Three Causes of Dryness of Mind

The elders have given a threefold account of this dryness of mind you speak of. It comes either from carelessness on our part, or from the attacks of the devil, or from the permission and allowance of the Lord. From carelessness on our part, when through our own faults coldness has come over us, and we have behaved carelessly and hastily, and through lazy idleness have fed on bad thoughts, and so make the ground of our heart bring forth thorns and thistles. These spring up in it and so make us barren and powerless for all spiritual fruit and meditation. From the attacks of the devil, when sometimes, while we are actually intent on good desires, our enemy works his way into our heart with crafty cunning, and without our knowing it and against our will we are drawn away from the best intentions. [a]