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.

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

Mary’s School of Sanctity

Lesson #57 – About the Temperaments 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

In our most recent lessons we have studied the causes of fear and the effects of fear on our bodies and souls. We discussed briefly the role that love plays in determining our fears and likewise the role that the imagination has in our passion of fear. We said that our loves must be orderly and reasonable and that we must control our imagination to make it reasonable also. At this point it is necessary to delve deeper into our spiritual battle and the means we must take to ensure we are indeed monitoring our loves as we ought; and controlling our imagination to keep it reasonable. Our salvation depends on how well we know ourselves and how we cooperate with God’s graces and blessings. In this lesson we focus on three main ideas:

1. The plan of our arch-enemy;
   

2. The teaching of our dear Holy Mother Church; and
   

3. Satan’s attempts to disorder man’s loves.

   Below, we discuss each of these.

1. The Plan Of Our Arch-Enemy — The Demonic Plan Has Not Changed

Since the fall of Adam the devil has not changed his methods of luring man into sin. We may think that humans had an easier battle against Satan in another period of history. For example, one may think that it was easier for people to save their souls in the Middle Ages because there weren’t so many distractions, such as, modern technology and because their lives were not as hectic as in our modern times.

However, we must remind ourselves that all throughout human history man has had to contend with the devil and all his worldly allurements. Certainly, the devil will use whatever is available to distract a person from doing his duty. Nevertheless, we must keep in mind that fallen human nature has not changed. We could simply say that Satan tries to get men to commit the Seven Capital Sins (Pride, Sloth, Gluttony, Envy, Anger, Lust, and Avarice), and this is true. However, there are two chief fronts of attack that the devil uses against mankind.

Satan’s Two Main Lines of Attack

The devil traps souls in these two main ways:

• Through getting humans to not use their reason;

(We must not forget that the devil will use just about anything to distract someone from reasoning – especially reasoning carefully!)

• Through getting humans to focus on their bodies including pleasures and comforts.

It is important to note here that the easiest way for the devil to capture souls is through sins of the flesh. Our Lady warned us at Fatima that “more people go to hell because of sins of the flesh than for any other reason.”¹ (She also reminded us that these souls fall because they have no one to pray and do sacrifice for them.)

We will discuss more about the first of these lines of demonic attack in this present lesson, and then about the second type of attack in lessons to come. First, however, we must connect what we have studied about fear so far with this overall plan of the devil.

The Role That Fear Plays in the Devil’s Work

Because the devil knows that our fears are based on what we love and what we imagine, he uses his knowledge of us in designing his snares against us. Thus, it is important that we apply what we have been studying about fear in order to defend ourselves against Satan’s tricks – one of which is use fear in a twisted manner.

2. The Teaching of Holy Mother Church

Our Best Defense against Satan is Understanding the Church’s Teaching about Proper Fear

Let’s begin by examining what the Church tells us about proper fear. We were taught in our Catechism that Fear of the Lord is a Gift of the Holy Ghost. “The beginning of wisdom is fear of the Lord” (Proverbs 1:7).

With this precious Gift, we are intended to have filial fear which is “the dread of offending God based on love for Him.”² This is in contrast with servile fear of God which is “the dread of the punishment which God inflicts on sinners”.³

St. Bernard of Clairvaux explains the difference between servile fear and filial fear. He describes servile fear as follows:

The slave and the hireling have a law, not from the Lord, but of their own contriving; the one does not love God, the other loves something else more than God. They have a law of their own, not of God, I say; yet it [their own law] is subject to the law of the Lord. For though they [viz, the slave and the hireling] can make laws for themselves, they cannot supplant the changeless order of the Eternal Law. Each man is a law unto himself, when he sets up his will against the universal laws, perversely striving to rival his Creator, to be wholly independent, making his will his only law.⁴

He adds more about servile fear as follows:

He was a burden to himself through the law which was of his own devising: yet he could not escape God’s law, for he was set as a mark against God. The Eternal Law of righteousness ordains that he who will not submit to God’s sweet rule shall suffer the bitter tyranny of self: but he who wears the easy yoke and light burden of love will escape the intolerable weight of his own self-will.⁵

Then St. Bernard contrasts servile fear with filial fear:

Freed from the weight of my own will, I can breathe easily under the light burden of love. I shall not be coerced by fear, nor allured by mercenary desires. I for one shall be led by the Spirit of God, that free Spirit whereby Thy sons are led which beareth witness with my spirit that I am among the children of God.

