Chapter 195

On Physical Sensations During Prayer

What you wrote about prayer is all good. But that sometimes during prayer there are movements of blood—this will pass. Do not strain the heart excessively; act in simplicity. Then whatever feelings God sends will produce nothing harmful. When this happens, pray about this movement to the Lord and your guardian angel, asking them to quiet it and, if the enemy is stirring there, to drive him away.

There is no need to fear delusion. It happens to the proud, who think that once warmth enters the heart, then this is the end of perfection. But it is only the beginning, and even then perhaps not a firm one. For both warmth and peace of heart can be natural—the fruit of concentrated attention. But you must labor and labor, wait and wait, until the natural is replaced by grace. In all things, it is best never to think yourself to have attained anything, but always to see yourself as poor, naked, blind, and good for nothing.

(Letter 322. Vol. 2, pp. 195–196)