What is Spiritual Discernment? Is this for everyone?

A: Everyone, let me say again: everyone goes through a cycle of ups, downs, and tranquil times in the spiritual life. There is no shame in the desolations (times of spiritual lows); all the great saints speak of it. At times, we can even grow more in desolation than in times of consolation (spiritually high moments). But discernment during both of those times is crucial to our growth.

I just finished a class with Fr. Timothy Gallagher on how to teach Ignatius of Loyola’s 14 Rules on the Discernment of Spirits. When we say spirits, what is Fr Gallagher speaking about and what rules is St Ignatius speaking about? By spirits he means mainly the enemy and his actions, ourselves and our thoughts and actions, or God and His helps.  There are 3 steps that help us in spiritual discernment with St Ignatius' 14 rules: 
 1) become aware, 2) understand to some extent the different movements caused in the soul and 3) to act to receive the good, and to reject the bad. 
These steps and the 14 rules help us discern the enemy’s tactics, understand how God is helping us, and understand our own temptations, failures, and growth. We all go through cycles of desolation, tranquil times, and consolations. We use the three steps above along with 14 rules that St. Ignatius has given to our Church in discernment to grow in the spiritual life toward God.
Here is a short summary of St Ignatius'14 rules for Spiritual discernment:

1. People going from mortal sin to mortal sin, the enemy proposes pleasures to them to lead them to imagine sensual delights so they grow in vice. God uses a contrary method, He stings and bites the conscience of moral judgement to help them draw away from vice.
2. People intensely purifying their sins rising from good to better: The enemy bites, saddens, and places obstacles, disquiets with false reasons, so the person may not go forward. God gives courage, strength, consolations, tears, inspirations and quiet, eases and takes away all obstacles to the person may go forward doing good.
3. Spiritual consolation: interior movement that causes inflamed love of God. An increase of hope, faith, and charity, and joy attracted to heavenly things, quieting it in peace in God.
4. Spiritual desolation: disturbance in the soul and movement to worldly things. Disquiet from agitations, temptations, lack of confidence, without hope, love, finds the self slothful and sad as if separated from God.
5. In times of desolation never make a change from decisions made when in consolation.
6. While in desolation, it is very advantageous to do more prayer, meditation, examination, and extending self in suitable ways of doing penance.
7. One in desolation should consider how the Lord has left him in his natural powers, what it feels like to have intense grace taken but leaving sufficient grace, and to realize he can resist enemies agitations and temptations in God’s sufficient grace.
8. Let one in desolation work in patience and think he will soon be consoled using rule 6.
9. Three causes of desolation: 1) tepid slothful or negligent in spiritual exercises 2) Trial to let us see how much we are and extend ourselves to His service and praise without payment, 3) Gives us true recognition and understanding that it is not ours to attain or maintain consolation but a gift of God.
10. One in consolation should think how he will conduct himself when desolation will come.
11. One who is consoled should seek to humble himself thinking how little he is capable of in time of desolation. One who is in desolation should think he can do much with God’s sufficient grace.
12. The enemy acts weak when faced with strength and strong when faced with weakness.
13. The enemy wishes his persuasions and temptations to you to remain secret and not be revealed wanting you to keep it to yourself. If a person reveals them to a good confessor it weighs on the enemy who perceives not to succeed since his deceit is revealed.
14. The enemy attacks you at your weakest points.  

Keep an eye on the bulletin for more information the Ignatian Discernment of Spirits Study coming in Fall 2026!

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