0:00 Saint Padre Pio could see angels and demons. He knew spiritual warfare far better than we ever will, and he revealed to us the two secrets we need to beat lust forever. These principles are what allowed Padre Pio to become the saint that he is today, and they will work for you as well. Listen to this. This gives me chills every time I hear it. Since Padre Pio was a saint, God subjected him to a higher level of spiritual warfare than what you and I are accustomed to. In fact, Padre Pio's own spiritual director said that, quote, "The devil appeared as young girls that danced naked, as a crucifix, as a friend of the monks, as the spiritual father, or the provincial father, as Pope Pius X, a guardian angel, as Saint Francis, and as Our Lady." The point here is that the devil would try to trick Padre Pio
0:46 in any way possible. And at one point, the devil even took the form of several young ladies who were undressed. Now, before I give you what this first principle for beating lust is, we first have to understand this. We become saints through our temptations, not in spite of them. There has never been a saint who did not earn their crown in heaven. There has never been a saint who did not suffer their cross well before they entered into the kingdom of heaven. If you are subjected to temptations, even strong temptations, good. Know that the Lord your God is using that to forge you into the saint he destined you to be. This is true for Padre Pio, and this is true for you and me. Padre Pio even said, quote, "These devils don't stop striking me, even making me fall down from the bed. They even tear off my
1:33 shirt to beat me. But now, they do not frighten me anymore. Jesus loves me. He often lifts me and places me back on the bed." Your temptations are not stronger than Padre Pio's, which is why when I give you these two principles from Padre Pio's own writings, you'll be able to use them to thwart the devil just as Padre Pio did. But take note that Padre Pio was subjected to these beatings by the providential care of God, and Jesus Christ himself would sometimes lift up Padre Pio and put him back into bed after he had fought well in his holy name. Padre Pio is right now in heaven, and he does not regret a single one of these beatings. Why? Because he looks from heaven, sees his life, and sees how God planned to make him a saint even through these temptations, even through the devil appearing to him and tempting him to lust in the form of young ladies
2:20 who were undressed, even through these physical torments that he received. Jesus had a plan. We must believe that. Blessed is the man who endures temptation. So, now here is Padre Pio's first piece of advice. If this is applied and applied well, I think it will literally eliminate immediately 85% of your temptations. This is the first step for most people in becoming a saint. This comes from a letter Padre Pio wrote to a young lady who he was directing, whose name was Anita. This gives me chills every time. Listen to this. Quote, "Have devotion, Anita, to this good angel. How consoling it is to know that near us is a spirit who from the cradle to the tomb never leaves us for even an instant, not even when we dare to sin. And this heavenly spirit guides and protects us like a friend, a
3:06 brother. May your good guardian angel always watch over you and be your guide on the rough path of life. May he always keep you in the grace of Jesus and hold you up with his hand so that you may not hurt your foot on a stone. May he protect you under his wings from all the deceits of the world, the devil, and the flesh. Never say that you are alone in this battle against your enemies. Never say that you have no one to whom you can open your heart and confide. It would be a grave injustice to this heavenly messenger. Padre Pio here is giving us the key to the entire spiritual life. If we were simply recollected and constantly remember the presence of our guardian angels, we would never dare to offend him with our sin, or at least very much less. Right now, right now, as you're watching this, your guardian
3:52 angel is standing over your shoulder. And if you feel a fire on your heart while I'm talking about guardian angels, that's not me. That is not me. That is your guardian angel putting a desire on your heart to grow closer to him. That is your guardian angel saying, "Listen, God the Father Almighty created me for the sake of getting you to heaven. Please, let me do my job. Let me sanctify you, for thus I was created." Listen, your guardian angel, before the foundation of the world was created. And God created this angel with you in mind. He was hand crafted, his personality, attributes, and strengths were all attuned specifically to you. Whenever God gives somebody an office, he gives them everything they need to fulfill that office. And the office that your guardian angel was given was to guard
4:38 you. Every grace that you need to be saved is in the hand of your guardian angel. St. John Bosco says, "The devil is terrified of your guardian angel and flees when he approaches." Your guardian angel will be your sure guide to heaven if only you let him. But, it starts with recognizing his presence and then asking him to be more involved in your life. Do these two things consistently and you will notice your desires to sin diminish. Your desire to go to mass, to the sacraments increases. Your memory and imagination will start to work more clearly because your guardian angel will be integrated into your personality. We've all heard that we become the average of the five people we spend the most time with. Your guardian angel was specifically designed with a personality
