The second cause whence these rebellions sometimes proceed is the devil who in order to disquiet and disturb the soul at times when it is at prayer or is striving to pray contrives to stir up these motions of impurity in its nature and if the soul gives heed to any of these they cause it great harm. For through fear of these not only do persons become lax in prayerwhich is the aim of the devil when he begins to strive with thembut some give up prayer altogether because they think that these things attack them more during that exercise than apart from it which is true since the devil attacks them then more than at other times so that they may give up spiritual exercises.

With respect also to spiritual sloth beginners are apt to be irked by the things that are most spiritual from which they flee because these things are incompatible with sensible pleasure. For as they are so much accustomed to sweetness in spiritual things they are wearied by things in which they find no sweetness. If once they failed to find in prayer the satisfaction which their taste required and after all it is well that God should take it from them to prove them they would prefer not to return to it sometimes they leave it at other times they continue it unwillingly. And thus because of this sloth they abandon the way of perfection which is the way of the negation of their will and pleasure for Gods sake for the pleasure and sweetness of their own will which they aim at satisfying in this way rather than the will of God.And many of these would have God will that which they themselves will and are fretful at having to will that which He wills and find it repugnant to accommodate their will to that of God. Hence it happens to them that oftentimes they think that that wherein they find not their own will and pleasure is not the will of God and that on the other hand when they themselves find satisfaction God is satisfied. Thus they measure God by themselves and not themselves by God acting quite contrarily to that which He Himself taught in the Gospel saying That he who should lose his will for His sake the same should gain it and he who should desire to gain it the same should lose it.