How to remain strong in faith during or in preparation for temptations?

[Holly3278]

Hi everyone. How does one remain strong in the faith during temptations or in preparation for foreseen temptations? I hear that the rosary is a great tool to prepare for foreseen temptations but what about temptations that are already there? Also, what other methods are there of reducing temptations?

 

[PhilotheaZ]

Hi everyone. How does one remain strong in the faith during temptations or in preparation for foreseen temptations?

• Yes, the Rosary is a good one. We are in a spiritual battle. And to paraphrase Father Corapi, our Mother wears army boots, and the Rosary is her chief weapon.
• Frequent confession.
• Frequent Holy Communion.
• Daily prayer, including fifteen minutes of mental prayer (your own conversation with God, not using someone else’s words).
• Frequent recourse to your guardian angel.
• Pray to St. Michael the Archangel.
• Avoid the occasions of sin (people, places, situations, TV shows, websites, magazines, etc.) that are occasions of sin for you.
• A general examination of conscience every night (review of your day to see in what ways you have offended God that day), followed by a good Act of Contrition.
• Making a specific resolution each day on **one **way you are going to combat **one **particular sin that plagues you. Concentrate on that one fault for as long as it takes to conquer it, then move on to another. (How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.)
• A particular examen several times a day, examining yourself on how you are doing with that particular sin you are trying to avoid.

 

[Christy_Beth]

Well, when I have a struggle, I imagine God’s mercy as a lot of that foam padding stuff. Then I imagine throwing myself on them. Sometimes I just call out “God! Have mercy on me!”

But even with that, things can get tough. I’m on medication for depression and other mental stuff. I’m not sure, but I think this makes it harder for me. I also have a big struggle with trust. I think a lot of what I go through is to teach me to trust God and rely on his mercy and grace.

 

[PhilotheaZ]

Well, when I have a struggle, I imagine God’s mercy as a lot of that foam padding stuff. Then I imagine throwing myself on them. Sometimes I just call out “God! Have mercy on me!”

What a beautiful image! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Holly3278]

• Yes, the Rosary is a good one. We are in a spiritual battle. And to paraphrase Father Corapi, our Mother wears army boots, and the Rosary is her chief weapon.
• Frequent confession.
• Frequent Holy Communion.
• Daily prayer, including fifteen minutes of mental prayer (your own conversation with God, not using someone else’s words).
• Frequent recourse to your guardian angel.
• Pray to St. Michael the Archangel.
• Avoid the occasions of sin (people, places, situations, TV shows, websites, magazines, etc.) that are occasions of sin for you.
• A general examination of conscience every night (review of your day to see in what ways you have offended God that day), followed by a good Act of Contrition.
• Making a specific resolution each day on **one **way you are going to combat **one **particular sin that plagues you. Concentrate on that one fault for as long as it takes to conquer it, then move on to another. (How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.)
• A particular examen several times a day, examining yourself on how you are doing with that particular sin you are trying to avoid.

You mention frequent recourse to your guardian angel. This is something that I do not do. Perhaps it is because I don’t know much about guardian angels. Aren’t their main jobs to protect us from physical danger? Anyway, I will work on the other things.

 

[PhilotheaZ]

You mention frequent recourse to your guardian angel. This is something that I do not do. Perhaps it is because I don’t know much about guardian angels. Aren’t their main jobs to protect us from physical danger?

Actually, the opposite is true: our guardian angels’ main job is to help us get to heaven. From the Catechism of the Council of Trent:

Just as parents, whose children are about to travel a dangerous and infested road, appoint guardians and helpers for them, so also in the journey we are making towards our heavenly country our heavenly Father has placed over each of us an Angel under whose protection and vigilance we may be enabled to escape the snares secretly prepared by our enemy, repel the dreadful attacks he makes on us, and under his guiding hand keep the right road, and thus be secure against all false steps which the wiles of the evil one might cause us to make in order to draw us aside from the path that leads to heaven.

And from a catechism written by Father John Hardon (THE CATHOLIC CATECHISM Part One: Doctrines of the Faith III. God, Man, and the Universe Guardian Spirits Guardian Spirits):

Guardian angels are … part of God’s supernatural providence … They are providential intermediaries between God, whose vision they already enjoy, and mankind, whom they are entrusted to lead to the vision not yet attained … While the immediate focus of angelic assistance is spiritual and supernatural, it includes concern for our bodily and earthly affairs, insofar as these pertain to salvation and sanctification.

 

[Holly3278]

Actually, the opposite is true: our guardian angels’ main job is to help us get to heaven. From the Catechism of the Council of Trent:

And from a catechism written by Father John Hardon (THE CATHOLIC CATECHISM Part One: Doctrines of the Faith III. God, Man, and the Universe Guardian Spirits Guardian Spirits):

Ah ok. Thank you for these quotes PhilotheaZ.