Luke, IV, 1-13. Jesus in the desert.

It is therefore rightly that our Lord Jesus, by his youth and solitude, warns us against the attacks of pleasure, and that Our Lord to all suffers from being tempted by the devil so that in Him we all learn to to triumph. Let us remark, then, that the Evangelist, not without reason, shows us three principal institutions of the Lord: for there are three things profitable and advantageous to the salvation of man: the sacrament, the desert, the fast. "No one, indeed, is crowned unless he has fought according to the rules" (II Tim., II, 5), and no one is admitted to the fight of virtue unless he has first washed away from all the faults that soiled it and consecrated by the gift of heavenly grace. The Lord comes to baptism to make us realize the grace of this mystery by sight and by meaning. And while the Law is promulgated with heaven and earth for witnesses (Deut., XXX, 12 ff.), To convince you that the mystery of divinity, eternally hidden in God (Col., I, 26), "Overpowers the Law, the heaven is no longer called to witness but fulfills the office of witness, since the voice of God descends from heaven. At the same time, so that the mystery of faith does not run up against the doubt of your soul, the work of the invisible is visibly proclaimed to you. The Lord comes to baptism: for He made all things for you (I Cor., IX, 20). For the subjects of the Law - as if he were subject to the Law, when he was not subject to the Law - He was circumcised, in order to gain the subjects of the Law; to those who were without law He associated himself by sharing their meal, in order to win those who lived without law. For the disabled He was crippled by the suffering of his body in order to win them. Finally He made himself all for all, poor for the poor (II Cor., VIII, 9), rich for the rich, crying with those who cry (Rom., XII, 15), hungry with the hungry, altered with the weathered, wide with those who are in abundance. He is in prison with the poor man (Matt. Xxv. 36), with Mary weep (Jn. Xxi. 35), with the Apostles II eats (Matt. XXVI, 20), with the Samaritan II. He is thirsty (Jn. , IV, 7). In the desert He is hungry (Matt. IV, 12), so that the food savored by the first man in his prevarication would be atoned for by the fast of the Lord. It is to our detriment that Adam has satiated his hunger for the science of good and evil; it is for our benefit that He has endured hunger.

"Then Jesus was led to the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil."

It is worth remembering how the first Adam was cast out of paradise into the desert, to see how the second Adam came back from the desert to paradise. See also how the damage is repaired according to their sequence, and how the divine benefits are renewed by taking their own footsteps. A virgin land gave Adam, Christ was born of the Virgin; this one was made in the image of God, This is the Image of God; this one was placed above all animals without reason, this one above all the living; by a woman madness, by a virgin wisdom; death by a tree, life by the cross. One, stripped of the spiritual, has covered himself with the remains of a tree; the other, stripped of the temporal, did not want a body garment. Adam is in the desert, in the desert Christ: for he knew where to find the condemned to dispel his distraction and bring him back to paradise; but as he could not return to it covered with the spoils of this world, as one can not be a resident of heaven without being deprived of all fault, he has left the old man, clothed with the new (Col., III, 9 ff.): thus, as the divine decrees can not be abrogated, there would be change of person rather than commutation of sentence. But as soon as he had, for want of a guide, lost his way in paradise, how in the desert could he have gone back to the lost road without a guide? There are many temptations, the effort towards virtue difficult, easy sliding towards error. Virtue has the same naturalness as woods: when they are still low, ascent of the earth towards the sky, when their age blossoms into soft foliage, this one, exposed to the venom of a cruel tooth, can be easily cut or dried; but once established on deep roots and its branches pushed up, it is now in vain that the bite of the beasts, the arms of the peasants or the various blasts of storms attack the robust tree. What guide will he offer against so many baits of the century, so many ruses of the devil, knowing that we have to fight first "against the flesh and the blood, then against the powers, against the princes of the world of this darkness, against the evil spirits that fill the air "(Ephesians 6: 11-12)? Offer the angel? but he himself has fallen; the legions of angels have barely saved individuals (II Kings, VI, 17). Send a seraph? but he came down to earth "in the midst of a people whose lips were soiled" (Is., VI, 6 ff.), and there was only one prophet whose lips he purified in contact with a coal. We had to look for another guide that we would all follow. What would be this guide big enough to do good to all, except the one who is above all? Who would establish me above the world, except He who is greater than the world? What would be this guide large enough to be able, in the same direction, to lead man and woman, Jew and Greek, Barbarian and Scythian, slave and free man (Col. III, 11), if not He who is all and in all, Christ ?

