Spiritual Combat By Dom Lorenzo Scupoli

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29: THE EFFORTS OF THE DEVIL TO PREVENT THE CONVERSION OF THOSE WHO,
KNOWING THE DISEASED CHARACTER OF THEIR SOULS, DESIRE TO AMEND THEIR LIVES.
THE REASON WHY THEIR GOOD INTENTIONS ARE FREQUENTLY INEFFECTUAL

THOSE WHO ARE COGNIZANT of the diseased character of their souls and desire to cure them are often deluded by the devil. He endeavors to persuade them that they have a long time to live, and consequently may safely defer their conversion. He insinuates the impression that some business affair or difficulty must be cleared up before they can devote themselves sufficiently to the spiritual life and fulfill its duties without disturbance. This snare has entangled and daily does entangle many. But its success is directly attributable to their own supine neglect of a matter in which the glory of God and their own salvation should be the only considerations.

Let persons of this type say: "Now! Now!" instead of "Tomorrow! Tomorrow!" Why tomorrow? How can I be sure of living until it comes? And even if I were, would I really be trying to save my soul if I delayed my repentance? Would it look as though I sought victory if I exposed myself to fresh wounds?

It is beyond all dispute that a willing co-operation with the graces of Heaven is the only way of escaping this delusion, together with the methods suggested in the preceding chapter. When I say "willing co-operation" I do not mean mere desires, or feeble and sterile resolutions, by which so many are deceived. The following are the reasons.

First. The foundation for such desires and resolutions is not mistrust of one's own abilities and confidence in God. The result is that a soul, inflated with secret pride, is so blind that it takes for solid virtue what is a mere illusion. The remedy for this evil, and the acumen necessary to recognize it, must be obtained from Heaven which permits us to fall. This is done that our eyes may be opened by sad experience, that we may reassign the confidence we had in ourselves to Divine grace, and that we may exchange an almost imperceptible pride for an humble knowledge of our own weakness. Good resolutions will never be effectual unless they are firm and steady, and they will never be firm and steady unless they are founded on a mistrust of one's own strength and on confidence in God.

Second. When we make a good resolution, we merely consider the beauty and excellence of virtue, which attracts even the most vapid minds, but we never consider the difficulties of attaining it. Consequently, cowardly souls are dismayed at the first sign of trouble and they hurriedly abandon their project. For this reason, it would be better for you to consider the difficulties which occur in acquiring virtue, rather than the virtues themselves, and to prepare yourself accordingly. You may rest assured that the greater courage you show in conquering yourself or defeating your enemies, the sooner will your difficulties diminish, and they will gradually vanish.

Third. We are too concerned with our personal advantage, rather than with virtue and adherence to the will of God. This frequently happens when we are comforted by the consolations we receive in a time of affliction. Finding that the comforts of the world have escaped us, we resolve to dedicate ourselves to God's service.

To be free of this charge, let us be careful not to misuse the grace of God. Let us be humble and prudent in forming good resolutions. Let us not seek extraordinary favors through rash promises which are beyond our capacities to fulfill.

If we are burdened with affliction, let us merely ask to carry our Cross as we should, since it comes from God. Let this be our glory, and we shall seek no alleviation from earth, or heaven itself. Let us ask, let us implore only that God may strengthen us in our trial, and that we may patiently undergo the trials He sees fit to send.

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30: CONCERNING THE DELUSIONS OF SOME WHO CONSIDER THEMSELVES ON THE WAY TO PERFECTION

THE FRUSTRATION of the enemy in his first and second attacks will not discourage him from trying again to bring about your ruin. He would have you unconscious of your actual vices and passions, filling your imagination with visions of a chimerical perfection which he knows you will never attain.

Because of this subtle deception, we receive frequent and dangerous setbacks without giving much thought to means of countering them. Secret pride has seized upon these fanciful desires, mistaking the dream for the reality, and we rest in exalted notions of our own sanctity. Therefore, at the very time when the least contradiction or affront upsets us, we amuse ourselves with grandiose dreams of being ready to suffer the greatest torments or the pains of Purgatory itself for the love of God.

