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There’s a nice article written by Fr. William Wagner, ORC at this link opusangelorum.org/English/Leadusnotintotem.html
he’s actually writing about the petition in the Lord’s Prayer - "…and lead us not into temptation."
Interestingly he quotes St. Theresa of Avila, the first female Doctor of the Church. Out of all the saints throughout the ages, there have only been 33 Doctors of the Church.
Several excerpts from the above-linked article:
c. Threatening Temptations
"When seduction fails, the devil turns to torments and the fear of death (cf. Heb 2:15). In this way Peter was sifted by Satan (cf. Lk 22:31) and found wanting out of cowardliness. Later, confirmed again in grace, he warns: “Your adversary the devil roams about like a roaring lion [in order to frighten us], seeking whomever he may devour. Resist him strong in the faith” (1 Pt 5:8-9). Had not Christ prayed for Peter in his trial that his faith not fail (cf. Lk 22:32)?
The devil, who does not usually succeed in the destruction of faith, turns and wages a withering attack against hope through the passion of fear. Fear is the enemy’s principal weapon (cf. Heb 2:14ff). By threatening the loss of the goods of this world (wealth, health, honor, life) he cudgels souls into submission; by militating against their moral well-being with tormenting thoughts about guilt and damnation and by parading the intransigent justice of God, he tries to drive delicate, sensitive souls into a state of depression and apathy (cf. St. Theresa of Avila, Autobiography, ch. 30,8ff.). This is followed by temptations of despair and even temptations of blasphemy wherein the soul is angry with God (thinking his justice so hard and salvation so impossible). In the petition “deliver us from evil” we are actually praying, as St. Augustine shows us, for the grace of perseverance, the triumph of hope (cf. St. Augustine. Treatise on Perseverance, ch. 9-11).
…St. Theresa of Avila recommends contempt for the enemy: “These accursed spirits torment me quite frequently, but they do not frighten me in the least, for I am convinced that they cannot stir except by God’s leave. Let this be known well, that every time we make them the object of our contempt, they lose their strength and the soul acquires over them greater ascendancy. They have no power except against cowardly souls who surrender their weapons. Against such they do show their power” (Autobiography. ch.31). This strategy was exemplified by St. Anthony of the Desert when he was accosted by a hoard of ferocious wild beasts (demons) threatening to tear him asunder. They appeared before him, gnashing their teeth, pawing the ground and raising hell. St. Anthony, undaunted by the show, challenged them: “If you have any power, it is from God and will serve his purpose! So do what you can! But if no permission has been granted to you, then put an end to this display and begone!” With howls and wailing they fled, routed in utter humiliation.
Fr. William Wagner, ORC
One disadvantage we have when considering demonic physical attacks on saints is we don’t always have a clear picture of that particular saint’s disposition ; so the natural tendency can be for us to superimpose or substitute our own disposition in place of the saint’s disposition.
Saint Theresa provides us with a window on how she perceived these things. This particular story is popular, but varies a bit depending who’s recounting it (I’m paraphrasing Fr. John Corapi’s account from Chapter 4 on his series Immortal Combat) :
St. Theresa was already quite ill while travelling in a horse-drawn carriage when the carriage hit a bump in the road, tipped, the end result being that St. Theresa got physically banged up a little and covered in mud. She looked skyward and said quizzically/complaining to God that on top of all the hardships she had been presently enduring He saw fit to send her *“this!” *Jesus answered, “This is how I treat my friends”, to which St. Theresa immediately replied, “…Small wonder you have so few of them.”
So there isn’t really any harm in being stuck on the question of ***why ***suffering, or why mishaps, or why demonic attacks.Redemptive suffering has an element of mystery to it. However inasmuch as we need to discern, when we are considering attacks on stalwart Saints such as St. Padre Pio and St. Theresa of Avila , I think we do ourselves a disservice when we allow our puzzlement to lead us to the point of doubting such attacks ever took place. We recall Jesus’ words to Peter cited earlier : " Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers. " [Luke 22: 31-32]
It isn’t an isolated incident where St. Theresa’s sense of humour shines through either (again paraphrasing from that same chapter of Immortal Combat) "
St. Theresa of Avila was once woken in bed by the devil, who took the form of a hideous monster trying to frighten her. St. Theresa simply looked at him, said, “Oh… it’s only you”, then turned over and went back to sleep.
We can easily conclude from St. Theresa herself - Doctor of the Church that such attacks exist. But we mustn’t let things get out of balance. St Theresa is also quite adamant in warning that we shouldn’t spend an inordinate amount of time dwelling on such things, but that we should rather spend our time being mindful of God:
(excerpt from) catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=208
Some friends, however, did not like what was happening to her and got together to discuss some “remedy” for her. Concluding that she had been deluded by the devil, they sent a Jesuit to analyze her. The Jesuit reassured her that her experiences were from God but soon everyone knew about her and was making fun of her.
One confessor was so sure that the visions were from the devil that he told her to make an obscene gesture called the fig every time she had a vision of Jesus. She cringed but did as she was ordered, all the time apologizing to Jesus. Fortunately, Jesus didn’t seem upset but told her that she was right to obey her confessor. In her autobiography she would say, “I am more afraid of those who are terrified of the devil than I am of the devil himself.” The devil was not to be feared but fought by talking more about God.
he’s actually writing about the petition in the Lord’s Prayer - "…and lead us not into temptation."
