Emotions in the Spiritual Life From an article on Aridity by Rev. William G. Most†.
Emotion has two elements: a) the body's biochemistry; b) mental interpretation. If we see something very dangerous in front of us, we will experience fear. If we see something very beautiful, there is a sense of peace or joy. Mental interpretation determines just what it is that we are seeing, feeling, smelling, etc. Emotion is neither good nor bad. It is a psychological function. It is what we do with our emotions that matters. Our Lord drove out the traders in the Temple. So his anger was good. But if we get angry at someone, and we blame someone and no one forgives each other, than our unforgiveness is bad. In the spiritual life, feelings or emotions can be helpful or harmful. "Pleasant emotions in religious things are called consolations; the opposite, aridity. Realization of spiritual truths is not the same as consolation."† "There are chiefly three sources for feelings in religion: ourselves, a good spirit(or God) and the evil spirit. "First, they can come from ourselves. Some, on reading the life of a saint, may as it were identify with the saint, and imagine themselves saintly, especially if they happen to have a calm mood in prayer. They may practically contemplate themselves as they pray, and think selves holy. Some races of humans are more prone to emotion than others. So something written by such a one may speak of high emotion. For example, St. Augustine, in his Confessions, after His conversion, in his retreat before baptism, describes emotional highs from reciting Psalm 4. Most people would not find that the case. "The state of our health and body in general can affect our response in feeling. Sluggish bowels can tend to dampen or hold down emotions. If we watch ourselves - which is even amusing to do - we will find that our reactions and attitudes can readily change with any change in our body chemistry. Women in general are more inclined to feelings than men. Further, their completely natural hormonal cycles can bring a constantly shifting landscape, as it were, before their eyes. "Sins, and even imperfections, even attachments to earthly things can predispose one to aridity. To understand attachments, we think of the words of Our Lord in Mt. 6.21: "Where your treasure is, there is your heart also." In a narrow sense, that might he a box of coins hidden under the floor for safekeeping. Such a stash would tend to pulls the owner's thoughts and heart toward it: he would enjoy thinking on it. But we can put our treasure in just anything: in huge meals, in gourmet meals, in sex, in travel, in study, even in the study of Scripture and theology. All these things are lower than God Himself, some much lower than others. So they can, in different degrees, tend to hold down our thoughts and hearts. But there is a second factor: How strongly does a person let self be pulled by these things? The least pull would result only in imperfection, less than venial sin. The next level would be occasional venial sin - then habitual venial sin - then occasional mortal sin - then habitual mortal sin. One who falls into habitual mortal sin will find it hard for his thoughts, feelings, and heart to rise to the divine level. "There is a thing called affection to venial sin. It means this: it is as if a person were to say to himself: I do not intend to commit mortal sins, or even every venial sin that offers itself. But I have some reservations. If it gets too hard to keep up a conversation without some detraction, I will do it. Or if it is too hard to stick to the truth, I will lie. In general a person will not so openly speak to himself, as it were, about the attitudes we have described. But they can be there at least subconsciously, and can do much damage. Such attachments keep one not only from fully receiving a plenary indulgence, but from any further spiritual progress at all. It is as if the person puts a clamp around his heart:it can expand just so far, no farther. It is sad to see some persons going in for so many devotions, but yet making no gain, since they harbor - perhaps without realizing it - one of these affections. This is something to check on. During a retreat is a good time to scour our consciousness for these things. (Cf. St. John of the Cross, Ascent of Mt. Carmel 1.11.4 - for his comparison of a bird on a string). "God or a good spirit can send either consolations or aridity. When a person reaches the second conversion - the point where he decides to get serious about pleasing God - then God often sends consolations, to help detach the soul from things of this world. But if these feelings were to run long term, there would be danger of attachment to them. St. Francis de Sales says we might come to love the consolations of God more than the God of consolations. St. John of the Cross (Ascent of Mt. Carmel 3.39.1) compares such things to toys. If a baby picks up a sharp knife, we do not try to take it from him. No, we dangle a toy before him, so he will let go of the knife. The toys are such consolations. "There is only one free thing in us, our free will. So in a situation where our will must hold onto carrying out the will of God in spite of aridity, even in darkness, i.e., when it seems impossible to do so - then the soul must either make a large gain, or fall. We think of Abraham, told to sacrifice his son, even though he had to believe God would make him the father of a great nation through that Isaac. Abraham could have respectfully