 For the traps are many, wherever we go: traps of the body, traps of the Law, traps set by the devil at the pinnacle of the temples, at the top of the walls, traps of philosophy, trap desires - because the eye of the The courtesan is the trap of the sinner (see Prov., VII, 21) - a trap of money, a trap in religion, a trap in the cult of chastity. Because small surcharges weigh on the human soul and often make it lean here or there according to the skill of the seducer. The devil sees some religious man, serving God with reverence, full of respect for the holy, incapable of doing any wrong: he makes him fall by his very religion, causing him not to believe that the Son of God He has truly taken that flesh which is ours, that body which is ours, that weakness of our members, while He has undoubtedly suffered in His body, but His divinity has remained out of reach; thus his very religion puts him at fault: for "whoever denies that Jesus Christ came in the flesh is not of God" (I Jn, IV, 3). He sees a pure man of uncontested chastity: he persuades him to condemn the marriage, which will drive him out of the Church, the cult of chastity separating him from this chaste body. Another has heard that there is "one God, whosoever cometh all" (I Cor., VIII, 6): he adores and venerates him; the devil undertakes it, closes his ears so that he does not hear that there is "one Lord, by whom are all things" (Ib.): so by excessive piety compels him to be impious, separating the Father from the Son and, at the same time, confounding the Father and the Son, believing that there is unity of person and not of power. Thus, for lack of knowing the measure of faith, does it inflict the burden of error.

How can we avoid these pitfalls, so that we too can say: "Our soul, like a sparrow, has been torn from the net of hunters; the net was broken, and we were delivered "(Ps. 123, 7)? He does not say, "I broke the net" -David did not dare to speak so - but "our help is in the name of the Lord" (Ib 8), to show how the net would be undone, in order to prophesy the coming into this life of the One who breaks the trap prepared by the cunning of the devil. But the best way to break the trap was to present some bait to the devil: thus, throwing himself on the prey, he would be caught in his nets, and I could say: "They prepared traps for my feet, and they who have fallen there "(Ps. 56: 7). What could be this bait, if not a body? It was therefore necessary to use with the devil of this artifice, that the Lord Jesus took a body, and a corruptible body, a crippled body, to be crucified by this infirmity. For if it had been a spiritual body, He would not have said, "The spirit is alert, but the flesh is crippled" (Matt. XXVI, 41). Listen, then, to both voices, the one of the crippled flesh and the one of the alert spirit:

"Father, if it is possible, let this chalice move away from me": it is the voice of the flesh; "But not what I want, but what you want" (Matt. XXVI, 39): that is the dedication and vigor of the spirit. Why disregard the Lord's condescension? It was by condescending that he took my body, by condescending that he took my miseries, took my infirmities; the nature of God certainly could not feel them, since human nature itself has learned to despise them, or endure them. So, then, let us follow Christ, according to what is written: "You shall walk after the Lord your God and be attached to him" (Deut., XIII, 4). To whom to attach myself, if not to Christ, as Paul said: "Whoever cleaves to the Lord is but a spirit with Him" ​​(I Cor. VI, 17). Let's follow in his footsteps, and we can return from the desert to paradise. See by what paths we are brought back: now Christ is in the desert; He pushes, instructs, trains, exercises, and rubs the spiritual oil; as soon as he sees it more robust, He takes him through the sown and fertile places, when the Jews complained that his disciples, on the Sabbath day, were wringing ears from the harvest (Matt. For from that moment He had installed His Apostles in the cultivated field and in fruitful work; finally He establishes it in the orchard at the time of the Passion; for you are reading: "So saying, Jesus went through with his disciples the brook Kidron; there was a garden where He entered, He and His disciples "(Jn, XVIII, 1). For the fertile field is less than the garden, as the prophet teaches in the Song of Songs:

"It's a walled garden that my sister and wife, an enclosed garden, a sealed fountain; your breath is an orchard "(Cant., IV, 12 sqq.). Such is the pure and unblemished virginity of the soul which can not be diverted from faith by any fear of punishment, by any attraction of the pleasures of the world, by any love of life. Finally, the reminder of man by the virtue of the Lord is guaranteed by all the evangelist who alone shows us the Lord saying to the thief: "Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise" (Lc, XXIII, 43).

So Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, is led to the desert on purpose to provoke the devil - for if he had not fought, the Lord would not have triumphed for me - mysteriously, to deliver this Adam from the exile; as proof and demonstration that the devil is angry with those who strive to do better, and that especially then we must take care that the weakness of the soul does not betray the grace of the mystery.

Forty days: you recognize a mysterious number. This is the number of days in which the waters of the abyss have spread, he remembers to you; and it was when the prophet had been sanctified by a fast of so many days that the favor of a serene heaven was granted (I Kings, XIX, 8); it is by a fast of so many days that Moses the saint has deserved to receive the Law; it is the number of years when our fathers, living in the desert, obtained the bread of the angels and the benefit of heavenly food, and it was not until the time accomplished by the mysterious number that they deserved to enter the promised land; it is by as many days as the Lord fasting that the entrance to the Gospel opens to us. If, therefore, anyone wishes to acquire the glory of the gospel and the fruit of the resurrection, he must not shirk this mysterious fast, which Moses in the Law and Christ in his gospel show us, by the authority of the two Testaments, to be the authentic test of virtue. But for what purpose did the evangelist note that I was hungry, when for the fast of Moses and Elijah we find no such indication? Is the patience of men more courageous than God? But he who could not be hungry for forty days showed that he was hungry not for the food of the body, but for salvation, at the same time harassing the adversary already shaken, whom the fast of forty days had wounded. Thus the hunger of the Lord is a pious trick: the devil, fearing in him a superiority, was already on his guard: lured by the sight of his hunger, he was going to tempt him like a man, and nothing would prevent the triumph. Learn at the same time this mystery: it is the work of the Holy Spirit, the judgment of God, that Christ exposed himself to the devil to be tempted.

"And the devil said to him, If you are children of God, tell this stone to become bread. "

We learn that there are three main javelins of the devil, which he is accustomed to arm to injure the human soul: one of gluttony, the other of vanity, the third of ambition. He begins where he has already conquered; so I begin to conquer in Christ by which I was conquered in Adam: if, however, Christ, image of the Father, is my model of virtue. So let's learn to keep gluttony, to keep us sensual, because it's a javelin of the devil. The trap tends when one prepares the table for a royal feast, which often bends the constancy of the soul. For it is not only when we hear the words of the devil, but also when we see his riches, that we must beware of his trap. So you have recognized the javelin of the devil: take the shield of faith (Ephesians 6: 16), the breastplate of abstinence. But what does this entry into matter mean: "If you are sons of God", except that he knew that the Son of God would come? But he did not think he had come in the weakness of this body. On the one hand he probes, on the other he tries; he testifies to believe in God, and he strives to deceive man. But see the weapons of Christ, thanks to whom He triumphed for you, not for Him. For He showed that His majesty could change the stones into bread when He transformed another nature; but He teaches you that you must do nothing at the mercy of the devil, not even to show your strength. Learn at the same time, in this very temptation, the artificial skill of the devil: he tries to probe, he probes so as to try. In his turn the Lord plays it so as to overcome it, and still triumphs so as to play it: for if he had made this change of nature, the Creator would have betrayed himself; He therefore made an evasive answer, saying, "It is written that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." You see what kind of weapons He employs, to defend man against the onslaught of the perverse mind, fortifying it and removing it from the temptations of gluttony. He does not use God as his power? what would it have served me for? ? but as a man He has recourse to the common resource: to be occupied with the nourishment of the divine reading to the point of neglecting the hunger of the body, of acquiring the nourishment of the heavenly word.