Our deception consists in the tendency of our sensitive nature [serenely comfortable when sufferings are at a distance], boldly to compare itself with those stalwart souls who bear the greatest pains with unwearied patience. To avoid such a snare, we must fight the enemies at hand in a world of reality, rather than achieve meaningless victories in a selfcreated world of fancy. Then we shall see if our resolutions are cowardly or courageous, imaginary or real, and thus advance to perfection in the footsteps of the Saints.

We need not concern ourselves with those enemies who rarely molest us, unless we have reason to expect an attack from them, in which case we must be fortified with the soldier's resolve to conquer.

But let us not mistake resolutions for victories, even though we have made considerable progress in acts of virtue. True humility should accompany us with the ever-present memory of our weakness, bidding us put our confidence in God alone. Let us beseech Him to be our strength in the battle, our shield in danger, and our protection against presumption and confidence in our own abilities.

This is our path to greatness and perfection, a path along which we may find many difficulties for our frail natures that we may thereby be humbled and preserve the little reward our good work has already merited.

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31: CONCERNING THE ARTIFICES EMPLOYED BY THE DEVIL TO MAKE US FORSAKE THE VIRTUOUS LIFE

THE FOURTH ARTIFICE which the devil employs on those who are advancing in the way of perfection is to fill them with ill-timed resolutions which in different circumstances would be quite commendable, but in the existing condition only engender vicious habits.

For example: a sick person bears his illness with such resignation that the enemy fears he will acquire habitual patience, and suggests to the victim the many creditable works he might do were he in a state of health. The victim is persuaded that his would be a service to God, humanity, and to his own soul were he physically well, and soon the enemy contrives to make him desirous of health and uneasy under his burden. The more earnest the wish, the greater the disappointment, and patience at length gives way to impatience
under a burden that is viewed as hindering the accomplishment of works most acceptable to God.

Once the enemy has gained his point, the grand designs vanish gradually, and the patient is left with a gnawing dissatisfaction, and all the attendant evils arising from an impatient desire to cast off a yoke. Thus, what once promised to be a source of habitual virtue has become a source of a lamentable vice.

Such a delusion can be dispelled by exercising caution in the formation of pious designs incompatible with the state of suffering with which you are visited. For here ambition overreaches itself and leaves only anxiety and vexation.

Be mindful, in humility and resignation, that all of the benevolent aims you now have may not be carried out for want of courage once God has made you equal to their execution. At least you must consider the possibility of God's denying you the satisfaction of doing a good work, either by a hidden disposition of Divine Providence, or as an atonement for past offenses; perhaps in His wisdom, He wishes to see your human will attuned to His Divine will, and see you humbled in spirit before omnipotence itself.

Show the same resignation when, either under the direction of your confessor, or for some other reason, you are obliged to refrain for a time from Holy Communion. Rather than be disturbed by this loss, you should say within your heart: "Were I not guilty of some failing or shortcoming before the Lord I would not be thus deprived of receiving Him; blessed be the name of Him Who has revealed to me my true unworthiness. I know, O Lord, that in all the trials of my life I need do nothing but bear them patiently in the hope of pleasing Thee, offering to Thee a heart conformable to Thy holy will. I know that in giving my heart to Thee it will be nourished in Divine consolation and fortified from the ever-threatening powers of Hell. O Creator and Redeemer! Do with me as thou wilt--- --may Thy will be my strength, now and forever! All I ask is a cleansed and virtuous soul, worthy of receiving Thee, and desirous of executing Thy every wish!"

Those who assiduously follow these counsels may be assured that, although they undertake a work of piety far beyond their capacities, they will nevertheless advance in the way of salvation and in the way of serving God in the most acceptable manner. This is true devotion. Even though the motivation in this case be a device of the devil to breed repugnance for virtue, or inspired by heaven to test obedience, it still can prove ultimately beneficial to the soul.

We must exercise considerable caution, however, in employing certain means utilized by the saints for eliminating troublesome infirmities, as we are often too eager for the success of these measures. Again, we must be utterly resigned, proposing nothing to ourselves but the holy will of God. For who of us can read in the mind of God His solution to our individual problems? If you rashly presume to improve on the Divine plan, you will be the sufferer. For impatience will follow your consequent disappointment, and even if you do not actually manifest impatience, you have already lost that resignation that renders your acts meritorious in the sight of God.

