3 4 S p i r i t ua l i t y S t u d i e s 5 - 2 Fa l l 2 0 1 9 Notes [1] In one of his notes to The Spiritual Exercises Ignatius establishes three kinds of thoughts in a person’s mind: “one which is strictly my own, and arises wholly from my own free will; two others which come from without, the one from the good spirit, and the other from the evil one.” (Ignatius of Loyola 1968, 32). [2] In spirituality, consolation and desolation need to be distinguished. Just as consolation, desolation too can be a manifestation of psychological sensing or brain activity. In some states of epilepsy, without external manifestations in a form of epileptic spasms, patients exhibited feelings of ecstatic happiness and existential bliss that people often considered to be of divine nature. However, it is not always about the diagnosis of epilepsy, since the states mentioned above can also be provoked by the activity of neural systems in the brain, which can be affected by external factors (Koukolík 2012, 177). [3] See Norbert Cummins for more detailed schemes of the individual phases of spiritual growth (Cummins 1994, 46, 53, 84, 94, 104, 126). Another well-known interpreter is Antonio Maria Sicari (Sicari 2011). [4] For John of the Cross, contemplation is an expression of the state of the soul and its attitude towards God in times of spiritual aridity, when the soul is set at rest and becomes passive (not indifferent though). It means that the soul is left to God’s initiative; He transforms the soul according to His will. (John of the Cross 1962, II, 12, 6). [5] It would be wrong to claim that John undervalued the beginner’s stage in the spiritual life. As of his recommendations, beginners should engage in meditation and spiritual exercises as well as use the figurative imagination. He says about this beginner’s stage, “individuals in this state should be given matter for mediation and discursive reflection, and they should by themselves make interior acts and profit in spiritual things from the delight and satisfaction of the senses. For by being fed with the relish of spiritual things, the appetite is torn away from sensual things and weakened in regard to the things of the world.“ (John of the Cross 1973, III, 32). [6] It is important to note that although we lack enthusiasm and consolation, our life in prayer is still healthy despite the emotional aridity, if our virtues are alive (Green 1998, 105). [7] “A person’s suffering at this time cannot be exaggerated; they are but little less that the sufferings of purgatory.” (John of the Cross 1973, I, 21).
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