Thus occupied, Moses did not desire bread; so busy, Elijah did not feel hungry for prolonged fasting. For it is not possible for him who follows the Word to desire the bread of the earth, when he receives the substance of the bread of heaven? There is no doubt that the divine is preferable to the human, the spiritual to the corporeal. whoever desires the true life hopes for that bread which, by its invisible substance, strengthens the hearts of men (Ps 103, 15). At the same time, when He says, "Man does not live by bread only," He shows that it is the man who has been tempted, that is, what he has taken from us, and not his divinity. Then comes the arrow of vanity: it is easy to sin, because in wishing to display their virtue, men abandon the post, the place of their merits. "And he brought him, it is said, to Jerusalem, and he set him on the top of the temple. This, indeed, is vanity; when one believes one to rise higher, the desire to make brilliant actions precipitates to the abyss. "And he said to him, If you are children of God, throw yourself down. A truly diabolical word, which strives to precipitate the human soul from the place where its merits have been raised! for is there anything more suitable to the devil than to advise to throw oneself down? Learn, too, to defeat the devil. The Spirit leads you, follow the Spirit. Do not be tempted by the attraction of the flesh; filled with the Spirit, learn to despise pleasures; fast, if you want to win. It is normal for the devil to attempt to tempt you by a man; Christ, being stronger, is tempted in front, you by a man. And that's the word of the devil, when they say to you, "You are strong: eat and drink, and stay the same. Do not trust yourself; do not blush for needing help that Christ did not need, and yet He did not neglect, to instruct you with these words:

"Take heed that your heart does not dwell on wine and excess" (Lk 21:34). Paul did not blush, he who says, "I strive, not beating the air," because the Apostle did not beat the air, but he struck the powers of the air, "but he says, "I chastise my body and enslave it, lest after preaching to others I find myself reprobate" (1 Corinthians 9: 26ff.). At the same time the devil shows his weakness and wickedness, for the devil can harm only the one who rushes himself. He who renounces heaven to choose the land deliberately makes his life fall into a sort of precipice.

 At that moment, the devil seeing his blunt line, he who had subjected all men to his power, began to judge that there was more than one man there. But once again the Lord did not believe that he had to fulfill, at the mercy of the devil, the very thing that had been prophesied about him: He held to the authority of the deity who is his own to ward off his devices; so whoever alleged examples of the scriptures would be conquered by examples of the scriptures. For God has the power to overcome, but Scripture triumphs for me. Here again learn that Satan is transfigured into an angel of light (II Cor., XI, 14) and often uses the Divine Scriptures themselves to set traps for the faithful. This is how he makes the heretics, as he tears the faith, as he attacks the rights of piety. Do not be seduced by the heretic because he can draw some arguments from the Scriptures; and that he does not boast of what he seems learned. The devil also uses testimonies of the Scriptures, not to teach but to circumvent and deceive. He recognized that this is applied to religion, renowned for its virtues, powerful in miracles and works: it gives him the trap of vanity to inflate this man of pride, so he does not confide in the piety, but in his vanity, and instead of attributing to God (the good), he will do himself honor. So the Apostles commanded the demons not in their name, but in the name of Christ, so as not to appear to attribute anything to them. Thus Peter heals the paralytic by saying, "In the name of Jesus of Nazareth arise and walk" (Acts 3: 6). Learn also from Paul to flee vanity: "I know, he says, a man? was he in his body or out of his body, I do not know, God knows? who was delighted in heaven, and heard ineffable words which men can not utter. From this I will boast, but of me I will not boast, except for my infirmities "(II Cor., XII, 3-5). So, this time again, the devil, having recognized a fort, puts into practice vanity, which even abuses the strong ones; but the Lord answered him, "You shall not tempt the Lord your God. By which you know that Christ is Lord and God, and that the Father and the Son have one power, as it is written, "I and the Father are one" (Jn, X, 30 ). And therefore, if the devil alleges this "one," expose him that it is written, "I and my Father are one," and detach "one," so as not to divide power; detach "one" without separating the Father and the Son.