One cannot overlook at this point, a secret artifice of self-love which adroitly camouflages, as it were, even the most blatant imperfections. A sick person, for instance, believes that his impatience springs from a just cause; that is, rather than impatience properly speaking, his uneasiness is to him a commendable regret for his faults which incurred the punishment of illness, or a just regret for the inconvenience he causes those who tend him.

The ambitious man who laments his failure to obtain a cherished position behaves similarly. He would be shocked were one to attribute his lamentations to vanity, and he protests his commendable motive, which he well knows would influence him little in different circumstances.

Likewise the sick man who pretends so much uneasiness on account of the inconvenience caused those who tend him is no sooner well than he loses his solicitude for the suffering of his attendants at the hands of others. Obviously his impatience is not a glowing tribute to his sympathy for others, but rather an actual indictment of his love for himself.

And thus we advert again to the patient acceptance of the crosses of life which like a thread must be woven into the fabric of our spiritual lives.

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32: THE LAST ARTIFICE OF THE DEVIL IN MAKING EVEN THE PRACTICE OF VIRTUE AN OCCASION OF SIN

THE EVIL ONE even uses virtue to tempt us to sin, inflating our egos with exaggerated self-esteem and complacency to the point where we succumb to vainglory. Thus we must be ceaselessly vigilant, cognizant of our own nothingness, our sinfulness, our appalling inadequacy, and ever mindful that we deserve nothing but eternal perdition. Let this remembrance be to us as a sword with which we defend ourselves from the insidious attacks of presumption and vanity; and let us fight with the vigor of a man struggling for his very life.

If, however, we desire a more perfect self-knowledge, let us distinguish between what we owe to the grace of God, and what we have merited our. selves. Let us recall the benevolence of God in endowing us with being, the mercy of God which sustains us, and the power of God which constantly preserves us. Unquestionably, therefore, those things which we truly merit of our own power are scarcely worthy of self-esteem, let alone the esteem of others. For our glories can be traced to heaven, but our sinfulness can be traced to ourselves.

Were we actually to compute the nature, number, and frequency of our offenses-----let alone the possible commission of faults prevented by the grace of God-----we would find that cumulatively our vices are innumerable and our guilt equal to that of devils. Such considerations ought daily to bring to us the increasing realization of our own lowliness, and the gratitude we owe to Divine goodness.

We must also be cautious to avoid vainglory, adhering strictly to the facts in self-scrutiny and self-judgment. For, although we are conscious of our wretchedness, if we wish the world to look upon us as Saints, we deserve a criminal's punishment.

In order that you may be fortified against vainglory and rendered pleasing to Him Who is humility itself, it does not suffice that you have a lowly opinion of yourself, thinking yourself unworthy of good but deserving evil. Rather you must be willing to be despised, loath to accept praise, and eager to accept contempt, being certain, however, that true humility and not a stubborn haughtiness be your real motive. For subtle arrogance masquerades as Christian courage, despising the wisdom of the world and its judgment.

If anyone should show affection for you or commend your God-given qualifications, you must immediately be mindful of truth and justice, saying in your heart with all sincerity: "May I never, O Lord, attempt to rob Thee of Thy glory by attributing to myself that which is entirely owing to Thy holy grace! May honor and praise be Thine; may shame and confusion be mine!"

Regarding him who has praised you, be careful to scrutinize his motives, wondering what perfection he can discern in you. For God alone is good, and His works alone are laudable. Why indeed should man attempt to rest in a stolen glory?

Similarly, if you are lulled into a vain complacency by the remembrance of a good work, remember it was the grace of God in you bringing good out of your worthlessness. God alone is the author; God alone is deserving of praise.

Next consider, not the objective accomplishment of a good work, but the proportion between the grace given to perform that task and the result. Perhaps besides the innate deficiencies of the seemingly good work, a lack of fervor and deficiencies of intention and diligence further vitiate the act itself. Rather than bask in self-adulation, you should be grieved at your inadequate use of so much grace.

