In chapter 20 of The Spiritual Combat, Lorenzo Scupoli addresses the harmful effects of sloth and offers guidance on how to combat it. Sloth is not merely physical idleness, but a deadly torpor of the soul that paralyzes spiritual growth, dulls discernment, and opens the heart to deception.
Scupoli points out that sloth is like a worm eating away at wood. The danger of sloth lies in silent and gradual decline—small delays, minor indulgences, and habitual postponements that lead to spiritual bondage. It attacks not only good intentions but also developed virtues. Left unchecked sloth can hollow out our spiritual life completely. However, armed with immediate action, true diligence, patient persistence, and the grace of God, we can fight this battle and win.
Scupoli counsels us to avoid curiosity, worldly attachments, and unnecessary occupations that feed distraction. He emphasizes the importance of immediate action (i.e. prompt and cheerful obedience to divine inspirations and the demands of duty) for delay makes tasks seem more burdensome over time. Sloth feeds on delay. The moment between inspiration and action is where spiritual battles are won or lost. Act immediately and you starve sloth of its power. Hesitate and you give it a foothold.
We must also watch out for false productivity. This is when we rush through our spiritual duties—racing through prayers, speeding through the Rosary, hurrying through Scripture reading—just to check them off our list and get back to what we really want to do.
This isn't true diligence; it's sloth wearing a mask. True diligence consists in performing each task at its proper time with full attention. Real spiritual practice requires presence, attention, and a willing heart. It is better to pray one decade of the Rosary with full devotion than to recite an entire Rosary while mentally planning your day.
To reawaken zeal, Scupoli exhorts us to remember the immense value of every act done for God—even a single prayer or act of self-denial outweighs the world’s treasures. Each victory over laziness brings heavenly reward, while habitual neglect leads to withdrawal of divine grace.
One of sloth's most effective lies is making tasks seem overwhelming. The ancient spiritual masters knew the antidote: break overwhelming tasks into manageable pieces – break long prayers or labours into short periods until strength returns; rest briefly when overwhelmed, then resume the task steadily. This gradual discipline weakens sloth and strengthens virtue. As one Desert Father wisely said: “The person who begins with small things will eventually accomplish great ones.”
Patient persistence is another key remedy against sloth. We must fight sloth with immediate, forceful action and yet we must also exercise patient trust in God's slow work within us.
Spiritual growth doesn't happen overnight. The saints themselves spent years, even decades, growing in holiness. St. Teresa of Avila reminds us that “patience obtains all things.” St. Francis de Sales teaches that true progress “quietly and persistently moves along without notice,” like dawn gradually dispelling darkness. One of his favourite sayings is: “make haste slowly.”
In our zeal to combat sloth we must guard against its deceptive opposite: spiritual ambition, which is a common fault of beginners in the spiritual life. They desire spiritual consolations, seek extraordinary graces, compare themselves to others, and become discouraged when they do not advance as quickly as they wish.
Spiritual ambition is itself a subtle form of pride and it can drive a soul to excessive practices that ultimately lead to burnout, discouragement, or even a return to sloth. There are numerous stories in the Sayings of the Desert Fathers of young monks who, in their zeal, attempted excessive fasts or vigils, only to be gently corrected by wise elders who taught them that moderation, constancy, and humility were far more valuable than dramatic asceticism.
Scupoli directs the soul to watch, pray, and labour diligently each day as though it were the last. No moment is guaranteed; each must be lived faithfully for God’s glory. A day is considered lost if it passes without victory over self-love or without gratitude for Christ’s Passion and for his mercy.
