Spiritual Warfare and the Discernment of Spirits - Paperback

by Dan Burke (Author)

Satan is always at work breeding sadness and anxiety while providing obstacles that prevent souls from making spiritual progress. In this concise yet powerful book, author Dan Burke presents the venerable, time-tested wisdom of Catholic mystics to help you understand the influence of the Enemy on your mind and heart, and the tactics you need to combat him.

With St. Ignatius as his guide, Burke presents here an indispensable, authoritative manual for engaging in daily battle with the Adversary--combat that is both inevitable and winnable. Burke will help you recognize the ebbs and flows of consolation and desolation, and distinguish between the voices of God and of Satan. Best of all, you'll come to see the spiritual life not as a science to be learned, but as an intuitive art to be practiced as you move with increasing success from habitual sin to sanctity.

The battle for our souls is unavoidable. The saints won theirs by learning how to be spiritual warriors and by recognizing that we become stronger through battle and grow weaker from avoidance. With this book as your guide, you'll grow in strength and contentment as you learn:

• How to take captive every negative thought and make it obedient to Christ
• St. Ignatius's revelations exposing how the Devil seeks to influence us
• The Paradigm of Ascent and the Five Steps to Sanctity
• The three ways you can discern "Good Spirits" from "Bad Spirits"
• The three principal causes of desolation--and what you must do when it afflicts your soul
• Proven methods for moving away from sin and toward self-giving love of God and neighbor.

Author Biography

Dan Burke is the founder and President of the Avila Institute for Spiritual Formation, which offers graduate and personal enrichment studies in spiritual theology to priests, deacons, religious, and laity in 90 countries and prepares men for seminary in over 30 dioceses. Dan is the author and editor of more than 17 books on authentic Catholic spirituality and hosts the Divine Intimacy Radio show with his wife, Stephanie, which is broadcast weekly on EWTN Radio. Past episodes can be found, along with thousands of articles on the interior life, at SpiritualDirection.com. In his deep commitment to the advancement of faithful Catholic spirituality, he is also the founder of Apostoli Viae, a world-wide, private association of the faithful dedicated to living and advancing the authentic spiritual patrimony of the Church. Most importantly, Dan is a blessed husband, father of four, grandfather of one -- and grateful to be Catholic.