TO THE READER

THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE

Among the innumerable benefits of God, which Divine mercy bestows daily upon the entire human race, and especially upon His own faithful, I should believe this one to be singular: namely, the knowledge of the malice and impiety of our enemies, both visible and invisible. For once their cunning is known, we may place obstacles where they prepare snares and tempt us.

Psalm 72

Yet, because the pride of those who hate God ascends gradually day by day and always grows, and the venomous enemy of the human race—whose cruelty glows ever hotter—does not fear to scatter most sharp thorns, sorrows, tribulations, and infirmities of various kinds upon us, even though he reaps thorns for himself, to increase his own eternal torments and exacerbate his punishments, provided that he may lead as great a multitude of men as possible to Hell, and to discolor, pollute, and infect the most excellent and Divine image, washed in the precious blood of Christ, and to turn freedom into slavery. Hence it is that to take counsel against his malice ought to be in the heart of every one of us; for he wanders about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. And although he hurls and turns the hostile iron against his own heart, he leaves nothing unattempted, nothing undared. Indeed, if he knows minds to be weak and fearful, he uses force; if unafraid and constant, he puts on the