In both, the goal is the same: if the person is open to the action of the good spirit, that unsettling action will lead the person to a spiritually healthy change. The unsettling action, however, of rule 9 (spiritual desolation) is less stark than that of rule 1 (stinging and biting in the conscience). We would expect this to be so, since the faults of rule 9 (negligence, sloth, or tepidity in spiritual exercises) are lesser than those of rule 1 (grave sins). I believe that rule 9, more than rule 1, reveals Ignatius’s thought on discernment regarding lesser faults.18
