Friday.

The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God (Wisdom 3:1). But in whose hand are the souls of sinners? The Saviour said to the apostles that satan seeks to sift them like wheat, that is, he seeks to knock them from the right path, to take them into his hands and do with them what he wants. That is why everyone turning away from the Lord is in the hands of satan, and he sifts them and casts them wherever he desires. Due to this the heads of sinners are constantly spinning, because the enemy, dragging them here and there, does not give them a chance to come to their senses. As soon as the enemy notices that someone is starting to have second thoughts, he starts to shake him even more strongly, so that his head again becomes clouded and his thoughts become scattered.

Monday (the 5th week of Lent).

   The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good (Prov. 15:3). Oh, if only rational creatures would always keep this in mind! Then not only would they not dare to commit excesses openly and to give themselves over to dissoluteness of the flesh, but also inwardly, in their thoughts, and in the movements of their heart, they would not allow anything unpleasing to God. They would stand then like soldiers at the front before the king, with all attention and strictness toward themselves, that they not be found ignorant of their orders, and not be subject to the king’s wrath and punishment. The orders given to rational creatures are the commandments of God, which determine the proper form of their thoughts, and how their feelings and dispositions ought to be; they would then be quite well-ordered.