Setting Captives Free: Personal Reflections on Ignatian Discernment of Spirits

by Timothy M. Gallagher

In rule 6, we saw Ignatius call the person in desolation to “much examination.” Jesuit author William Broderick comments, “If we take rules 6 and 14 together, what Ignatius seems to be saying is that a thorough self-knowledge is essential if we are to cope successfully with desolation and the attacks of the enemy. Prayer and reliance on God by themselves are not sufficient. Ignatius did not neglect ordinary human means. A thorough self-knowledge would count as such a means. By reflecting on ourselves, on our previous successes and failures, on the circumstances in which we succeeded and the circumstances in which we failed, we can build up an accurate picture of our personality. There is a pattern to our past and present behavior, a pattern in the way we react to people and events.”