In chapters 27–32 of the spiritual classic The Spiritual Combat, Lorenzo Scupoli outlines the various strategies used by the devil to hinder souls at different stages of the spiritual life.
The devil’s primary weapon against souls in mortal sin is blindness. St. Gregory the Great warns that “the crafty foe first blinds the minds of those whom he succeeds in casting down, lest they should see the light of truth.”
The devil keeps sinners in serious sin from thinking—from any penetrating awareness of their true state. He floods them with distractions and new occasions of sin so that blindness deepens with each sin, creating a vicious cycle that can only be broken by God’s grace.
Scupoli insists that the remedy for this bondage is immediate action. The sinner must cry out to God for help, seek spiritual counsel without hesitation, and turn to Christ crucified in urgent prayer.
For those who recognize their sinfulness and desire to change, the devil employs a different tactic: procrastination. He cries like a raven: “Tomorrow, tomorrow.” People say, “When I have finished this business, when this trouble passes, then I will serve God more peacefully.” Yet salvation is not a side project to be scheduled; it is the one necessary thing.
Scupoli warns that resolutions to change often fail for three critical reasons. First, they are rooted in self-trust rather than reliance on God. Second, resolutions fail when they focus on the beauty and consolation of virtue rather than the cross that accompanies it. We are drawn by romantic visions of holiness but shrink from the daily sacrifices required. Third, resolutions often spring from self-seeking rather than pure love of God and submission to his will.
The remedy is clear: our resolves must be firmly founded on distrust of self and trust in God alone. We must learn to love the difficulties that accompany virtue, for they strengthen the will and prove our commitment genuine.
Once the soul begins to make progress, a subtle new danger emerges: spiritual delusion. The devil distracts us with grand aspirations for future heroism while we neglect present duties and cannot bear small daily annoyances.
St. John Climacus exposes this self-deception: “Do not trust in your imagination, saying to yourself, ‘I can easily endure torture for Christ,’ when you cannot even bear a slighting word from your neighbour.”
Such souls dream of martyrdom but cannot accept criticism. They imagine bearing great sufferings for God while complaining about minor inconveniences. Thomas à Kempis warns: “What do proud imaginations avail you? The humble knowledge of yourself is a surer way to God than the deepest search after science.” St. Isaac the Syrian said, “He who senses his sins is greater than he who raises the dead with his prayer.”
As the soul grows stronger, the devil becomes more cunning, tempting through apparently holy desires. A sick person, for instance, may become restless thinking of all the good works he could do if only he were healthy. This seemingly pious desire breeds impatience with God’s providence and eventually rebellion against his will.
St. Francis de Sales addresses this directly: “We must not desire health in order to serve God, but accept sickness to serve him; we must not desire life to praise him, but accept death to glorify him.”
The remedy is patient acceptance of one’s present state, recognizing that obedience and patience in trial please God more than the grand but unrealized works we imagine.
Finally, the devil attacks even those who have acquired genuine virtues, turning their very goodness into an occasion for pride and vainglory. Here the devil whispers not “sin,” but “you are holy.” He presses the soul to look at its prayer, fasting, charity, or successes and to savour them as its own.
Scupoli’s remedy is meditating continually on one’s own nothingness. Apart from God’s grace, we are nothing, know nothing, can do nothing, and deserve nothing but eternal damnation. St. Paul asks the essential question: “What have you that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift?” (1 Corinthians 4:7).
St. Anthony the Great saw all the snares of the enemy spread out over the whole earth, and groaning he said, “What can get through from such snares?” Then he heard a voice saying to him, “Humility.”
The deeper we dig into the earth of our nothingness, the loftier God can build the edifice of holiness in us.
