Part IV, Chapter XIV

Of Spiritual Dryness

As long as consolation may last, do as I have just now directed you, dear Philothea! But this fine and agreeable weather will not always continue, for sometimes you shall find yourself so absolutely destitute of all feeling of devotion that your soul shall seem to be a wild, fruitless, barren desert, in which there is no trace of a pathway to find her God, nor any water of grace to refresh her, on account of the dryness which seems to threaten her with a total and absolute desolation. Alas! how much does a poor soul in such a state deserve compassion; but especially when the evil is vehement; for then, in imitation of David, she feeds herself with tears night and day; while the enemy, to cast her into despair, mocks her in a thousand suggestions of despondency, saying: “Ah! poor wretch, where is thy God? By what path shalt thou be able to find him? Who can ever restore to thee the joy of his holy grace?”

What shall you then do, Philothea? Examine the source whence this evil has flowed to you; for we ourselves are often the cause of our spiritual dryness. 1. As a mother refuses to gratify the appetite of her child, when such gratification might increase its indisposition, so God withholds consolations from us, when we take vain complacency in them, and are subject to the spiritual maladies of self-conceit and presumption. “It is good forme that thou hast humbled me”; yes, “for before I was humbled I offended.” (Psalms 118:71) 2. When we neglect to gather the sweetness and delights of the love of God at the proper season, he removes them from us in punishment of our sloth. The Israelite, who neglected to gather the manna betimes, could gather none after sunrise, for it had then all melted. 3. AVe are sometimes pleased in the bed of sensual consolations, as the sacred Spouse was in the Canticles; the Spouse of our soul comes and knocks at the door of our heart, and invites us to return to our spiritual exercises; but we put them off, because we are unwilling to quit these vain amusements, and false satisfactions; for this reason he departs, and permits us to slumber. But afterwards, when we desire to seek him, it is with great difficulty that we find him; and it is no more than what we have justly deserved, since we have been so unfaithful and disloyal as to refuse the participation of his love, to enjoy the consolations of the world. Ah! if you still keep the flour of Egypt, you shall not have the manna of heaven. Bees detest artificial odors; and the sweetness of the Holy Spirit is incompatible with the counterfeit delights of the world.

4. The double-dealing and subtlety which we use in our spiritual communications with our director may also produce spiritual dryness; for, since you lie to the Holy Ghost, it is no wonder he should refuse his consolations. If you will not be as sincere and plain as a little child, you shall not, then, have the sugar-plums of little children.

5. If you have glutted yourself with worldly pleasures it is no wonder that you should find an unsavory taste in spiritual delights. When birds have once satiated their appetite the most delicious berries appear to them distasteful. “He hath filled the hungry with good things,” says our blessed Lady (Luke 1:53). “And the rich he hath sent away empty.” They that are glutted with the pleasures of the world are not capable of the delights of the Spirit.

6. If you have been careful to preserve the fruits of the consolations which you have received, you shall receive new ones; for, to him that has, more shall be given; but he that has not kept, but lost, what was given him, through his own fault, shall never receive those graces which had been prepared for him. Rain enlivens green plants, but it destroys those that have lost their verdure.

There are several causes which occasion our fall from the consolations of devotion into dryness and barrenness of spirit. Let us, then, examine whether we can find any of them in ourselves; but observe, Philothea, that this examination is not to be made either with inquietude or too much curiosity; but if, after having faithfully considered our comportment, we find the cause of the evil to originate in ourselves, let us thank God for the discovery; for the evil is half cured when the cause of it is known; but if, on the contrary, you can find nothing in particular which may seem to have occasioned this dryness, trouble not yourself about making any further inquiry, but with all simplicity do as I shall now advise you.

