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The dangers of self-will...

"You ask, My child, how a state such as this could come upon human nature? My child, it is because of this very basic human nature and frailties that man, in exercising his own free will, has brought the world of mankind to the brink of destruction; because man has rejected the teachings, the teachings of old, the teachings that never shall grow old, for they are the basic foundations from your God, the Eternal Father, your Creator. And now you reject your Creator, and in your arrogance and pride, you seek, as did Lucifer, to dethrone your Creator, and set up a world government of man.
     "O My children, you are heading toward the fatal abyss. O My children, now the world is proceeding in the same path as Lucifer started, and was cast forever from the Kingdom of God. Lucifer, in his arrogance, was given much knowledge, but he used this knowledge against his God! He, too, had a free will. My children, no man, woman, or child shall fall into hell, the eternal abode of the damned, unless he gives himself to satan willingly, of free will.” – Jesus, September 28, 1977  

The following is an excerpt from the book Love One Another by Louis Colin, C.SS.R. 

  There exists another danger as universal as pride and perhaps more serious: namely, self-will. "With those who profess the spiritual life, as with the common run of men, attachment to one's own will and complaisance in personal works rule to such an extent that hardly one can be found who acts purely for God and is attached neither to his own interests, nor to consolations, nor to personal tastes, nor to some other human motive!"[1]

  Little Thérèse also unmasked this redoubtable enemy: "I do not want to be a saint by halves; I am not afraid to suffer for you, my God! I fear only one thing, keeping my own will; take it, for I choose everything that you will."[2]

  The egoism of the will consists in the natural inclination to follow a line of conduct according to the whims and decisions of our personal will to the detriment of God's good will. "Self-will," wrote St. Bernard, "is that will which does not accord with the will of God nor with that of other men, but which is strictly our own. It is manifest when we are interested neither in the glory of God nor in service of our fellows, but strictly in ourselves. We do not seek to please God nor help our brothers, but solely to satisfy our personal caprices. What does God detest and punish if it is not self-will? If there were no self-will, hell would cease to be."[3]

  Self-will may easily be recognized by certain revealing signs. It is blind, flighty, undecided, bizarre, capricious; it occasionally assumes the form of obstinacy, haughtiness, violence, and deceit.

  Liberty does not mean license, and man's so-called independence of the Creator is merely absurd when considered in the light of reason. In the believer's opinion, this is heresy. We are free, not however for the purpose of acting, according to our own whim and fancy, without control and outside all authority, but in order that we may willingly submit ourselves to God and accomplish "by choice" what we know to be His will.

  We have inherited a rebellious spirit from our first father. We find every yoke burdensome, and we shake it off instinctively. Anything imposed upon us immediately appears disagreeable. On the contrary, what is forbidden becomes attractive.[4] Adam's fall is partly explained by the attraction of forbidden fruit.

  Who has not heard of the wealthy man of 80 years who, devoid of bucolic tastes, had spent his entire life in Paris without ever having had the desire to leave it. But when enjoined not to depart from the capital, he promptly went to the country, where he was bored to death.[5]

  The race of independent and touchy minds is not extinct. They are found everywhere, even in the cloister. Was it not St. Bernard who called self-will a leprosy which devours a monk's heart?[6]

   A young religious who was sick was conversing with his superior, who, inquiring after his health, consoled and encouraged him. "My dear Father, rest, take care of yourself, and get better. I dispense you from all community exercises. You may perform them when you wish, at the time when it is least painful for you. However, I note with pleasure that you are always present at the noontime particular examen. That is good, and you edify the community; you may continue."

  But, from that day, the young religious was never again seen at the exercise. The reason he gave: nervous fatigue and headaches.

  Was it not Louis XI who to the fiat voluntas tua of the Our Father added in a prudently low voice "and mine too."

