COLLOQUY XXXI
How the Devil Hardens the Hearts of Men.
Brother Rufinus was attacked with such a grievous temptation concerning the Divine predestination, that he had never experienced a greater. The devil persuaded him that all his works were vain and useless, and appeared to him once in the form of Christ crucified, saying to him : ‘ Why, poor miserable man, dost thou torment thyself to no avail ? Why so many prayers and fasts ? All the world cannot change what God has once decreed. Thou art not of the number of the elect, but of the damned. Moved by compassion, I have come to warn thee, and to exhort thee not to inflict such suflFering on thyself ; remember thou art damned, together with the son of Peter Bernardone, and all who follow him.’ Terrified by these words. Brother Rufinus was seized with that profound sadness which usually comes from the prince of darkness, and almost lost his faith in God, and in the blessed Father Francis. The holy man knowing this, and seeing the great danger in which his disciple was, sent Brother Masseo to Mount Subasio, where Brother Rufinus was dwelling in great fear and anguish. When Brother Masseo saluted him in the name of their blessed Father, Rufinus, like one out of himself, replied that he would have nothing more to do with that Francis, and that he no more belonged to him. Brother Masseo exclaimed : ‘ Alas ! Brother Rufinus, what dost thou say? Who has bewildered thee, that thou dost no longer obey the truth? What means this ? Dost thou not know that our blessed Father is as an angel from heaven ? How many souls have been saved, and will be saved, through his preaching! Come with me at once to our holy Father, who desires to see thee, and has sent for thee.’ Brother Rufinus unwillingly consented, and when St. Francis saw him coming he said to him: ‘Alas! Brother, how has the devil so miserably deceived thee? Dost thou not know that he sometimes transforms himself into an angel of light ? The devil hardens men’s hearts, God softens them, as He says : ” I will take away from you your stony heart, and will give you a heart of flesh.” Visions from God bring joy, those from the devil produce sadness. Try this vision, I beseech thee, in this manner ; when it appears to thee again, receive it with contempt and insults. The pride of the devil will not suffer him to bear this, he will fly from thee, and betray his deception ; meanwhile rejoice in the Lord, and. trust in His mercy.’ Brother Rufinus began to shed tears at these burning words, and went sorrowfully back to the mountain, where, shut up in his cell, he wept without ceasing, until the devil again appeared to him in the form of a crucifix, and said to him : ‘ Did I not forbid thee to speak to Francis?’ Then Brother Rufinus exclaimed : ‘ Go, Satan, go to the place that belongs to thee ; open thy lying mouth, and I will fill it with dirt.’ Hearing this the devil departed with great speed and noise, and as he left he detached fragments of rock from the mountain, which were hurled violently into the valley beneath.