By Francis Fernandez-Carvajal

God is always beside us. Whenever we are confronted with a temptation He says, Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.[874] And we place all our trust in him because we know we would achieve very little by ourselves. I can do all things in him who strengthens me.[875] The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?[876]

We are able to arm ourselves against temptation through constant mortification in our work; in the way we live charity; in guarding our external and internal senses. As well as mortification we need prayer. Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation.[877] We must also guard against it by fleeing from the occasions of sin, (however marginal they may seem, for Whoever loves danger will perish by it,[878]) and by having our time fully occupied, mainly in the fulfilment of our family, professional and social obligations.

If we are to overcome temptation we will have to repeat confidently over and over again the petition in the Our Father: and lead us not into temptation; grant us the strength to remain strong when faced with temptation. Since it is Our Lord himself who puts such a petition on our lips, it would be good for us to repeat it continually ...

We struggle against temptation by speaking openly about it to our spiritual director; making it thus known is almost overcoming it. He who reveals his own temptations to his spiritual director can be certain that God grants the spiritual director the grace needed to direct him well.[879]

We can always count on God’s grace to overcome any temptation whatsoever. But do not forget, my friend, that you need weapons in this spiritual battle. And your weapons have to be these: continuous prayer; sincerity and frankness with your spiritual director; the Holy Eucharist and the Sacrament of Penance; a generous spirit of Christian mortification which will bring you to flee from the occasion of sin and to avoid idleness; humility of heart, and a tender and filial devotion to Our Lady, Comforter of the Afflicted and Refuge of Sinners. Always turn confidently to Our Lady and say: ‘My Mother, I trust in you’.[880]