  The manifestations of this self-will are myriad. We shall point out some of them:[7]

  Firstly, all mortal and venial sins and voluntary imperfections. An enterprising character does not like to feel the reins pulled tight. Without actually going as far as disobedience, some create a life for themselves on the borders of community life. Under the pretence of showing initiative, they allow themselves every freedom.

  They claim they have good-natured superiors, when in fact the superior's sceptre has become his crutch, and he contents himself with smiling and blessing everyone. Certain people regard authority which presumes to command and improve itself as a kind of autocracy and tyranny.

  Secret and tenacious opposition toward superiors is another sign of self-will; likewise sulky, grumpy obedience, full of peevishness.

  While some submit, they reserve themselves the right of fulfilling the order received in their own way and not according to the superiors' views. How many, in the course of the employment allotted to them, cannot bear the master's control and instructions? Let them alone; they will get along swimmingly!

  The art of inducing those who issued the order to reconsider their decision, of which the principal if not the only defect was that it did not please us, is self-will. What beautiful means are employed in order to bend authority to our views and plans: begging, flattery, threats, tricks. Everything serves as a weapon. "It is only nowadays that subordinates wish to lead their master according to their will."[8]

  Fondness or dislike for such and such a function is one of the misfortunes of religious houses. It is easier, according to some, to overthrow a French Cabinet than to deprive someone of his post. In some monasteries, where changes of employment take place at a fixed date, they are preceded by a fervent novena of preparation. Well and good, even with the assistance of the Holy Ghost, this event, which is really harmless, is turned into a drama. There are eddies and squalls. It is months afterwards before the soul has settled into place and recovered its calm. What is the origin of so many difficulties in the government of communities, institutions, dioceses? They nearly always derive from the self-will of subjects. How often do superiors not find themselves forced to modify, or even to reverse their plans when faced with certain discontentment and resistance? In short, they have to surrender.

  The spirit of intractability also has its roots in self-will. Hence, resistance to the inspirations of grace, contempt for certain practices of piety or mortification in the Order which, though not obligatory, are nevertheless recommended by the rule; systematic rejection of all counsel or advice whether it is inspired by friendship or authority. The mania for thwarting the decisions of others goes hand in hand with the presumption of imposing one's will on everyone else and a lack of consideration for our neighbor's wishes.

  Then we have infringements of the rule, unjustifiable dispensations which are inexplicable except on the basis of avoiding inconvenience, or doing as one likes; pigheadedness, a savage obstinacy to have one's way or not to give in. "She holds firmly to her own judgment. She pays no attention to the advice of her Sister Servant, her confessor, her director, her superior, for she is confirmed in her own opinion. She has her mind so immovably made up that it is impossible to change her."[9]

     Would it be an unheard-of thing to speak of these spiritual "snipers" who draw up their plan of campaign, draft their program of prayers and austerities, follow new and risky paths without control or direction? It is scarcely possible to presume to sanctify yourself as you wish and be your own mentor without incurring grave risks.

  "The religious who disregards the direction of her superior and wishes to guide herself has no need of the devil to tempt her, for she becomes a devil to herself."[10]

  In the selection and organization of apostolic works and Catholic action, are we always inspired by the directions emanating from our authorities and the thought of God's glory—without any trace of egoistical self-seeking?

  Severe and pessimistic though it appears at first sight, the double reflection of St. Ignatius and St. Francis de Sales is nevertheless valid. "Out of a hundred men of prayer," said the first, "ninety follow their own inclinations." And the religious, recalling these words, which he himself had heard, added, "I think he should have said ninety-nine."

  And again: "To say it once for all, our own choice and selection impair and diminish nearly all our virtues."[11]

  He advised his daughters of the Visitation to ask approval of their superior for all their habitual devotional practices, such as saying of the Ave Maris Stella or Veni Creator.[12]

  The same wisdom is found in St. Benedict, who asked his monks to submit their supplementary Lenten sacrifices to the prudence and decision of their abbot.