Love is a good and pleasant law; it is not only easy to bear, but it makes the laws of slaves and hirelings tolerable; not destroying but completing them; as the Lord saith: ‘I am not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill’ (Matt 5:17). It tempers the fear of the slave, it regulates the desires of the hireling, it mitigates the severity of each.

Love is never without fear, but it is a godly fear. Love is never without desire, but it is a lawful desire. So love perfects the law of service by infusing devotion. It perfects the law of wages by restraining covetousness. Devotion mixed with fear does not destroy fear – devotion purges fear.

Then the burden of fear which was intolerable while it was only servile, becomes tolerable; and the fear itself remains ever pure and filial … . Self-interest is restrained within due bounds when love supervenes. For then self-interest rejects evil things altogether, prefers better things to those merely good, and cares for the good only on account of the better.

In like manner, by God’s grace, it will come about that man will love his body and the things pertaining to his body, for the sake of his soul. He will love his soul for God’s sake; and he will love God for Himself alone.⁶

3. Satan’s Attempt to Disorder Man’s Loves

Man’s reason is his highest faculty. God intends that man use this faculty to learn more about Him. Man usually starts by observing the world around him and then comes to know universal truths gradually.⁷ God, being the Sculptor of Souls, draws souls to Him in order to have a beautiful friendship which He intends to culminate in the celestial possession of Himself, viz., the Beatific Vision.

Man has a foretaste of this Vision when he ponders deeply about the high truths concerning God. God created man to have a sense of wonder and to have a desire to know truth. Therefore, God designed it to be really exhilarating and satisfying for man to consider something deeply, come to proper conclusions, and in this way come to know a truth.

Furthermore, God intends that deep consideration of truth, especially high truths, should inflame the soul with appreciation for that truth. In turn, God wills that this same appreciation will foster gratitude and then love for Him, while also bringing humility into the soul.⁸

Consequently, it follows that man learning truth inspires gratitude, humility, and love of God – which likewise fosters friendship with God and our neighbor. With all of this in mind, it is easy to see that God intends man to have a life of virtue wherein he is unselfish and is full of filial love of God and a genuine love of his neighbor.

Of course, all of this is the opposite of what Satan seeks for souls. Satan does not want God to come first in our lives. He does not want us to learn to love God and certainly does not want us to grow in love of God. He does not want us to love our neighbor or to be unselfish. He does not want us to grow in virtue. He does not want us to discipline our minds, and control our imagination. In short, he does not want us to lead a life of reason and he certainly does not want us to think deeply!

Satan tempts men of all temperaments to avoids using their reason. Here are some of his common lies:

• It is too hard to think, especially to think deeply;
  

• It is so tiring to think or to try to understand and figure something out;
  

• It takes too much time to think, because we have to get something done quickly, after all, we are supposed to be efficient workers;
  

• It is so boring to dig deeply into things;
  

• It taxes the body too much to think;
  

• It makes one “proud” to think carefully because a person only does this when he wants to be “noticed” and thought to be “clever”;
  

• I am not “intellectually” inclined or “gifted” and therefore, I simply cannot think and I certainly cannot think carefully or deeply;
  

• I do not want people to label me as “brainy”; and
  

• It is too much of a bother to think about God, or our Faith.

Here are some typical traits regarding thinking, as related to the four temperaments:

• Cholerics and sanguines tend to be extroverted but also shallower.

  This does NOT mean that they cannot think deeply or learn to love to think deeply. All Catholics are all called to the life of high contemplation (even though contemplation is a gift of God).
  

• Melancholics and phlegmatics are more introverted and tend to be deeper thinkers.

Nevertheless, the tactic of Satan is to have all people not desire to use their highest faculty (which is their intellect). Thus, Satan uses his tactic (to get man to not use his reason) not only against persons of one temperament but against everyone.

The devil targets all men in his attempt to get them to not LOVE thinking deeply and well. He wants to instill sloth in us so that the spiritual life and things of God are unappealing to us humans.

A Preview…

In our next lesson we will discuss more about the lies of the devil listed above and the devil’s temptations to twist our loves in order to lead us away from God, primarily through sloth. We will discuss strategies on how to counterattack Satan’s pomps.

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

Mary’s School of Sanctity

Lesson #56 About the Temperaments – Part XXI – Explaining the Effects of Fear in All Temperaments

Earlier, when we considered the passions in general, we noted that the passions cause transmutations (physical changes) in the body. Because one of these passions is fear, St. Thomas Aquinas, greatest doctor of the Church, addresses the physical changes which occur in those who are afraid.

