From Desolation to Consolation: Discouragement - The Movement to Encouragement

From Desolation to Consolation: Discouragement - The Movement to Encouragement

I think the reason that I enjoy reading the lives of the Saints and spiritual mothers and fathers of the Church is because they were real people with real problems just like we have. They faced family hardships like St. Jane de Chantal, whose memorial was celebrated by the Church last week. St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta experienced spiritual dryness for 40 years while serving her growing community and the poor and rejected of Calcutta. Even more tragically, St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) was killed in a concentration camp because of her faith, after declining to leave for the safety of the Netherlands with her religious community. So perhaps that is why St. Ignatius, during his recovery, became so enthralled with the lives of the heroic men and women, the Saints, he read about. They were conquering life’s difficulties and fighting battles of another sort, not on a field with knights and armor, but a battle with an even greater prize, eternal life with God.

Desolation in the form of discouragement can sneak up on us if we aren’t vigilant. It may start with a downcast mood or not feeling seen or understood. It may manifest as impatience or anger. It will likely influence our prayer life and our desire to be in community. Skipping one day of prayer and reflection with scripture can, before we know it, become weeks of empty journal pages.

As soon as we become aware of desolation in the form of discouragement, and of this shift within that is moving us away from God rather than toward God, we must begin again and refocus. This saying is one I became familiar with two years ago, taking an online course with Fr. Timothy Gallagher on Spiritual Discouragement. The saying is “nunc coepi” meaning “now I begin”. In the course Fr. Gallagher shared the guidance given by Venerable Bruno Lanteri to spiritual directees in the form of letter writing during the French Revolution. The advice given to Gabriella was what I related to the most in my life. She had a tendency toward negative moods and getting discouraged in her spiritual life. I can relate!

Venerable Bruno advised Gabriella to do the following in order to “begin again” every day, or even every hour as needed, to keep her heart focused and devoted to God.

• To begin immediately to go to daily Mass and receive the Eucharist. The current gospel scriptures, the Bread of Life discourse, and the Old Testament readings, during this “Ordinary Time” remind us of the importance of the Bread, the sustenance we need for the spiritual journey we are on in this life.
• To be consistent in meditation, reflection and spiritual reading even if it is just a few minutes, or one page, per day. What we focus on is important!
• Venerable Bruno encourages Gabriella to do a daily Examen. An important part of Ignatian Spirituality, reflecting on our day, where we experienced God or where we moved away from God, helps us see where God might be calling us and inviting us to respond.
• He also instructs her to raise her heart “frequently but gently with peace to God.”
• He counsels her to wage a continual battle against negative moods.
• And lastly “never fail to begin again.”

With the exception of attending daily Mass, especially if you are still working full time and unable to find a Mass time that coincides with your work schedule, these are simple tasks that don’t take an unrealistic amount of time each day. The key is just to do them! “Nunc coepi”! This is exactly the action St. Ignatius invites us to take in the Sixth Rule of Discernment. We act against the desolation we are feeling by relying on more prayer, meditation and examination. (See the link in Going Deeper to learn more about the First Set of Rules of Discernment.)

Venerable Bruno also advised Gabriella to seek the guidance of her parish priest, to hold her accountable in doing these activities. Now, in our current day and time, we have access to spiritual directors and faith-based counseling, including virtually, that can help us during difficult times or times of discouragement. Regardless of who the person is, I do believe that when I am being held accountable to these simple tasks, I am more successful moving from discouragement to encouragement. As we lean into the tools of our faith, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we are drawn out of desolation back into consolation.

As you feel those moments, or days of discouragement, I invite you to recall this list of simple tasks and give them a try. We don’t need to feel discouraged if we don’t do these tasks every day, or if we allow ourselves to remain in discouragement longer than we prefer, we simply turn our gaze towards God and begin again. Nunc Coepi!

Going Deeper:

• Join us for Going Past the Shallows: The First Set of Rules of Discernment beginning on Wednesday, August 28. We will learn and practice how to better notice both the Holy Spirit’s movement in our lives and the false spirit’s movement. During this course, we will lean on the wisdom of St. Ignatius and the practical tools of discernment he taught us so that we are better able to discern the movements of consolation and desolation in our lives. Click here to learn more. Note: if you can’t join us for the first session this week, don’t worry, you will have access to the video lesson by Becky and the Workbook. We hope you can join us!
• What is Desolation? Click here for a wonderful description of desolation presented by Becky in the first article in this blog series.
• Read Overcoming Spiritual Discouragement: The Wisdom and Spiritual Power of Venerable Bruno Lanteri by Fr. Timothy Gallagher, O.M.V.

Photo by Patrick Schneider on Unsplash

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Deena Pavinato

Deena is the Director of Programming for Ignatian Ministries. She lives in Oglesby, Illinois among the corn fields of North Central Illinois. She has a Masters Degree in Counseling Education and over 30 years of corporate work experience in customer support leadership, project implementation and process improvement. Deena is a Benedictine Oblate, loves the practice of Ora et Labora (prayer and work), and relaxes and expresses her creativity through her weekly blog (deenapavinato.com), papercrafting and mixed media projects, journaling and gardening.