Mary’s School of Sanctity – Lesson #9         

In our last lesson we discussed the tactics of the evil one which he uses to drag us off our course when we are in consolation.  In this lesson we will discuss the last two Rules for the Second Week.

St.  Ignatius’s Rule #7.  In those who are making spiritual progress, that action of the good angel is gentle, light, and sweet, as a drop of water entering a sponge.  The action of the evil spirit is sharp, noisy, and disturbing, like a drop of water falling upon a rock.  In those souls that are going from bad to worse, the action of these two spirits is the reverse.  The cause for this difference of action is the disposition of the soul, which is either contrary or similar to that of the spirits mentioned above.  When the disposition of the soul is contrary to that of the spirits, they enter it with noise and disturbances that are easily perceived.  When the dispositions of the soul and that of these spirits are similar, they enter silently, as one coming into his own house through an open door.

This Rule reminds us a bit of the First and Second Rules from the First Week, where we saw how the good spirit and the evil spirit each deal with souls based on the state of the soul.  A major point to remember is that the good spirit and the evil spirit always work in opposite directions.  They always oppose each other.

Two opposing spirits for two opposing states of soul:

In his 2nd Rule for the First Week, St. Ignatius speaks about the soul that is striving to serve God.  In this case he tells us that the good angel encourages the soul to persevere in the service of God.  He says the good spirit helps the soul “put away all obstacles”[1] in order to help the soul advance.  In addition to this, the good spirit “gives courage and strength, consolations, tears [of compunction], inspirations, and quiet.”[2]

Here in the 7^th Rule in the Second Week, St. Ignatius further informs us that the good spirit is “gentle, light, and sweet, as a drop of water entering a sponge.” In the case we are considering now, the soul is in the proper disposition.  Thus, St. Ignatius explains, that the good spirit will enter silently as if “coming into his own house through an open door.”

In this same soul with proper disposition, the evil spirit, being contrary to the soul’s disposition, will enter it “with noise and disturbances that are easily perceived.”[3] Thus, the evil spirit enters “like a drop of water falling upon a rock” and his action is “sharp, noisy, and disturbing.”[4]

In addition, St. Ignatius told us in the 2nd Rule for the First Week that the devil tries to “bite, sadden and put obstacles, disquieting with false reasons, that one may not go on.”[5]

It is easy to see how this method is described accurately and how the devil would try to push the soul to scruples or some other form of pride.  One typical tool for the devil to use is to try to sow discouragement into the soul, saying something along the lines of, “It is too hard to keep going like you are.  You can’t ever save your soul.  It is impossible.  Certainly, it is impossible to keep up these efforts you are making.” Of course, the evil spirit is urging the soul into a form of self-pity, pride and despair.

We can see the good spirit would do the exact opposite and soothingly tell the soul the following types of things: “You are doing the right thing.  Hang in there, God will never abandon you.  You can make it (with His help).  Don’t give up, because every struggle is worth the effort.  Remember, God is not outdone in generosity.  This suffering is for the good of your soul and that is one of the reasons why He has sent it.  Look how much God has done for you in the past and see how He has taken such providential care of you.  Etc.”

God willing, we are in this state of soul and striving to please almighty God.  Let us strive to stay alert in order to detect the evil one playing his tricks!

Let us now examine what St. Ignatius says about the soul going from bad to worse. 

As we saw in the First Rule of the First Week where a soul is going from bad to worse, the devil encourages the soul to keep in this state.  He proposes apparent pleasures to the soul to entice it to remain living in sin.  In the 7^th Rule for the Second Week, St. Ignatius gives us further insights about the devil’s stratagems.  The devil, being similar to this wretched soul, will influence this soul “like water on a sponge,” because he will deal with the soul gently and coax it along to remain indifferent to its perilous state.  This method of the bad spirit is easy to see in the worldling who just lives to go from one pleasure to the next and doesn’t reflect on the purpose of life, namely, his final end.

For the soul in this horrible state St. Ignatius explains in the First Rule for the First Week, that the good spirit pricks the conscience.  He tells us that the good spirit will “prick the soul and bite the conscience through the process of reason.”[6]  It is thus in this 7^th Rule for the Second Week that St. Ignatius explains how the good angel enters the soul noisily like “a drop of water on a rock” in order to awaken the soul to its danger.

It is very interesting to note how the good spirit urges the soul to use its reason which is the highest faculty of the human soul.  In stark contrast, we see how the bad spirit incites the soul to not use reason.[7]

St.  Ignatius’s Rule #8.  When consolation is without preceding cause, although there is no deception in it since in proceeds only from God Our Lord, as has been stated above [in Rule 2 of the Second Week[8]] the spiritual person to whom God gives such consolation ought still to consider it with great vigilance and attention.  He should carefully distinguish the exact time of such consolation from the time that followed it, during which time the soul continues in fervor and feels the divine favor and the after effects of the consolation which has passed.  Often in this latter period the soul makes various plans and resolutions which are not inspired directly by God Our Lord.  They may be the result of its own reflections, in accordance with its own habits and the consequence of its own concepts or judgments, and they may come either from the good spirit or the evil one.  It is therefore necessary that they be very carefully examined before they are given full approval, and are put into action.

In this Rule St. Ignatius is warning us to be very careful when in consolation.  As we discussed in our last Lesson (#8), the devil knows we are especially vulnerable during consolation.  We are capable of being easily fooled by the bad spirit.  This is because in consolation we feel especially fervent and full of love of God.  We feel as if we would be willing to do any service for Our Lord.  The devil knows this and will tempt us to something perhaps rash or something that will foster inordinate self love and pride.  This is why St. Ignatius recommends getting advice from a wise person, about any resolutions we may have.  So many souls have been led astray because they get some idea to do something that is not truly good for their eternal salvation.[9]

Another key instruction of St. Ignatius for when one is in consolation is to be sure to humble oneself.[10]  Acts of humility are very important.  There are several that would be good to consider and to put into practice.  One is to count one’s blessings and all the insights that God has bestowed on him.  This counting of blessings fosters gratitude towards God.  In turn, this gratitude fosters a greater love of God.

An additional humbling practice that St. Ignatius speaks of is to consider what it is like to be in desolation.  He tells us to remember how weak and helpless we feel during desolation.  He also tells us that during the current consolation, we should build up strength upon which to rely later, when desolation returns, so that we might act well then.[11]

In our next lesson we will begin discussing the first Exercise of St. Ignatius, what he calls the Principle and Foundation.  Let us be grateful to God for these special Rules for the Discernments of Spirits which help us perceive the movements of the good and bad spirits on our souls.  By knowing these Rules and consulting them frequently, we can use them effectively to defend ourselves from the enemy and cooperate with the good spirits.  Blessed be God for His Divine assistance and assurances that He never abandons souls!