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Fighting temptation

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GRM 5.14

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

This is what you have done, Satan, to the children of God. Those whom you have corrupted, would have known the joy of having children without suffering any pain and would have experienced the joy of being born without fear of dying. But now you are beaten in a Woman and by a Woman. From now on, whoever loves Her will become once again God’s own, overcoming your temptations, to be able to look at Her immaculate purity. From now on mothers, though not able to conceive without pain, will find comfort in her. From now on She will be the guide for married women and the Mother of dying people, so that it will be sweet to die resting on that breast which is a shield against you, you Cursed One, and against the wrath of God.

Detail

Jesus speaks to Satan and says:

GRM 46.12-15

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

46.12 As you have seen kindness is always Satan’s disguise when he presents himself. He looks like an ordinary person. If souls are careful, and above all, if they are in spiritual contact with God, they perceive the warning that makes them cautious and prepares them to fight the devil’s snares. But if souls are distracted, separated from God by an overwhelming sensuality, and are not assisted by prayer, which joins them to God and pours strength into the hearts of men, then they seldom perceive the snares hidden under the innocent appearance and they fall into the trap. It is then very difficult for them to free themselves.

46.13 The two most common means adopted by Satan to conquer souls are sensuality and gluttony. He always starts from material things. Once he has dismantled and subdued the material side, he attacks the spiritual part.

First the morals: thoughts with their pride and greed; then the spirit, obliterating not only its love — which no longer exists when man replaces divine love with other human loves — but also the fear of God. Then man surrenders his body and soul to Satan, only for the sake of enjoying what he wants, and enjoying it more and more.

46.14 You saw how I behaved. Silence and prayer. Silence. Because if Satan performs his work of a seducer and comes close to us, we must put up with the situation without any foolish impatience or cowardly fears. We must react with resolution to his presence, and with prayer to his allurements.

It is useless to debate with Satan. He would win, because he is strong in his dialectics. Only God can beat him. And so you must have recourse to God, that He may speak for you, through you. You must show Satan that Name and that Sign, not so much written on paper or engraved on wood, but written and engraved in your hearts. My Name, My Sign. You should answer back to Satan, using the word of God, only when he insinuates that he is like God. He cannot bear that.

46.15 Then after the struggle, there comes victory and the angels serve and defend the winner from Satan’s hatred. They restore him with celestial dews, with the Grace that they pour with full hands into the heart of the faithful son, with a blessing that caresses his soul.

One must be determined to defeat Satan, and have faith in God, and in His help. Faith in the power of prayer, and in the Lord’s bounty. Then Satan can do no harm.

Go in peace. This evening I will gladden you with the remainder.»

GRM 54.3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

Mammon lays more snares for those yearning for Heaven than for the others. And only he who has strong willpower can resist.

GRM 58.4

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

58.4 Please, Master, be careful, it is our daily bread. Keep an eye on the net, that jolts may not overturn it. The fish fight for their freedom with strong strokes of their tails, and if there is a lot of them… You will understand… They are small things, but if ten, one hundred, a thousand get together, they become as strong as Leviathan.»

«The same happens with sins, Peter. After all, one fault is not irreparable. But if one is not careful in controlling oneself, and one adds fault to fault, at the end a little fault, perhaps a single omission, or a simple weakness, becomes bigger and bigger, it becomes a habit, it becomes a capital vice. At times one starts with a lustful glance and ends up by committing adultery. At times, while simply lacking charity when speaking to a relative, one ends up by doing violence to one’s neighbour. Never, never allow faults to increase in seriousness and in numbers, if you wish to avoid trouble! They become dangerous and overbearing like the infernal Snake himself, and they will drag you down into Gehenna.»

«What You say is right, Master… But we are so weak!»

«Care and prayer are necessary to become strong and obtain help, together with a strong will not to sin. And you must have full trust in the loving justice of the Father.»

Detail

Peter explains to Jesus how to sin, and Jesus takes the opportunity to teach him a lesson about guilt and the weight of sin.

GRM 69.5

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

We have everything in us: good and evil. We carry everything with us. And the breath of God blows on the good and vivifies it like a thurible of sweet-smelling holy incense. And Satan blows on evil, thus kindling a furious blazing fire. But diligent goodwill and constant prayer are like damp sand on the hellish fire: they suffocate it and put it out.

Annotation

We have everything within us: good and evil. In a note to the second edition, the editor writes: "These statements are correct when applied to the human condition in general. Nevertheless, Maria Valtorta corrected them on a typewritten copy, in a way that seems more suited to the dual human and divine nature of the speaker: Around us, we have everything: good and evil. We can take everything into ourselves.

GRM 69.5

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

Judas, answer this question of Mine. Will one who is hungry, suffer more by saying: “I will now sit down at the table” or by saying: “There is no food for me”?»

«He suffers more in the latter case, because the simple thought that he is without food, will bring back to him the pleasant smell of food and his bowels will be tortured by biting desire.»

«Right: temptation is as biting as that desire, Judas. Satan makes it more intense, more real, more alluring than any accomplished act. Further, the act satisfies, and at times nauseates; whereas temptations do not subside, but like pruned trees, they grow stronger and stronger.»

GRM 80.4

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

You either must bear to be torn to pieces and become a heap of shattered flesh, so useless, as flesh, as to be rejected and kicked aside by their cruel feet, or you must die under their blows.

If you can bear that martyrdom, then Mercy will come, the Only One who can still have mercy on that revolting misery, which the world, one of the masters, now loathes and at which the other master, Satan, throws the arrows of his revenge. And Mercy, the Only One, passes by, bends down, picks it up, doctors it, cures it and says: “Come. Do not be afraid. Do not look at yourself. Your wounds are but scars, but they are so numerous that you would be horrified, as they disfigure you. But I do not look at them. I look at your goodwill. Because of your good- will, you are marked. Therefore I say to you: I love you. Come with Me”. And He takes it to His Country. You then understand that Mercy and the friendly King are the same person. 

GRM 80.9

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

And here I experienced the weariness of the hero and of the ascetic who in an hour of forewarning realise the uselessness of their efforts… I cried… Sadness… a lure for Satan. It is not a sin to be sad in painful circumstances. It is a sin to go beyond sadness and fall into inertness and despair. 

Detail

Jesus speaks about his temptation in the desert.