Struggles to maintain faith in the past (8)
I believe the answer is:
crusades
'struggles' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both acts as well as being plural nouns.
Perhaps you can see an association between them that I can't see?
I can't explain the remainder of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for crusades that I've seen before include "wars" , "Military expeditions by Christians to recapture the Holy Land" .)