Category: THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT – Fr Lorenzo Scupoli

Posted in GOD ALONE!, QUOTES on STRENGTH, SELF-DISTRUST, THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT - Fr Lorenzo Scupoli

Thought for the Day – 10 January – II: Of Trust in God (Confidence)

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Thought for the Day – 10 January – The Spiritual Combat (1589) – Dom Lorenzo Scupoli OSM (c1530-1610)

“None shall be crowned who has not fought well.” 2 Tim 2: 5

The First Two Weapons
of the Spiritual Combat

II: Of Trust in God (Confidence)

“Self-distrust, necessary as we have shown it to be in this conflict, is not alone sufficient.
Unless we would be put to flight, or remain helpless and vanquished in the hands of our enemies, we must add to it perfect trust in God and expect from Him alone, succour and victory!
For, as we, who are nothing, can look for nothing from ourselves but falls and, therefore, should utterly distrust ourselves; so, from our Lord, may we assuredly expect complete victory in every conflict.
To obtain His help, let us, therefore, arm ourselves with a lively Confidence in Him.
And this also may be accomplished in four ways: … [Be here tomorrow, God willing] ”

Dom Lorenzo Scupoli

Posted in CHRIST the LIGHT, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on PRAYER, QUOTES on PRIDE, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, SELF-DISTRUST, THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT - Fr Lorenzo Scupoli

Thought for the Day – 9 January – Distrust of Self – FOUR METHODS,

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Thought for the Day – 9 January – The Spiritual Combat (1589) – Dom Lorenzo Scupoli OSM (c1530-1610)

“None shall be crowned who has not fought well.” 2 Tim 2: 5

The First Two Weapons
of the Spiritual Combat

I: Distrust of Self (Diffidence) FOUR METHODS,

“I, therefore, set before you FOUR METHODS, by the use of which, in dependence always on Divine grace, you may acquire this gift. …”

  • The FIRST is, to KNOW and consider your own vileness and nothingness and your inability, of yourself, to do any good, by which to merit an entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven.
  • The SECOND is, CONTINUALLY to ASK such knowledge of the Lord in fervent and humble prayer; for it is His gift. And in order to reach its attainment, we must look upon ourselves, not only as destitute thereof, but as of ourselves incapable of acquiring it.
    Present yourself, therefore, continually before the Divine Majesty, with an assured faith that He is willing, of His great goodness, to grant your petition; wait patiently, all the time which His Providence appoints and without doubt, you shalt obtain it.
  • The THIRD is, to stand in FEAR of your own judgement about yourself, of your strong inclination to sin, of the countless hosts of enemies against whom you are incapable of making the slightest resistance, of their long practice in open warfare and secret stratagem, of their transformations into Angels of Light and of the innumerable arts and obstacles which they secretly spread for us, even in the very way of holiness.
  • The FOURTH is, whenever you are OVERTAKEN by any FAULT, to look more deeply into yourself and, more keenly, feel your absolute and utter weakness – for to this end did God permit your fall that, warned by His inspiration and illumined by a clearer Light than before, you may come to know yourself and learn to despise yourself as a thing unutterably vile and be, therefore, also willing to be so accounted and despised by others.
    For without this willingness, there can be no holy self-distrust which is founded on TRUE HUMILITY and experimental SELF-KNOWLEDGE. 
  • This self-knowledge is clearly needful to all who desire to be united to the Supreme Light and Uncreated Truth and the Divine Clemency, often makes use of the fall of proud and presumptuous men to lead to Itself; justly suffering them to fall into some faults which they trusted to avoid, by their own strength that they may learn to know and absolutely distrust themselves.
    Our Lord is not, however, wont to use so severe a method, until those more gracious means of which we have before spoken have failed to work the cure designed by His Divine Mercy.
    He permits a man to fall, more or less deeply, in proportion to his pride and self-esteem; so that if there were no presumption (as in the case of the Blessed Virgin Mary), there would be no fall.
    Therefore, whenever you shall fall, take refuge at once in humble self-knowledge and beseech the Lord, with urgent entreaties to give you Light — truly to know yourself and entire self-distrust lest you should fall again, perhaps into deeper perdition!”

