The devil is near to people who curse.
In a hotel in St. Giovanni Rotondo it was not possible to rest neither during the day nor at night because there was a girl who was possessed and shouted for hours. Everybody was frightened of her. The child’s mother brought her every day to the church. She hoped that Padre Pio would free the child from the evil spirit. The child also shouted a lot in the church. One day, when Padre Pio had finished hearing the women’s confessions, he met the child that howled fearfully in front of him. The child was being held back with difficulty by two or three men. The Saint was annoyed by the whole uproar and kicked the child with his foot and then he struck the child’s head and he said: "Stop! Enough!"
The child fell to the ground as if she was sleeping. Padre Pio told a doctor who was standing there, to bring the child to St. Michael, in the sanctuary of Monte Sant’Angelo. When the group reached the destination, they entered the cave where Saint Michael had appeared. The child revived but nobody succeeded in bringing her near to the altar of the Angel. In the midst of the confusion, a monk took the hand of the child and touched the altar. She fell down as if she had been struck by lightening. A few minutes later she woke up and as if nothing had happened she asked her mother: "Could you buy me an ice-cream?"
At that point the group of people returned to St. Giovanni Rotondo in order to inform and to thank Padre Pio. But Padre Pio told her mother: "Say to your husband not to curse anymore, otherwise the demon will return."
#padrepio #spiritualbattle
In a hotel in St. Giovanni Rotondo it was not possible to rest neither during the day nor at night because there was a girl who was possessed and shouted for hours. Everybody was frightened of her. The child’s mother brought her every day to the church. She hoped that Padre Pio would free the child from the evil spirit. The child also shouted a lot in the church. One day, when Padre Pio had finished hearing the women’s confessions, he met the child that howled fearfully in front of him. The child was being held back with difficulty by two or three men. The Saint was annoyed by the whole uproar and kicked the child with his foot and then he struck the child’s head and he said: "Stop! Enough!"
The child fell to the ground as if she was sleeping. Padre Pio told a doctor who was standing there, to bring the child to St. Michael, in the sanctuary of Monte Sant’Angelo. When the group reached the destination, they entered the cave where Saint Michael had appeared. The child revived but nobody succeeded in bringing her near to the altar of the Angel. In the midst of the confusion, a monk took the hand of the child and touched the altar. She fell down as if she had been struck by lightening. A few minutes later she woke up and as if nothing had happened she asked her mother: "Could you buy me an ice-cream?"
At that point the group of people returned to St. Giovanni Rotondo in order to inform and to thank Padre Pio. But Padre Pio told her mother: "Say to your husband not to curse anymore, otherwise the demon will return."
#padrepio #spiritualbattle
On spiritual battle
'For it is impossible for a person to deserve to triumph over a passion before he has understood that he is not able to obtain victory in the struggle by his own diligence and his own effort, even though in order to be cleansed he must always be careful and attentive, day and night.'
St. John Cassian
'He who wishes to purify his faults purifies them with tears and he who wishes to acquire virtues, acquires them with tears.'
St. Poemen
'What? The cross make us lose our inward peace? Surely it is the cross that bestows it on our hearts. All our miseries come from our not loving it.'
St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars
#spiritualbattle #suffering
'For it is impossible for a person to deserve to triumph over a passion before he has understood that he is not able to obtain victory in the struggle by his own diligence and his own effort, even though in order to be cleansed he must always be careful and attentive, day and night.'
St. John Cassian
'He who wishes to purify his faults purifies them with tears and he who wishes to acquire virtues, acquires them with tears.'
St. Poemen
'What? The cross make us lose our inward peace? Surely it is the cross that bestows it on our hearts. All our miseries come from our not loving it.'
St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars
#spiritualbattle #suffering
Trials and temptations
• At times our suffering is self inflicted and sometimes it is not. Both however, are good and serve as a means of our sanctification and as correction. God allows it in your life to make you more like Jesus.
We are not given anything which we are not able to ovecome.
"Men are generally the carpenters of their own crosses."
St. Philip Neri
"When we accept what happens to us and make the best of it, we are praising God."
St. Teresa of Avila
“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”
1 Corinthians 10:13
"In order to raise a soul to the highest perfection, He allows it to pass through dryness, brambles, and combats causing it thereby to honour the times of weariness in the life of His Son."
St. Vincent due Paul
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.”
James 1:2-3
•God allows the suffering to transform you into the image of Christ. As moderns we have learnt to detest anything that upsets us. Is there any affliction now endured by mankind that was not endured by our fathers before us?
Do not flee from the difficulty:
“Many people try to escape temptations, only to fall more deeply. We cannot conquer simply by fleeing, but by patience and true humility we become stronger than all our enemies. The man who only shuns temptations outwardly and does not uproot them will make little progress; indeed they will quickly return, more violent than before.”
St. Thomas á Kempis
"Every tribulation which ever comes our way either is sent to be medicinal, if we will take it as such, or may become medicinal, if we will make it such, or is better than medicinal, unless we forsake it."