asked God: I know I must believe this, but now you tell me to kill him. I am willing to do either, but cannot do both. But Abraham did not ask any question: he just went ahead. And God did provide." "Even more important: even though spiritual progress lies in the will, it is tied to what is called somatic resonance. Since we are made of matter and spirit and the two are tied so closely as to form one person, the result is that if we have a condition on either side, body or spirit, then for normal running there should be a parallel on the other side. That is called a resonance. When it falls on the side of the body (most usual) it is labeled somatic. For example, a man in deep black depression may think he is losing his faith. The truth is that the bad chemistry that causes his depression is interfering with the somatic resonance to faith - that resonance is found in biochemistry. Hence it seems to him he has no faith. But when he comes out the blackness, there is no need to make him a convert again. His faith was there all the time." "There is a diversity in spiritual patterns too. There as it were two levels of tiers in the principles of the spiritual life. On the basic level, no one can break the rules without taking a loss. But on the secondary level there is room for much variation. St. Francis of Assisi took much pleasure in birds and flowers, and that led him to praise God greatly. St. John of the Cross probably reacted in the opposite way. St. Francis de Sales was refined gentleman. St. Benedict Joseph Labre was like a filthy tramp living the ruins of Rome. He must have had body lice. One story says if one of them tried to crawl out of his sleeve, he would push it back again. "We owe Him everything - for making us out of nothing - and all over again, for redeeming us. So we go to Mass not to enjoy ourselves - that is indifferent whether or not we enjoy it - but to please Him by joining our resolve of obedience to that of the obedience of the heart of His Son, as He lies on the altar, and to that of His Mother, who still joins with Him in each Mass, as she once did at the Cross (cf. John Paul II in St. Peter's Square on Sunday Feb 12, 1984 said: "Every liturgical action. . . is an occasion of communion. . . and in a particular way with Mary. Because the Liturgy is the action of Christ and of the Church. . . she is inseparable from one and the other. . . . . Mary is present in the memorial - the liturgical action - because she was present at the saving event, faithful with her whole being to the Father's plan, at the historical salvific occasion of Christ's death." Her will is still united with His, the flesh and blood on the altar came from her). "We might even take a few moments before a Mass: What have I done in obeying the Father since the last Mass? If well, I can join that; if some times I did badly, then I should express regrets). "Here are some passages from Saints who had much aridity, but profited from it: 1. St. Therese of Lisieux, Autobiography (Cap 13, p. 196, Kenedy edition):"Do not think that I am overwhelmed with consolations. Far from it! My joy consists in being deprived of all joy here on earth. Jesus does not guide me openly: I neither see nor hear Him." 2. St. Therese of Lisieux, Poem: "I know that at Nazareth, Virgin full of graces/ You lived in great poverty, not wishing anything more; No raptures, no miracles, no ecstasies/ embellished your life, O Queen of the elect. / The number of little ones is very great upon the earth. / They can, without trembling, lift up their eyes to you. /It pleases you to walk among the common way, / Incomparable Mother, to guide them to the heavens." 3. St. Teresa of Avila, Interior Castle 6.9: "I will only warn you that, when you learn or hear that God is granting souls these graces [visions etc.], you must never beseech or desire Him to lead you along this road. Even if you think it is a very good one, and to be greatly prized and reverenced, there are certain reasons why such a course is not wise." She adds: it shows a lack of humility, one leaves self open to great danger since the devil will take any opening, there is also danger of autosuggestion; it is presumption to want to choose one's own path; very heavy trials usually go with such favors and, "There are many saintly people who have never known what it is to receive a favor of this kind, and there are others who receive such favors, although they are not saintly. . . . It is true that to have these favors must be the greatest help towards attaining a high degree of perfection in the virtues; but anyone who has attained the virtues at the cost of his own toil has earned much more merit." 4. St. Francis de Sales, Letter 764 to St. Jane de Chantal: "It is the height of holy disinterestedness to be content with naked, dry, and insensible acts carried out in the higher will alone. You have told me well about your suffering and there is nothing to do to help it but what you are doing: affirming to our Lord, sometimes out loud and sometimes in song, that you even will to live and to eat as the dead do, without taste, feeling or knowledge. In the end, the Savior wants us to be His so perfectly that nothing else is left for us, and to abandon ourselves entirely to the mercy of His providence without reservation." (†) Quotations, unless otherwise noted are from an article on Aridity by Rev. William G. Most. That article and these quotations are Copyright © 2009 Trinity Communications. Used with permission 6/25/09 FSS

