Spiritual Joy

St. Francis was sure that spiritual joy is the safest remedy against the thousand snares and wiles of the enemy. He used to say, "The devil is most happy when he can snatch from a servant of God true joy of spirit. He carries dust with him to throw into the smallest chinks of conscience and thus soil one's mental candor and purity of life. But if joy of spirit fills the heart, the serpent shoots his deadly venom in vain."