Page:Post-Mediaeval Preachers.djvu/244

 recruiting our forces and collecting additional arms of defence.

γ. That he may throw us off our guard, luring us into false security and spiritual sloth:—tempting us by his very absence.

Angels came and ministered unto Him, when the temptation was ended. In like manner will angels minister to us if we successfully resist.

Observe also that—

I. This brings great consolation to the religious, who have pledged themselves to the angelic life of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

1. Christ overcame the temptation of the flesh when He rejected the offered stones.

2. Christ overcame the temptation to disobedience and self-glorification when He remained on the pinnacle of the temple instead of showing a form of will-worship and voluntary humility by casting Himself down. And so should religious occupy any position to which their superior appoints them without seeking to desert it.

3. Christ overcame the temptation to avarice when He rejected the offered kingdoms of the world: electing rather, poverty.

II. Angelic consolation follows retirement: the angels ministered to Christ in the wilderness. It follows victory over temptation: the angels ministered to Christ when the temptation was ended.

III. Conflict with Satan does not lead to conquest: