The Discernment of Spirits Quotes

“Everything in discernment of spirits is directed toward action: toward firmly accepting what is of God and equally firmly rejecting what is not.”
― Timothy M. Gallagher, The Discernment of Spirits: An Ignatian Guide for Everyday Living

“If we could lift the veil and if we watched with vigilant attention, God would endlessly reveal himself to us and we should see and rejoice in his active presence in all that befalls us. At every event we should exclaim: “It is the Lord!” —Jean Pierre de Caussade”
― Timothy M. Gallagher, The Discernment of Spirits: An Ignatian Guide for Everyday Living

“in time of desolation never make a change, but be firm and constant in the proposals and determination in which one was the day preceding such desolation, or in the determination in which one was in the preceding consolation.”
― Timothy M. Gallagher, The Discernment of Spirits: An Ignatian Guide for Everyday Living

“in persons entrenched in serious sin the enemy ordinarily works on the imagination. He fills such persons’ imagination with images of “sensual delights and pleasures” awakening, consequently, an attraction toward these “delights and pleasures” which confirms them all the more in their “vices and sins.” This is the action of the enemy in the young Augustine: “In my youth I burned to get my fill of evil things.” A great energy is stirred in Augustine, an energy that leads him away from God and toward “sensual delights and pleasures.”
― Timothy M. Gallagher, The Discernment of Spirits: An Ignatian Guide for Everyday Living

“First Rule. The first rule: in persons who are going from mortal sin to mortal sin, the enemy is ordinarily accustomed to propose apparent pleasures to them, leading them to imagine sensual delights and pleasures in order to hold them more and make them grow in their vices and sins. In these persons the good spirit uses a contrary method, stinging and biting their consciences through their rational power of moral judgment. Second Rule. The second: in persons who are going on intensely purifying their sins and rising from good to better in the service of God our Lord, the method is contrary to that in the first rule. For then it is proper to the evil spirit to bite, sadden, and place obstacles, disquieting with false reasons, so that the person may not go forward. And it is proper to the good spirit to give courage and strength, consolations, tears, inspirations, and quiet, easing and taking away all obstacles, so that the person may go forward in doing good.”
― Timothy M. Gallagher, The Discernment of Spirits: An Ignatian Guide for Everyday Living

“In rule 2 it is now the enemy who stirs up an unsettling “biting” movement in the hearts of those seeking God.2 Such dedicated people will not easily succumb to sin, nor will the enemy begin by attempting to move them to sin. His tactic in such persons is rather a biting, gnawing action that triggers a sense of anxiety, diminishing their peace, and undermining their delight in God’s service. And this approach is effective. If they—and we—are not aware of, do not understand, and do not reject this “biting” action, it will in fact diminish our energy in “rising from good to better.” Further problems may ensue as well if we continue to yield to this troubling action of the enemy.”
― Timothy M. Gallagher, The Discernment of Spirits: An Ignatian Guide for Everyday Living

“Simply in focusing our attention on the “enemy” Ignatius is rendering us a great service. To be unaware that we can expect resistance when we seek the Lord, or to be aware of this resistance only abstractly and very occasionally, if at all, in the actual living of our spiritual life, greatly increases the likelihood of encountering unexpected spiritual struggles. What is unexpected and finds us unprepared is difficult to overcome and can easily lead to discouragement.”
― Timothy M. Gallagher, The Discernment of Spirits: An Ignatian Guide for Everyday Living

“Only when we learn experientially the truth that there is a “light that shines in the darkness” (John 1:5), and that to be “within” is above all to encounter the personal presence, the love and healing of our Savior, does this resistance begin to diminish.”
― Timothy M. Gallagher, The Discernment of Spirits: An Ignatian Guide for Everyday Living