Man’s life on earth, from the moment our eyes open to this world until they close after the last combat, has always been and will always be, whether we like it or not, a constant struggle. And the reason for this struggle is the one hostility established by God: “I will put enmities between thee and the Woman, and thy seed and her seed: She shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel” (Gn 3:15 [DR]).
If we want to number among the glorious victors – the soldiers and children of the Blessed Virgin, whose victory is already sealed by God – we need to persevere valiantly and daily face a fierce battle, which is fought above all within us. As for the cowards, children of the Serpent, “their lot shall be in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur” (Rv 21:8).
In conventional combat, many factors come into play which determine the final result, such as: diplomacy, training, logistics, strategy, weather conditions and geographical features… It is an enormous and complex coordination of factors, the success of which requires experience and insight.
Now, many of the laws of war also apply to our spiritual struggle because, in its abstract sense, the fundamental strategy is the same. It can therefore be enlightening and instructive for us to consider some military maxims in this light.
The art of spiritual warfare
In the work entitled The Art of War, the prominent Chinese strategist and literary scholar Sun Tzu bequeathed us this sentence: “If you know your opponent and know yourself, your victory will never stand in doubt.”1 Transposing this teaching to the spiritual field, a clear instruction about the devil’s seductions and the usual weaknesses of human nature can be an excellent strategy for maintaining ourselves in a state of grace.
Clausewitz also says that “war is thus an act of force to compel our enemy to do our will.”2 In the battle of the interior life, our worst enemy is the law of the flesh, which fights in us against the law of the spirit (cf. Rom 14:23); and all our success consists in the will of the spirit fighting against that of the flesh and forcing it to do the former’s will.
Establishing various parallels of this kind, the Fathers and Doctors of the Church have passed on valuable teachings to us over the centuries. The great St. Francis de Sales carried with him for decades a book that helped him understand the art of supernatural warfare. It was the manual Spiritual Combat, by the Theatine priest Lorenzo Scupoli. He recommended it emphatically to all those who came to him for direction, assuring them that by this means they would obtain true peace and thereby confirm the old Roman adage: “Si vis pacem, para bellum – If you desire peace, prepare for war.”
One of the best teachings in this work, which the saintly Bishop of Geneva adopted as a lifelong resolution, is what we know today as a preparatory examen, a strategy that seems to be based on a principle of universal wisdom clearly discerned even by pagan peoples, as can be seen in the rule preached to samurai in Japan in the past: “First conquer, then fight.”3
This expression highlights the fundamental importance of preparing for the fight, which can best be understood by exercising the imagination.
Leading an army wisely…
Let us imagine, then, that we have been tasked with leading a war, preferably in a time before our own, when battlefields were still adorned with the splendours of heraldry, glittering swords and unfurled standards – above all, when honour still existed. We are at the dawn of a decisive battle and we can already see the enemy troops in the distance.
Let us suppose that we have wisely prepared ourselves well in advance for the moment of confrontation. We have tried to gain a good knowledge of the adversary, studying their tactics, their weaknesses and strengths, until being able to predict all their movements. By also knowing ourselves, our own limitations and weaknesses, we have striven to equip our army with the best weapons and ammunition, without ever forgetting to use diplomacy to bring friends and allies into action.
With attentive eyes and ears, we roam the battlefield, on the alert for any enemy movement; and once the sun is shining, we advance, full of energy, courage and love for the ideal we are defending! So what are the probabilities of our being defeated? Undoubtedly they exist, but how much lesser they are than if we had not prepared ourselves!
How do we apply this preventive principle to our spiritual life?
…and our soul towards victory
How many spiritual battles would we have won if, at the beginning of the day, we had taken an attitude of vigilance towards ourselves?
Much has been made of the importance of the daily examination of conscience, which in the military sphere would be equivalent to taking stock after battle: counting the dead and wounded, evaluating the ground conquered or lost, analysing the mistakes made, and making the relevant logistical arrangements for lost or damaged equipment. Undoubtedly, this is something essential. But how many battles would we have won and how many losses would we have avoided if we had been vigilant at the start of the day?