Let us now examine how he explains the effects of fear on our bodies. This will help us to see the benefit of understanding our fallen human nature and how our body and soul work together in a very intricate and complete manner.

We know from our catechism that we humans are composed of body and soul. However, we do not ponder as much as we should the fact that the union of our body and soul is so complete that nothing happens in the one which does not affect the other. Below, we will consider further the soul’s manifold influences on the function of the body.

But, correspondingly, our frail and delicate human body influences our soul. Both soul and body suffer the wounds of original sin. The soul suffers four wounds, namely, the darkening of the intellect, the weakening of the will, the unruliness of the passions, and malice (i.e., the inclination to evil). The body suffers sickness, fatigue, aging, and, of course, death.

For example, when we suffer a bodily ailment, such as a headache, our intellect has difficulty focusing on our mental work. And when we have a spiritual problem, our body partakes of suffering in the form of stress pain which could include any number of things, for instance, muscle cramps, headaches, nausea etc.

St. Thomas Addresses Some Very Interesting Effects of Fear

St. Thomas tells us that there are two movements which occur in someone when he is afraid:

1. The movement in the appetitive power which is in the soul itself; and
   

2. The physical change which occurs in the body.

Both of these movements are mutually proportionate; and consequently the physical change resembles the very nature of the appetitive movement.

However, as to the appetitive movement of the soul, fear implies a certain contraction or inward withdrawal. The reason for this inward withdrawal is that fear arises from imagining some threatening evil which is difficult to repel. Now a thing is difficult to repel because the person lacks the power to repel it. Consequently, the weaker the person’s power is, the more he withdraws inwardly.¹

On the physical level, there is a change in the body which corresponds to this fear arising in the soul.

In other words, St. Thomas is telling us that because we are composed of body and soul, fear affects us in both of our parts. There are the spiritual effects and there are bodily effects. Let us first consider the bodily effects and then come back to the spiritual effects.

Bodily effects –an Inward Contraction and Trembling

Let’s take a moment to review the definition of passion in order to better understand what happens in the soul and body when one is afraid.

We explained in a previous lesson that a passion is:

a movement of the sensitive appetite when we imagine good or evil. In other words, passion is a movement of the irrational [part of the] soul, when we think of good or evil.²

St. Thomas tells us that fear moves the irrational part of the soul to an inward contraction of bodily heat³ which further causes one to tremble.

St. Thomas gives two analogies which help us to understand the concept of this inward contraction:

We observe in one who is dying that nature withdraws inwardly on account of the lack of power; and again we see the inhabitants of a city, when seized with fear, leave the outskirts and as far as possible, move to the inner quarters of the city. It is in resemblance to this contraction, which pertains to the appetite of the soul, that in fear, a similar contraction of heat and vital spirits towards the inner parts takes place in regard to the body. ⁴

Here is how St. Thomas explains the physical trembling which is caused by fear:

In fear there takes place a certain contraction from the outward to the inner parts of the body, the result being that the outer parts become cold; and for this reason trembling is occasioned in these parts, being caused by a lack of power in controlling the members, which lack of power is due to the want of heat, which is an instrument whereby the soul moves those members, as stated in De Anima, Bk. 2; ch.4, #416b29.⁵

St. Thomas adds:

In fear, heat abandons the heart, with a downward movement: hence in those who are afraid the heart especially trembles, as also those members which are connected with the breast where the heart resides. Hence those who fear tremble especially in their speech, on account of the tracheal artery being near the heart.

The lower lip, too, and the lower jaw tremble, through their connection with the heart; which explains the chattering of the teeth. For the same reason the arms and hands tremble. Or else because the aforesaid members are more mobile and for this reason the knees tremble in those who are afraid, according to Isa. 35:3: Strengthen ye the feeble hands, and confirm the trembling [Vulg.: ‘weak’] knees.⁶

St. Thomas explains that this difficulty which a fearful person has in his speech can render the person speechless. ⁷

A further result is when a person is mortally afraid, he will even turn pale. Here are St. Thomas’s words concerning this aspect:

Mortal perils are contrary not only to the appetite of the soul, but also to nature. Consequently in such like fear, there is contraction not only in the appetite, but also in the corporeal nature: for when an animal is moved by the imagination of death, it experiences a contraction of heat towards the inner parts of the body, as though it were threatened by a natural death. Hence it is that those who are in fear of death turn pale (Ethic. Bk.4, ch. 9, #1128b13).⁸

The Two Spiritual Effects of Fear

Fear causes two spiritual effects in a man:

1. It makes him more willing to take counsel – but less able to give good counsel; and
   

2. It hinders him from performing good actions under some conditions.

Below, we will consider each of these spiritual effects of fear.