  We indicate once more the last offspring of self-will: those complaints and revolts against the painful or merely annoying providential dispensations; those dissatisfactions and discouragements at the apparent fruitlessness of our prayers; that cowardly resistance to the calls of grace, and, under the pretext of faithfulness to the inspirations of the Holy Ghost, those disobediences camouflaged as mysticism. Having obtained permission to take the discipline for the duration of a Salve Regina, St. Margaret Mary continued a few minutes longer. "Until then," Our Lord told her, "you were doing it for me; now it is for the devil."

  Superiors may quite possibly become the more or less conscious victims of their self-will in matters of government. They wield a delegated authority, which is therefore limited. In the exercise of this authority they are never allowed to go beyond the limits fixed by canon law or the Constitutions, nor to scorn the laws of prudence and charity. It is nothing less than an abuse of power and hypocritical tyranny to pervert your authority in order to impose your whims and your fancies in God's name, even though souls suffer, and for your selfish satisfaction.

  In his orders, prohibitions, directions, dispositions, a superior should always be inspired by the common good. He should always be careful to transmit to and impose upon his subjects not his own decisions but what he knows or believes to be the Divine Will. Even when commanding, he should obey God and renounce his own will.  

  All the masters of spiritual life have emphasized the ravages wrought in souls by this type of egoism.

  "The will of God is the source of all good; the will of man is the principle of all evil."[13]

   "You may accomplish a great number of good works, but if you do not learn to renounce your own will and to submit, you will not make progress in perfection."[14]

  "If you wish to imitate the example of your Saviour," said Our Lord to St. Catherine of Siena, "and do my will, which comprehends all good, it is necessary to renounce your own misguided will in all things. The more you die to yourself, the more you take care to reject all that is yourself, the more I will give you in abundance that which is myself."

  This renunciation is incumbent upon religious above all. They are vowed to God's service by their vocation, and make a profession of obedience. All the founders and law-makers of orders have vigorously insisted on this austere daily struggle.

  The monk should hate his own will. "We are, indeed, forbidden to do our own will by Scripture, which saith to us: Turn away from thine own will. Moreover, we ask God in prayer that his will be done in us. And rightly are we taught not to do our own will, since we dread that sentence of Scripture: There are ways which to men seem right, but the ends thereof lead to the depths of hell. ...

  "The second degree of humility is that a man love not his own will, nor delight in fulfilling his own desires, but carry out in deed the saying of the Lord: I came not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me."[15]

  When entering a monastery, the first thing to be done is to renounce your own will.[16]

  St. Basil ordered that religious attached to their own will should be segregated from the rest of the community, like lepers who might infect others by their bad example.

  "To religious who have consecrated their wills to Jesus Christ, there is nothing in the world more damaging than to be governed by their own desires and according to their inclinations. Thus all religious orders are, by the vow of obedience, on the defensive against this enemy of the spiritual life, that is to say, self-will."[17]

  It may be very pleasing to human nature to have a free hand, but there is nothing more disastrous from a spiritual point of view. All that accords with self-will is by that very token removed from divine charity and thus from true love of self. Idem velle et nolle vera amicitia. "Let us then renounce this miserable liberty and forever subject our free will to the rule of heavenly love. Let us become slaves of love."[18]

  The greatest and commonest obstacle to contemplation in interior souls is undoubtedly attachment to their own will. "So long as we prefer to take our own precautions, so long we will be estranged from divine union by our own caprices. These fantasies of yes and no keep us in a state of infancy; we cannot take giant steps in the way of love for the fire has not yet burned out the alloy, our love is not pure."[19]

     "The ruin of all virtues, self-will is the particular downfall of charity."[20]

  "St. Andrew Avellino made a heroic vow to thwart his own will in everything."[21]

  "Lord," asks the author of The Imitation of Christ, "how often shall I resign myself, and in what things shall I forsake myself?

  "Always and at all times; as in little things, so also in great. I make no exception, but will have you to be found in all things stripped naked.

  "Otherwise, how can you belong to me and I to you, unless you be both inwardly and outwardly stripped of your own will? . . .