Father Lorenzo Scupoli explains very well how this readiness is to be attained: “Having diligently examined your heart, and searched into the different thoughts and affections which encompass it, and having discovered by what passion it is most of all possessed and governed; then against this first, direct your attack.”4
After this has been done, “As soon as you wake, the first thing to be observed by the eyes of your mind is your position in the field of battle, where you are hemmed in by enemies, and under the absolute necessity of fighting, or perishing forever. Within this view represent to yourself your enemy – the evil inclination which you have sworn to renounce, facing you on the one side, and armed so as to be able to wound and kill you; and, on the right hand, see your victorious Leader, Jesus Christ, with His most holy Mother, the Virgin Mary, and her beloved husband, Joseph, and countless hosts of Angels and saints, especially St. Michael the Archangel.”5
With these dispositions, we will have a much better chance of overcoming temptations and progressing in virtue. After all, “prevention is the best remedy,” the well-known refrain advises us. And this is the profound meaning of the samurai’s words: “First conquer, then fight.”
Some more counsels for war
Once the battle has begun, we must not forget St. Ignatius’ principle of agere contra, which consists of attacking our defects by seeking to love the opposite virtue and striving to practise it with the help of grace. So, if it is pride that cries out most furiously within us, let us admire God’s gifts in our neighbour and strive not to excuse ourselves when we suffer humiliation. We will have used a deadly weapon against this vice.
However, in order to cause confusion, the devil may sometimes attack us with temptations that are different from the ones we set out to fight throughout the day. Fr. Scupoli warns us: “If it happens that, meanwhile, you are assailed by other enemies, you must turn against the one which at the moment threatens you and most closely attacks you, and then return at once to the chief point of conflict.”6
Just as on the conventional battlefield an unexpected change can at any moment demand bold, astute and sound decisions from the general, so the soul must always be vigilant and flexible in the face of any sudden and unforeseen clash.
We can do nothing without Heaven’s help
Faced with this challenging panorama, it is natural that – conceived as we are in original sin – we should feel powerless and fearful…
Every Christian has at his disposal an inexhaustible source of courage, a wellspring that can restore all energies: prayer
However, let no one be discouraged! Every Christian has at their disposal an inexhaustible source of courage, a crystal-clear spring that restores all energy, a treasure from which they can always draw, without any merit, the graces, support and miracles they need, and that source is prayer. Without divine help, we will never succeed in winning Heaven.
If the Lord did not sustain us at every moment with superabundant graces, we would fall a thousand times into the deepest abysses of sin and be capable of committing the most execrable crimes. And we would fall all the more easily, the more confidence we had in our imaginary virtue. But if we are always aware of this reality and keep ourselves free from all presumption, we will build an impregnable bulwark on the rock of humility.
Let us never dare to enter the fray without first asking, like a battle cry, for what is sung in the Te Deum: “Dignare, Domine, die isto sine peccato nos custodire – O Lord, deign to keep us from sin this day.”
From whence Fr. Scupoli concludes: “If you are weak and inexperienced in the strife, and your enemies appear to be many and powerful, yet much more is the strength which He who made and redeemed you will give you than that which they possess; and beyond all measure and comparison is your God mightier than they, and His will for your salvation stronger than the will of your enemies for your destruction.”7
Courage, strength and resolution!
“The life of a Catholic is a perpetual struggle. If there is no struggle, it is a sign that the process of defeat has begun. […] Whoever wants to live without concern for virtue has already abandoned it and is outside of it, for the substance of virtue is this desire for struggle and for the cross,”8 our spiritual master, Dr. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira, once said.
So let us not be deserters: let us throw ourselves into the fray with strength and resolution, because the ceaseless war against our bad tendencies and vicious habits will finally bring victory! ◊
Notes
1 TZU Sun. El arte de la guerra. 2.ed. Madrid: Fundamentos, 1981, p.84.
2 CLAUSEWITZ, Carl von. On war. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1989, p.75.
3 TSUNETOMO, Yamamoto. Hagakure. Le livre du samouraï. Noisy-sur-École: Budo Éditions, 2014, p.193.
4 SCUPOLI, CR, Lorenzo. The Spiritual Combat. Mesa, Arizona: Scriptoria, 2014, p.25.
5 Idem, p.23-24.
6 Idem, p.25.
7 Idem, p.24.
8 CORRÊA DE OLIVEIRA, Plinio. Conference. São Paulo, May, 1959.
