Desolation, Pt. 2.
Spiritual Desolation is those moments in our lives of Faith where our very Faith can be tested and tried. Desolation is typically the moments in our life that are marked by a heaviness, darkness, a certain disturbance in the soul, a more aggressive pull to lowly things material things, a loss of hope, a weak sense of love, becoming lazy, slothful, tepid, and moody.
Desolation can have quite a few causes and sources. Some desolations are natural. A natural desolation would, for instance, result from not getting enough sleep, loosing a loved one, having an ‘off’ day, loosing a job, fighting with a spouse or a friend. These natural desolations are often resolved either with time or addressing the specific need, ie. sleeping more.
Desolation could be caused by sin or inaction in prayer and the spiritual life. When in the state of Mortal or Grave sin, or even just in the state of a large build up of venial sin, desolation sets in because I have removed myself from God’s Grace. Whenever a desolation begins, my first action ought to be to go to Confession and Eucharist to reestablish my communion with God. I should then spend more time in contemplative or meditative prayer, allowing the warmth of Grace to thaw the coldness of my desolation.
The third common way that a desolation can set in is when God is allowing me to experience dryness in pray so that I can grow. Often times I relate this to working out. Muscle growth only happens when the muscles are stretched, tested, and pushed to a new limit. Working out is often also accompanied by a physical soreness. The same is true in the spiritual life. Sometimes, God allows this discomfort so that I can and do grow in my spiritual life.
Do not despair, rather remain faithful.
The most important thing to remember is that when I am in desolation, I make no change. In fact, there is really only one thing I should consider changing while in the state of desolation, I should increase my time, frequency, and fervor of my prayer. As I enhance my prayer life in this way, I should do so by increasing meditation, particularly on the Scriptures. I should increase my time spent in examination; at the end of each day, I should take a significant amount of time to reflect back to where God was present to me that day, what did he ask of me that day, and how did I respond. I should look both for God, as well as to see where and what my sin was. I should even consider adopting some small form of penance. I should even perhaps adopt a small practice of giving alms.
Be patient, Desolation may be a long time, but it will end. When it does end, the spiritual fruits in produces are inconceivable!