Spiritual Consolation with St. Ignatius: Rule #3

Third Rule. The third is of spiritual consolation. I call it consolation when some interior movement is caused in the soul, through which the soul comes to be inflamed with love of its Creator and Lord, and consequently, when it can love no created thing on the face of the earth in itself, but only in the Creator of them all. Likewise when it sheds tears that move to the love of its Lord, whether out of sorrow for one’s sins or for the passion of Christ our Lord or because of other things directly ordered to his service and praise. Finally, I call consolation every increase of hope, faith and charity, and all the interior joy that calls and attracts to heavenly things and to the salvation of one’s soul, quieting it and giving it peace in its Creator and Lord.

– The Rules St. Ignatius as translated by Fr. Timothy Gallagher in The Discernment of Spirits

What is Spiritual Consolation?

This is my third article on The Discernment of Spirits (affiliate link) by Fr. Timothy Gallagher. This post is about the third rule of St. Ignatius of Loyola. The rules are an essential guide to spiritual warfare, a set of guidelines for discerning between the influence of good spirits and bad.

In The Discernment of Spirits, Fr. Gallagher defines spiritual consolation (from the perspective of St. Ignatius) as a happy, uplifting feeling that leads to a sense of peace. While I connect consolation with a time of trouble or disquiet, St. Ignatius doesn’t seem to make the same strict association. And when I look at the synonyms for consolation I can see why.

According to Merriam Webster “comfort,” “reassurance” and “solace” are all synonyms for consolation. And when, you think about, these are things that are welcomed by most of us pretty anytime. Especially if the comforter is God.

The influence of God is an integral part of Spirit consolation which, according to Fr. Gallagher, always impacts our life of faith.

A Five Part Rule

When I first read the third rule of St. Ignatius I felt completely overwhelmed. Not just by the length of the rule or by the language but by the standard I felt it set. It describes a love of God so profound that the soul who experiences it “can love no created thing on the face of the earth in itself, but only in the Creator of them all.”

I didn’t feel that I could say that I loved only through God or that I even really understood what that meant. Luckily, however, there are four other parts to the third rule. Loving no created thing (in and of itself) is one of five.

And I do mostly get the other four.

Number 1: The Spiritual Consolation of Loving God

I call it consolation when some interior movement is caused in the soul, through which the soul comes to be inflamed with love of its Creator and Lord…

– The Rules St. Ignatius as translated by Fr. Timothy Gallagher in The Discernment of Spirits

Many of us, I think, have felt our soul warm for God to some degree. In my experience such feelings don’t last but there is a sense of peace that comes after that is more sustainable.

So I felt I understood this aspect of spiritual consolation.

Number 2: The Consolation of Loving Through God

I call it consolation … when it [the soul] can love no created thing on the face of the earth in itself, but only in the Creator of them all.

– The Rules St. Ignatius as translated by Fr. Timothy Gallagher in The Discernment of Spirits

This was the part of the third rule I had trouble with. Not only was it hard to understand but I felt that what I did understand of it set an impossibly high bar.

And that bar reminded me of the one set here:

Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.

– Luke 14:26 NRSVCE

Yes, that is Jesus talking and, yes, I always kind of hated that verse. But I do understand it. We move forward in our walk of faith, no matter what. No matter who is with us. No matter who is not.

We stay the course because we love God. But does our love for God ever burn so brightly (as St. Ignatius implies in the third rule) that it makes no other illumination possible?

Personally, speaking only for myself, it has not. And it’s entirely possible it never will.

While, I appreciated Fr. Gallagher’s example of a young seminarian whose love for God completely overwhelmed his attachment for the life he had left behind, I know that isn’t me. I love my family a lot and I’m not sure that I could chose anything over them, not even God.

But I think that’s probably okay. One of the things I love about being Catholic, in fact, is knowing that we are on a spiritual path as opposed to having reached our destination. We are blessed to walk that path in the company of saints like Ignatius. But we are not their equals.

