The Four Types of Consolation and Desolation

 

THE FOUR TYPES OF CONSOLATION AND DESOLATION

We may distinguish four types: true consolation; desolation; false consolation; and difficult or dark consolation.

True Consolation

“I call it consolation when some interior movement in the soul is caused, through which the soul comes to be inflamed with love of its Creator and Lord; and when it can in consequence love no created thing on the face of the earth in itself, but in the Creator of them all.

“Likewise, when it sheds tears that move to love of its Lord, whether out of sorrow for one’s sins, or for the Passion of Christ our Lord, or because of other things directly connected with His service and praise.

“Finally, I call consolation every increase of hope, faith and charity, and all interior joy which calls and attracts to heavenly things and to the salvation of one’s soul, quieting it and giving it peace in its Creator and Lord.”

—Saint Ignatius of Loyola, “Rules for Perceiving in Some Manner the Different Movements Which Are Caused in the Soul: Third Rule,” Spiritual Exercises, 316

Desolation

“I call desolation all the contrary of the third rule, such as darkness of soul, disturbance in it, movement to things low and earthly, the unquiet of different agitations and temptations, moving to want of confidence, without hope, without love, when one finds oneself all lazy, tepid, sad, and as if separated from his Creator and Lord. Because, as consolation is contrary to desolation, in the same way the thoughts which come from consolation are contrary to the thoughts which come from desolation.”

—Saint Ignatius of Loyola, “Rules for Perceiving in Some Manner the Different Movements Which Are Caused in the Soul: Fourth Rule,” Spiritual Exercises, 317

False Consolation

What sentiments of peace, or, on the other hand, of disturbance, are experienced during or after the revelations? Here is the rule as formulated by St. Catherine of Siena and St. Ignatius: “With persons of good will [it is only of such that we are here treating] the action of the good spirit [God or His Angels] is characterized by the production of peace, joy, security, courage; except perhaps at the first moment.” Note the restriction. The Bible often mentions this disturbance at the first moment of the revelation; the Blessed Virgin experienced it when the Angel Gabriel appeared to her. The action of the demon produces quite the contrary effect: “With persons of good will he produces, except perhaps at the first moment, disturbance, sorrow, discouragement, perturbation, gloom.” In a word the action of Satan encounters a mysterious resistance of the soul. 

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13005a.htm

—Augustin Poulain, “Private Revelations,” The Catholic Encyclopedia (New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912)

Dark Consolation

“One dark night, fired with love's urgent longings—ah, the sheer grace! —I went out unseen, my house being now all stilled.

“In darkness, and secure, by the secret ladder, disguised—ah, the sheer grace!—in darkness and concealment, my house being now all stilled.”

—Saint John of the Cross, “Stanzas of the Soul,” The Dark Night of the Soul, Prologue

“In this first stanza, the soul speaks of the way it followed in its departure from love of both self and all things. Through a method of true mortification, it died to all these things and to itself. It did this so as to reach the sweet and delightful life of love with God. And it declares that this departure was a dark night. As we will explain later, this dark night signifies here purgative contemplation, which passively causes in the soul this negation of self and of all things.”

—Saint John of the Cross, “Explanation of the Stanzas,” The Dark Night of the Soul, Book I

“Dark consolation” is also called “difficult consolation”:

“When it feels like consolation and it actually is, Ignatius calls it consolation. Likewise, when it feels like desolation and actually is, he calls it desolation. He then adds nuance by giving the name false consolation to the state in which it feels like consolation but actually is desolation. But the matrix exposes a lacuna. What might we call the state in which it feels like desolation but actually is consolation? Ignatius has no name for this. Instead he lumps the experience in with ‘regular’ consolation, saying that consolation can be accompanied by tears of sorrow or of joy.

