members. Unhappy man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? The grace of God, by Jesus Christ our Lord."
By these words the Apostle intends us to understand that our reason, our higher self, recognizes sin, especially sins against chastity, as an evil, and regards them with abhorrence; that there is, however, within us a concupiscence, an inclination, a proneness to evil, which allures us, and that this tendency can be resisted and overcome through the grace of Jesus Christ. It is precisely this concupiscence, this proneness to evil, resulting from original sin, which constitutes the first and the most dangerous adversary of holy purity; it is the enemy in our own heart.
An impure thought often steals unperceived into the heart; sinful images are awakened; the imagination clothes them with form and color; sensual desires are stirred up, and the individual finds himself all at once in danger of losing God, of forfeiting heaven and eternal happiness.
Two great mistakes are made concerning this enemy in our own heart and the temptations it excites. Some persons have an exaggerated dread of evil thoughts, but most persons fear them too little. I will say a few words on both points.
If, for instance, when you go to confession you were merely to say that unchaste thoughts enter your mind every day, your confessor