Number 3: The Spiritual Consolation of Tears

Likewise when it sheds tears that move to love of its Lord, whether out of sorry for one’s sins or for the passion of Christ our Lord or because of other things directly ordered to his service and praise.

The Rules St. Ignatius as translated by Fr. Timothy Gallagher in The Discernment of Spirits

The spirit moves me to tears, at times, during prayer. Sometimes during the Rosary, which has a power that NEVER dims. Sometimes when I pray for others. Or, most often, when I simply talk to God.

Those tears are different then other tears because they are tears of spiritual consolation but they are not tears of spiritual consolation just because I’m praying. They are tears of spiritual consolation because they affect my life of faith.

Sometimes, we understand how spiritual consolation impacts our life of faith clearly because of a special insight we are given. Sometimes the impact is a little harder to define, but we sense it all the same.

Number 4: The Consolation of Hope, Faith and Charity

Finally, I call consolation every increase of hope, faith and charity…

– The Rules St. Ignatius as translated by Fr. Timothy Gallagher in The Discernment of Spirits

To me hope is the natural result of getting close to God. Sometimes things seem so impossible that our only reasonable hope is in God. This is something made possible through faith. Charity, or love of others, is increased through faith as well.

Number 5: The Spiritual Consolation of Joy and Peace

…and all the interior joy that calls and attracts to heavenly things and to the salvation of one’s soul, quieting it and giving it peace in its Creator and Lord.

The Rules St. Ignatius as translated by Fr. Timothy Gallagher in The Discernment of Spirits

The consolation of joy and peace came into play for me this week in a big way. I had been struggling to fit all of the pieces of the mission statement I defined last week into my life and feeling a little unsure that everything I’d decided to do REALLY was God’s will for my life.

It seemed like a lot.

On one hand were all the everyday things on my plate – family life, my garden plans, my exercise routine, my still not completely renovated house, my new commitment to healthy vegan eating – and the meal planning and prep that goes along with it.

On the other hand were the creative projects related to my mission.

And those projects were many. They included this blog, my testimony ebook, my monthly podcast and my new Catholic printables etsy shop. I had almost been ready to give up on the shop, in fact, when I got an order. The order was from someone who was planning to print my Sacred Heart prayer card out to give away at a nursing room.

One of the reason I wanted to do the printables is because I know how much prayer cards have meant to me (more on that when I finally do my home altar video) at key moments in my life and I loved the idea of playing a part in that happening for somebody else. That was something I’d been actively thinking about. So finding out that my cards were going to be printed out and given to elderly people at a nursing home was perfect.

I couldn’t help feeling that getting this order, at that exact time, was a sign. But I don’t like to rely on signs. (Not saying I ignore them – just that I won’t base a decision on them.) So I tried to be aware of how I felt when I was doing the actual design work for the a new Sacred Heart prayer pamphlet I wanted to make.

I felt a happy enthusiasm for the project. When I thought about continuing with the shop, I felt a light upward pull of anticipation and sense of peace with spending time in the evenings working on printables. Maybe if I hadn’t been studying the Third Rule at that particular point in time I would have missed it.

Attracting Heavenly Things

But I didn’t miss it.

I felt happy about the new Sacred Heart pamphlet project. I noticed that I was getting a lot of different inspired ideas for other new printables. I kept coming across information about running a shop on etsy. I thought about what St. Ignatius said about a joy that attracts heavenly things. I talked to God. And when I still felt the same happy upward pull I realized I’d made the right call.

It is a lot. I’m working on an ebook. Doing a monthly podcast. Blogging on the weeks I don’t podcast. And working on printables for the shop. But I love doing it.

Thank you St. Ignatius and Fr. Gallagher!

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• You can get Fr. Gallagher’s book The Discernment of Spirits (affiliate link) on Amazon.
• You can find my previous posts in the series at Spiritual Discernment and Writing with St. Ignatius (intro) and Rules 1 & 2: Saint Ignatius & the Discernment of Spirits
• My next post will be on Rules 4 & 5