Ultimately, spiritual desolation is an attack on our memory and our hope.
It throws doubt on our memories of closeness with God, and it makes us doubt that his loving care is directed to bringing us to share eternal life with him.
We need to remember the beauty of our original encounter with God and rely on his grace to bring us through this desolation into the consolation of his presence.
According to St. Basil, when our forefather Adam abandoned God by eating the forbidden fruit, this was not completely out of the blue.
He first had come to think of God’s command not as a cause of joy, but as a burdensome cause of pain and sadness.
As he saw Eve eating the fruit, he doubted whether God would be able to save her.
Giving up hope in God’s aid, he convinced himself that God was neither a sufficient good to which to cling nor a strong enough ally to deliver them. What began with desolation and sadness ended in exile and mourning.
Experiencing desolation is a normal part of the Christian experience, but it is an experience that calls us to action.
If we do not act, we risk being overcome by the desolation and then experiencing grave harm in our Christian lives.
We must counter the attack of desolation with memory and hope by bringing before our minds all the good Christ has done for us.
Each day, we should take a moment to recall the blessings we have received and to offer a prayer of gratitude.
In addition, we must rely on Christ’s grace to help us endure the trials of desolation.
That is not to say that we are merely to be passive; we must exert ourselves against the desolation, trusting in Christ with a child-like confidence that if we make the effort, Christ will sustain us in this trial.
Fundamentally, the experience of desolation is the experience of being lied to.
We hear a voice telling us that God is not really good, he does not love us, he does not provide for us, and he is not the beautiful, ultimate object of our desires.
Our Christian brothers who have gone before us, however, call out the lie.
They call us not to conform to the lie. Rather, in experiences of desolation, we need to run to Christ, standing fast in our commitments, exerting ourselves in singing psalms, laboring in our vocations, and denying ourselves in little ways daily.
Our fathers in faith tell us to re-root ourselves in our community of faith and to remember the beauty of Christ.
In this way, we will be transformed and renewed by what is good, pleasing, and perfect.
Finally, keep this truth in hand at all times: whether in consolation or desolation, God is constantly sending graces down upon us to aid us in living a life of peace and joy.
As you go into your final time of prayer today, look back on the graces that have come from these ten days of reading and reflection on spiritual desolation, and ask the Lord what tasks he invites you to undertake, what graces he asks you to be thankful for, and what burdens he wants to help you carry.
Lastly and most importantly, take time to let the Lord reveal himself to you and draw your heart ever more perfectly to him.
