Him grew to a beautiful mystical marriage.²⁵

St. Teresa herself has this to say as a lesson we should learn from her experience:

One must humbly ask himself to consider (1) what the world is; (2) what he owes to God; (3) the great sufferings of God for him; (4) his own scanty service in return; and (5) the reward God reserves for those who love Him.

If one considers these things then, he learns how to defend himself against his own thoughts and against the occasions and perils of sin.²⁶

We should be grateful to God for allowing us to have knowledge of the wonderful lives of the saints in order to learn how they cooperated with God in their salvation. God is marvelous in His Providence and His sculpting of souls. What a great inspiration for us all!

A Preview…

We want to learn, as did St. Teresa of Avila and the other saints, the fruits of avoiding worldliness. In our next lesson we will look further into how we can know ourselves better in order to help us to avoid worldliness, so that we can foster and preserve a solid prayer life and to grow in friendship with God.

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.