Spiritual Desolation vs. Dark Night of the Soul
EWTN had an enlightening segment on Spiritual Desolation & Dark Night of the Soul.
In Spiritual Desolation one often experiences feelings of sadness, heaviness & disheartenment. It is a work of the enemy, discouraging us & discouraging hope.
Dark Night of the Soul was experienced in saints such as, St. John of the Cross, St Teresa of Avila & Mother Teresa of Calcutta. In Dark Night of the Soul, God is calling us to lead us into Contemplative Prayer, which also involves purification/suffering. This prepares us for a deeper union with our Lord. Although Dark Night involves spiritual suffering, it is intended by God to lead us nearer/closer to him!
So Prayer, Prayer. Prayer. In John 16: 32-33( When Jesus was leaving his disciples to go through his Passion) "But I am not alone, because the Father is with me. I have told you this so that you may have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world."
Thank you Word Made Flesh! Jn 16:32-33 provides much hope and peace. I'll need to remember it in the midsts of my loneliness, saddness trials in my day.
ReplyDeleteSt. Frances de Sales states in his Treaties on the Love of God "One of the best signs of the goodness of inspirations in general and particularly of extraordinary ones, is peace and tranquility in the heart that receives them.....On the contrary, the evil spirit is turbulent, rough, disturbing...."
St. John of the Cross says the following: "This dark night is an inflow of God into the soul that purges it of its habitual ignorances and imperfections, natural and spiritual, and which contemplatives call infused contemplation or mystical theology. Through this contemplation, God teaches the soul secretly and instructs it in the perfection of love without its doing anything or understanding how this happens."
ReplyDeleteAs when you step outdoors on a bright Arizona day without sunglasses and are momentarily blinded by the brightness of the sun, I believe our souls are blinded by the nearness of our Lord and his absolute, pure and unfiltered Light seems like the blackest of nights. It is indeed a gift, albeit a painful one at that moment of great despair. Later when our soul is purified and can start seeing the light that has been left behind by God, then the soul is lifted as it unites more closely to the Lord.