  "He is truly most learned, who does the will of God and forsakes his own."[22]

  In reality, following one's own will means renouncing true freedom and succumbing to the worst form of slavery. Listen to the words of St. Augustine: “Formerly," said the great man, "I wished to be free, I satisfied my desires, I followed my insane passions; but alas! O, unfortunate liberty! in doing that which I wished, I came to that which I did not wish."[23]

  "False liberty is the wish to do one's own will; but our true liberty lies in submitting our will to God, for since we are born under His subjection, our freedom is not independence. This affectation of independence is the freedom of Satan and his rebel accomplices."[24]

  "Our free will is never so free as when it is a slave to the will of God; nor ever so much a slave as when it serves our own will. It never has so much life as when it dies to itself, nor ever so much death as when it lives for itself."[25] 

 

References: 

1 St. John of the Cross, Cautions and Counsels, No. 143.
2 The Spirit of St. Thérèse of the Infant Jesus, Ch. I, p. 28.
3 St. Bernard, In Temp. Paschali., Serm. III. Cf. Epistola 145, 322. P.L. CLXXXII, 297, 527.
4 Quid quanta minus licet, tanto magis libet. St. Augustine.
5 Cf. St. Francis de Sales, Treatise on the Love of God, Bk. VIII, Ch. V.
6 In Temp. Paschali. Serm. III, 3.
7 In his book, Similitudinibus, St. Anselm says that self-will can be exercised through pleasure, excitement and curiosity. Evil pleasure may be tasted in 31 ways. Entretiens Spirituels de saint Anselme, Ch. X-XXXVI. 
8 St. Francis de Sales, Les vrais entretiens.
9 St. Vincent de Paul, Oeuvres Compl., Vol. IX.
10 Cf. St. Alphonsus Liguori, The True Spouse of Jesus Christ, Ch. VII, Sec. II.
11 Cf. Introduction to the Devout Life.
12 Cf. Les vrais entretiens, Ch. X. 
13 St. Anselm, De Simili., Ch. VIII.
14 St. John of the Cross, Cautions and Counsels.
15 The Rule of St. Benedict, ed. and trans, by Abbot Justin McCann (Westminster, Md.: The Newman Press, 1952), Ch. 7, pp. 41, 43.
16 Ibid., Cf. Prologue.
17 St. Alphonsus Liguori, The True Spouse of Jesus Christ, Ch. VII, Sec. I.
18 St. Francis de Sales, Treatise on the Love of God, Bk. XII, Ch. X.
19 Ruysbroeck, Morceaux choisis.
20 St. Peter Damien, Homel. saint Benedic. P.L. iff, col. 549.
21 Roman Breviary.
22 Bk. III, Ch. XXXVII; Bk. I, Ch. III.
23 Confessions, LVIII, Ch. V. 
24 Bossuet, Edit. Lebarq., Vol. II. 
25 St. Francis de Sales, Treatise on the Love of God, Bk. XII, Ch. X.

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“Pray; pray much. Make many sacrifices of your senses. These are most pleasing to the Father. Sacrifice will recover a straying soul.” – Our Lady of the Roses, November 24, 1973

The awesome Bayside Prophecies...  https://www.tldm.org/Bayside/default.htm  
These prophecies came from Jesus, Mary, and the saints to Veronica Lueken at Bayside, NY, from 1968 to 1995:

SOUL LIVES ON
“Make it known, My child, to the world: there is no death of the soul. The human body will be temporarily separated from the soul. At the end of time, both will be reunited for the glorification of the Father.” - Our Lady, June 8, 1974 

UNSEEN WORLD
“Many will not accept your revelations, My child, for man has yet to understand the difference between the physical body and the spiritual soul. Man fails to recognize the existence of the unseen world about you. Right now the demons are gathering for this full scale war of the spirits.” - Our Lady, February 11, 1971 