"And the devil still led him to a very high mountain, and he showed him all the kingdoms of the universe in a moment. "

It is only right that in the space of a moment the things of the age and of the earth be shown; because it does not indicate so much the speed of the vision as the fragility of a power obsolete: in a moment all this happens, and often the honors of the world go away before having arrived. What can there be in the century of long duration, when even the centuries are not of long duration? This teaches us to despise the breath of a vain ambition, since all secular dignity is subject to the power of the devil, frail to those who use it and empty of fruit. 29. But how is this the devil who gives power, when you read elsewhere that "all power comes from God" (Rom., XIII, 1)? Can we serve two masters (Matt. VI, 24) or two receive power? Is there a contradiction? by no means; but see that everything comes from God. For, without God, no world, since "the world was made by him" (Jn, I, 10); but, though done by God, his works are evil, for "the world is plunged into evil" (I Jn, V, 19): the establishment of the world is from God, the works of the world are evil. In the same way also from God comes the institution of the powers, the bad the ambition of the power. "There is not, it is said, power which does not come from God; those that exist have been instituted of God ": not given, but instituted; and "whoever resists power, it is said, resists the institution of God" (Rom. XIII, 1). Here too, while saying that he gives power, the devil does not deny that all this has been abandoned to him for a time only. So He who has abandoned him has ordained it, and the power is not bad, but he who uses evil of power. As well "do you want to not fear power? Do good, and you will receive praise "(Rom., XIII, 3). It is not power that is bad, but ambition. Moreover, the institution of power comes from God so much that he who uses power is God's minister: "He is minister of God, it is said, for your good" (Rom., XIII, 4). So it's not the function that can be at fault, but the minister; it is not the institution of God that can displease, but the conduct of the one who administers. For, in order to pass from heaven to earth in fact, an emperor gives the honors and receives the glory: if anyone misuses these honors, it is not the emperor who is at fault, but the judge; the culprit is bound by his crimes, and it is not the power but the service that is in question. So ? it is good to use power, to seek honors? Well if we receive them, no if we take them. Yet it is necessary to distinguish in this very good: for another is the good use according to the world, other than perfectly virtuous usage; it is good that the application to know divinity should not be hindered by any occupation; for if there are many things, eternal life is unique; but "eternal life is to know you, the only true God, and the One whom you have sent, Jesus Christ" (Jn, XVII, 3). So it is eternal life that gives the most fruit, and God alone gives eternal life as a reward. Let us then adore our only God and Lord and serve Him only, so that He alone gives us as a reward the most abundant fruit; let's flee everything that is subject to the power of the devil, So it is eternal life that gives the most fruit, and God alone gives eternal life as a reward. Let us then adore our only God and Lord and serve Him only, so that He alone gives us as a reward the most abundant fruit; let us flee all that is subject to the power of the devil, lest, by wicked tyrant, he should exercise cruelly over those whom he will find in his kingdom, the power he has received. The power does not come from the devil, but is exposed to the pitfalls of the devil. It does not follow, however, that the institution of powers is bad because powers are exposed to evil; for it is good to seek God, but in this very search can slip deviation and error: if the one who seeks is diverted to sacrilege by a tortuous interpretation, the stumbling block of this researcher has worse results than he had not sought; yet the fault lies not with research, but with the researcher, and it is not research that exposes to evil, but the dispositions of the researcher. But if he who seeks God is often tempted by the weakness of the flesh and the limits of intelligence, how much more is he who seeks the age exposed! And the great danger of ambition is that it is caressing to capture dignities; and often of those whom no vice has been able to charm, no lust to move, no avarice to shake, ambition makes criminals. It procures the favor of the outside, the danger within, and, to dominate the others, begins by being a slave; she gives herself up in bowing to receive honors, and, wishing to be at the pinnacle, takes her turn: for in the very power, what matters is foreign; we make the law, we are our own slave.