Emotions in the Spiritual Life

From an article on Aridity by Rev. William G. Most†.

Emotion has two elements: a) the body's biochemistry; b) mental interpretation. If we see something very dangerous in front of us, we will experience fear. If we see something very beautiful, there is a sense of peace or joy. Mental interpretation determines just what it is that we are seeing, feeling, smelling, etc. Emotion is neither good nor bad. It is a psychological function. It is what we do with our emotions that matters.

Our Lord drove out the traders in the Temple. So his anger was good. But if we get angry at someone, and we blame someone and no one forgives each other, than our unforgiveness is bad.

In the spiritual life, feelings or emotions can be helpful or harmful. "Pleasant emotions in religious things are called consolations; the opposite, aridity. Realization of spiritual truths is not the same as consolation."†

"There are chiefly three sources for feelings in religion: ourselves, a good spirit(or God) and the evil spirit.

"First, they can come from ourselves. Some, on reading the life of a saint, may as it were identify with the saint, and imagine themselves saintly, especially if they happen to have a calm mood in prayer. They may practically contemplate themselves as they pray, and think selves holy. Some races of humans are more prone to emotion than others. So something written by such a one may speak of high emotion. For example, St. Augustine, in his Confessions, after His conversion, in his retreat before baptism, describes emotional highs from reciting Psalm 4. Most people would not find that the case.

"The state of our health and body in general can affect our response in feeling. Sluggish bowels can tend to dampen or hold down emotions. If we watch ourselves - which is even amusing to do - we will find that our reactions and attitudes can readily change with any change in our body chemistry. Women in general are more inclined to feelings than men. Further, their completely natural hormonal cycles can bring a constantly shifting landscape, as it were, before their eyes.

"Sins, and even imperfections, even attachments to earthly things can predispose one to aridity. To understand attachments, we think of the words of Our Lord in Mt. 6.21: "Where your treasure is, there is your heart also." In a narrow sense, that might he a box of coins hidden under the floor for safekeeping. Such a stash would tend to pulls the owner's thoughts and heart toward it: he would enjoy thinking on it. But we can put our treasure in just anything: in huge meals, in gourmet meals, in sex, in travel, in study, even in the study of Scripture and theology. All these things are lower than God Himself, some much lower than others. So they can, in different degrees, tend to hold down our thoughts and hearts. But there is a second factor: How strongly does a person let self be pulled by these things? The least pull would result only in imperfection, less than venial sin. The next level would be occasional venial sin - then habitual venial sin - then occasional mortal sin - then habitual mortal sin. One who falls into habitual mortal sin will find it hard for his thoughts, feelings, and heart to rise to the divine level.

"There is a thing called affection to venial sin. It means this: it is as if a person were to say to himself: I do not intend to commit mortal sins, or even every venial sin that offers itself. But I have some reservations. If it gets too hard to keep up a conversation without some detraction, I will do it. Or if it is too hard to stick to the truth, I will lie. In general a person will not so openly speak to himself, as it were, about the attitudes we have described. But they can be there at least subconsciously, and can do much damage. Such attachments keep one not only from fully receiving a plenary indulgence, but from any further spiritual progress at all. It is as if the person puts a clamp around his heart:it can expand just so far, no farther. It is sad to see some persons going in for so many devotions, but yet making no gain, since they harbor - perhaps without realizing it - one of these affections. This is something to check on. During a retreat is a good time to scour our consciousness for these things. (Cf. St. John of the Cross, Ascent of Mt. Carmel 1.11.4 - for his comparison of a bird on a string).

"God or a good spirit can send either consolations or aridity. When a person reaches the second conversion - the point where he decides to get serious about pleasing God - then God often sends consolations, to help detach the soul from things of this world. But if these feelings were to run long term, there would be danger of attachment to them. St. Francis de Sales says we might come to love the consolations of God more than the God of consolations. St. John of the Cross (Ascent of Mt. Carmel 3.39.1) compares such things to toys. If a baby picks up a sharp knife, we do not try to take it from him. No, we dangle a toy before him, so he will let go of the knife. The toys are such consolations.

"There is only one free thing in us, our free will. So in a situation where our will must hold onto carrying out the will of God in spite of aridity, even in darkness, i.e., when it seems impossible to do so - then the soul must either make a large gain, or fall. We think of Abraham, told to sacrifice his son, even though he had to believe God would make him the father of a great nation through that Isaac. Abraham could have respectfully asked God: I know I must believe this, but now you tell me to kill him. I am willing to do either, but cannot do both. But Abraham did not ask any question: he just went ahead. And God did provide."