THE ETERNAL PART
“You must, My child, have no fear at giving this message to the world. The destruction of a body is not important, but cry, My child, for the destruction of a soul. It is the eternal part. Man has found that he prefers to gather all the treasures of earth, casting aside the knowledge that one day he must leave all of his treasures and stand before the Eternal Father and be judged. His spirit, the soul, must live on forever and ever into eternity. He will go to hell, purged in purgatory, or come through the gates of eternal bliss and happiness in the Kingdom of the Eternal Father. Every man who has given himself to satan and damnation will have done this of his own free will and accord.” - Our Lady, November 1, 1975 

CANNOT BARGAIN
“Many now have given themselves to the world. This saddens Our hearts greatly, for the road is wide that leads into darkness and the lighted road is narrow. You cannot bargain with your soul.” - Our Lady, May 22, 1974 

MOMENT OF CONCEPTION
“The Eternal Father sends each life with reason. The spirit of life is breathed into that body at the moment of conception. At the moment of conception the soul is united to that body. Though it grows from a small seed, it is living and must not be destroyed! It is murder, My children, to destroy the seed.” - Our Lady, December 27, 1975 

COVENANT
“Each man has a covenant with his God, My child. Each man has a responsibility for his soul and the souls of all whom he has given charge of.” -  Our Lady, December 24, 1975 

DESTROYERS OF THE SOUL
“Take yourselves away from those who are destroyers of the soul, for you have nothing in common with them. What is there between or commensurate between the light and the darkness? Do you have, you who have gained the knowledge and retained your faith and remained pure of spirit, what do you have in common with the forces of evil? Avoid all occasions of sin. Do not be partakers of their sin, for birds of a feather shall surely flock together.” - Our Lady, August 5, 1976 

IMMORTAL
“Man, even man in My Son's House, Church, has found the way to rationalize his sin. There is no rationalization, My children, for sin! For sin will bring about the death of your soul. Your soul is immortal, but when I speak of the death of your soul, I mean its fall to satan and its banishment into the eternal fires of hell.” - Our Lady, December 6, 1974 

WHAT DOES IT GAIN?
“What, My child, does it gain a man if he gathers the treasures of the whole world and forever loses his soul? Pray much, My child; pray much, My children, for if you return to Us but one straying soul and snatch this soul from satan there will be great joy in Heaven forever. And your reward will far surpass anything that you can deem in your imagination!” - Our Lady, June 15, 1974 

MASTER OF HIS SOUL
“Every man shall be a master of his own soul. You will not place the responsibility for your fall upon another, with no human conception of obedience, for no man shall be obedient to satan.” -  Jesus, May 29, 1976 

POVERTY OF SOUL
“Already the words of My messengers are being spread throughout the earth. Already I send you signs that you do not recognize. When you all meet with the destruction, it will only be your choice.
   “You will keep your Rosary about your neck. You will continue to pray that the evil one does not enter your house. You must turn your back to material things of your world, or you cannot enter Ours. For you cannot have both. I do not expect you to live in poverty, but to recognize better you have poverty of the body than poverty of your soul.”   - Jesus, July 25, 1971 

YOU STARVE THEIR SOULS
“Parents, have you no discipline to give your children? As parents, you shall be responsible before the Eternal Father for the fall of your children's souls! Take yourselves, parents, from the world. Open your eyes and look into the lives of your children. You have become engrossed, as parents, with worldly cavortings and pleasures. You pamper the bodies, the temporal bodies of your children, while you starve their souls, the eternal soul of your children.” -  Our Lady, June 12, 1976 

THE SPIRIT OF LIFE
“The Eternal Father is much distressed by mankind's actions. They must not try to control the start and expiration of a life. Abortion is murder, My children, for you bring to an untimely end a mission of a soul. The Eternal Father breathes the spirit of life into the body at the moment of conception. No man shall destroy this body until it has completed its mission as directed by the Eternal Father, for any man who destroys the mission and the body is guilty of murder.”  - Our Lady, June 12, 1976 