It may be said that only the one who did the evil is fearful. Yet he who sails on the sea fears more, and on the other hand, when one is securely settled on the mainland, one is not accustomed to fear sinking; but if one embarks on the moving element, one is exposed to more frequent dangers. Flee the sea of ​​the century: you will not fear the sinking. Even though the treetops are often beaten by the breath of the wild winds, their roots are firm and they do not fall; but when on the sea the winds are raging, if all are not shipwrecked, all are at risk. Likewise, against the breath of evil spirits, no one is safe on the sand (see Matt. VII, 27) or at sea, and "the ships of Tharsis are often broken by the violence of the wind" (Ps. 47, 8).

This in the moral sense. Moreover, from the mystical point of view, you can see that the links of ancient misery have been unearthed step by step: it is first the lakes of gluttony, then that of presumption, thirdly that of ambition that is loosened. For Adam was tempted by the food and, entering with presumptuous assurance in the place where the forbidden tree was, he incurred moreover the reproach of reckless ambition by aiming at the divine likeness. So the Lord first loosed the knots of the ancient iniquity, that once we had shaken off the yoke of captivity, we would learn to triumph over sins with the help of Scripture. But if the Lord Jesus did not desire what belonged to Him, why seek the good of others? If the Creator of all things has despised the glory of the world to courageously embrace poverty, why, in your house, this disgust of your birth, this aspiration to what is not due to you? why beg for what you can not long use, what will be your torture for a long time? Avoid pitfalls, avoid fraud. And since, to bring down man, the devil moves the whole world by his artificial trick, which he fights with all the attractions of the century, take all the more care in his caresses. Eve had not been moved by a food, nor left to herself by the oblivion of the commandments, but the attractive ambition of the honor promised her had deceived her. If she had wanted to adore only the Lord, she would not have sought what was not due to him. So you are given the remedy by which you will blunt the line of ambition: serve the Lord alone; there is no ambition in religious devotion.

"And, all the temptation finished, the devil departed from him until his hour. "

It is shown that almost all faults have their source in these three species of vices: for the Scripture would not have said that all temptation was completed, if these three points contained all the matter of sins, whose seeds must be monitored from the beginning. Thus the end of temptations is the end of covetousness, because the causes of temptations are the causes of desires. Now the causes of covetousness are the pleasure of the flesh, the mirage of glory, the greed of power. How pious it seems not to discard cohabitation with a Christian woman! but here are frequent temptations; if the devil sees you attentive to God, he makes you misleading suggestions; but you, so confident that you are in your resolution, beware of temptation, knowing your nature. These are the three things, if you remember, that Paul also prescribed to avoid when he indicates the three kinds of sin that you need to be free to rely on the crown of righteousness: "We do not have, he says, worn with flattering words, or yielded to greed, God is witness of it; and we have not sought glory from men "(I Thess., II, 5): so he overcame the devil, sought the crown (II Tim., IV, 8). You see, then, that the devil has no persevering effort; he usually yields to real courage, and, without ceasing to be jealous, he dreads to insist, for he dislikes him to be too often conquered.

Having therefore heard the name of God, he said, "It is said, even unto his hour," for later he came, not to tempt, but to fight uncovered.