“Not having a name for this experience is a problem because it is an incredibly common occurrence. To name just a few examples, we might experience grief, psychological depression, righteous anger, and fear, yet still be in sync with God and have great desires for faith, hope, and love. We might be suffering from unrequited love or from dry prayer. We might—despite our best efforts—have failed at something important to us and are terribly sad about it. These kinds of experiences happen to us all the time. We need a name for it if we’re going to be using this language regularly in pastoral counseling, spiritual direction, and so on. For the past several years, then, I have been using the term difficult consolation to refer to this spiritual state of being. The people to whom I’ve introduced this term—such as spiritual directees and novices—have found it tremendously helpful, as have I as their director.”

https://www.ignatianspirituality.com/theres-such-a-state-as-difficult-consolation/

—dotMagis Editor, “There’s Such a State as Difficult Consolation,” IgnatianSpirituality.com, excerpted from Ignatian Discernment of Spirits in Spiritual Direction and Pastoral Care (2020) by Mark E. Thibodeaux, S.J.

In dark consolation, the soul is afflicted by darkness of understanding and knowledge, dryness in prayer or in the course of doing good works, or both—that is, they suffer spiritually, in their intellect, imagination, memory, and feelings—while at the same time they are drawn interiorly toward God, who consoles them with spiritual joy, which resides in the will.

“Docta ignorantia” or “learned ignorance” is a type of dark consolation, which I have described as follows:

The light of God appears as darkness to the soul because the soul in its existential imperfection is unable to see God in His utter perfection. “That which is light in God and of the loftiest clarity is dense darkness for the soul.” [Saint John of the Cross, The Dark Night of the Soul, II, 16]

Yet this vision of God, however imperfect, is already knowledge of God, powerfully drawing the love of the heart. Cardinal Nicolas of Cusa uses the expression “learned ignorance” or “docta ignorantia” to describe this knowledge of God in darkness. “There is, therefore, in all such love, by which one is carried into God, a cognition, even though one remains unaware of what it is one loves. Thus there is a coincidence of knowledge and of ignorance, or a learned ignorance.” [Edmond Vansteenberghe, Autour de la Docte Ignorance: Une Controverse sur la Theologie Mystique au Xve Siecle (Munster: Aschendorff, 1915), 112, in Christian Spirituality: High Middle Ages and Reformation, edited by Jill Raitt in collaboration with Bernard McGinn and John Meyendorff (New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1987), pages 171-72]

https://oddsandendsgonzalinhodacosta.blogspot.com/2018/10/docta-ignorantia.html

A DIFFICULT QUESTION: WHETHER THE SOUL IN HER AFFECTUS CAN, BY ASPIRATION AND YEARNING, BE MOVED INTO GOD WITHOUT ANY OF THE INTELLECT’S COGITATION LEADING THE WAY OR KEEPING HER COMPANY

To bring into the open the truth of the hidden and mystical matters already being discussed, a difficult question is posed, a question through which the truth of this wisdom will shine forth most clearly to anyone with understanding. We ask whether the soul in her affectus can, by aspiration, or yearning, be moved to God without any of the intellect’s cogitation leading the way or keeping her company.

 ...Now there are two ways of apprehending, corresponding to the twofold natural human faculty for reaching God. Every soul has a power of understanding, which is the faculty of the intellect, and a power of loving, which is called the affectus. With these we apprehend God, who is supreme Truth and supreme Good. With the intellect we grasp Truth, with the affectus we attain Good. A dual path of excellence fits these two. One path is called contemplation and is symbolized by Rachel, whose name means “charming to look at.” On this path the human spirit, infused with divine light from on high, has what it takes to contemplate celestial things by meditation and cogitation. The other path is in the affectus and is called the love’s ardor. It takes place in the fire of the Holy Spirit sent down from on high, as the soul aspires in flaming affections to God alone, yearning only to be more intimately united to him with tighter cords of love. This second path is called the “best part,” the one chosen by Mary, who ardently yearned, as the gospel of John says.

Hence, just as the New Testament stands out in comparison to the Old Testament, so too the way of love, or perfection, which is found in ardent love and is designated by Mary, is nobler than all meditation or intellectual contemplation, which is designated by Rachel.

—Hugh of Balma, “The Roads to Zion Mourn,” in Carthusian Spirituality: The Writings of Hugh of Balma and Guigo de Ponte, translated and introduced by Dennis D. Martin, preface by John Van Engen (New York: Paulist Press, 1997), pages 155-162