+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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The talks that are given at noon are not meant for meditations. Rather they are conferences, which help us to do the Spiritual Exercises better or they give some important tips for our whole spiritual life. What I am going to give you know is a set of such important tips or rules. Something that will be useful to you not only during the Spiritual Exercises, but also during your whole life.

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St. Ignatius calls it the Discernment of Spirits, that is the ability to perceive and judge the movements that occur in our soul.

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The goal of these rules is this: by distinguishing between the good movements and the bad movements, (or call it the good inspirations and the bad inspirations) we may easily receive and follow and good and that we may reject the bad.  These rules are found in numbers 313-327 of the Book of the Spiritual Exercises. Let us now see the rules.

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First Rule. The first Rule speaks of persons who are continually committing serious sins, for e.g. persons who have some vice, some addiction etc. St. Ignatius says: “In the persons who go from mortal sin to mortal sin, the enemy is commonly used to propose to them apparent pleasures, making them imagine sensual delights and pleasures in order to hold them more and make them grow in their vices and sins. In these persons the good spirit uses the opposite method, pricking them and biting their consciences through the process of reason”

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Second Rule. The second rule is applicable to persons who have repented of their sins, and who are trying to love God more, to serve Him more. Let us see that in these kinds of persons the evil spirit and the evil spirit work in the opposite way compared to Rule 1. St. Ignatius says: “In the persons who are going on intensely cleansing their sins and rising from good to better in the service of God our Lord, it is the method contrary to that in the first Rule, for then it is the way of the evil spirit to bite, sadden and put obstacles, disquieting with false reasons, that one may not go on; and it is proper to the good to give courage and strength, consolations, tears, inspirations and quiet, easing, and putting away all obstacles, that one may go on in well doing.”

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Third Rule. The third rule makes us understand what is a consolation. Later on, we will see some rules intended for moments of consolation. But we should know what consolation is. That is why St. Ignatius says:  “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 […]. 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, […]. 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.” These then are the characteristics of consolation: deep peace, joy in God, etc, everything connected with God’s service seems easy and lovable. Maybe many times you have experienced such moments of consolation. But in the spiritual life, we not only experience such moments of peace, joy, love. We also experience moments of disturbance, confusion, etc. Hence let us see the next rule.

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Fourth Rule. The fourth rule speaks of desolation, which is the contrary of consolation. Let us see what St. Ignatius says: “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. […] the thoughts which come from consolation are contrary to the thoughts which come from desolation.” Now we have defined desolation. It is important to know not only what it is, but also how we should act during such moments of desolation. St. Ignatius will give us quite a bit of advice on this regard.

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Fifth Rule. The fifth rule teaches us a very important attitude that we should have during desolation: “In time of desolation never to make a change; but to be firm and constant in the resolutions and determination in which one was the day preceding such desolation, or in the determination in which he was in the preceding consolation. Because, as in consolation it is rather the good spirit who guides and counsels us, so in desolation it is the bad, with whose counsels we cannot take a course to decide rightly.” Bottom line is that during moments of desolation, do not change your previous resolutions.

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Sixth Rule. The sixth rule states what we can do during desolation: “Although in desolation we ought not to change our first resolutions, it is very helpful intensely to change ourselves against the same desolation, as by insisting more on prayer, meditation, on much examination, and by giving ourselves more scope in some suitable way of doing penance.” It is important to examine ourselves often during desolation (we should also be able to identify the moments of desolation. That is why St. Ignatius gave us earlier the description of what desolation is). Examining ourselves during desolation may help us discover some hidden weakness in us, which the devil maybe using to torment our minds.

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Seventh Rule. The seventh rule states that the help of God always remains with the person who is in desolation. Only that the person is experiencing his own limitation without the intense feeling that God gives during consolations: “Let him who is in desolation consider how the Lord has left him in trial in his natural powers, in order to resist the different agitations and temptations of the enemy; since he can with the Divine help, which always remains to him, though he does not clearly perceive it: because the Lord has taken from him his great fervour, great love and intense grace, leaving him, however, grace enough for eternal salvation”

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Eighth Rule. The eighth rule speaks of the value of patience during desolations: ‘Let him who is in desolation labour to be in patience, which is contrary to the vexations which come to him: and let him think that he will soon be consoled, employing against the desolation the devices, as is said in the sixth Rule.”

