The Spiritual Combat: Together With the Supplement and the Path of Paradise (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781495478345)

This work begins: "If you wish, beloved in Christ, to reach the height of perfection, and by drawing near to your God to become one spirit with Him, (and no aim can be imagined or expressed which is greater, or nobler than this, ) you must before all else gain a true idea of what constitutes genuine spiritual perfection." It then proceeds to explain what spiritual perfection is and more importantly how to obtain it in your own life. This work also contains 'Of Interior Peace' or the path of paradise, which is omitted by other publishers. This work commences: "Your heart was created by God or this end alone, to be loved and possessed by Him. And with this love you can make it do whatever you wish, and every thing, however difficult it might be, will in this manner become easy to you; therefore you must in the first place gain a fixed and established intention in your heart, so that outward actions may flow from inward. For, although corporal penances, and all those exercises which chastise and afflict the flesh, are praiseworthy, when used with discretion, and when adapted to the particular circumstances of each person, yet, if you only use such" means as these, you will never gain a single virtue; but on the contrary vanity and the wind of vainglory; and all your labour will be lost, unless these outward exercises are animated and guided by right inward dispositions." Later on we read: "SET, then, very high value on your soul, since the Father of fathers, and Lord of lords, has created it for His own abode and temple. Esteenl it so highly, as never to suffer it to be degraded nor to incline to any other obj eel Let your desires and your hopes be ever directed towards the coming of your Lord, Who will not visit your soul unless it remains in solitude. Do not suppose, that in the pre sence of others He win open His lips, unless it be with words of reproach and abandonment. He wills that the soul shall be alone, having put aside, as far as may be, its own thoughts, its own desires, and, what is much more to the purpose, its own will. Yet you ought not to impose penances indiscreetly on yourself, nor go in quest of opportunities of suffering or the love of God, simply under the guidance of your own will; but only with the advice of your spiritual father, and of those who are over you, and who, under God, have the rule over you, for He, using them as His instruments, disposes your will to do whatever He wills, and in the way that He wills. You are not to do your own will, but to let God do in you what He wills. Let your will be always so freed from self, as to have. no desire of your own j and if you have a desire concerning any thing, desire it only in such a manner as not to feel regret, if you should be thwaned in it, but that your peace of mind may remain as undisturbed as if you had entertained no wish in the matter. This is true liberty of spirit, not to bind one's self to anything." The Supplement contains an additional about 70 pages of excellent information. A large part is devoted to the training of the will, which is essential to spiritual perfection. A chapter is devoted to overcoming the impure passion, which is a most necessary consideration in these days of rampant impurity. It closes with two rules for living in peace. This is a photographic reprint of the original from many decades ago to insure accuracy.

Author: Laurence Scupoli
ISBN-10: 1495478343
ISBN-13: 9781495478345
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Language: English
Published: 02/11/2014
Pages: 320
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.95lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.67d