Anguish, Anxiety, Worry
See also: To Disturb, To Upset, Providence, Courage, Boldness, Faith, conviction.
Worry, and even more so anguish which is more intense, are natural human emotions. Enduring them is a trial for the spiritual life.
In "The Gospel as Revealed to Me"
- Whoever approached Him and (Jesus) touched Him, unless he was a demon, left with the anxious desire to be holy. Where this anxiety exists, it is a root of eternal life because whoever wants to be good, becomes so and goodness grants access to the Kingdom of God.[1]
- He (Satan) does his best to trouble me and bring me to worry, to Revolt, to the persuasion that prayer is useless and that everything is lies.[2]
- If it is painful to go from Good to Evil it is also disconcerting to go from Evil to Good. In the first case, one is tormented by the Conscience that rebukes you. In the second, one is torn as someone who finds himself brought into a completely unknown foreign country. (John of Endor).[3]
- What makes you worried is the Aspiration of your spirit towards the Light, its suffering over your delays... in giving your spirit what it asks for.[4]
- Whoever wants to follow me must not know the anguish of life nor the fear for his life.[5]
- And regarding the flesh, do not imitate the people of the world who are constantly trembling for their future, out of fear that they might lack luxuries, that illness may come, that death might come, that their Enemies might harm them, and so on.
God knows what you need. So do not fear for your future. Free yourselves from fears heavier than the chains of galley slaves. Do not be anxious about your life, nor about food, nor drink, nor clothing.
The life of the spirit is more than that of the body, and the body is more than clothing, for it is through the body and not clothing that you live and that, through mortification of the body, you help The Spirit to obtain eternal life. God knows until when He will leave your Soul in your body, and until that moment, He will give you what you need.
Can you think that God, who cares for the lilies of the valleys and makes them grow and clothes them with a garment more beautiful than Solomon ever had, without their doing any work other than scenting while adoring, do you think He could forget you even for clothing? (...)
But do not be people of little faith. You will always have what you need. Do not be anxious like the people of the world who toil for their pleasures.
You have your Father who knows what you need. You must only seek, and let that be your first concern, the Kingdom of God and His justice, and all the rest will be given to you in addition.[6]
In other works by Maria Valtorta
Notebooks of 1943
- Catechesis of June 26 : Spiritual spiritual worry is not the result of tending healthily to God with all your intellectual powers. Spiritual worry is that anxiety which sometimes invades even the most advanced saints in holiness and consists of the fear of not achieving all one would like to accomplish spiritually, all that God seems to want from the Soul; fear of detaching from the prayer of fear of being unable to savor the clear flow of gentleness that I send you, fear of no longer being able to find it. These fears are a remnant of humanity that continues to infiltrate spirituality and harms it. You must follow the way of the spirit with firmness and calm. Without any anxiety, no fear (p. 105).[7]
- Catechesis of July 11 : When a creature does not love or loves poorly another creature, it is worried, suspicious, inclined to distrust and to increasingly inflate its faults and automatically its suspicions and worries. And when a creature does not love or loves poorly its God, worry increases infinitely and grants no respite. Like a wind of misfortune, it drives the poor Soul further and further from the harbor and it ends by dying miserably if a miracle of divine goodness does not intervene for salvation (p. 151).[8]
Notebooks of 1944
- Catechesis of July 13 : Just as the richness in joy of one of my saints is not visible to the eyes of the world, in the same way they do not see the abyss of worries and dissatisfaction that inhabits the Heart of the Unjust and which, like a volcano crater in eruption, continually spews acrid, corrosive, intoxicating vapors that increasingly poison this unfortunate. Yes, to try to stifle his worry, he who does not act Good tries to procure satisfactions capable of exciting the appetite of his depraved Soul. These are therefore bad satisfactions, for his agitation can only produce poison (p. 432).
- Catechesis of October 11 : The impatient one is worried. God is not in worry, He is only felt in the Peace of the Heart. Even an afflicted Heart can be at peace. There is peace when there is resignation. But a Heart that hardens Against the eternal will and before the wounds of ordinary realities always knows only effort, suffering, worry. (p. 582).
In fundamental Christian texts
In the Bible
- Magnify with me IHVH, exalt His name together. I seek IHVH, He answers me and from all my fears He delivers me. Whoever looks to Him will shine and on His Face there will be no shame. A poor man cried, IHVH listens, and from all his anguish He saves him (Psalm 33 (34, 4-7))
- Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the Peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your Hearts and your minds in Jesus Christ (Philippians 4:6)
In the Catechism of the Catholic Church
- CCC 322: Christ invites us to filial abandonment to the Providence of Our Heavenly Father[9], and the apostle St. Peter reiterates: "Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7; cf. Psalm 55:23)
- CCC 2088: Voluntary Doubt regarding faith neglects or refuses to regard as true what God has revealed and the Church proposes for belief. Involuntary doubt refers to hesitation to believe, difficulty overcoming objections linked to faith, or anxiety caused by its obscurity. If deliberately fostered, Doubt can lead to the Blindness of the spirit.
- CCC 2830: In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus insists on this filial trust which cooperates with the Providence of Our Father (cf. Matthew 6:25-34). He does not engage us in passivity (cf. 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13) but wants to free us from all sustained worry and concern. Such is the filial abandonment of God's children: To those who seek the Kingdom and the justice of God, He promises to give all else besides. In fact, everything belongs to God: to the one who possesses God, nothing is lacking, if he himself does not fail God (St. Cyprian, Dom. orat. 21: PL 4, 534A).