Saint Catherine of Siena from her childhood vowed to live in chastity. When she entered religion, the devil never failed to torment her with horrible thoughts and representations against the holy virtue of purity; but she never gave the slightest consent to them, never ceasing to pray and to resist temptation. One day, having been subjected to a more violent one than usual, and the enemy having finally withdrawn, Jesus Christ appeared to console her. “Where were You, O my divine Spouse, she said, when I saw myself in such a terrible situation? – I was with you, answered Our Lord. – You were in the midst of the abominations that surrounded my soul? – Those abominations, replied the Savior, did not defile you, because they were abhorrent to you; thus, the struggle that you sustained was a source of merit for you.”