In the Eighth Rule, St. Ignatius charged us to be patient in desolation and employ the tools we’ve learned to fight against it, while also remembering that consolation will soon return. In the Ninth Rule, St. Ignatius explains the three primary reasons for desolation, giving us context and deeper understanding to aid our perseverance.
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. (Source).
In short, St. Ignatius gives us three reasons that God might allow us to experience spiritual desolation. The first reason is that we have neglected our spiritual commitments; needless to say, this separation from God brings spiritual consequences. The second reason is that God chooses to allow a trial of desolation to strengthen us in some way, even when we are persevering in our commitments—just as a soldier might go through difficult training. The third reason is God’s lesson that consolation is not an automatic reward for a prescribed action; prayer is not a formula, but a relationship. Thus, consolation is always a gratuitous gift from God.
In each of these reasons, God allows desolation to occur to bring about a particular fruit in our lives that we need, be it greater conversion, fortitude, trust, or surrender. Let’s take a deeper look at each of these principal causes of spiritual desolation.
The First Reason: A Case of Cause and Effect
The first reason brings to light the cause and effect of our actions. Just as we suffer bodily consequences when we neglect healthy habits of exercise or nutrition, we suffer soul-deep consequences when we begin to neglect our healthy spiritual commitments. While most of us will not turn against God outright, we might find ourselves gradually slipping in our regular prayer commitments, especially when life gets more busy or stressful than usual. When changes in schedule or routine disrupt us, it’s common to miss prayer and other regular commitments, or at least put them off or cut them short.
I find this to be a continual challenge when summer arrives and my routine changes significantly. It is also difficult when things like travel, sickness, or job changes hit. It takes time to find a new rhythm and when the dust finally settles, we’re often still distracted or neglectful of the need to reapply ourselves to our regular spiritual practices. The spiritual desolation that results can be a bit of a wake-up call from the Lord to gently call us back. In these cases, I have found that when I surrender my imperfections to the Lord and simply begin again—and again—consolation indeed returns.
This reason for spiritual desolation helps us to identify when we have inadvertently regressed in our spiritual practices and can propel us to faithfully recommit. The fruit of this desolation not only helps get us back on track but also gives us a reference point to remember the displeasure of desolation. This can help us persevere more in the future than we otherwise might have, and take more intentional action against preventable desolation.
The Second Reason: We are Strengthened in Darkness
The second reason God might allow desolation is to strengthen and mature us in the spiritual life. At times we must ask ourselves, do I love the consolations of God more than I love God Himself? In our fallen nature, the answer may be yes. Thus, God helps to wean us of our shallow love for these consolations to help us develop a deeper, more mature, and far more secure love for Him.
There are countless action movies where a wise master, while training the protagonist, whips out a blindfold to make him more proficient in his craft. This happens in Star Wars: A New Hope as Obi-Wan Kenobi instructs Luke Skywalker in lightsaber training. Luke is fighting poorly, so Obi-Wan hands Luke a helmet to block his vision. Luke is dismayed. Obi-Wan responds, “Your eyes can deceive you. Don’t trust them.” Unsurprisingly, Luke’s fighting improves even when his physical sight is removed.
While we would never choose on our own to be “blindfolded” in the spiritual life, in hindsight, we usually appreciate the growth that comes from such trials of spiritual darkness. Only when the light of consolation is removed do we learn how much we are willing to fight through darkness and obscured human understanding in the service of God. This trial of sensible desolation strengthens us to perceive and pursue the Lord with greater spiritual sight, that we may fight more effectively and serve God more faithfully in greater spiritual battles to come.
The Third Reason: It’s a Friendship, Not a Formula
While spiritual desolation can be a natural consequence of neglecting our spiritual practices, spiritual consolation is not necessarily an effect of faithfully keeping them. Our God is not a vending machine God—from Whom we can get our preferred outcome if we just input the right amount of prayer or perform the right spiritual practice. Prayer is a relationship with an Eternally Divine Being, Who loves us unconditionally and desires a far greater good for us than we could ever desire for ourselves. Spiritual consolation is a gift God gives us to help us along the journey, but it is no substitute for His far deeper love and divine presence. Thus, if our prayers or practices seem to “work” one day by bringing consolation but don’t “work” another day, this might be a reminder from our all-loving God that consolation is not a result of our actions; it is a gift we receive solely through God’s prudence and wisdom.
This is a humbling realization for those of us often tempted by self-reliance, perfectionism, or productivity: we cannot manufacture consolation any more than we can manufacture authentic connection in any human relationship. Any relationship—and the consolation therein—is a gift we must open our hearts to receive as we give the gift of ourselves in return.
This third reason for desolation also reminds us that when we remain faithful to prayer but do not experience consolation, this does not mean we are doing something wrong. If consolation is a gift to receive rather than a formula or experience to manufacture, this means consolation is not all up to us. We ought not change our spiritual practices just because consolation is absent. Our part is to simply keep showing up and being faithful to our commitments. God’s part is to give us the particular grace He knows we need in the exact moment we need it. This grace strengthens us in the darkness, and as we engage the tools we need to persevere in desolation, we are reminded that God’s gift of consolation will return sooner than we think.
These reasons for desolation show us that desolation is not pointless. Even in its difficulty and affliction, even when we do not clearly understand the reason, God intends to bring about significant fruit for us in the process. We often grow more spiritually through experiences of desolation than we ever could through consolation.
Thankfully, the Lord also knows our human limits. He does not leave us in perpetual spiritual desolation but continues to gift us ample moments of spiritual consolation to encourage us on the journey. As we move into the Tenth Rule, we will discover what we can practically do with these gifts of consolation to receive them more deeply and build our strength against future desolation.
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