1. Fear Makes a Man More Willing to Take Counsel But Less Able to Give Good Counsel

A man can be said to be a “man of counsel” in two ways:

1. From his being willing or anxious to take counsel; and
   

2. As a man who is well-suited for giving good counsel.

In the first way, St. Thomas tells us that fear makes men more willing to take counsel. Here are his words:

Because, as the Philosopher says (Ethic. Bk. 3, ch.3 #1112b10), “we take counsel on great matters, because therein we distrust ourselves.” However, things which make us afraid, are not simply evil, but have a certain magnitude, both because they seem difficult to repel, and because they are apprehended as near to us, as stated above (Q.42, a.2). Wherefore men seek for counsel especially when they are afraid.⁹

In the second way, St. Thomas tells us that fear (or any other passion) does not make a man apt for giving good counsel. He explains as follows:

Because when a man is affected by a passion, things seem to him greater or smaller than they really are: thus to a lover, what he loves seems better; to him who fears, what he fears seems more dreadful. Consequently, owing to the lack of right judgment, every passion considered in itself, hinders the faculty of giving good counsel.¹⁰

2. Fear Hinders a Man From Doing Good Actions Under Some Circumstances

As set forth above, the second spiritual effect of fear is that it hinders a man from performing good actions.

St. Thomas quotes St. Paul’s famous words, “With fear and trembling work out your salvation,” and tells us plainly that St. Paul would not say this if fear were a hindrance to a good work. Therefore fear does not hinder a good action.

Here are St. Thomas’s words:

Man’s exterior actions are caused by the soul as first mover, but by the bodily members as instruments. However, action may be hindered both by defect of the instrument, and by defect of the principal mover. On the part of the bodily instruments, fear, considered in itself, is always apt to hinder exterior action, on account of the outward members being deprived, through fear, of their heat. But on the part of the soul, if the fear be moderate, without much disturbance of the reason, it conduces [i.e., contributes] to reason working well, in so far as it causes a certain solicitude and makes a man take counsel and work with greater attention. If, however, fear increases so much as to disturb the reason, it hinders action even on the part of the soul. But of such a fear the Apostle does not speak.¹¹

St. Thomas’s comment here about St. Paul’s words is very crucial for our understanding of fear. It is important to note well that our will is supposed to moderate our passions. St. Paul is obviously speaking of having a healthy Fear of the Lord. We must fear displeasing Our Lord most importantly because He is All-Good. We use Fear of the Lord which is one of the seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost, to help us work out our salvation. The context of St. Paul’s words show that it is to this that he refers.

A fear being moderate and not paralyzing is the main reason why St. Thomas says that fear does not hinder action (but makes a person more solicitous). But someone could respond that since laziness and sloth are kinds of fear (regarding physical work and spiritual work respectively), they are examples of fear hindering good action. St. Thomas grants that objection regarding laziness, in the following words:

Everyone in fear shuns that which he fears: and therefore, since laziness is a fear of work itself as being toilsome, it hinders work by withdrawing the will from it. But fear of other things conduces to action, in so far as it inclines the will to do that whereby a man escapes from what he fears.¹²

Now that we have finished looking into the effects of fear in both the spiritual realm and the body, we can turn our attention to the proper use of the passion of fear.

How Can We Use the Passion of Fear As We Ought?

There are two key aspects to consider about fear. We must consider its cause, namely, what we love, and the role that our imagination plays in the passion of fear.

In our last lesson we discussed how love is the cause of fear.¹³ We said that we either fear that we will not obtain the object of our desire or that we will lose an object that we love. We stated how we must be cautious about what we decide to love and make sure our loves are pleasing to God and conform to right reason.

In our current lesson we paraphrased St. Thomas’s words about the appetitive movement of the soul:

However, as to the appetitive movement of the soul, fear implies a certain contraction or inward withdrawal. The reason for this inward withdrawal is that fear arises from the imagination of some threatening evil which is difficult to repel.¹⁴

Here we see again the important role that our imagination plays in our passion of fear. Above, St. Thomas teaches the importance of our fear being moderate. This means our fear must be reasonable and not uncontrolled. We are ultimately responsible for our use of our will because sin is an inordinate use of our God-given faculties. In other words, we are obliged to control ourselves.

A Preview…

In our next lesson we will take a deeper look into these two aspects (viz., love and imagination) to make sure our loves are orderly and that we use our imagination carefully and according to reason. In this deeper look at these two aspects, we will see how the devil lays snares for persons of every temperament.