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Ninth Rule. The ninth rule is very important because it gives us the reasons why we enter into desolation. The reasons could be three and they can be summarised as follows: our own fault, or a test from God, or an opportunity for self-knowledge. Let us see the text of St. Ignatius: “There are three principal reasons why we find ourselves desolate. The first is, because of our being tepid, lazy or negligent in our spiritual exercises; and so through our faults, spiritual consolation withdraws from us. The second, to try us and see how much we are and how much we let ourselves out in His service and praise without such great pay of consolation and great graces. The third, to give us true acquaintance and knowledge, that we may interiorly feel that it is not ours to get or keep great devotion, intense love, tears, or any other spiritual consolation, but that all is the gift and grace of God our Lord, and that we may not build a nest in a thing not ours, raising our intellect into some pride or vainglory, attributing to us devotion or the other things of the spiritual consolation”

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Tenth Rule. The tenth rule now speaks of how we should act during consolation. The rules for desolation are more important and necessary. Yet times of consolation also has its rules, lest we be carried away by over-enthusiasm. St. Ignatius says: “Let him who is in consolation think how he will be in the desolation which will come after, taking new strength for then”

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Eleventh Rule. The eleventh rule teaches us humility during consolation “Let him who is consoled see to humbling himself and lowering himself as much as he can, thinking how little he is able for in the time of desolation without such grace or consolation”

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On the contrary, let him who is in desolation think that he can do much with the grace sufficient to resist all his enemies, taking strength in his Creator and Lord.

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The twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth rules are gems of spiritual insight into how the enemy of the human nature, the devil, acts. Knowing the tactics of the devil is already half the battle won. Let us see them:  

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Twelfth Rule. The twelfth rule teaches that the devil is strong against weakness, and weak against strength. St. Ignatius says: “The enemy acts like a woman, in being weak against vigour and strong of will. Because, as it is the way of the woman when she is quarrelling with some man to lose heart, taking flight when the man shows her much courage: and on the contrary, if the man, losing heart, begins to fly, the wrath, revenge, and ferocity of the woman is very great, and so without bounds; in the same manner, it is the way of the enemy to weaken and lose heart, his temptations taking flight, when the person who is exercising himself in spiritual things opposes a bold front against the temptations of the enemy, doing diametrically the opposite. And on the contrary, if the person who is exercising himself commences to have fear and lose heart in suffering the temptations, there is no beast so wild on the face of the earth as the enemy of human nature in following out his damnable intention with so great malice”. So when we are tempted, we should never be afraid of the devil, for he cannot move our free-will. Different temptations have different responses that we should do: if temptation is against purity, change the thought or the place immediately, if against faith, make an act of faith, etc. All of these are bold moves. Only if we begin to be afraid of the devil’s temptation, then he gains the upper hand.

 

Thirteenth Rule. The thirteenth rule says how the devil tries to put a lock on the mouths of those whom he tempts. He tries to make them be silent as regards the temptations, since if they reveal these to a priest or a confessor, the temptations will disappear. St. Ignatius says: “Likewise, he acts as a licentious lover in wanting to be secret and not revealed. For, as the licentious man who, speaking for an evil purpose, solicits a daughter of a good father or a wife of a good husband, wants his words and persuasions to be secret, and the contrary displeases him much, when the daughter reveals to her father or the wife to her husband his licentious words and depraved intention, because he easily gathers that he will not be able to succeed with the undertaking begun: in the same way, when the enemy of human nature brings his wiles and persuasions to the just soul, he wants and desires that they be received and kept in secret; but when one reveals them to his good Confessor or to another spiritual person that knows his deceits and evil ends, it is very grievous to him, because he gathers, from his manifest deceits being discovered, that he will not be able to succeed with his wickedness begun”. So it important to speak with a priest when we face temptations. He will be able to give us good advice on how to overcome these temptations.

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Fourteenth Rule. The fourteenth rule is also very important. It shows how the devil tries to attack us through our weak point. Let us see the rule: “Likewise, he behaves as a chief bent on conquering and robbing what he desires: for, as a captain and chief of the army, pitching his camp, and looking at the forces or defences of a stronghold, attacks it on the weakest side, in like manner the enemy of human nature, roaming about, looks in turn at all our virtues, theological, cardinal and moral; and where he finds us weakest and most in need for our eternal salvation, there he attacks us and aims at taking us”. From this rule, we learn that we should strengthen the places where we are weak spiritually. For this it is important to identify where our weaknesses: whether it is in anger, or laziness or intemperance or fear, etc. Once we have identified our main weakness, we should pray and work against it. That is the way we will close the door to many of the devil’s temptations. Remember that the weak point for each person is different. So the importance of praying and examining ourselves in order to know what area of our spiritual life we should strengthen.