and thereby I was given a deeper knowledge of my own misery. When I began to prepare for confession, strong temptations against confessors assaulted me. I did not see Satan, but I could sense him, his terrible anger. – “Yes, he‟s an ordinary man.” – “Not ordinary, because he has the power of God.” – Yes, (83) it is not difficult for me to accuse myself of my sins. But to uncover the most secret depths of my heart, to give an account of the action of God‟s grace, to speak about God‟s every demand, about all that goes on between God and myself…. To tell that to a man is beyond my strength. I felt I was fighting against the powers and I cried out: “O Christ, You and the priest are one; I will approach confession as if I were approaching, not a man, but You.” When I entered the confessional, I began by disclosing my difficulties. The priest replied that the best thing I could have done was to disclose these temptations from the outset. However, after the confession, they took flight, and my soul is enjoying peace. 1716 Once during recreation, one of the sister directresses said that the lay sisters were without feelings, and so could be treated stiffly. I was sorry to see that the sister directresses know so little about the lay sisters and judge them only from appearances.
