Dom Lorenzo Scupoli - The Spiritual Combat: And a Treatise on Peace of Soul

Nihil Obstat:
Edward A. Cerney, S.S.
Censor Deputatus

Imprimatur:
Michael J. Curley, D.D.
Archbishop of Baltimore and Washington
June 16, 1945

Copyright 2010 Saint Benedict Press, TAN Books.

TAN Books is an Imprint of Saint Benedict Press, LLC, Charlotte, North Carolina.

Copyright 1945 by The Newman Bookshop, Westminster, Maryland. Originally published in 1945 by the Newman Bookshop. Photographically reproduced and republished by TAN Books in 1990. Retypeset in 2010 by Saint Benedict Press, TAN Books.

All rights reserved. With the exception of short excerpts used in articles and critical reviews, no part of this work may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in any form whatsoever, printed or electronic, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published with the assistance of The Livingstone Corporation. Cover and interior design by Mark Wainright, The Livingstone Corporation. Typeset by Saint Benedict Press, TAN Books.

Cover Image: Jacob Wrestling with the Angel by Alexander Louis Leloir.

ISBN: 978-0-89555-152-8

Printed and bound in United States of America.

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Therefore take unto you the armour of God,
that you may be able to resist in the evil day,
and to stand in all things perfect.
Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth,
and having on the breastplate of justice,
and your feet shod with the preparation
of the gospel of peace:
In all things taking the shield of faith,
wherewith you may be able to extinguish all
the fiery darts of the most wicked one.
And take unto you the helmet of salvation,
and the sword of the Spirit (which is the word of God).

Ephesians 6:13-17

T he Spiritual Combat is known as one of the greatest classics in ascetic theology. It has this in common with the Following of Christ that the identity of its author still lies in mystery.

Several seventeenth-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. Most critics however consider the Italian Theatine Lawrence Scupoli as the author of this famous treatise. In his Spiritualit Chrtienne , Father P. Pourrat, S.S., ventures the opinion that the Spiritual Combat may well be the work of a religious order rather than that of an individual writer; for it was not originally composed such as we now have it. The first edition published in Venice in 1589 contained only twenty-four chapters; then, successive editions appeared with respectively thirty-three, thirty-seven, forty, and finally sixty-six chapters. It can also be said, in favor of this view, that there is an apparent lack of logical sequence between chapters in several parts of the work, and that the style of the latest edition differs considerably from that of the first.

Whatever may be the solution of this problem, doubt concerning the authorship of the Spiritual Combat can take nothing away from the value and utility 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 eighteen years, carried in his pocket a copy which he had received from Father Scupoli in Padua. The Saint read some pages of it every day, entrusted to its supernatural and human wisdom the guidance of his soul, and recommended it to all under his direction as being most attractive and most practical.

The purpose of the Spiritual Combat is clearly stated in the First Chapter; it is to lead the soul to the summit of spiritual perfection. What is meant by spiritual perfection? We are told that it does not consist in external works and practices, but is all interior; it means knowing and loving God, despising and mastering in us all our evil inclinations, that we may be able to submit and abandon ourselves entirely to God, out of love for Him.

Such is the goal at which we must aim. How can we reach it? By means of constant and courageous struggle against our evil nature, which tends to keep us away from that goal. This accounts for the title of the book, the Spiritual Combat , for it is truly a course of spiritual strategy in which we learn how to conduct the fight against our evil tendencies, even the least of them, with the help of four essential weapons: 1) self-distrust; 2) confidence in God; 3) training in spiritual warfare through the proper use of our mental and physical powers; 4) prayer, both short or ejaculatory, and prolonged in the form of mental prayer. The detailed instructions given for a successful use of our faculties are especially characteristic of the Spiritual Combats strategy.

The authors method is thorough, and, precisely because it goes deep into the roots of each subject, the reader would, at times, find it difficult to follow the trend of the thought, if the translation contained a certain number of involved sentences studded, here and there, with unfamiliar or abstract expressions.

The purpose of the present edition is to remove this difficulty. It is not a new translation from the Italian original; it is intended as a careful and thorough revision of the style and form of an already old English version. The revisers have broken up long paragraphs and sentences into shorter units, to relieve the attention of the reader. By simplifying or modifying the grammatical structure, when it was thought advisable, by substituting clearer or more familiar terms for obscure or archaic words, they have efficiently contributed in making accessible to all the treasures of spiritual doctrine and of wise spiritual direction contained in this remarkable and unique book.

Pourrat. Vol. 3, p. 360.

TREATISE ON PEACE OF SOUL
AND INNER HAPPINESS

For though we walk in the flesh,
we do not war according to the flesh.
For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal,
but mighty to God unto
the pulling down of fortifications,
destroying counsels, and every height
that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God,
and bringing into captivity
every understanding
unto the obedience of Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5

Preliminary Words on Perfection.
In What Does Christian Perfection Consist?
We Must Fight in Order to Attain It.
The Four Things Necessary for This Combat .

C HRISTIAN soul! If you seek to reach the loftiest peak of perfection, and to unite yourself so intimately with God that you become one in spirit with Him, you must first know the true nature and perfection of spirituality in order to succeed in the most sublime undertaking that can be expressed or imagined.

Some, who judge only by appearances, make it consist in penances, in hair shirts, austerities of the flesh, vigils, fasting, and similar bodily mortifications.

Others, particularly women, fancy themselves extremely virtuous when they indulge in long vocal prayers, hear several Masses, spend many hours in church, and frequently receive Communion.