Dom Lorenzo Scupoli

PART ONE:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/01/08/thought-for-the-day-8-january-i-distrust-of-self/

Posted in GOD ALONE!, QUOTES on GRACE, QUOTES on SANCTITY, QUOTES on SELF-DENIAL, QUOTES on TEMPTATION, SELF-DISTRUST, THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT - Fr Lorenzo Scupoli, The WILL of GOD

Thought for the Day – 8 January – I: Distrust of Self

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Thought for the Day – 8 January – The Spiritual Combat (1589) – Dom Lorenzo Scupoli OSM (c1530-1610)

“None shall be crowned who has not fought well.” 2 Tim 2: 5

The First Two Weapons
of the Spiritual Combat

I: Distrust of Self (Diffidence)

“So necessary is self-distrust in this conflict that, without it, you will be unable, I say, not to achieve the victory desired but even to overcome the very least of your passions!
And let this be well impressed upon your mind; for our corrupt nature too easily inclines us to a false estimate of ourselves; so that, being really nothing, we account ourselves to be something and presume, without the slightest foundation, upon our own strength.
This is a fault, not easily discerned by us but very displeasing in the sight of God.
For He desires and loves, to see in us, a frank and true recognition of this most certain truth — that all the virtue and grace which is within us, is derived from Himself alone, Who is the Fountain of all good and that nothing good can proceed from us, no, not even a thought which can find acceptance in His sight.

And, although this very important self-distrust is, itself, the work of His Divine Hand and is bestowed upon His beloved, now by means of holy inspirations, now by sharp chastisements and violent and almost irresistible temptations and by other means which we, ourselves, do not understand; still, it is His will that we, on our part, should do all in our power to attain it.
I, therefore, set before you four methods, by the use of which, in dependence always on Divine grace, you may acquire this gift. …

Dom Lorenzo Scupoli

Posted in MODESTY, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on PRAYER, QUOTES on SANCTITY, QUOTES on SELF-DENIAL, QUOTES on TRUST and complete CONFIDENCE in GOD, THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT - Fr Lorenzo Scupoli

Thought for the Day – 7 January – Of the Four Things Needful in this Conflict

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Thought for the Day – 7 January – The Spiritual Combat (1589) – Dom Lorenzo Scupoli OSM (c1530-1610)

“None shall be crowned who has not fought well.” 2 Tim 2: 5

Introduction
I: Of the Essence of Christian Perfection –
Of the Struggle Requisite for its Attainment –
And of the Four Things Needful in this Conflict

And of the Four Things Needful in this Conflict

“Now that you see wherein Christian perfection consists and that it requires a continual intense warfare against self, you must provide yourself with four most sure and necessary weapons, in order to secure the palm and gain the victory, in this spiritual combat.
These are:

  • Distrust of Self (Diffidence of ourselves)
  • Trust in God (Confidence in God)
  • Proper use of the faculties of Body and Mind (Exercise) and
  • Prayer.

Of all these, we will, with the Divine assistance, treat clearly and concisely in the following Chapters.”

Dom Lorenzo Scupoli

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, GOD ALONE!, QUOTES on SANCTITY, QUOTES on SELF-DENIAL, SOLDIERS/ARMOUR of CHRIST, The MOST HOLY REDEEMER, Our SAVIOUR, THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT - Fr Lorenzo Scupoli, The WILL of GOD

Thought for the Day – 6 January – Of the Struggle Requisite for the Attainment of Christian Perfection

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Thought for the Day – 6 January – The Spiritual Combat (1589) – Dom Lorenzo Scupoli OSM (c1530-1610)

“None shall be crowned who has not fought well.” 2 Tim 2: 5

Introduction
I: Of the Essence of Christian Perfection –
Of the Struggle Requisite for its Attainment –
And of the Four Things Needful in this Conflict

Of the Struggle Requisite for its Attainment

“You see, then, very clearly that, as I have said, the spiritual life consists not in these things.
It consists in nothing else but:
the knowledge of the goodness and the greatness of God and of our nothingness and inclination to all evil;
in the love of Him and the hatred of ourselves;
in subjection, not to Him alone but for love of Him, to all His creatures; in entire renunciation of all will of our own and absolute resignation to all His divine pleasure;
and furthermore, willing and doing all this purely for the glory of God and solely to please Him and because He so wills and merits thus to be loved and served.