 Divine Scripture teaches you, therefore, that you are not fighting against flesh and blood, but against the snares of a spirit (Ephesians 6: 12). You see the nobility of the Christian who fights against the masters of the world and, while dwelling on earth, displays his strength of soul against the evil spirits who are in heaven. It is not an earthly issue, for which we would fight on earth; but since we are offered spiritual rewards, the kingdom of God, and the inheritance of Christ, it is necessary first to overcome spiritual obstacles. A crown is offered, you have to accept the fight. No one can be crowned unless he has conquered; no one can conquer if he did not fight at first (see II Tim., II, 5). And then the crown is more fruitful when the penalty is greater: "Narrow and narrow is the way that leads to life, wide and spacious that leads to death" (Matt, VII, 13). So one must never fear the test: it is an occasion of victory, a matter of triumphs. The rich man, who has not felt the test in this world, is in suffering in hell; poor Lazarus, who was afflicted and overwhelmed by poverty and suffering to the point that his ulcers were licked by dogs, has by the sufferings of this miserable life earned the crown of eternal glory (Lk. XVI, 19 ff.) ; for "many are the tribulations", not of anyone, but "of the righteous" (Ps. 33, 20). As well as those whom the Lord loves, He often chastises them (Heb, xii, 6, see Prov., III, 12). Peter was tempted to deny, he denied to cry. And what about others? Job was foolproof in the eyes of God, but though he was not a winner at all times; his devotion was tested, but he did not have the reward due to courage: so he is put in front of temptation, to be made more glorious. In this fight there is also reason to consider gradation. The devil does not have but one arrow: he multiplies the features, to triumph either by the offer, or by lassitude. It hurts firstly in desires, secondly in affections, and thirdly in health; for it attacks by the ulcers of the soul as of the body. Moreover, the variety of events corresponds to the variety of wrestlers. The rich are harassed by the wrong done to his greed, the father by the loss of his children, the man by the pains, the body by the ulcers. What traits! That is why the Lord did not want to have anything to lose, and if he came poor in this world, it was so that the devil had nothing to take from him. Do you want to know how true it is? Listen to the Lord himself: "This is coming," said he, "the prince of this world, and he finds nothing in me" (Jn, XIV, 30). He did not want to be the father of a small number, for the being of all - as for the ulcers of the body, it would have been vain to test him there, he who despised all bodily sufferings - and also for to show us that he had a right to a victory without spot, which would triumph over the enemy of the body. But this one, like a man, is tempted in his goods, this one in the sovereign domain; to one his heritage is delighted, to the other the kingdom of the world is offered. And the devil would not be complete without cunning: he fears to push the Son of God to the end; he tempts that one with vexations, this one with offers. He, as a servant, says, "The Lord has given, the Lord has taken back" (Job, I, 21); The latter, conscious of his nature and his dignity, laughs at being offered what is his. But, to return to the other episode, he arrives messenger on messenger; they accumulate the wounds, and yet the courageous athlete has no troubled soul. The woman is made to be the instrument of the first error (the one born of a virgin had no woman who was accessible to error); friends are summoned to crush their resistance under their bad advice. But "among all that happened to him Job never sinned in words in the sight of God" (Job, II, 10). For if he cursed the day by saying, "Perish the day that I was born" (Job iii. 3), and, further down, "May he be cursed of him who cursed this day, by whom a great monster must be crushed "(Job, III, 8), this belongs to the prophecy, in that the devil, monster of this world of storms, was crushed by Our Lord Jesus Christ; and if he desires to perish on the day of his birth in the flesh, it is so that his day may count in regeneration: perish, says he, the day of this world, so that the spiritual day may arise! Thus, in his temptation, the holy man Job spoke of mysteries; for this conqueror of the world saw Christ.

We, therefore, do not fear trials, but rather be proud of trials and say: "It is in infirmity that we are powerful" (II Cor., XII, 10): it is then that braids the crown of justice. But this one is the measure of Paul, while we, since there are several crowns, must hope for some. In the world, the laurel is crown, crown the shield. But you are promised a crown of delights, for "a crown of delights will overshadow you" (Prov., IV, 9), and elsewhere: "He will surround you with the shield of his benevolence" (Ps 5, 13, cf. 90, 5); and the Lord "crowned with glory and honor" he whom he loved (Ps 8, 6). So whoever wants to give the crown is tempted, and if you happen to be tempted, know that the crown is preparing. Remove the struggles of the martyrs, you remove their crowns; suppress their torments, you suppress their beatitudes. Is not Joseph's temptation the consecration of his virtue? Is not his unjust imprisonment the crowning of his chastity? How could he have been associated with royalty in Egypt if he had not been sold by his brothers? It was so by the will of God to test the righteous, as he shows when he says: "How would it happen that today a large people had to eat" (Gen., L, 20) ?

We must not, therefore, dread as evil the trials of the world, for which good rewards are prepared, but rather ask, having regard to the condition of man, to undergo trials that we are able to bear.