Listening to Saint Michael...

On 3rd February during the talk about discretion, St Michael had this to say:“Gentlemen, I must tell you about something which has struck me this week and has filled my soul with feelings of fear and sadness; which one of us practises solid virtues? For example which one of us practises charity, obedience? We’ll be doing well; we may even be good in the sacristy or elsewhere. We will probably be critical of one of our brothers; we may find it difficult to put up with an awkward individual; we will obey such and such a superior and yet will not respect the desires of another one.

Am I going to say that such failings are a sign of weaknesses? No, I must say that there is no sign of solid virtue, and that is such circumstances our charity and obedience are sporadic and not lasting. How the devil must have a good laugh when he sees how easily he can draw us unto an illusion and even make us like it. He is able to make us work at our own sanctification apparently and even to make us holier, if need be by filling us with dispositions which are innocent in appearance and yet we find ourselves empty handed at the hour of death. He is sufficiently cunning to rob us of our good deeds; he is capable of sucking all the life blood in us and leaving us with our skeleton! The devil is a crafty guy! He will take care not to tempt us openly against chastity; he will not want to turn us into murderers, thieves and rebels!

For such matters he will leave us in peace; what difference does it make to him if we are not great sinners as long as he wards us off all virtues, as long as we reach the end of our life empty handed, while all along we thought we were without even a venial sin! He leads us to believe that we have all the virtues; he doesn’t touch at their empty structure since they seem to have poor foundations and then one day the whole thing collapses in the most shocking of ruins.

Cachica Notebook, 2