Description: The enemy of our souls wants to keep us quiet and our burdens secret when we enter spiritual desolation. This week Dan and Melissa discuss the way out of this “false quiet” with the wisdom of St. Ignatius’ thirteenth rule of Discernment of Spirits.
Topics/Questions covered in the show:
- Rule 13: “The thirteenth: Likewise, he acts as a licentious lover in wanting to be secret and not revealed. For, as the licentious man who, speaking for an evil purpose, solicits a daughter of a good father or a wife of a good husband, wants his words and persuasions to be secret, and the
contrary displeases him much, when the daughter reveals to her father or the wife to her husband his licentious words and depraved intention, because he easily gathers that he will not be able to succeed with the undertaking begun: in the same way, when the enemy of human nature brings his wiles and persuasions to the just soul, he wants and desires that they be received and kept in secret; but when one reveals them to his good confessor or to another spiritual person that knows his deceits and evil ends, it is very grievous to him, because he gathers, from his manifest deceits being discovered, that he will not be able to succeed with his wickedness begun.” - Is there ever a time when a soul matures to the point of no longer experiencing spiritual desolation?
- How can a soul discern between experiencing suffering and desolation?
- The importance of making known the temptations of the enemy to combat his power over the soul.
- To whom should one reveal his or her spiritual battles, temptations, or desolation?
Resources:Â
- Spiritualdirection.com – website
- EWTN Global Catholic Radio
- Avila Institute for Spiritual Formation
- EWTN Religious Catalogue – online
- The Discernment of Spirits by Father Timothy Gallagher, O.M.V.
- Into the Deep: Finding Peace Through Prayer by Dan Burke
- Spiritualdirection.com Recommended Resources
- Questions? Send an e-mail to Questions@myavila.com or call 818-646-7729. Please leave your name, location, and question(s).
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