October 28, 2025 - This lack of the felt presence of God, a lack of emotional pleasure or resonance regarding God’s will for us, is usually referred to by spiritual writers as sensible desolation. The contrary is sensible consolation.

April 1, 2022 - Consolation is typically associated with “good” and desolation is taken to mean “bad”. While these two interpretations approach the truth, there’s a lot more to consolation and desolation than just feeling good or bad.

December 22, 2020 - Times of human suffering can be moments of grace.” To put it in traditional terms, desolation moves you toward “earthly” things and consolation moves you toward “heavenly” things.

March 17, 2017 - In fact, sometimes when I am doing precisely what God is leading me to do, I might feel negative pressure from others, or I might find the experience a challenge because I’m growing and learning. Yet if I sense in my spirit that I’m going the right way, this spiritual reality consoles me whether the day is bumpy or smooth. A person dwells in a state of desolation when she or he is moving away from God’s active presence in the world.

January 15, 2025 - We are really only talking about our orientation, and the bottom line is this: which direction is our life taking us—toward God [consolation] or away from him [desolation]?

June 16, 2025 - In consolation, let us turn to God in humble gratitude and keep going. In desolation, we should fight back, resist, and redouble efforts.

December 29, 2025 - Deepen your gratitude, stay faithful in prayer, and take note of God’s graces so you can remember them later. Think of consolation as “storing up strength” for when trials come. In Desolation: Don’t give in to discouragement.

May 15, 2023 - Briefly stated, consolation is a state in which a person is growing in faith, hope, and love. Desolation is a state in which a person is diminishing in faith, hope, and love. Some people think of consolation as moving toward God and desolation ...

February 13, 2026 - These may be moments where you felt the most freedom or gratitude, or it may be where you were most able to give and receive love. Desolation: Desolation is a spiritual state marked by restlessness, discouragement, or a sense of distance from God.

August 4, 2024 - Ignatius defines desolation: “I call it spiritual desolation what is entirely the opposite of what is described in spiritual consolation…darkness of soul, turmoil of spirit, restlessness, slothfulness, tepid, sad, separated….

December 31, 2018 - Even though it’s hard, choose Him. And Get. To. Confession. His Mercy is for YOU! When a person is in consolation, sometimes God allows the consolation to be lifted and they will enter desolation.

June 29, 2023 - Here, the emphasis appears to be ... states: consolation is defined as an inner movement that stirs up feelings of peace, hope, and love, and orients us toward God and toward helping others, while desolation is defined as the exact opposite...

Ignatius describes desolation as the contrary to consolation: “darkness of soul, disturbance in it, movement to low and earthly things, disquiet from various agitations and temptations, moving to lack of confidence, without hope, without love, ...

September 27, 2017 - In such moments, Ignatius asks us to consider—while in consolation—how little we can accomplish in desolation. Conversely, in desolation, when we feel downtrodden, we need to seek a trusting confidence, knowing that the present desolation will eventually pass (see rule eight), and that God is at work in our lives even now (see rule seven). For Ignatius, again, the ebb and flow between consolation and desolation is the normal path of the Christian life.

May 13, 2020 - How can we move forward from these places and learn the lessons they bring to us? Consolation is often the answer to this question. Consolations enable us to be hopeful and to look forward.

January 18, 2020 - Ignatian Spirituality website, we experience consolation when we are “moving toward God’s active presence in the world. We know we are moving in this way when we sense the growth of love or faith or mercy or hope—or any qualities we know as gifts of the Holy Spirit.” · We experience desolation when we are “moving away from God’s active presence in the world.

September 27, 2017 - In such moments, Ignatius asks us to consider—while in consolation—how little we can accomplish in desolation. Conversely, in desolation, when we feel downtrodden, we need to seek a trusting confidence, knowing that the present desolation will eventually pass (see rule eight), and that God is at work in our lives even now (see rule seven). For Ignatius, again, the ebb and flow between consolation and desolation is the normal path of the Christian life.

December 19, 2025 - The third reason is to serve as a reminder of our dependence on God in recognizing that spiritual consolations are purely gifts from God and not something we can attain (or maintain) on our own. While St. Ignatius primarily focuses on spiritual desolation, it is important to distinguish between spiritual and natural desolation, as they can often be intertwined.

July 25, 1957 - In consolation, we feel more alive and connected to others. Spiritual desolation, in contrast, is an experience of the soul in heavy darkness or turmoil. We are assaulted by all sorts of doubts, bombarded by temptations, and mired in ...