Tag: consolation

96) Stocking our Spiritual Pantry

How often when we experience something beautiful, we exclaim, “I’ll never forget this moment! It will stay with me forever!” only to find that as time passes the images aren’t quite as vivid, and the details become a bit fuzzy. We still recall the moment, but can’t quite re-capture the same delight as when it first occurred. The Lord understands our human weakness in re-call, and He offers us the grace of re-living the moment as for the first time, bringing it into the present for us. This is the same gift He gives us in the Mass – we’re not just remembering what Jesus has done for us, but rather it is re-presented with all the power of the original sacrifice when we enter into this Reality. We need to ask the help of the Holy Spirit to receive this grace, and He is only too ready to extend it to us!

This gift is especially helpful when we slip into desolation, and can be a sure remedy to restore us to a season of consolation. In the 10th Rule of St Ignatius we read, “When one enjoys consolation, let him consider how he will conduct himself during the time of ensuing desolation, and store up a supply of strength as defense against that day.” Consolation comes with times of drawing nearer to God, and Desolation is the opposite – becoming distant from God. We want to store up a supply of strength against the day of desolation – one way which can be to stock our Spiritual Pantry!

I first heard this term in the writing of Liz Kelly, and it brings to mind a visual image of a pantry, with shelves ready to receive and keep the consolations I have received in the past. The shelves are labeled: music that has lifted my heart, stories from books that have blessed me, family gatherings that were times of harmony and love… whatever terms are meaningful to identify the experience. The experiences stored in our Pantry are resources God has given us to leave Desolation and return to Consolation.

How do we begin ? Step one is the awareness that we are in desolation. St Ignatius begins all discernment with this step, becoming aware that we have lost our inner peace.

Step two is always to turn to the Holy Spirit, Who helps us to remember what we need. Having recognized the enemy at work, now we need to take action, step three! John 14:26, “the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My Name, will teach you all things, and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” Consolations are a gift from God, and He wants us to remember them, as being spoken to our hearts in experiences or words by Jesus.

The action here is to go to our Spiritual Pantry, and ask the Holy Spirit to guide us to the memory on the shelf that relates to our current situation. We retrieve the memory in prayer, and savor the grace received then and allow it to re-ignite our faith, hope and love for the present circumstance.

An experience related by a friend is an illustration of step two, turning to the Holy Spirit. She was in college, and had been negligent in attending a statistics class. Time came for the final exam, and receiving the questions, she realized she didn’t know how to proceed to answer them. In high school she had excelled in math, so she had within her the ability to do the work, but was at a loss with these particular questions. Having attended Catholic grade school, she remembered the teaching to always pray to the Holy Spirit before test taking, that He might bring to mind what she had learned and apply it to the test. Bowing her head, she invoked the Holy Spirit to do just that, and then proceeded to answer the questions, and turned in the exam paper.

Two days later her professor called her into his office. He stated that prior to taking the exam she was failing the course for lack of attendance and not turning in homework, but she had answered all the questions perfectly. Also she was the only one in the class who had written a perfect exam, and he knew she couldn’t have copied from anyone. However, she had shown only minimally how she had arrived at the answers; if she could explain how she did it, he would give her a B, otherwise she would get a C and pass the class. She didn’t disclose having prayed to the Holy Spirit, and she didn’t remember how she had arrived at the answers. But she passed happily with the C!

What an encouragement to ask the Holy Spirit to remind us what we need to proceed in any area of our lives! Particularly when in desolation, which is always from the enemy, to return us to the time of consolation where we can be the joyful witness to our faith that will be a blessing to ourselves and others!

This story is one of the items stored in my Spiritual Pantry. When I get stuck on a question, or need a boost to restore my joy, pulling this off the shelf and re-visiting it always re-ignites my faith and helps me to move forward in consolation.

Lord God, thank you for all the holy experiences you have blessed me with, times of consolation to be used as weapons against the snares of the enemy. May I not hesitate to open the Pantry and again receive the grace of Your love and care for me, gathered through the years and continuing to bring blessing, for me and for all those with whom they are to be shared…

95) Antidote to Desolation

Our spiritual journey is often a roller coaster ride, with the highs and lows of consolation and desolation. Consolation draws us deeper into the love of God, and desolation leads us farther away from Him. St Ignatius teaches us that this is normal, and offers ways to regain our peace in his Rules for Discernment of Spirits.

When meeting with directees who are experiencing desolation in their spiritual journey, we hear thoughts of self-pity, isolation, confusion and general discouragement, all tools of the enemy to lead them away from God. What can we do to combat these lies? How can we regain that inner peace we so desire, and live in the victory Christ has won for us? God doesn’t leave us without resources, and one of those is the practice of praise! How does that play out in our daily walk? There are three simple steps that can lead us out from the shadows into His Light once again.


First, and always, we need to have our spiritual radar on to be aware whenever our inner peace is disturbed. St John of the Cross states, “Strive to preserve your heart in peace; let no event of this world disturb it.” We become aware of that inner disturbance, which is the source of our desolation.


Step two can be reaching into our arsenal for a good tool to access. Rule Six of the Discernment of Spirits notes several weapons to have in that arsenal (prayer, meditation, much examination, and by giving ourselves more scope in some suitable way of doing penance). The one we’re focusing on today would fall into the prayer category, as praise is a foundational element of prayer.


The third part, which will begin the process of moving from desolation and returning to consolation, is to put this into practice! “God inhabits the praises of His people,” (Ps 22:3), and where the Good God is, the enemy flees! We can go to favorite Praise Scriptures, or to multiply the grace, we can sing them! He who sings, prays twice!


I’m reminded of my Mom’s response when things got too overwhelming in caring for Dad with his Alzheimer’s. She would go into the bathroom, shut the door, and sing the Doxolgy loud and clear! “Praise God from Whom all Blessings flow, praise Him all creatures here below! Praise Him above Ye Heavenly Host, praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost!” This would renew her inner strength, and give her the grace to carry on with whatever needed to be done, knowing she was not alone, but rather accompanied by the Good God Who had been faithful to her all her life, even as she had been a faithful Christian all her life!


There are so many beautiful praise and worship songs available at our fingertips. A holy priest friend once advised me, when I was relating a tale of woe about being under dire circumstances, “what are you doing under the circumstances? Get out of there!” Look up, sing praise to God, and allow Him to restore your peace.

Thank You Lord, for reminding me of Truth when I come to You for help. Reminding me to praise You in all circumstances, for Your Word tells me that You inhabit our praises, and where You are, evil cannot endure! May I always come to You quickly, in haste like Mary, and not linger in desolation. Jesus, I trust in You!