From Vatican Information Services:
UPDATE: Also see this book, helpfully mentioned by a reader in the comments:
Spiritual Combat Revisited
by Fr. Jonathan Robinson
Fr. Robinson has done a great service in revitalizing Lorenzo Scupoli’s classic, Spiritual Combat, so that contemporary Catholics can rediscover this rich work that has served many generations of Catholics. This book is about the life of prayer and personal reform and renewal. It fits squarely into the tradition of the “great masters” of the spiritual life, and to the line of great modern writers on spirituality. It is a work of particular relevance that confronts modern culture with the tough-minded, deeply authentic challenge of spiritual combat.
Robinson has retained Scupoli’s appeal to the Catholic reader through a conversational style, short chapters, familiar examples from everyday life, and the pastoral bent which has marked his own outstanding career. Covering the basic difficulties of daily prayer and of obstacles to living the virtues, Scupoli and Robinson test the mettle of real Catholics by calling us to live an interior life for and with God.
“A serious, but readable, contemporary presentation of the spiritual wisdom contained in a 16th century spiritual classic which St. Francis De Sales highly praised. Robinson has a profound understanding and appreciation for the ‘spiritual combat’ dimension of our journey toward union with God." — Ralph Martin, Author, Called to Holiness
Fr. Jonathan Robinson is the founder of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in Canada. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh, and a License in Theology from the Gregorian University in Rome. He is also the author of The Mass and Modernity: Walking to Heaven Backwards.
ANGELUS: LENT, A PERIOD OF SPIRITUAL "COMBAT"The Holy Father reflects at length, with many excellent insights, on the Temptation in the Desert in his book, Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration (paperback edition, with a new index; pages 25-45). Also see Fr. Schall's essay, "'God Is The Issue' | The Temptation in the Desert and the Kingdoms of This World," which reflects on Benedict's book.
VATICAN CITY, 21 FEB 2010 (VIS) - The significance of the Lenten journey was the theme of Benedict XVI's remarks before praying the Angelus this morning with thousands of faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square.
The Pope commented on the story of the temptation of Jesus in the desert, which was the Gospel reading for today, the first Sunday of Lent, explaining that the temptations "were not a by-the-way incident, but the consequence of Jesus' decision to complete the mission entrusted to Him by the Father".
"Christ came into the world to free us from sin and from the ambiguous lure of seeking to plan our lives without God. He did this not with high-sounding proclamations but by struggling personally with the Tempter, all the way to the Cross. This example holds true for us all: that the world is improved by beginning with ourselves, by changing, with God's grace, what is wrong with our lives".
Of the three temptations of Jesus, the first "had its origin in hunger, in material want", said the Pope. "But Jesus responded with the words: 'One does not live by bread alone'". The second temptation came when the devil showed Christ all the kingdoms of the earth; this, the Holy Father explained, "is the lure of power which Jesus unmasked and rejected". To the third temptation, the proposal to perform a miracle that everyone might believe in Him, Jesus responded: "Do not put the Lord your God to the test.
"Making constant reference to Holy Scripture", the Pope added, Jesus "made human criteria subject to the only true criterion: obedience to the will of God. This is a fundamental lesson for us too: if we carry the Word of God in our minds and hearts, if it enters our lives, then we too can reject all the tricks of the Tempter".
"Lent is like a long 'retreat' during which we can turn back into ourselves and listen to the voice of God, in order to defeat the temptations of the Evil One. It is a period of spiritual 'combat' which we must experience alongside Jesus, not with pride and presumption, but using the arms of faith: prayer, listening to the word of God and penance. In this way we will be able to celebrate Easter in truth, ready to renew the promises of our Baptism".
In closing his remarks the Holy Father invoked the help of the Virgin Mary "that we might live this period of grace joyfully and fruitfully. May she particularly intercede for me and my collaborators in the Roman Curia as we begin our spiritual exercises this evening", he concluded.
UPDATE: Also see this book, helpfully mentioned by a reader in the comments:
Spiritual Combat Revisitedby Fr. Jonathan Robinson
Fr. Robinson has done a great service in revitalizing Lorenzo Scupoli’s classic, Spiritual Combat, so that contemporary Catholics can rediscover this rich work that has served many generations of Catholics. This book is about the life of prayer and personal reform and renewal. It fits squarely into the tradition of the “great masters” of the spiritual life, and to the line of great modern writers on spirituality. It is a work of particular relevance that confronts modern culture with the tough-minded, deeply authentic challenge of spiritual combat.
Robinson has retained Scupoli’s appeal to the Catholic reader through a conversational style, short chapters, familiar examples from everyday life, and the pastoral bent which has marked his own outstanding career. Covering the basic difficulties of daily prayer and of obstacles to living the virtues, Scupoli and Robinson test the mettle of real Catholics by calling us to live an interior life for and with God.
“A serious, but readable, contemporary presentation of the spiritual wisdom contained in a 16th century spiritual classic which St. Francis De Sales highly praised. Robinson has a profound understanding and appreciation for the ‘spiritual combat’ dimension of our journey toward union with God." — Ralph Martin, Author, Called to Holiness
Fr. Jonathan Robinson is the founder of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in Canada. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh, and a License in Theology from the Gregorian University in Rome. He is also the author of The Mass and Modernity: Walking to Heaven Backwards.
You should link to Spiritual Combat Revisited by Jonathan Robinson
Posted by: The Athenian Stranger | Monday, February 22, 2010 at 12:59 PM
"But Jesus responded with the words: 'One does not live by bread alone'".
Didn't He actually respond with: 'Man does not live by bread alone'? Has there been a mistranslation of the Holy Father's words, or has he too embraced gender neutral language?
Posted by: Jackson | Monday, February 22, 2010 at 04:42 PM