Interestingly he quotes St. Theresa of Avila, the first female Doctor of the Church. Out of all the saints throughout the ages, there have only been 33 Doctors of the Church.
Several excerpts from the above-linked article:
c. Threatening Temptations
"When seduction fails, the devil turns to torments and the fear of death (cf. Heb 2:15). In this way Peter was sifted by Satan (cf. Lk 22:31) and found wanting out of cowardliness. Later, confirmed again in grace, he warns: “Your adversary the devil roams about like a roaring lion [in order to frighten us], seeking whomever he may devour. Resist him strong in the faith” (1 Pt 5:8-9). Had not Christ prayed for Peter in his trial that his faith not fail (cf. Lk 22:32)?
The devil, who does not usually succeed in the destruction of faith, turns and wages a withering attack against hope through the passion of fear. Fear is the enemy’s principal weapon (cf. Heb 2:14ff). By threatening the loss of the goods of this world (wealth, health, honor, life) he cudgels souls into submission; by militating against their moral well-being with tormenting thoughts about guilt and damnation and by parading the intransigent justice of God, he tries to drive delicate, sensitive souls into a state of depression and apathy (cf. St. Theresa of Avila, Autobiography, ch. 30,8ff.). This is followed by temptations of despair and even temptations of blasphemy wherein the soul is angry with God (thinking his justice so hard and salvation so impossible). In the petition “deliver us from evil” we are actually praying, as St. Augustine shows us, for the grace of perseverance, the triumph of hope (cf. St. Augustine. Treatise on Perseverance, ch. 9-11).
…St. Theresa of Avila recommends contempt for the enemy: “These accursed spirits torment me quite frequently, but they do not frighten me in the least, for I am convinced that they cannot stir except by God’s leave. Let this be known well, that every time we make them the object of our contempt, they lose their strength and the soul acquires over them greater ascendancy. They have no power except against cowardly souls who surrender their weapons. Against such they do show their power” (Autobiography. ch.31). This strategy was exemplified by St. Anthony of the Desert when he was accosted by a hoard of ferocious wild beasts (demons) threatening to tear him asunder. They appeared before him, gnashing their teeth, pawing the ground and raising hell. St. Anthony, undaunted by the show, challenged them: “If you have any power, it is from God and will serve his purpose! So do what you can! But if no permission has been granted to you, then put an end to this display and begone!” With howls and wailing they fled, routed in utter humiliation.
Fr. William Wagner, ORC
One disadvantage we have when considering demonic physical attacks on saints is we don’t always have a clear picture of that particular saint’s disposition ; so the natural tendency can be for us to superimpose or substitute our own disposition in place of the saint’s disposition.
Saint Theresa provides us with a window on how she perceived these things. This particular story is popular, but varies a bit depending who’s recounting it (I’m paraphrasing Fr. John Corapi’s account from Chapter 4 on his series Immortal Combat) :
St. Theresa was already quite ill while travelling in a horse-drawn carriage when the carriage hit a bump in the road, tipped, the end result being that St. Theresa got physically banged up a little and covered in mud. She looked skyward and said quizzically/complaining to God that on top of all the hardships she had been presently enduring He saw fit to send her *“this!” *Jesus answered, “This is how I treat my friends”, to which St. Theresa immediately replied, “…Small wonder you have so few of them.”
So there isn’t really any harm in being stuck on the question of ***why ***suffering, or why mishaps, or why demonic attacks.Redemptive suffering has an element of mystery to it. However inasmuch as we need to discern, when we are considering attacks on stalwart Saints such as St. Padre Pio and St. Theresa of Avila , I think we do ourselves a disservice when we allow our puzzlement to lead us to the point of doubting such attacks ever took place. We recall Jesus’ words to Peter cited earlier : " Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers. " [Luke 22: 31-32]
It isn’t an isolated incident where St. Theresa’s sense of humour shines through either (again paraphrasing from that same chapter of Immortal Combat) "
St. Theresa of Avila was once woken in bed by the devil, who took the form of a hideous monster trying to frighten her. St. Theresa simply looked at him, said, “Oh… it’s only you”, then turned over and went back to sleep.
We can easily conclude from St. Theresa herself - Doctor of the Church that such attacks exist. But we mustn’t let things get out of balance. St Theresa is also quite adamant in warning that we shouldn’t spend an inordinate amount of time dwelling on such things, but that we should rather spend our time being mindful of God:
(excerpt from) catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=208
Some friends, however, did not like what was happening to her and got together to discuss some “remedy” for her. Concluding that she had been deluded by the devil, they sent a Jesuit to analyze her. The Jesuit reassured her that her experiences were from God but soon everyone knew about her and was making fun of her.
One confessor was so sure that the visions were from the devil that he told her to make an obscene gesture called the fig every time she had a vision of Jesus. She cringed but did as she was ordered, all the time apologizing to Jesus. Fortunately, Jesus didn’t seem upset but told her that she was right to obey her confessor. In her autobiography she would say, “I am more afraid of those who are terrified of the devil than I am of the devil himself.” The devil was not to be feared but fought by talking more about God.