As I was rooting through a few old blog entries I rediscovered some comments I made about a little book by His Eminence Dionigi Card. Tettamanzi, written when he was still in Genoa (presumably still being well served by Mons. Guido Marini). His Eminence’s book is called The Great Tempter, entitled in the original Italian Il Grande Tentatore (Edizioni Piemme, 2001).
In this useful little book, indeed on the book’s back cover, Card. Tettamanzi gives us ten salutary points by way of a “decalogue against temptation”:
- Do not forget that the devil exists.
- Do not forget that the devil is a tempter.
- Do not forget that the devil is very intelligent and astute.
- Be vigilant concerning your eyes and heart. Be strong in spirit and virtue.
- Believe firmly in the victory of Christ over the tempter.
- Remember that Christ makes you a participant in His victory.
- Listen carefully to the word of God.
- Be humble and love mortification.
- Pray without flagging.
- Love the Lord your God and offer worship to Him only.
In this time when the Enemy is savagely gnawing at the Body of the Church we must remember to pray in a special way both for our spiritual and physical daily bread, for there are more than one kind of hunger today, and also for the grace to resist wicked temptations and physical and spiritual attacks on the Church and her members from both within and without.
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Thanks for that, Fr Z.
That was really good
thats the kind of stuff I want to see in the Sunday Bulletin
As a first year seminarian who doesn’t hear about the devil all that much, thank you for taking a moment to repost such a great list! The Church is very clear about the Tempter, even if seminaries are not always clear. Thank you.
Would you consider adding a section to your website for “helpful tips” for seminarians? I think it would be greatly appreciated.
Amen to that.
Note the close parallel with 1Pet 5:6-11.
Father, thank you for all you do.
Is this book available in English? Possibly on Amazon?
–a mom coming up on birthdays