From this post, I received the following question:
Suppose one goes through a period in life when he has absolutely no determination to do anything at all, even to pray, or do his duty of his state of life,(both of which he did very enthusiastically not so long ago) but only fear, confusion, and hesitancy fill his mind, what would you recommend one do during this period?
This is probably a stupid question, but I would really value your opinion on this. Thanks.
Here’s my answer:
I don’t think your question is stupid at all. On the contrary, I think it speaks to a very real spiritual state every one is tempted toward — even the greatest of saints — and many people fall into it. It’s called, in medieval terminology, acedia; in biblical terminology, it’s called lukewarmness; but today it’s probably better known as spiritual sloth. I can’t define it much better than you have.
So, what’s the remedy?
Provided that one hasn’t brought this state upon oneself through habitual mortal sin — if one has, the remedy is pretty clear: Confession, and a firm resolution not to sin again — then consider one or more of these practices:
1. Pray the St. Michael prayer every day, and pray the traditional prayer to your Guardian Angel. Why? Because “fear, confusion, and hesitancy” are emotions inspired by the evil one.
2. Go to Confession on a regular basis — at least once a month, maybe even once a week, if possible, until this period of darkness passes — and confess the sin of lukewarmness. Everyone knows that through Confession our sins are forgiven, but not everyone knows that through Confession we are given the grace of fortitude to resist temptation. The only way out of this spiritual stupor is God’s grace.
3. Return to a simple prayer life: an Our Father, a Hail Mary, and a Glory Be, every day, preferably on your knees. In doing this, I’d recommend that you make the resolution to recall that God’s is present while you pray.
4. While engaging in the duties of one’s state of life, recall the manual labor done by Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in Nazareth. In other words, unite your work to Christ. Make it a prayer. Soon, you’ll realize it’s spiritual dimension.
5. Read this post of mine. Though I’m not one to toot my own horn, based on some of the responses I’ve received to this post, I think it’ll help explain (in outline) what you might be going through.
6. Read a book about a favorite saint.
7. Think often about your ultimate goal. Perhaps this post will help.
8. Perhaps you should consider changing your prayer life. Suppose, for example, your daily routine is to pray the Rosary in the morning and read a chapter of the Gospels in the evening. Perhaps praying Morning Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours and reading a different book — Abandonment to Divine Providence, for example — would help.
9. Think often about the Passion of Christ. This doesn’t have to be systematic; you don’t need to pray the Stations of the Cross, or the Sorrowful Mysteries, to do this. Rather, throughout the day, when it occurs to you to do so, think about Our Lord’s Passion, and strive to gain strength from it. You might have to be creative to do this. For example, I heard a story of someone who, whenever she got to work (she was a cashier at a department store), made a cross out of two paperclips — and whenever she noticed them, she said a short prayer. Little things like this work wonders.
10. Finally, remember that God desires a good will more than he desires anything else. Success, as we often define it, is irrelevant in the spiritual life. A good will and a steely determination are what’s most important. Easier said than done, I know.
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NOTE: The first time I tried to post the comment, it didn’t show up. Therefore I’m posting it again, but broken into two parts this time, in case it’s because of a word limit.
Dear Mr. Vehige,
Thank you very much for your kindness in taking time to reply to my question so extensively.
I took your advice and said the St. Michael Prayer and the prayer to my Guardian Angel today morning. (It brought back memories of simpler times in because it’s something I used to do when I was in school, but these days, somehow these prayers got left out of my daily prayer life.)
Thanks for the tip about Confession. I’m afraid I was, until I read your post above, in the second group (among those unaware that God gives us the grace of fortitude during Confession.) In fact, until today, every time I leave the Confessional, I’ve been thinking, “Okay, I repented, confessed these sins and do penance, but since I’m so weak, I’m sure to fall into the same sins again before the month is over.”
cont’d in next comment…
cont’d.. (it seems it’s still over the word limit; so I had to break it up more than one time)
I spent some time reading and thinking about your post you mentioned in point #5.
What you say in the last two paragraphs of that post really struck home. In the past I used to feel a sense of duty towards my secular duties and I did them with that motivation. Then, a year back, I read some of the works of St. Josemaria Escriva (they have been made available online for free) and was drawn towards such a spirituality, with it’s emphasis on Divine Filiation and Sanctification through work. But the strange thing is that, ever since that time, I don’t intuitively feel motivated by my sense of duty towards my secular duties as before.
Also, to find my way out of this confusion, I attended a retreat recently. One good thing that came out of that was that I felt motivated to read the Bible, but when I actually tried to implement that plan, I suddenly feel a lack of interest in it.
Reading your post has helped me realise that such things must be motivated by something more than the intuitive emotional appeal it has for me.
The comments plugin does not permit me to make one more post; so I’ll try changing my name & e-mail ID, since I haven’t yet posted the full text I wanted to.
From these experiences, I understand that I have been so used to acting according to my feelings so far that I now find it difficult to act according to reason and think with ideas and not with feelings. Realising that I am almost always a slave to my feelings and passions is frightening for me, since I had thought before that I was mostly in control of my life.
Your post you mentioned in point #7 has been very helpful, especially the first part. It helped me realise that my reluctance to obey God is largely due to the fact that I don’t understand God’s loving fatherhood properly. Also, your comments on the Olympics were very helpful for me to understand that I sadly don’t have a single-minded devotion to God.
Hi Innocent,
I’m glad my post helped.
After reading these comments (as well as the comments that got put into my spam folder) I’d encourage you to focus on returning to “simpler times” in your spiritual life.
Simple morning prayers. Simple evening prayers. Try to get some spiritual reading in every day. Think over what you’ve read. Keep it simple.
One book I’d strongly recommend is THIS TREMENDOUS LOVER by Fr. Eugene Boylan (here’s the link: http://astore.amazon.com/stpetercanisiusapostolatestore-20/detail/0870611380). As one of my friends said after reading it, Fr. Boylan makes holiness sound so easy.
It’s a wonderful book.
God bless.
PS — Hope the next time you decide to write a comment things will go smoother for you.
Innocent,
Just discovered your most recent post in my SPAM folder. I think I realized the problem. Too long to go into, but I think you’ll be fine.
Don’t beat yourself up because you don’t have single-minded devotion to God. Who does, save the saints?
We learn to love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength by actually loving God as best as we can.
Start small. During one activity — say, cleaning the kitchen, or mowing the lawn — strive to give your work to God by doing the absolute best you can. While working, try to remember God’s loving presence.
Since God will not allow himself to be out-loved by us, he will surely reward your effort.
That’s how it works. God gives us his grace; we respond to his grace; God gives us more grace; we respond to that grace; etc . . . until death.
God bless.
I’m glad that you’ve looked into the problem. Since you’ve got the system working, here’s the last part of the original comment that I wasn’t able to post befrore:
On reading through your blog, I came across another of your posts about a Rule of Life. It sounds like a very good idea and apt for this situation. I think I shall start preparing one of my own.
Thanks also for your advice about changing my prayer life and the book recommendations. I shall read through Abandonment, as you recommended.
Thinking often about the Passion of Christ is something I have not done so far. I shall take your advice and do so now.
Once again, thanks for taking the time to respond to my question. I shall remember you in my prayers. I pray and hope that your apostolate reaches many more people and brings them to Christ.
Yours in Christ,
Innocent
P.S. Sorry about the long post. Brevity is not one of my strong points.
Hi. I just wanted to add that I’ve taken your recommendation in point #6 and started reading The Life of Sir Thomas More by William Roper. With prayers,Yours in Christ,Innocent