THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT

[Doctrine of the Catholic Church] Scupoli, Lorenzo. Il combattimento spirituale del v.p.d. Lorenzo Scupoli da Otranto cherico regolare teatino; collazionato, e corretto ... su le migliori edizioni. Venice: Remondini, 1763.

12mo, half calf on handcoloured paper, gilt titles within leather label ald gilt decorations at spine. Copper-plated portrait of the author at frontispiece, title-page printed in red and black, pp. XXIV, 384. Text in Italian.

The Opera Omnia of father Scupoli under the name of his most famous doctrinal work, the Spiritual Combat, one of the most important treatises on spirituality of the Christian religion.

The Combat is a practical manual of living. It was printed in Venice in 1589 for the first time and it gained huge esteem, becoming a bestseller with no less than 60 editions in 20 years and and translations in all the languages known at the time. In Scupoli's opinion, the sense of life is incessant fighting against egoistic longings and replacing them with sacrifice and charity. The one who does not do this, loses and suffers in Hell; the one who does it, trusting not in his own, but God's power, triumphs and is happy in Heaven. The work of Scupoli analyses various usual situations and advises how to cope with them preserving a pure conscience and improving virtue. It emphasizes also the boundless goodness of God, which is the cause of all good. What is bad originates from the human who rebels against God.

Lorenzo Scupoli (1530-1610) was an Italian priest who joined the Theatines in a mature age. After taking the Holy Orders very quickly, in 1585 he was accused of breaking the rule. He was arrested for a year and deprived of the priestly faculties. Finally he was exculpated from blame, but he had to wait for it almost till his death. He used to endure the injust accusations and punishments with humility, sacrificing the suffering for various intentions.

References: IT\ICCU\UM1E\008815.

A fine copy.