The Desert
In the summer months life is full in a different way. It is a time of rest but that also makes way for a lot of activities including visiting family, going on vacation, and traveling away from home. The structured routine of the normal year tends to change and interestingly even though we may find more spare time in the summer months we can find it harder to prioritize prayer because of the lack of structure. That shift in routine can put our prayer lives in the “desert” and may bring our prayer lives into a period of desolation.
Saint Ignatius of Loyola addresses 14 rules that help one become aware of the movements encountered in the soul. These rules can help recognize the good and bad things we may find and they can serve as a guide as to how to approach them.
Each of these rules are very beneficial for anyone to go over but I will only focus on the rules related to this subject of desolation. St. Ignatius begins to address spiritual desolation in his fourth rule. He defines desolation as being far away from God and he encourages to resist this tactic of the enemy. In the fifth rule he encourages to never make a change in your spiritual life when in a state of desolation. In the sixth rule he provides means to endure spiritual desolation, those being: prayer, meditation, examination, and suitable penance. In the seventh rule St. Ignatius offers consolation to the soul in desolation by recommending dependence on God’s truth, that being that God provides the grace necessary to endure any trial of desolation. He encourages patience in the eighth rule and that you must stay the course with the hope that spiritual consolation is nearer than you think. To conclude for now in the ninth rule St. Ignatius addresses God would allow such a thing as spiritual desolation. He explains it as God using it to strengthen us, to make us aware, and to keep us from becoming complacent.
This season, this desert, is necessary. Looking to the life and teachings of St. Ignatius of Loyola this desolation of our prayer lives is a test of our faith and is necessary for a deep relationship with God. Just as the winter is needed for the following seasons we need to go through dry spells in order for there to be abundance.
“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.”
Isaiah 43:19-21
Mary Cate Golden