If you would compare your action to the saints, you would blush at the difference; if you compare your actions to the sublime immolation on Calvary's hill, they fade into utter insignificance. For Christ's life was a cross, the constant sacrifice of infinite dignity to human indignities, and the offering of purest love for those who gave Him naught but hate.

Lastly, if you raise your eyes to Heaven and contemplate the majesty of God, then your puny deeds should make you ever fearful rather than proud, and make you utter in your heart with profound humility: "Lord, be merciful to me a sinner."

Be not prone to publish the favors received from God, as this is generally displeasing to Him, as might be seen from the following example. Appearing one day to a great Saint in the guise of an infant, Christ was asked to recite the Hail Mary, and immediately started it. But having said "Blessed art thou amongst women" He was reluctant to sound His own praises, and when persuaded to do so, He disappeared. The devout soul, replenished with consolation, forever treasured this Divine example of the importance of humility.

We must constantly endeavor, moreover, to humble ourselves in all of our actions which are but representations to the world of our nothingness. For in this humility is found the basis of innumerable other virtues. Just as God created our first parents out of nothing, so He continues to build our spiritual lives on our realization of the truth that we are nothing. Therefore the lower we humble ourselves, the higher the edifice rises; and in proportion to our progression into the depths of humility does the sovereign architect erect the structure to the heights of holiness. We can never too strongly emphasize this quest for self-abasement. O Heavenly knowledge which gladdens us now and glorifies us hereafter! O admirable light piercing the darkness to enlighten our souls and raise our hearts to God! O precious but unknown jewel which gleams through the shadows of our sins!

This is an inexhaustible subject which could be developed to endless length. Whoever desires to honor the Divine Majesty must rid himself of self-esteem and the desire of the esteem of others. Humble yourself before everyone, casting yourself at the feet of mankind if you sincerely wish God to be glorified in you and you in Him. To unite yourself with Him you must flee all grandeur, as He flees from those who constantly extol themselves. Choose the lowest place if you would have Him step down from the highest to embrace you with greater love. Choose the neglect of men that you may have the love of God.

Always render due thanks to Him, Who came to be despised on earth that you may be loved in heaven. Your thanks must go also to them who persecute you and are hostile to you, and you must be careful not to complain against them. But if, despite all of these considerations, through the malice of Satan, lack of selfknowledge, or a propensity to arrogance, you are inflated with a supposed superiority, you must humble yourself the more as it is indicative of the little progress you have actually made, and the difficulty of overcoming the habit of pride. For humility will take the sting from the bite, change the poison to antidote, the evil into its proper remedy.

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33: SOME IMPORTANT INSTRUCTIONS FOR THOSE WHO WISH TO MORTIFY THEIR PASSIONS AND ATTAIN THE NECESSARY VIRTUES

ALTHOUGH THE METHOD of subduing passions and acquiring the necessary virtues has already been treated at some length, there yet remains several instructions equal in importance to those already given.

1. If you desire to attain solid virtue and complete mastery over self, dividing the exercise of different virtues so as to assign particular virtues to particular days is to be avoided, resulting as it does in a state of perpetual vicissitude. The method that should be adopted seeks to root out the most predominant passions, striving the while to cultivate to an eminent degree the contrary virtue. For being once possessed of so essential a virtue, the rest may be acquired with less difficulty, as but few acts will be required for that end. And indeed so integral is the connection of one virtue with another, that whoever possesses one in its entirety, possesses all.


2. You must never set a definite time for the acquisition of anyone virtue, specifying so many days, weeks, or years; rather like a vigorous soldier combating an unseen enemy, you must fight without ceasing until by a complete victory, the way to perfection is won. Every moment should be an advance on the way to Heaven, and everyone who stops, rather than gaining breath and rest, loses both ground and courage. The advice to advance
continually is meant to safeguard you from imagining you have reached the height of perfections, to encourage you to seize every opportunity to exercise new acts of virtue, and to preserve to the highest degree, a horror for sin.

