Resisting Temptation
“One of the most painful ordeals that God-fearing and virtuous souls are made to undergo is that of being tried by temptation. Temptations meet them at every turn and assail them from within and without…” Thus begins the famous tract by Fr. Francis Remler entitled How to Resist Temptation published in 1938. This title provides us with the aim of the book—it was not written just to tell us about temptation, what it is and what its effects are on our soul, useful though such a tract would have been. It is more than this, giving us a practical approach by which we can actually resist temptations when they come. And that’s a very useful thing to know how to do!
Our reading begins by learning what a temptation actually is. Certain temptations are caused by God. He subjects persons with these temptations in order to test their virtue, prepare them for some particular work, or elevate them a very high degree of holiness. These temptations may be sickness, poverty, enmities, false accusations, persecutions, wars, or other calamities, and when we pray God not to lead us into temptation, it is precisely this kind of temptation that we are referring to.
Temptations of solicitation are a different thing altogether. Fr. Remler defines them as incitements or allurements to some sin, by either suggestion, the fear of suffering, or the offer of some good or pleasure. They come directly, or indirectly, from the Devil and are meant to incite us to commit some violation of the laws of God. The indirect temptations come from the world or our fallen human nature, which the Devil uses as tools to entice us. God is never the cause of this type of temptation. He merely permits the Devil to tempt us as a test of our virtue, but always sets a limit to Satan’s ability to destroy our soul, which is never tempted beyond its strength and power to resist.
God always sends the graces necessary for us to achieve victory over our temptations, provided we ask for them with humble and fervent prayer and do everything we can to refuse consent to the evil suggested.
By understanding the different types of temptation, we should be better prepared to know how to react to them. If the temptation is a trial sent to us by God, we should thank him for the test and promise to pass it. If it’s merely permitted by God and is actually an enticement by the Evil One to commit sin, then we must pray fervently for the graces to overcome the temptation.
In the coming weeks of Lent, we will revisit temptation and discuss in more detail how to resist it and keep our soul in the state of grace. Meanwhile, the book How to Resist Temptation by Fr. Francis J. Remler may be purchased from our online bookstore Confraternity Books (confraternitybooks.com) for the sale price of $12.95.