Dom Lorenzo Scupoli
Dom Lorenzo Scupoli (1530 – 1610) was an Italian priest and spiritual writer who wrote a book entitled The Spiritual Combat, one of the most important works of Catholic spirituality.
Devotion and Dryness
Sensible devotion is sometimes produced by dispositions of our nature, sometimes by artifices of the devil, and sometimes by an influx of grace. You may discern its origin in a particular case by studying the effects; for if no amendment follows, you may well suspect the devil or your own infirm nature to be at…
Virtues are to be Acquired One at a Time and By Degrees
Although a true servant of Jesus Christ, aspiring to the heights of perfection, should set no limits to his spiritual advancement, he should nevertheless exercise prudence as regards those excesses of fervor to which he is prone, and which at first seem feasible. For first fervor is apt to cool and may be entirely extinguished.…
Four Means of Distrusting Oneself
DISTRUST of self is so absolutely requisite in the spiritual combat that without this virtue we cannot expect to defeat our weakest passions, much less gain a complete victory. This important truth should be deeply embedded in our hearts; for, although in ourselves we are nothing, we are too apt to overestimate our own abilities…
Christian Perfection and External Works
CHRISTIAN 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,…
How We Are to Fight Against Impurity
In encountering this vice we must use special tactics and greater resolution. In order to do this we must distinguish three phases of the operation – the first, which precedes the temptation – the second, during the temptation – the third, which follows the temptation. First: Before the time of temptation we must avoid all…