"Even more important: even though spiritual progress lies in the will, it is tied to what is called somatic resonance. Since we are made of matter and spirit and the two are tied so closely as to form one person, the result is that if we have a condition on either side, body or spirit, then for normal running there should be a parallel on the other side. That is called a resonance. When it falls on the side of the body (most usual) it is labeled somatic. For example, a man in deep black depression may think he is losing his faith. The truth is that the bad chemistry that causes his depression is interfering with the somatic resonance to faith - that resonance is found in biochemistry. Hence it seems to him he has no faith. But when he comes out the blackness, there is no need to make him a convert again. His faith was there all the time."

"There is a diversity in spiritual patterns too. There as it were two levels of tiers in the principles of the spiritual life. On the basic level, no one can break the rules without taking a loss. But on the secondary level there is room for much variation. St. Francis of Assisi took much pleasure in birds and flowers, and that led him to praise God greatly. St. John of the Cross probably reacted in the opposite way. St. Francis de Sales was refined gentleman. St. Benedict Joseph Labre was like a filthy tramp living the ruins of Rome. He must have had body lice. One story says if one of them tried to crawl out of his sleeve, he would push it back again.

"We owe Him everything - for making us out of nothing - and all over again, for redeeming us. So we go to Mass not to enjoy ourselves - that is indifferent whether or not we enjoy it - but to please Him by joining our resolve of obedience to that of the obedience of the heart of His Son, as He lies on the altar, and to that of His Mother, who still joins with Him in each Mass, as she once did at the Cross (cf. John Paul II in St. Peter's Square on Sunday Feb 12, 1984 said: "Every liturgical action. . . is an occasion of communion. . . and in a particular way with Mary. Because the Liturgy is the action of Christ and of the Church. . . she is inseparable from one and the other. . . . . Mary is present in the memorial - the liturgical action - because she was present at the saving event, faithful with her whole being to the Father's plan, at the historical salvific occasion of Christ's death." Her will is still united with His, the flesh and blood on the altar came from her).

"We might even take a few moments before a Mass: What have I done in obeying the Father since the last Mass? If well, I can join that; if some times I did badly, then I should express regrets).

"Here are some passages from Saints who had much aridity, but profited from it:

1. St. Therese of Lisieux, Autobiography (Cap 13, p. 196, Kenedy edition):"Do not think that I am overwhelmed with consolations. Far from it! My joy consists in being deprived of all joy here on earth. Jesus does not guide me openly: I neither see nor hear Him."

2. St. Therese of Lisieux, Poem: "I know that at Nazareth, Virgin full of graces/ You lived in great poverty, not wishing anything more; No raptures, no miracles, no ecstasies/ embellished your life, O Queen of the elect. / The number of little ones is very great upon the earth. / They can, without trembling, lift up their eyes to you. /It pleases you to walk among the common way, / Incomparable Mother, to guide them to the heavens."

3. St. Teresa of Avila, Interior Castle 6.9: "I will only warn you that, when you learn or hear that God is granting souls these graces [visions etc.], you must never beseech or desire Him to lead you along this road. Even if you think it is a very good one, and to be greatly prized and reverenced, there are certain reasons why such a course is not wise." She adds: it shows a lack of humility, one leaves self open to great danger since the devil will take any opening, there is also danger of autosuggestion; it is presumption to want to choose one's own path; very heavy trials usually go with such favors and, "There are many saintly people who have never known what it is to receive a favor of this kind, and there are others who receive such favors, although they are not saintly. . . . It is true that to have these favors must be the greatest help towards attaining a high degree of perfection in the virtues; but anyone who has attained the virtues at the cost of his own toil has earned much more merit."

4. St. Francis de Sales, Letter 764 to St. Jane de Chantal: "It is the height of holy disinterestedness to be content with naked, dry, and insensible acts carried out in the higher will alone. You have told me well about your suffering and there is nothing to do to help it but what you are doing: affirming to our Lord, sometimes out loud and sometimes in song, that you even will to live and to eat as the dead do, without taste, feeling or knowledge. In the end, the Savior wants us to be His so perfectly that nothing else is left for us, and to abandon ourselves entirely to the mercy of His providence without reservation."

6/25/09 FSS