This is the law of love, impressed by the Hand of the Lord Himself upon the hearts of His faithful servants;
this is the abnegation of self which He requires of us;
this is His sweet yoke and light burden;
this is the obedience to which, by His Voice and His Example, our Master and Redeemer calls us.

In aspiring to such sublime perfection, you will have to do continual violence to yourself by a generous conflict with your own will in all things, great or small, until it be wholly annihilated;
you must prepare yourself, therefore, for the battle with all readiness of mind, for none but brave warriors shall receive the crown!

This is indeed the most difficult of all struggles — for while we strive
against self, self is striving against us and, therefore, is the victory here most glorious and precious in the sight of God!
For if you will set yourself to trample down and exterminate all your
unruly appetites, desires and wishes, even in the smallest and most inconsiderable matters, you will render a greater and more acceptable service to God, than if you should discipline yourself to blood, fast more rigorously than hermits or anchorites of old, or convert millions of souls and yet, voluntarily leave even one of these evils alive within you.
For although the conversion of souls is no doubt more precious to the Lord than the mortification of a fancy, nevertheless, nothing should, in your sight, be of greater account than to will and to do that very thing which the Lord specially demands and requires of you.
And He will infallibly be better pleased that you should watch and labour to mortify your passions, than if, consciously and willfully, leaving but one alive within you, you should serve Him in some other matter of greater importance in itself.”

Dom Lorenzo Scupoli

Posted in QUOTES on JUDGING, QUOTES on PRIDE, QUOTES on the DEVIL/EVIL, QUOTES on VANITY, The HEART, THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT - Fr Lorenzo Scupoli

Thought for the Day – 5 January – Of the Essence of Christian Perfection, Part Two

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Thought for the Day – 5 January – The Spiritual Combat (1589) – Dom Lorenzo Scupoli OSM (c1530-1610)

“None shall be crowned who has not fought well.” 2 Tim 2: 5

Introduction
I: Of the Essence of Christian Perfection –
Of the Struggle Requisite for its Attainment –
And of the Four Things Needful in this Conflict

Of the Essence of Christian Perfection, Part Two:

“ Such persons leave their hearts unguarded to the mercy of their own inclinations and exposed to the lurking deceits of the devil, who, seeing them out of the direct road, not only lets them continue these exercises, with satisfaction but leads them, in their own vain imagination, to expound on the delights of paradise and to fancy themselves to be borne aloft amidst the Angelic Choir and to feel God within them.
Sometimes, they find themselves absorbed in high, or mysterious and
ecstatic meditations and, forgetful of the world and of all that it contains, they believe themselves to be caught up to the Third Heaven.

But the life and conversation of such persons, prove the depth of the delusion in which they are held and their great distance from the perfection after which we are inquiring; for in all things, great and small, they desire to be preferred and placed above others; they are wedded to their own opinion and obstinate in their own will and blind to their own faults, they are busy and diligent observers and critics of the deeds and words of others.
But touch only with a finger their point of honour, a certain vain estimation in which they hold themselves and would have others to hold them, interrupt their devotions and they are disturbed and offended beyond measure.

And if, to bring them back to the true knowledge of themselves and of the way of perfection, Almighty God should send them sickness, or sorrow, or persecution (that touchstone of His servants’ loyalty which never befalls them without His permission or command), then, is the unstable foundation of their spiritual edifice discovered and its interior laid bare, all corroded and defaced by pride …

Hence, it is most certain that such persons are in serious danger – for, the inward eye being darkened, wherewith they contemplate themselves and these their external good works, they attribute to themselves a very high degree of perfection and thus puffed up with pride, they pass judgement upon others, while a very extraordinary degree of God’s assisting grace is needed to convert themselves.
For the open sinner is more easily converted and restored to God, than the man who shrouds himself under the cloak of seeming virtue!”

