Quote of the day, 11 March: Blessed Marie-Eugène

“What happens is that my intellect is suddenly seized by things sometimes so trivial that at other times I would laugh about them. The devil makes the soul upset in every way he wants and shackles it there without its being master of itself or able to think of anything else than the absurdities he represents to it; they have almost no importance, neither do they bind nor do they loose. He only binds the soul so as to oppress it in such a way as to make it feel uneasy” (St. Teresa of Avila, The Book of Her Life, 30:11).

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It is natural enough that the devil should use his great power and take advantage of the relative weakness of beginners in prayer, to stop them in their journey towards God by causing in them, as far as he is able, as much dryness and distraction as he can.

That he thus intervenes—often successfully—in the prayer of beginners seems certain; and, although using on them much more benign procedures than on Saint Teresa, these are probably much more effective.

Blessed Marie-Eugène of the Child Jesus

Chapter VI, Distractions and dryness

Note: Blessed Marie-Eugène of the Child Jesus made his first religious profession on 11 March 1923.

Marie-Eugène de l’Enfant-Jésus & Doran V 1990, I Want to See God, Christian Classics, Allen, Texas.

Featured image: Father Marie-Eugène of the Child Jesus. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites