Thy Mercy; let me never depart from Thee nor be separated from Thee, and suffer me never to offend Thee any more."
When this has been done, do not sit down to consider whether God has pardoned you or not; for this is only pride, anxiety, restlessness, waste of time, and, under colour of various pretexts, a snare of the Devil. But commit yourself freely into the merciful Hands of God, and pursue your course, as if you had not fallen.
And if you should fall many times and receive many wounds in one day, do what I have told you, with the same confidence, the second, third, or even last time, as at the first; despising yourself, and detesting your sin, strive to live more watchfully.
This way of taking falls is very displeasing to the Devil, both because he sees it to be very pleasing to God, and because he is thereby baffled and conquered by the one whom at first he succeeded in conquering. And, therefore, he adopts many artful devices for the purpose of leading us to relinquish it, and is often successful through our carelessness and too little watchfulness over ourselves. The more difficult you find this exercise, the more severely must you deal with yourself, renewing it again and again, even after a single fall.
If, after a fall, you feel anxious, disturbed, and
