Reflecting on the Gospel reading from St Matthew, Pope Francis noted that modern technology, in addition to its positive elements, provides “countless means to give an opportunity to the devil” to enter people’s lives, “and many fall in the trap.”

In a gloomy and isolated Russian convent, Sister Yulia (Maria Vera Ratti), known among the other nuns for her love of beauty, becomes spontaneously pregnant while praying in front of a statue of the Blessed Virgin. She is bearing twin boys: One is the next Messiah, the other the Antichrist.

The Gospel account of Jesus’ temptation in the desert, read each year at the beginning of Lent, is a reminder that following the Lord’s footsteps “is a battle against the spirit of evil,” the Holy Father stated in his 21 February Sunday Angelus address.