In order that this may be accomplished, every duty must be performed with the greatest fervor and exactness, and you must on all occasions be habituated to the practice of every virtue. Embrace, therefore, any opportunity of advancing towards perfection and sanctity, especially such as are difficult; for such efforts are most effective in forming virtuous habits in the soul within a short time. And love those who furnish you with such opportunities, exercising caution at the same time as regards that which may be in the least prejudicial to chastity.


3. Considerable prudence and moderation are to be practiced in regard to the exercise of certain virtue which may prove deleterious to health. Such are severe discipline, hair shirts, fasting, long meditations and similar indiscreet penitential works. Rather than to be pursued too eagerly, the practice of exterior virtues must be a step by step process. On the other hand, the interior virtues such as the love of God, a hatred of the world, selfcontempt, contrition for sin, mildness and patience, charity for enemies, know no bounds
and should be practiced in the most eminent degree.


4. Let the culmination of all your plans and endeavors be the submission of the passion with which you are engaged, regarding such a victory as of the greatest consequence to you and the most acceptable to God. Eating or fasting, working or resting, at home or abroad, contemplative or active, let your aim be the conquest of that predominant passion and the acquisition of the contrary virtue.


5. Shun the luxuries and pleasures of life and the attacks of vice will be enfeebled, their force being drawn from the love of pleasure. But if you indulge in one sensual satisfaction while shunning another, if your war is against but one vice, be assured that although your wounds may not be grievous, the encounter will be sharp and the victory doubtful.

Keep, therefore, the words of Holy Scripture before your eyes: "He who loves his life, loses it; and he who hates his life in this world, keeps it unto life everlasting" [John 12, 25]. "Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, that we should live according to the flesh, for if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the flesh, you will live" [Rom. 8, 12].


6. I conclude with a parting admonition to make what, if not necessary, is most salutary, viz., a general confession, with the requisite dispositions, that you may secure a perfect reconciliation with God, the Source of all graces, the Giver of victories, and the Dispenser of crowns.

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34: 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. It must be seen then, that besides the methods we have advocated with regard to exterior exercises, interior virtues too cannot be acquired but by degrees. For the foundations of a solid and
lasting piety must be laid painstakingly, after which in a short time we may expect to make considerable progress.

For example, you must not attempt to acquire patience by immediately seeking crosses in which to delight; rather seek first the lowest degrees of this great virtue. Similarly, do not aim at all sorts of virtue-----nor even many-----simultaneously, but cultivate one firmly, then another, if you wish such habits to take deep root in your soul with greater facility.

For in the acquisition of a particular virtue, and in the focusing of thought upon its cultivation, the memory will be exercised more in this one line of endeavor; your understanding, enlightened by divine assistance, will find new means and stronger motives for attaining it, and the will itself will be invigorated with fresh ardor in the pursuit. Such concentrated power of action is not possible when the three faculties are divided, as it were, by different objects.

Also, the acts necessary for the formation of the virtuous habit, mutually assisting each other to the same end, will be attended with much less difficulty as the latter acts make a deep impression on the heart, already suitably predisposed by the former ones.

The cogency of these reasons will appeal to you more forcibly if you reflect that anyone strenuously engaged in the pursuit of anyone virtue, unconsciously advances in the practice of the rest. Moreover, the attainment of anyone to an eminent degree inevitably introduces a great perfection to the others as they are, like the rays of the sun, almost inseparably united.

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35: THE MOST PROFITABLE MEANS OF ACQUIRING VIRTUE, AND THE MANNER IN WHICH WE

APPLY OURSELVES TO A PARTICULAR VIRTUE FOR A TIME

TO THE PREVIOUS ADMONITIONS, I must add, that in order to attain solid piety, dauntless courage and a resolute will are absolutely indispensable where innumerable difficulties and contradictions are to be encountered. Also necessary is a particular fondness for the virtue, which arises from the frequent reflection that it pleases God, is admirable in itself, and is important to man. Furthermore, it is in virtue that all Christian perfection begins and ends.

