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Chapter 106

The Son speaks: ”Why are you afraid? Even if you ate four times a day, it would not be counted as a sin for you, provided you did it with the permission of the person whom you are bound to obey. So stand firm. You should be like a soldier who, though injured with various wounds in battle, inflicts worse wounds on his enemies and is all the more eager to fight the more he is chased by his enemies. You, too, should strike back at your enemy and stand firm. You should also have the rational intention of persevering in the good.

You strike back at the devil each time you do not give in to temptation and resist it manfully, for example, by opposing humility to pride, restraint to gluttony. You stand firm when you do not murmur against God in the midst of temptation but, rather, when you are grateful to God, cheerfully putting up with everything and blaming it all on your sins. Your intention is rational when you do not desire a reward unless it is in agreement with my will, when you surrender your whole self into my hands.
Lucifer did not have the first virtue, that of striking back at the enemy, because he immediately gave in to his own thoughts. This is why he fell irrepressibly. As he had no instigator of his wickedness, so too he shall have no redresser. Judas did not have the second virtue, that of firmness. Instead, he despaired and hanged himself. Pilate did not have the third virtue, that of a good intention, since he was more eager to please the Jews and win his own honor than to set me free.
However, my Mother did have the first virtue, that of striking back at the enemy, since for every temptation she had, she hit back and opposed to it the contrary virtue. David had the second virtue, for he was patient in adversity and did not despair when he fell. Abraham had the third virtue, a perfect intention, for, having left his fatherland, he was even ready to sacrifice his only son. You, too, should imitate these three as far as you are able!”

Christ encourages the bride, that is, the soul, always and lovingly to maintain pure contrition, godly love, and unwavering obedience. He condemns those who despise obedience, abstinence, and noble patience. He also warns a spiritual man not to allow his conscience to become gradually coarse and blind under a pretense of light.

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