From weakness to strength: a plan for spiritual battle
In the book The Spiritual Combat, Lorenzo Scupoli gives us a plan to become holy. He says we must fight against our bad habits (passions) and grow in good habits (virtues). This is the “royal road” to heaven. In this article we are going to focus on the teachings in chapters 33-37 of The Spiritual Combat.
Scupoli counsels against dividing the practice of virtues among different days of the week, assigning patience to Monday, charity to Tuesday, and so forth. Instead, he urges us to identify our most persistent passion and direct all our spiritual energy toward conquering it and acquiring its opposite virtue.
St. Francis de Sales said, “We must specially examine ourselves as to the vice which most easily besets us. Some are prone to pride, some to sensuality, some to anger, some to slothfulness. We should know ourselves, and attack the enemy where he is strongest against us.”
St. John Climacus said, “Let us concentrate all our strength on cutting down the most troublesome passion, for by conquering this one, we shall find it easy to master the rest.”
This works because all good habits are related. St. Gregory the Great said that “all virtues are connected with each other; whosoever has one, has all; and whosoever has not one, has none.” We are not just trying to be “better people.” Our goal is to love God more than anything else.
Scupoli warns that in the spiritual life we cannot just stand still. We should never set fixed timelines for achieving virtue. If we stop moving forward, we will start moving backward. St. Bernard said that to not go forward is to go back. It is like rowing a boat against a river: if you stop rowing, the water will carry you away.
But here is a happy secret: as you keep going, the journey gets easier. At first, it feels hard, but slowly you become stronger and feel a quiet joy. Even if you don't see it, God is changing your heart while you pray.
The culmination of this path is a state where virtue flows naturally. The soul, having conquered its passions, dwells in harmony with God’s will. The heart becomes a temple that burns day and night with the love of God.
Scupoli says there are two types of spiritual work:
- Bodily disciplines, such as fasting or vigils, must be acquired gradually to avoid burnout. St. Benedict and St. John Cassian both cautioned against excessive rigour that might break the body and hinder spiritual duties.
- Internal virtues, such as humility, patience, and the love of God, demand aiming for perfection from the start. We cannot settle for being “moderately” patient; these virtues of the heart require total commitment immediately. For example, we cannot say, “I will be a little bit patient today.” We must try our best to be fully patient right now. Even if we fail, our goal must always be to love God perfectly.
To stay strong, Scupoli suggests “arrow prayers.” These are very short prayers you can say anytime, even when you are busy. For example: “Lord, help me!” or “My God, I love You!”
Jesus taught Venerable Consolata Betrone (1903-1946) this beautiful prayer: “Jesus, Mary, I love you, save souls!”
When a line of a Psalm or a brief prayer rises up in the middle of exhaustion, we invite the Spirit to plant God's own language inside our poverty. These prayers keep the fire alive when we feel cold and the praise alive when we feel mute.
Scupoli also says we should not run away from people or things that annoy us. If you want to be patient, you need people who test your patience. If you want to be humble, you need situations that make you feel small. These hard times are like a school where we learn to be like Jesus. The only exception is when we experience temptation of the flesh. In those cases, we should run away immediately!
Growing in goodness is hard work. It requires us to check our hearts every day and carry our cross. But really, it is about falling in love, not with ourselves, but with God.
The holy teachers tell us that Jesus did not call people who were perfect or “strong”. He called people who were broken and knew they needed help. The spiritual masters of the texts entitled Philokalia teach that our “wounds” and failures are often the doors through which grace enters. We give God our weakness, and he gives us his strength. Holiness is the beautiful result of a heart that lets God's love lead the way.
Let our light shine before others.