5:24 that was meant to rub off on you. You're supposed to have a certain amount of psychological compatibility with your guardian angel. Your guardian angel's personality was meant to be something that would influence you, the decisions that you make, the way that you speak, the way that you think. And God designed this from the beginning. Next time you are tempted to lust, say the guardian angel prayer from the heart believing that your guardian angel is there and able to help you and watch what happens. The second principle that Saint Padre Pio gives us is just as insightful. And for a lot of guys, I've seen this, I work with guys to help them quit lust and I've seen this, they will quit lust if they just take this principle alone. Here I'm going to use a quote that's often attributed to Padre Pio. I haven't been able to find it in the primary sources. He says this, "Quote, the devil
6:11 is like a rabid dog tied to a chain. Beyond the length of the chain, he cannot seize anyone. And you, keep at distance. If you approach too near, you let yourself be caught." What is Padre Pio saying here? The devil is chained. He has a very finite amount of reach. However, if we walk within the radius of that chain, if we get close to the dog out of curiosity, out of a desire for something unholy, then he can bite us and do a tremendous amount of damage. You must, if you're serious about beating lust, you have to do this first. This is step number zero. You must do this. Be violent with your environment and eliminate any and all near occasions of sin. What do I mean by your
6:57 environment? The people that you hang out with. Do they cause you to sin? Do they drag you down? Do they lead you closer to the Lord or not? Do away with any unholy friendships. The apps on your phone, do they incite you to virtue or to vice? How many times this week have you fallen into sin because you were scrolling through Instagram? Be honest with yourself. If it's not good for your soul, it's not good for you. Get rid of it. I don't care how pleasurable it is. What about the music and the TV that you watch? Are these shows and songs that uplift your heart and mind to God or at least at the very minimum don't do any damage? Or are these songs and TV shows filling your mind with garbage, with slop, with that which is unholy and detestable to our
7:42 Lord and our God. Examine your life. What is coming into your senses? If it is not good, it is not good for you. Do away with it in the holy name of Jesus and begin to fill your mind and your heart with that which is good and true and beautiful. If you do these two things, I guarantee you will see your life start to change. Right now, say a prayer to your guardian angel with me. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen. Guardian angel, I ask you to be with me at each and every moment of my life. I apologize for neglecting you, for not giving you the attention that is due to you, for not asking you for help when I ought to have. I apologize for my foolishness. Guardian angel, do not let this be an impediment to you entering into my life more fully right now at this present
8:28 moment. Please, I beg of you to come into my heart, my mind, to open up my eyes so that I may see the gospel of Jesus Christ with more clarity, so that I may see my fellow man truly as my brother and sister under God the Father, not as something to be used or enjoyed, but truly as another person to be loved. Guardian angel, please purify my memory, my imagination. If there is anything unholy or bad for me, please cleanse it. Cleanse it. Enlighten my intellect so that I may see the face of God and behold him for all of eternity with you one day in heaven. In the holy name of Jesus, I pray. Amen. Now listen, if you're a Catholic man and you're struggling with lust, there is one thing that I want you to do. I have a program specifically designed for Catholic men to help them quit lust. Right now, it is 70%
9:13 off. It is less than a dollar a day, and I guarantee it will give you results. Otherwise, I will keep working with you for free until you are delivered. I have dozens of testimonials from Catholic men who are struggling with the exact same thing as you. I built a community with an accountability system so that you will actually make progress. No more of this making resolutions and then nothing happening. I've got that. I've got the wisdom of the saints and the church specifically packaged for you as Catholic men. You will get through this and I can help. Listen, there's a week-long free trial. If you go through that week and don't notice any improvements, quit the group and never come back. Watch the course material for free and then drop out of the group. I don't care. I want you to be delivered and I am 100% confident this will work. I've seen it work over and over and over
9:59 again in my life. In fact, these are the same principles that I myself used whenever I was struggling with this. No more procrastination, no more mediocrity, no more putting this off until tomorrow. Click on the link in the description, join that community, get started and I will see you there. God bless.
