Struggles in the Spiritual Life: Their Nature and Their Remedies

by Timothy M. Gallagher

Here is a powerful, life-changing book that will help you understand and conquer the struggles you face in your spiritual life. It’s a book for those who love the Lord and desire holiness yet often feel adrift or stagnant in their search for spiritual growth. All of us encounter valleys on our journey with the Lord ― those periods of spiritual desolation that are a painful yet unavoidable feature of our prayer life. Spiritual desolation is as complex as we are, so understanding what is happening and responding to it properly are critical to reaching the heights of holiness. With warmth and understanding, Fr. Gallagher carefully identifies in this book the various forms of spiritual and nonspiritual desolation and supplies the remedy for each. You’ll learn how to discern whether your struggles derive from medical or psychological conditions or whether those struggles are spiritual and permitted by the Lord for reasons of growth. In each case, you’ll be given the remedy for the struggle. You’ll also learn the forms of spiritual dryness and of the Dark Night ― and how to respond to them. In chapter after chapter, Fr. Gallagher presents a particular struggle as experienced by fictional characters and then provides the advice he gives to those who come to him for spiritual direction about that struggle. You’ll gain confidence as you journey through desolation, and you’ll learn to reject the enemy’s ploys to infect you with a sense of hopelessness. You’ll also learn:

181 pages, Paperback

Published August 23, 2022

Reviews

[Rachel Wong · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5⭐️) If you’ve read Gallagher’s book The Discernment of Spirits, then you’ve basically read this book. The biggest difference between the two is that Gallagher uses fictional examples that weave in very real struggles in the spiritual life to illustrate 1) what they are and 2) how they can be remedied, using Ignatius’ 14 rules. This book is straightforward and makes even more accessible Ignatius’ rules for discernment, though I did find it repetitive. Overall a good resource to have and share with others.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️