Dom Lorenzo Scupoli

Of the Essence of Christian Perfection, Part One:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/01/04/thought-for-the-day-4-january-of-the-essence-of-christian-perfection/

Posted in QUOTES on GRACE, QUOTES on SANCTITY, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT - Fr Lorenzo Scupoli

Thought for the Day – 4 January – Of the Essence of Christian Perfection

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Thought for the Day – 4 January – The Spiritual Combat (1589) – Dom Lorenzo Scupoli OSM (c1530-1610)

“None shall be crowned who has not fought well.” – 2 Tim 2: 5

Introduction
I: Of the Essence of Christian Perfection –
Of the Struggle Requisite for its Attainment –
And of the Four Things Needful in this Conflict

Of the Essence of Christian Perfection, Part One:

“Christian Soul ! Would you attain in Christ, the height of perfection and by a nearer and nearer approach to God, become one spirit with Him?
Before undertaking this greatest and noblest of all imaginable enterprises, you must first learn what constitutes the true and perfect spiritual life.
For many have made it to consist exclusively in austerities, maceration of the flesh, hair-shirts, disciplines, long vigils and fasts and other like bodily hardships and penances.
Others, especially women, fancy they have made great progress therein, if they say many vocal prayers, hear many Masses and long Offices, frequent many Churches, receive many Communions.
Others (and those sometimes among cloistered religious) are persuaded that perfection depends wholly upon punctual attendance in choir, upon silence, solitude and regularity. …

But it is not so indeed; for as some of these are means to acquire grace, others, fruits of grace, they cannot be held to constitute Christian perfection and the true life of grace.
They are unquestionably most powerful means, in the hands of those who use them well and discreetly, of acquiring grace in order to gain strength and vigour against their own sinfulness and weakness, to defend themselves against our common enemies, to supply all those spiritual aids so necessary to all the servants of God and especially to beginners in the spiritual life.

But these external works, although all most holy in themselves, may yet, by the fault of those who use them, as the foundation of their spiritual building, prove a more fatal occasion of ruin than open sins!”

Dom Lorenzo Scupoli

Posted in ABOUT - PREFACE - The Spiritual Combat, THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT - Fr Lorenzo Scupoli

Thought for the Day – 2 January – The Spiritual Combat by Fr Lorenzo Scupoli OSM (c1530-1610)

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Thought for the Day – 2 January – The Spiritual Combat (1589) – Dom (Fr) Lorenzo Scupoli OSM (c1530-1610)

For those times when our old Friend and Spiritual Guide, Antonio Cardinal Bacci’s works have been exhausted, we will start exploring the renowned Spiritual Combat. The intention is not to re-publish the book in its entirety but just to highlight areas of great value to most of us living in the world.
Today, I am posting the short introduction to the book.

Preface

“None shall be crowned who has not fought well.” - 2 Tim 2: 5

“The Spiritual Combat is known as one of the greatest classics in Ascetic Theology, along with the Imitation of Christ.
In both cases, the Authors are shrouded in mystery.
Several 17th Century editions were published under the name of the Spanish Benedictine, John of Castanzia.
Some writers of the Society of Jesus have ascribed the book to the Jesuit, Achilles Gagliardi but most critics, however, consider Fr Lorenzo Scupoli (born Francesco) as the Author of this famous Treatise.

The first known edition was published in Venice in 1589 and contained but 24 Chapters, later editions appeared with more Chapters, so it is possible that the Theatines, or another Religious Order may have been part of the composition, [although this is doubtful, for the style remains the same throughout].

Whatever may be the truth of the problem of the Author, doubt of the actual one or ones, can take nothing away from the value and efficacy of this “golden book” as St Francis de Sales called it.
It was “the favourite – the dear book” of this great master of the spiritual life, who, for 18 years, carried, in a pocket, a copy, which he had received from Fr Scupoli in Padua himself.
The Saint read some pages of it everyday, entrusted to its supernatural and human wisdom, the guidance of his soul and recommended it to all under his direction.

The purpose of the work is to lead the soul to the summit of spiritual perfection by means of a constant courageous struggle against our evil natures which tend to keep us away from that goal.

The Author was a genius, the kind that can only be inspired by the grace of God and his book is a Catholic treasure and one of the greatest gifts God could have given any age! but most espeically, this benighted age which has losts its appreciation for the kind of simplicity necessary for sanctity!”