1. Humble yourself very much before God, by acknowledging your own nothingness and misery. Alas! O Lord, what am I when left to myself but a dry, parched soil, which, far from receiving those showers, of which it stands in so great need, is exposed to the wind, and thus reduced to dust. 2. Call upon God, and beg comfort of him. “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me.” Away, thou barren north wind, that witherest my soul; and blow, gentle gale of consolations, upon the garden of my heart, that its good affections may diffuse the odor of sweetness. 3. Go to your confessor, and opening to him the several plaits and folds of your soul, follow his advice with the utmost simplicity and humility; for God, who is well pleased with obedience, frequently renders the counsels we take from others, but especially from those who are the guides of our soul, profitable, when otherwise there might be no great appearance of success; as he imparted healing qualities to the waters of Jordan, the use of which Eliseus had, without any appearance of human reason, prescribed to Naaman (4 Kings 5:14). 4. But, after all this, there is nothing so profitable, so fruitful, in a state of spiritual dryness, as not to suffer our affections to be too strongly fixed upon the desire of being delivered from it. I do not say that we ought not simply to wish for a deliverance, but that we should not set our heart upon it; but rather yield ourselves up to the pure mercy and special providence of God, that he may make use of us to serve him as long as he pleases. In the midst of these thorns and deserts let us say, “Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me”; but let us also add, courageously, “nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done.” But here let us stop with as much tranquillity as possible; for God, beholding this holy indifference, will comfort us with many graces and favors; as was the case with Abraham when he resolved to deprive himself of his son Isaac. God, who contented himself with seeing him in this disposition of a pure resignation, comforted him with a most delightful vision, accompanied by the most consolatory benedictions. We ought, then, under all kinds of afflictions, whether corporal or spiritual, and amidst all the distractions or subtractions of sensible devotion which may happen to us, to say from the bottom of our heart, with profound submission, “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21) For, if we continue in this humility, he will restore us his delightful favors as he did to Job, who constantly used the like words in his desolations.

Finally, Philothea, in the midst of our spiritual dryness, let us never lose courage, but wait with patience for the return of consolation. Let us not omit any of our exercises of devotion, but, if possible, let us multiply our good works; and, not being able to present to our dear Spouse the most exquisite dishes, let us offer him such as we can procure; for he is indifferent, provided the heart which offers them be perfectly fixed in the resolution of loving him. When the spring is fair the bees make more honey, and produce fewer young ones; for, when the fine weather favors them, they are so busy in their harvest among the flowers that they forget the production of their young; but when the spring is sharp and cloudy they produce more young ones, and less honey; for, not being able to go abroad to gather honey, they employ themselves at home to increase and multiply their race. Thus it happens frequently, Philothea, that the soul, finding herself in the fair spring of spiritual consolations, amuses herself so much in enjoying their sweetness, that in the abundance of these delights she produces fewer good works; whilst, on the contrary, in the midst of spiritual dryness, the more destitute she finds herself of the consolations of devotion, the more she multiplies her good works, and abounds in the interior generation of the virtues of patience, humility, self-contempt, resignation, and renunciation of self-love.

Many persons, especially women, falsely imagine that the spiritual exercises which they perform without relish, tenderness of heart, or sensible satisfaction, are less agreeable to the divine Majesty. Our actions are like roses, which when fresh have more beauty, yet when dry have more strength and sweetness. Our works performed with tenderness of heart are more agreeable to ourselves, who regard only our own satisfaction, yet when performed in the time of dryness they possess more sweetness, and become more precious in the sight of God. Yes, dear Philothea, in the time of dryness our will forces us to the service of God, as it were, by violence; and, consequently, it must necessarily be more vigorous and constant than in the time of consolation.

It is not great merit to serve a prince in the time of peace, amongst the delights of the court; but to serve him amidst the hardships of war, troubles, and persecutions is a true mark of constancy and fidelity. The Blessed Angela de Fulgino says, that the prayer which is most acceptable to God is that which we make by force and constraint; the prayer to which we apply ourselves, not for the pleasure which we find in it, nor by inclination, but purely to please God; to which our will carries us against our inclinations, violently forcing its way through the midst of those clouds of avidity which oppose it. I say the same of every kind of good works, whether interior or exterior; for, the more repugnance we feel in performing them, the more agreeable they are in the sight of God. The less we consult our particular interest in the pursuit of virtues, the more brilliantly does the purity of divine love shine forth in them. A child easily is naturally affectionate to his mother when she gives him sugar; but it is a sign of a great love if he manifests the same affection after she has given him wormwood, or any other bitter potion.

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