It will be most important to resolve every morning upon a strict compliance to the virtue's dictates throughout the day, frequently examining how such resolutions have been put in practice. This formula is directed to the cultivation of that virtue which is the object of our immediate pursuit, and of which we are most in need. To this virtue must be referred all reflections drawn from the examples of the Saints, and our meditations on the life and death of our Savior, which will be of infinite service in this spiritual warfare. Let us accustom ourselves to the practice of both exterior and interior virtues that we may find the same ease and satisfaction in virtue that we find in obeying the tendencies of our corrupt nature. The acts most contrary to these corrupt tendencies are the most conducive to the establishment of habitual virtue in our souls.

Certain portions of Sacred Scripture, attentively pronounced or reverently considered, are similarly of great efficacy. Consequently, we should be familiar with those texts corresponding to the virtue in question, and employ them frequently, particularly when beset by the predominant opposite passion.

Those, for instance, who strive to attain mildness and patience may repeat these or similar passages:

• "Bear patiently the wrath of God which comes upon you in punishment for your sins." Baruch 4: 25.
  
  
• "The patience of the poor shall not perish, or be deprived of its reward." Psalms 9: 19.
  
  
• "The patient man is better than the valiant; and he that ruleth his spirit, than he that taketh cities." Proverbs 16: 32.
  
  
• "By your patience you will win your souls." Luke 21: 19.
  
  
• "With patience run to the fight set before us." Hebrews 12: 1.
  

These or similar aspirations may be used. O My God, when shall I be armed with patience as a shield against the weapons of my enemy? When shall I so love Thee as to receive with joy all the afflictions Thou shalt be pleased to send? O life of my soul, shall I never begin to live for Thy glory alone, perfectly resigned to all sufferings? O how happy should I be, if in the fiery trial of tribulation, I burn with a desire of being consumed for Thy service.

Let such prayers be offered frequently, as our devotion suggests, and our progress in virtue requires. They are called ejaculations, which like darts of fire directed to Heaven, lift our hearts heavenwards to the divine Goodness, when accompanied by two qualities which serve as wings: the one quality, a conviction of the delight God takes in seeing us labor for the cultivation of virtues; the other, an earnest desire of excelling in all virtue, for the sole motive of pleasing Him.

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36: THE PRACTICE OF VIRTUE REQUIRES CONSTANT APPLICATION

OF ALL THE THINGS conducive to the attainment of our present goal, viz., the acquisition of Christian virtues, the earnest desire of continual advancement is of the utmost importance, as the least pause retards us.

The moment we cease forming acts of virtue, our inclinations, naturally prone to ease and pleasures of the senses, raise in us disordered appetites which overthrow or at least weaken our virtuous habits. This is to say nothing of the loss, through such neglect, of countless graces which we might have merited by a constant application to our spiritual advancement.

This is the difference between a journey on earth, and that which leads to Heaven. For in the former, not only may we stop without fear of going backward, but rest is necessary that we may sustain our strength to the journey's end; however, in the latter journey which leads to perfection, our growth in strength is proportionate to our advance, inasmuch as the inferior appetites which throw all possible obstacles in our path to heaven, grow gradually weaker while our good inclinations acquire new strength.

Thus as we advance in piety, our early difficulties fade into the background, and a certain delight, with which God sweetens the bitterness of in this life, increases in our souls. Going cheerfully on from virtue to virtue, we finally reach the summit of the mountain, the summit of perfection, that happy state wherein the soul practices virtue, not only without revulsion, but with an effortless ease and ineffable pleasure. For triumphant over her passions, the world, and herself, she lives in God, and through Him, enjoys a peaceful serenity amid her continual labors.

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37: CONCERNING THE NECESSITY OF SEIZING EAGERLY ALL OPPORTUNITIES OF PRACTICING VIRTUE
SINCE OUR PROGRESS MUST BE CONSTANT

WE HAVE ALREADY shown that the journey to perfection must be marked with continual advancement. Be vigilant, therefore, that you overlook no opportunity of acquiring a virtue, and sedulously guard yourself against the common fault of avoiding what is contrary to the inordinate affections of our nature, since it is by combating them that we rise to heroic virtues.

Using the same example to illustrate the acquisition of the virtue of patience, never avoid the persons, the business, not even the thoughts which to you have been the sources of much impatience. Rather accustom yourself to the person you find most disagreeable, and to the task you find most irksome, for there is no other way of acquiring habitual patience.

