Flower of Devotion

The Most Holy Virgin Love said to St. Bridget:
“There is a little animal which they call a fox; It is tireless and cunning in its needs. Sometimes it pretends to be asleep and as if it were dead so that it can catch and devour birds when they sit on it. The easier it is, the careless they approach it. The fox also watches out for the flight of birds, and those that fall to the ground under a tree out of fatigue are seized and devoured; On the other hand, those who fly farther on both wings put him to shame and frustrate his efforts.
Such a fox is Satan, who is continually pursuing God’s friends, especially those who do not yet possess the gall of his malice and the poison of his wickedness. He often pretends to be asleep, i.e., he leaves the man alone, and does not tempt him, lest if he neglects a little caution, he may the more easily deceive and ensnare him. Sometimes he presents vice as a virtue and, on the contrary, virtue as vice, so that a bewildered man may live a vain life. And if modest wisdom does not help him, he will perish. You will see it with an example. For mercy is often a vice, namely, if a man does it for the sake of pleasing men. The strict exercise of justice is an injustice if it is the result of greed or impatience. But humility is pride if it proceeds from boastfulness and appears for the purpose of being seen and admired by men. The virtue of patience may present itself in the guise of a real virtue, though it is not really so, if a man, if he could, would avenge himself for an injury he has suffered, but he does not do so merely because he has no occasion to do so.
And sometimes Satan sends sorrow and care, so that man may fall under the excess of sorrow; sometimes it fills into a man’s heart fear and anxiety, so that man may become indifferent and lazy in the service of God, or that man, if he commits the slightest carelessness, may fall into greater transgressions.
Therefore happy are the cautious souls, the birds of the Lord, who do not rest under the trees of worldly pleasures and desires, but on the trees of heaven. If they are seized by the temptation of the fox, this unjust Satan, and if they quickly depart from him on both wings, humility and confession, they will obtain heavenly help in hope.