Istota walki duchowej chrześcijanina w świetle "Super Epistolam B. Pauli ad Ephesios Lectura" św. Tomasza z Akwinu

The purpose of this article is to present the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas on spiritual combat based on B. Pauli's Super Epistolam ad Ephesios Lectura. Therefore, in accordance with the title of the article, the following subchapters will be devoted to various elements of spiritual combat. At the beginning, an outline of the concept of spiritual combat will be presented. Then, the tactics and strategy of spiritual combat will be discussed based on the metaphor of the „armor of God” that the knight of Christ (Latin miles Christi) should wear. Following St. Thomas's commentary, each element of knightly attire will be assigned individual virtues that he should acquire and vices that oppose them. Finally, the means necessary for conducting spiritual combat will be presented, among which Aquinas includes prayer, vigilance, and strengthening with the sacraments. Miles Christi receives the necessary means from Christ, but the decision as to whether he wants to strive for perfection (acquiring virtues and eliminating vices) belongs to Him.