First rule. It is characteristic of God and his angels, when they act upon the soul, to give it true spiritual joy, in banishing all sadness or trouble that Satan prompts within us.These rules are more properly designed for the retreatant during the Second Week, but they can be helpful for anyone committed to living a more Christian life.

It is characteristic of Satan to fight against this happiness and spiritual consolation by continuously suggesting to the soul false reasons, subtleties, and specious arguments.

Second rule. God our Lord alone is able to give to the soul consolation without any previous cause. In fact, it is proper to the Creator to enter the soul, to leave it, to excite within it movements that draw it totally to the love of his Divine Majesty.

I say without cause—that is, without any preceding feeling or understanding of any subject by which the soul on its own could incite consolation in the understanding or will.

This rule is considered one of the major criteria for an authentic action of the Holy Spirit.

Third rule. Let us suppose that this preceding cause exists. Beginning with this, the good as well as the evil angel is able to console the soul, but for different purposes. The good angel consoles the soul to make it progress that it may grow and rise from the good to the better; the bad angel consoles it for contrary purposes and also that he might draw it in the end to his own perverse designs.

Fourth rule. It is the tactics of the bad angel, as he disguises himself as the angel of light, to begin by going along with the just soul and then at last to have him travel along his own path. In the beginning, he proposes holy and wholesome thoughts that are in harmony with the just soul’s way of thinking, and then, bit by bit, he tries to bring him around to his purposes by enticing the soul to fall into uncharted snares and lead him along perverse ways.

Fifth rule. We must pay special attention to our thoughts. If the beginning, middle, and end are all good and are directed to what is wholly good, it is a sign of the good angel. But if during the course of our thoughts the soul hits up against something that is evil or sensuous, or less good than what had been suggested to it in the beginning, or if these thoughts weaken the soul, disturb it, trouble it, and strip it of peace, tranquility, and quiet that it had before, it is a clear sign that these thoughts come from the evil spirit, that enemy of our progress and of our eternal salvation.

Sixth rule. When the enemy of human nature has been unmasked and recognized by “his serpent’s tail” (this bad end to which he is leading us), it will be profitable for the person whom he has seduced to go back over and think about the sequence of good thoughts that Satan had suggested to him, how they began, and then how, bit by bit, he used them to make him lose the spiritual joy that he had found, until at last he brought him around to his perverse plan. This way, thanks to this experience duly analyzed and well stored in his memory, the person will know how to guard himself in the future against the demon’s customary traps.

Seventh rule. The good angel touches souls who are going from good to better sweetly, lightly, gently, just as when a drop of water penetrates into a sponge. The bad angel touches them in a stinging way, that is to say, with noise and agitation: just as when a drop of water splashes on a stone. It is the opposite with souls who go from bad to worse. The reason is obvious: Are not the dispositions of the soul like or unlike the personality characteristics of the angel? When there is a clash of interests, the angel enters the soul with commotion, and the soul easily perceives the angel’s presence; when there is an agreement of interests, the angel enters …without a fracas as if he is coming into his own home with the doors wide open.

Eighth rule. As we have already stated, when the consolation is without any preceding cause, there can be no risk of a trap because it can come only from God our Lord. However, a spiritual person to whom God has given this consolation ought to consider it observantly and distinguish attentively between the time of the consolation and the time following, that is, while the soul is still inflamed by the lingering grace from the consolation. The fact is that during this second period (when the soul is yet enjoying the aftereffects of the consolation) it often forms different projects or resolutions that are not inspired immediately by God our Lord. These notions may come either as a consequence of the soul’s own reasoning and judgments or from the influence of the good or bad spirit. At any rate, they should be carefully scrutinized before they are fully credited and put into execution.