Catholic during the Great Apostasy

1 The most powerful lever of true wisdom is not to accept any opinion or view contrary to nature or reason. Hence, apart from everything else, you must resist as strenuously all stirrings of the imagination as the scholars in the art of disputation act against those who militate with apparently right but essentially false evidence; “The son has died”. – “Death does not depend on man, so it is not a bad thing”. – “His father disinherited him”. – “And it does not depend on the son, and therefore is not a misfortune”. – “But he was worried about it”. – “It was already up to him, so it is an evil”. – “He has borne it manfully”. – “It is up to us, and therefore it is a good”.

If you get used to such views, you will soon make great progress. – “A friend has been taken to prison”. What has happened? Nothing, only that he was taken to prison. For their part, everyone will add: it was bad for him. Correct this view and you will be completely at peace. As we bind the madman, so that he does no harm to whom he pleases, so the imagination must be restrained, so that it does not clutter the mind with prejudices. It, like a wild animal, breaks free and throws itself wildly in all directions, unstable, changeable, violent, curious and irrepressible. Well, you should make every effort to contain, restrain and chain this power, so that your thoughts and intentions are not in constant dependence on prejudice. Whatever is beyond the bounds of your soul, let it not concern you.

2 Whatever comes to your mind, examine it as carefully as possible. For this purpose examine: what the thing is in itself, regardless of everything else, what qualities it has, what purpose, what circumstances, what benefit; whether it falls within your duties and your power or not; if the answer to these questions is negative, push the thought away from you and resist it as much as you can. The Omnipresent God sees as accurately as possible all the secrets of your heart, and there is nothing so hidden that it is not accessible to His eye. Be careful that you do not think in His presence what you would be ashamed to speak about in the presence of an honest person. Let your thought be calm, simple, pure and free from all malice. Let it be such that, when you are unexpectedly asked what you are thinking, you will not be ashamed to reveal what is in your heart. Be ashamed to think what you are ashamed to speak about.You will block the access of bad thoughts if you are always busy with good ones.

3 Nothing harms the soul more, nothing opposes it more, than evil lusts. They are the source of all transgressions and imperfections, they are the enemy which you must always fear, always fight, until you have conquered it under the rule of reason. In this struggle there is no respite, no rest. You must fight without end or measure, because the enemy has no end or measure. He hides in you, and even you yourself are a more powerful enemy than Xerxes’ army.
Beware of yourself. It is harder to win yourself than to conquer a fortress; it takes more prowess to rape yourself than to conquer a whole kingdom. I do not demand that you completely exterminate and destroy lusts, but that you know how to manage them. Reason will already do much to tame them and bring them under its control. The Stoics wrongly condemned lusts. They are not in themselves evil, nor are they some useless waste. Whoever wants to remove the power of lust, invades all virtues. There is no victory where there is no struggle.

4 It is indeed a persistent struggle and its outcome is uncertain. Lusts are born with us, reason only awakens from its slumber after a few years, and it awakens when lusts have already taken hold of us, when the will, seduced by the appearance of goodness, listens to them without resistance. It is only with time and after long experience that reason comes to know its superior rights and begins to resist the tyranny of lusts, which in the meantime have already become completely dissolved. Therefore, you must watch yourself as carefully as possible, and as soon as you notice any inner turmoil, immediately, with the help of reason, pull the reins off these fierce steeds. It is easier to resist the initial agitation than to manage it once it has erupted. You will soon achieve great inner peace if you are careful to anticipate possible accidents, so that the enemy does not take you by surprise. When, in the midst of the dangers which are piling up against us, we begin to think about rescue, it may already be too late. Then take care that you do not distract yourself with many undertakings and avoid much talking, for if you remove all that is not necessary from your various occupations and conversations, you will find it easier to overcome your inner agitation. Don’t think that this is a small and insignificant thing. It means a great deal, however small it may seem, which is the beginning of virtue and perfection.

5 The old man, coming from Adam’s poisoned seed, is like a tree: his root is self-love, his trunk is inclination to evil, his branches are lusts, his leaves are bad habits, and his fruit is deeds, words and thoughts contrary to the law of God. So that the branches of evil lusts do not produce leaves and fruit, put the axe to the root and uproot pernicious self-love from you. If you remove it, you will rid yourself of all the sinful fruits of sensual lust. And you will prove it if you despise yourself, if you honestly confess that you are one of thousands of people, who do not possess any extraordinary qualities and that you are completely lacking in science and virtue; if you do not fear displeasure and contempt from your fellow men; if you willingly renounce all consolation and benefits. Thou shalt save thyself if thou dost well in hatred, and perish if thou dost ill in love.

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Cardinal John Bona’s Guide to Heaven. Translated by the Rev. Dr. Jan Bernacki. Tarnów 1900.