It may sometimes seem to you, my son, that your will is very weak, incapable of resisting sensual desires and other enemies striving to overpower it. Perhaps you feel you lack the courage and determination to withstand their pressure; yet, do not cease to resist steadfastly, do not abandon the battlefield. Know that you are always victorious to the extent that you show you have not succumbed, have not completely fallen.
In truth, just as a rational will does not require the consent of sensual desires to carry out what it pleases, so too, even if it must endure the most violent assaults from this domestic enemy of the senses and the body, it never ceases to be entirely a will. For the Creator has given the will such power and absolute dominion that, even if all sensual desires, all of hell, and all creatures together rose up against it in rebellion, nothing can compel it to do or not do what it wills or does not will, and this as many times, for as long, for whatever reason, and in whatever manner it deems best.
If, however, the persistence of temptation presses you so hard that your will, weak and almost overcome, seems to lack the strength to resist as needed and is already laying down its arms, at least cry out, defend yourself with your voice, say to the tempter: “Depart, Satan, I am ready to die a thousand times rather than consent to your vile temptations.”
Act like that man who, in a clash with his fierce enemy seeking his death, when he cannot pierce him with the blade of his sword, strikes him wherever he can, even with the hilt. See how he steps back a few paces and returns, throwing himself with full force at the enemy to deliver a fatal blow. Let this teach you how to retreat, to turn inward, to reflect that you can do nothing on your own, how to then stir courage in yourself, a noble trust in God’s omnipotence, and how, finally, with His grace, you are to attack and overcome the passion ruling within you. Then you can say: “Support me, Lord: my God, save me! Jesus, Mary, do not abandon your servant: do not allow the persistence of temptation to prevail over me!”
And when the enemy grants you some respite, call upon reason to aid your will, strengthen it by offering various considerations capable of uplifting, encouraging, and emboldening it for the struggle. When you are unjustly persecuted, or afflicted or oppressed in any way, and when, in the deepest sorrow, impatience violently shakes you, so that you can no longer—or rather, will no longer—endure, gather your strength again, take heart by bringing to mind these or similar reflections:
Consider well whether you have not deserved the evil you endure, whether you have not brought it upon yourself. For if you have caused the evil, reason demands that you bear this wound, which you have inflicted upon yourself with your own hand, with patience.
If your conscience has nothing to reproach you with in this regard, turn your attention to past misdeeds that God’s justice has not yet punished in you, or that you have not yet fully atoned for with appropriate penance. Seeing that God, in His infinite mercy, transforms the deserved punishment—which you would have been obliged to endure for a very long time in purgatory or eternally in hell—into another far lighter and shorter, accept it not only with patience but also with gratitude.
Even if you believe, without any basis, that you have committed few misdeeds and have already atoned for much, in such a case, recall that the kingdom of God is entered through a narrow gate, by a path of tribulations.
Consider further that, even if you could enter heaven by another way, the pure love you ought to have in your soul should remove such a thought and desire from your heart. For Jesus, the Son of God, and after Him all the saints, entered there bearing the cross, along a path strewn with thorns—should there be an exception just for you?
Above all, however, in this and all other matters, keep in mind the will of God, who loves us so much and takes the greatest pleasure in us when we perform heroic acts of virtue, when we respond to His love for us with displays of fidelity and courage. Know, finally, that the more unjust the persecutions and oppressions you endure from those pursuing you, the more difficult they are to bear, the more the Lord will value your steadfastness, that in the midst of affliction you do not cease to respect His judgments and entrust yourself to His Providence, which can bring good out of the most painful events and bend even the ferocity of enemies to our salvation.
You have now seen, my son, how to fight and overcome yourself, how to acquire virtue. However, to achieve victory more easily and quickly, do not think it is enough to step into battle once or to show courage once. You must frequently enter the fray, especially against self-love, until you learn to regard as your best friends those who inflict the cruelest injuries upon you, who burn with vengeful hatred against you. If you neglect this, your victories, as we have already indicated, will be increasingly laborious, imperfect, rare, and short-lived. Confront the enemy with courage, with an iron will, and do not excuse yourself with innate weakness. For if you lack strength, call upon God for help, and He will come to your aid at once.
Consider well that, although the ferocity of our enemies is great and their number countless, the love of God, which sustains us, is stronger than all this. The angels in heaven who defend us, the saints who intercede for us, are far greater in number.
—
Fr. Wawrzyniec Scupoli – *The Spiritual Combat, or the Science of Knowing, Overcoming Oneself, and Attaining True Christian Perfection.* Warsaw, 1858, pp. 40–44.
[Edited by A.S.]
Catholic during the Great Apostasy 
Leave a comment