If any employment, by its very nature, its author, or its contrariety to your inclinations, is the source of personal discomfort, be sure not to give it up on any of these accounts; show your courage, not only in cheerfully accepting the situation, but in persevering in it despite the vexations that arise and the satisfaction you would derive in quitting it.

The same may be said of thoughts which are particularly irksome. No advantage is derived in being entirely freed from them, for the uneasiness they create will gradually inure you to bear the most vexing problems. Be sure, therefore, that whoever teaches you a contrary method, shows you indeed how to avoid the trouble you dread, but not how to attain the virtue you desire.

An inexperienced soldier who wants seasoning must be very discreet and cautious, suiting offensive and defensive tactics to the particular dispositions of his strength and courage; but he must never think of turning his back or quitting the fight by shunning every occasion of trouble and vexation. Such behavior may indeed remove the immediate occasion of impatience, but will leave you more vulnerable than ever to assault, for want of habitual patience.

What has been here discussed does not pertain to the vice of impurity, which, as has been observed, can only be subdued by flight.

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38: THE NECESSITY OF ESTEEMING ALL OPPORTUNITIES OF FIGHTING FOR THE ACQUISITION OF VIRTUES
ESPECIALLY THOSE VIRTUES WHICH PRESENT THE GREATEST DIFFICULTIES

WE MUST NOT content ourselves with being passively receptive to opportunities of acquiring virtue; rather we must actively seek them, embracing them with alacrity when found, and delight in those opportunities that bring the most mortification as they are the most advantageous. Nothing will appear difficult to us, with the assistance of Heaven, if we imprint deep in our hearts the following considerations. The first is that opportunities actively sought are the proper, if not necessary means for acquiring virtue.

Consequently, as often as we beg from God any particular virtue, we simultaneously ask for those means which He appoints for its acquisition. Otherwise our prayer would be fruitless and contradictory; it would be tempting God, Who never bestows patience but through tribulation, nor humility but through ignominy. The same may be said of all other virtues which are the fruits of those trials God wills to send us, and which we ought to cherish in proportion to their severity, as the violence we use in disciplining ourselves is of singular efficacy in forming habitual virtues in our souls. Let us, therefore, be careful to mortify the will, if only in the repression of a curious glance or careless word. For although greater victories are more honorable, lesser victories are more frequent.

The second consideration, to which we have already adverted, is that we may derive advantage from all things inasmuch as they all are within the Providence of God. Indeed, properly speaking, things, such as the sins of men, cannot be said to happen by the wish of Him Who abhors iniquity; nevertheless, it is in some sense true, since He Who has the power to prevent, permits them.

As regards our own afflictions, whether they befall us through the fault of enemy or self, they are, nevertheless, in God's design, however displeasing the immediate cause may be, God expects us to bear them with patience, either because they are the means of our sanctification, or for reasons unknown to us.

If we are convinced, then, that perfect compliance with His holy will involves patient acceptance of those evils which the malice of others or our own sins draw upon us, how wrong, then, must they be, who, to camouflage their own impatience, assert that an infinitely just God can never be associated with that which proceeds from an evil cause.

It is obvious that their only aim is to preserve personal serenity, and persuade the world of their privilege to reject the crosses God is pleased to send. This, however, is not all; if the thing were indifferent on other accounts, yet the delight God takes in seeing our patient acceptance of injurious treatment-----particularly from those under obligation to us-----would be ample justification in itself for our practice of the virtue.

The first reason is that our innate pride is more effectively curbed by the ill-usage of others, than by any voluntary, self-imposed mortifications. Secondly, in suffering patiently such situations, we conform to the requirements of God, contributing to His glory; and we attune our wills to His in circumstances in which His goodness and power are equally made manifest. Hence from so vile a thing as sin, we gather the excellent fruits of virtue and sanctity.

Know then, that God no sooner finds us resolved to attain solid virtue than He sends us trials of the severest kind. Convinced of His immense love for us and His fatherly solicitude for our spiritual advancement, we ought with gratitude to drink to the dregs of the chalice that He is pleased to offer us, confident that its beneficial character will be in proportion to its bitterness.