Spiritual Desolation and Spiritual Growth

The 14 Rules of the Discernment of Spirits with Fr. Timothy Gallagher with Kris McGregor

Episode Eleven: Rule Nine – Why God Allows Spiritual Desolation

Episode 11 -The Ninth Rule:

There are three principal reasons why we find ourselves desolate.

The first is, because of our being tepid, lazy or negligent in our spiritual exercises; and so through our faults, spiritual consolation withdraws from us.

The second, to try us and see how much we are and how much we let ourselves out in His service and praise without such great pay of consolation and great graces.

The third, to give us true acquaintance and knowledge, that we may interiorly feel that it is not ours to get or keep great devotion, intense love, tears, or any other spiritual consolation, but that all is the gift and grace of God our Lord, and that we may not build a nest in a thing not ours, raising our intellect into some pride or vainglory, attributing to us devotion or the other things of the spiritual consolation.

Episode Eleven of The Discernment of Spirits: Setting the Captives Free focuses on Rule Nine, where St. Ignatius addresses one of the most important questions in the spiritual life. If God loves us and we love God, why does He allow spiritual desolation? Fr. Timothy Gallagher, in conversation with Kris McGregor, explains why this rule completes and deepens the earlier teachings on desolation.

Fr. Gallagher begins by naming the problem directly. A person is sincere. Prayer has been faithful. Growth has been real. Then suddenly, consolation disappears. Prayer becomes difficult. God feels distant. Without Rule Nine, the spiritual life would be left with an unanswered wound. Ignatius does not avoid the question. He gives reasons.

Ignatius teaches that there are three principal causes for spiritual desolation. The first is straightforward. At times, desolation comes because of negligence or sloth in spiritual practices. Something has slipped. Prayer has been shortened. Attention has wandered. Desolation acts as a wake-up call. It alerts the heart so that healthy adjustments can be made and communion with God restored.

Fr. Gallagher offers a concrete example. A person begins daily prayer with Scripture and grows steadily. Life then becomes chaotic. Illness. Work pressures. Fatigue. Prayer is set aside for understandable reasons. When life settles again, prayer is not resumed. Over time, the sense of God’s closeness fades. Desolation reveals what has been lost and invites renewal.

Ignatius himself reflects on this in his spiritual diary. He recognizes that consolation withdrew when his attentiveness to God slipped. He concludes that it was better not to be consoled during his faults. God, who loves him more than he loves himself, permitted desolation for his greater good.

The second reason Ignatius gives is trial. God allows desolation to test the heart. The trial reveals how much a person seeks God apart from spiritual rewards. Growth occurs here. Something is learned that could not be learned otherwise. Fr. Gallagher notes that many people look back on periods of spiritual darkness and later recognize how much they grew through them.

To illustrate this, Fr. Gallagher recalls earlier examples and everyday spiritual life. Discernment is not lived only in peak moments or major decisions. It is lived while driving home, sitting at a kitchen table, or facing discouragement at the end of an ordinary day. This is where Ignatius’s wisdom meets real life.

Fr. Gallagher then turns to the words of St. Francis of Assisi. A brother approaches Francis during a time of temptation and heaviness. Francis responds with astonishing tenderness. He tells the brother that the more he is tempted, the more he is loved. Temptation overcome, Francis says, is like a ring by which the Lord espouses the soul to Himself. Trial becomes intimacy.

The third reason Ignatius gives is humility. Spiritual consolation is not something we produce. It is pure gift. Desolation teaches this truth in the flesh. When consolation is absent, the heart learns that devotion, tears, and love are not possessions. They belong to God. This protects the soul from subtle pride and roots it in humility.

Fr. Gallagher draws on the spiritual journal of Blessed Peter Faber. Faber describes repeated experiences of discouragement followed closely by God’s remedy. Each trial became a stimulus to deeper growth. Desolation never left him lukewarm. It called him forward.

The episode concludes with a personal reflection from Fr. Gallagher. Looking back on a painful season of darkness, he recognizes that it compelled him to grow, study, and take new steps that shaped his entire vocation. What felt destructive at the time became formative in hindsight.

Episode Eleven presents Rule Nine as a rule of deep reassurance. Spiritual desolation is never meaningless. God may allow it to correct, to strengthen, or to humble. In every case, God acts out of love. The God who allows desolation is the God who loves us more than we love ourselves.

Discerning Hearts Questions for Reflection and Study

Personal Reflection

1. How do you usually interpret spiritual heaviness when it appears?

2. Have you ever noticed desolation revealing an area of neglect in your spiritual life?

3. Can you recall growth that came through a time of trial or darkness?

4. How does knowing that consolation is pure gift change your perspective?

5. Which of the three reasons for desolation speaks most to your current experience?

Group Reflection or Study

1. Why is Rule Nine essential to understanding spiritual desolation?

2. How does Ignatius prevent us from assuming desolation always means failure?

3. What role does trial play in spiritual maturity?

4. How do the stories of St. Francis and Blessed Peter Faber illuminate this rule?

5. How can this teaching help parish leaders accompany others through discouragement?

 The 14 Rules for Discerning Spirits –
“The Different Movements Which Are Caused In The Soul” as outlined by St. Ignatius of Loyola click here

 For the other episodes in this series visit Fr. Timothy Gallagher’s “Discerning Hearts”click here 

Father Timothy M. Gallagher, O.M.V., was ordained in 1979 as a member of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary, a religious community dedicated to retreats and spiritual formation according to the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius.  Fr. Gallagher is featured on the EWTN series “Living the Discerning Life:  The Spiritual Teachings of St. Ignatius of Loyola

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