In man there are two memories opposed to each other: the memory of the Infinite Good; the memory of the hereditary lustful poison. The first, was left by God for the consolation of man, fallen from his primeval and perfect Grace and Innocence, from that virginity of spirit which, except for Mary, was no longer a dowry among those born of man. The second memory, was left by Satan in the heart of Adam and in those of his descendants, with his assault of the innocent virginity of Adam in Eden.

Baptism annuls the stain but not the incitement. Grace infuses strength to conquer the incitement but does not annul it. It remains like a secret thorn to irritate the indelible scar of the Fault. Not the wound: the scar. But if you are not vigilant, the scar, if irritated and not treated with supernatural means, becomes a wound again.

In every man there are then two opposed forces which fight in him from birth till death and which constitute his test, his victory or his defeat with regard to his supernatural destiny.

You [Maria] ask Me why God leaves this incitement even after the restoration of Grace [in man]?  Out of justice. All in God is justice. His every operation is justice and loving justice.

Has not God perhaps left the memory of Himself in the soul created by Him?  That memory which is a mysterious source of light which guides to the Light, though sensed in a different way by every living spirit, as is demonstrated by the moral laws of the best [civilizations] and by the more or less vivid gleams of supernatural light in the various revealed religions. Though these latter possess only fragmentary notions, they already teach the existence of a Supreme Being and the duty to live justly in order to possess Him beyond life.

Thus similarly, besides this infinite goodness, God leaves [in you] the other memory represented by the thorn of incitement. This keeps your pride at heel. If you felt that you were pure and perfect men, you would become Lucifers, believing that you are equal to God. It keeps your good will vigilant. It makes your love for God heroic. And, through the Father's compassion, it renders your faults less grave in His Eyes. Because, if you did not have in yourselves that incitement which agitates and bites your senses and reason with the cunning of the ancient Serpent, who generates it, you would not be judged "with mercy".

But much is forgiven you because much in yourselves is aroused not by your pure will, but by the imponderable forces of that incitement—which you do not always succeed in repressing.

But do not afflict yourself, [Maria]. It, too, serves to give a crown of glory. Because temptation is temptation; it is not sin. Because temptation conquered, is victory. Because enduring that secret thorn, without the will consenting to its seductions, is heroic patience. But the Holy Spirit will speak to you again about this in the Pauline Epistles.

Stay at peace. And endure. And offer [your sufferings] to save those who do not know how to endure the inherited allurements, without yielding [to them].

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