St. Thomas More
"It is not by sidestepping or fleeing from suffering that we are healed, but rather by our capacity of accepting it, maturing through it, and finding meaning through union with Christ, who suffered with infinite love"
Benedict XVI
Do not give up, especially when you feel discouraged:
"Fight like a good soldier, and if you sometimes fall through weakness, rise again with greater strength than before, trusting in God’s most abundant grace."
Thomas á Kempis
•God will strengthen you during your trials and reward all your efforts:
"But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
2 Corinthians 12:9-10
"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."
Isaiah 41:10
"So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me."
Acts 27:25
"If we only try to show the Dear Lord a good will and ask Him for resignation to the crosses He sends or permits to come our way, we may be sure that sooner or later they will turn out to have been just so many blessings in disguise."
Fr. Solanus Casey
"The longer the trial to which God subjects you the greater the goodness in comforting you during the time of the trial and the exaltation after the combat"
St. Padre Pio
#temptation #spiritualbattle #trials
• At times our suffering is self inflicted and sometimes it is not. Both however, are good and serve as a means of our sanctification and as correction. God allows it in your life to make you more like Jesus.
We are not given anything which we are not able to ovecome.
"Men are generally the carpenters of their own crosses."
St. Philip Neri
"When we accept what happens to us and make the best of it, we are praising God."
St. Teresa of Avila
“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”
1 Corinthians 10:13
"In order to raise a soul to the highest perfection, He allows it to pass through dryness, brambles, and combats causing it thereby to honour the times of weariness in the life of His Son."
St. Vincent due Paul
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.”
James 1:2-3
•God allows the suffering to transform you into the image of Christ. As moderns we have learnt to detest anything that upsets us. Is there any affliction now endured by mankind that was not endured by our fathers before us?
Do not flee from the difficulty:
“Many people try to escape temptations, only to fall more deeply. We cannot conquer simply by fleeing, but by patience and true humility we become stronger than all our enemies. The man who only shuns temptations outwardly and does not uproot them will make little progress; indeed they will quickly return, more violent than before.”
St. Thomas á Kempis
"Every tribulation which ever comes our way either is sent to be medicinal, if we will take it as such, or may become medicinal, if we will make it such, or is better than medicinal, unless we forsake it."
St. Thomas More
"It is not by sidestepping or fleeing from suffering that we are healed, but rather by our capacity of accepting it, maturing through it, and finding meaning through union with Christ, who suffered with infinite love"
Benedict XVI
Do not give up, especially when you feel discouraged:
"Fight like a good soldier, and if you sometimes fall through weakness, rise again with greater strength than before, trusting in God’s most abundant grace."
Thomas á Kempis
•God will strengthen you during your trials and reward all your efforts:
"But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
2 Corinthians 12:9-10
"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."
Isaiah 41:10
"So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me."
Acts 27:25
"If we only try to show the Dear Lord a good will and ask Him for resignation to the crosses He sends or permits to come our way, we may be sure that sooner or later they will turn out to have been just so many blessings in disguise."
Fr. Solanus Casey
"The longer the trial to which God subjects you the greater the goodness in comforting you during the time of the trial and the exaltation after the combat"
St. Padre Pio
#temptation #spiritualbattle #trials
Ecce Verbum
Dom Lorenzo Scupoli lays down seven methods to benefit from prayer 1. Have a sincere desire to serve God in the manner that is agreeable to Him. God deserves our homage and service. We will only triumph over the devil, master ourselves, and be children of…
spiritual_combat (1).pdf
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"The Spiritual Combat
And a Treatise on Peace of Soul"
Dom Lorenzo Scupoli
Lorenzo Scupoli (ca. 1530 – 28 November 1610) was a Catholic priest and a philosopher.
"The Spiritual Combat" is one of the most important works of Catholic spirituality.
"Salvation and spiritual perfection should not be sought haphazardly; a strategy is needed to win the battle for our souls. The Spiritual Combat, first published in 1589, provides timeless guidance in spiritual discipline. St. Francis de Sales (1576-1622) read from it himself every day and recommended it to everyone under his direction. Vigorous, realistic and full of keen insight into human nature, The Spiritual Combat consists of short chapters based on the maxim that in the spiritual life one must either "fight or die". Fr. Scupoli shows the Christian how to combat his passions and vices, especially impurity and sloth, in order to arrive at victory."
#spiritualbattle
And a Treatise on Peace of Soul"
Dom Lorenzo Scupoli
Lorenzo Scupoli (ca. 1530 – 28 November 1610) was a Catholic priest and a philosopher.
"The Spiritual Combat" is one of the most important works of Catholic spirituality.
"Salvation and spiritual perfection should not be sought haphazardly; a strategy is needed to win the battle for our souls. The Spiritual Combat, first published in 1589, provides timeless guidance in spiritual discipline. St. Francis de Sales (1576-1622) read from it himself every day and recommended it to everyone under his direction. Vigorous, realistic and full of keen insight into human nature, The Spiritual Combat consists of short chapters based on the maxim that in the spiritual life one must either "fight or die". Fr. Scupoli shows the Christian how to combat his passions and vices, especially impurity and sloth, in order to arrive at victory."
#spiritualbattle