GOD-BORN CONSCIENCE
“Every soul, My child, that has entered, fallen into hell, has had his choice. In each life there is that moment of recognition of soul. You have all been given a God-born conscience. The Creator, your Father, did not birth you in ignorance. Those who fall into the abyss have done this of free will.
   “No man who comes to the Father in belief will be turned away. No sinner is too much of a sinner to be recovered. The Father, the Eternal Father, gathers the sheep, not wishing that one be lost to Him.” - Jesus, November 24, 1973

Directives from Heaven... https://www.tldm.org/directives/directives.htm

D342 - Dying to self  PDF
D344 - Purification  PDF 

Articles...

The essence of perfection consists in charity
https://www.tldm.org/News6/Tanquerey-charity.htm

The way of perfection
https://www.tldm.org/news6/perfection%2Dtanquerey.htm

The struggle against temptation
https://www.tldm.org/lent/temptation.htm

Redemption and its effects
https://www.tldm.org/news8/redemption.htm

The new Commandment of Jesus
https://www.tldm.org/News7/Colin1.htm

Pope John Paul II warned of a world without spirituality
https://www.tldm.org/news5/pope2.htm

Love of God and love of neighbor
https://www.tldm.org/News7/Colin2.htm

Christian charity towards our enemies
https://www.tldm.org/News7/Colin3.htm

The sources of growth and decline in religious orders
https://www.tldm.org/news7/Foley1.htm

Christian friendships
https://www.tldm.org/news8/ChristianFriendships.htm

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Place a Crucifix on the outside of your front and back door...  The only real protection against terrorists...
Jesus - "Pray and wear your sacramentals. And, also, My children, I ask you again to place a crucifix upon your door. Both front and back doors must have a crucifix. I say this to you because there will be carnage within your areas, and this will pass you by if you keep your crucifix upon your doors." (6-30-84) (Testimonies of lives and homes saved by the crucifixes.)  https://www.tldm.org/news/crucifix.htm 

Heaven’s Home Protection Packet...
Our Lord stated we must have crucifixes upon the outside of all of our outside doors. In the "Heaven’s Home Protection Packet" there are instructions, four crucifixes, and a tube of special cement for wooden or metal crucifixes. Wooden crucifixes adhere better to the doors when the aluminum strap is removed from the back. Put a light coat of cement on the back of the crucifix and then press it to the outside of the door. If you have any problems, you can call us at 616-698-6448 for assistance. This Heaven’s Home Protection Packet is available for a donation of $7.00 plus $3.00 shipping and handling. Send $10.00 to TLD Ministries, P.O. Box 40, Lowell, MI 49331. Item # P15  (Order Form)

Incredible Bayside Prophecies on the United States and Canada book . . .
We have researched the Bayside Prophecies on the United States and Canada and put these outstanding prophecies in a 360 page pocket size paperback book.   Veronica said it was very good.  It tells what is going to happen here and how to prepare for it.  Every North American must read this book!  Item #B2 Cost $5.00 (Order Form)

Your names have been written in Heaven… "It is not by accident that you are called by My Mother, for your names have been written in Heaven.... But with this great grace you have great responsibility to send this Message from Heaven throughout the world, for if you are able to recover just one more for Heaven, an additional star shall be placed in your crown." - Jesus, August 5, 1975

A great obligation to go forward... "It is not by accident that you are called by My Mother, for it is by merit and the prayers that have risen to Heaven for your salvation.  For those who have received the grace to hear the Message from Heaven, you have a great obligation to go forward and bring this Message to your brothers and sisters.  Do not expect a rest upon your earth, for you will have eternal rest very soon." - Jesus, June 12, 1976

The sin of omission...  "The sin of omission shall condemn many to hell, be they layman or Hierarchy.  I repeat:  not the sin of commission, but the sin of omission will commit many to hell." - Our Lady of the Roses,  October 6, 1980  

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