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魔鬼的策略 – 以及謙遜的勝利
在神修經典「神修戰鬥」第27至32章中，斯庫波里神父（Lorenzo Scupoli）概述了魔鬼在神修生活不同階段中阻撓靈魂的各種策略。
魔鬼對處於大罪中的靈魂所使用的首要武器是盲目。聖額我略一世（St. Gregory the Great）警告說：「狡猾的仇敵首先蒙蔽那些被他拉下的人，使他們看不見真理之光。」
魔鬼讓陷於重罪的人 不去思考 – 不去深刻意識自己的真實處境。以無數分心與新的誘惑淹沒罪人，使人盲目隨著每一次犯罪而加深，形成一個惡性循環，唯有天主的恩寵才能打破。
斯庫波里神父強調，擺脫這種束縛的補藥就是立刻行動。罪人必須向天主呼求援助，毫不遲疑地尋求神修指導，並以迫切的祈禱轉向被釘十字架的基督。
對於那些已意識到自己的罪並渴望改變的人，魔鬼採用另一種策略：拖延。像烏鴉般叫喊：「明天，明天。」人們說：「等我把這件事處理完，等這個困難過去，我就能更平安地事奉天主。」然而，救恩不是可以排程的副業，而是唯一必要的事。
斯庫波里神父指出，立志改變之所以常常失敗，有三個關鍵原因。第一，這些決心往往根植於自恃，而非依靠天主。第二是因為人只看見德行的美麗與安慰，卻忽略伴隨而來的十字架。我們被聖德的浪漫形象吸引，卻委縮於每日必須的犧牲。第三，許多決心其實源於尋找自我，而非出於對天主的純愛與順服祂的旨意。
補救方法十分明確：我們的決心必須堅定地建立在不信任自己、只信靠天主的基礎上。我們必須學習愛上德行所帶來的困難，因為困難強化意志，證明我們的承諾是真實的。
當靈魂開始進步時，一種更微妙的危險出現了：自想修成全德的幻想。魔鬼以未來的英雄壯舉分散我們，使我們忽略當下的責任，甚至連日常的小煩惱都無法忍受。聖若望克利馬古（St. John Climacus）揭露這種自欺：「不要相信你的幻想，對自己說：『我能輕易為基督忍受酷刑』，但卻連鄰人一句輕視的話都受不了。」
這樣的靈魂夢想殉道，卻不能接受批評；想像為天主承受大苦，卻對小小不便抱怨不已。多默肯皮斯（Thomas à Kempis）警告說：「驕傲的幻想有何益處？謙卑地認識自己，比最深的學問更能引領你到天主。」敘利亞人聖依撒格（St. Isaac the Syrian）說：「能感覺自己罪過的人，比以祈禱使死人復活的人更偉大。」
當靈魂更堅強時，魔鬼變得更狡猾，以看似聖善的渴望來誘惑。例如，一個病人可能因想到若自己健康便能做多少善工而焦躁不安。這看似虔誠的渴望，卻滋生對天主安排的不耐，最終導向對祂旨意的反叛。
聖方濟沙雷（St. Francis de Sales）直接指出：「我們不應渴望健康來事奉天主，而應接受疾病來事奉祂；我們不應渴望生命來讚美祂，而應接受死亡來光榮祂。」
補救方法是耐心地接受當下的處境，因為在試煉中順服與忍耐，比我們幻想卻從未實現的宏大善工，更令天主喜悅。
最後，魔鬼甚至攻擊那些已獲得真正德行的人，將他們的善行變成驕傲與虛榮的機會。在這裡，魔鬼不再提及「犯罪」，而是說：「你很神聖。」魔鬼催促靈魂注視自己的祈禱、齋戒、慈善或成功，並把這些當作自己的功勞來品味。
斯庫波里神父的提供的補救方法是：不斷默想自己的虛無。離開天主的恩寵，我們一無所有、一無所知、一無所能，只配得永罰。聖保祿提出關鍵問題：「你有什麼不是領受的呢？既然是領受的，為什麼你還誇耀，好像不是領受的呢？」（格前 4:7）
大聖安東尼（St. Anthony the Great）曾看見魔鬼的羅網遍布全地，他呻吟著說：「誰能從這些羅網中逃脫？」然後他聽到一個聲音回答：「謙遜。」
我們越深入挖掘自身虛無的泥土，天主便能在我們內建造越高的聖德殿宇。
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