What then is the soul to do in the Night of the Senses?
When the soul is suffering in the Night of the Senses, trying harder to pray using techniques that were once successful will not work because God is deliberately leading the soul away from those techniques. I repeat that it would probably be helpful for the soul to have access to an experienced spiritual director who can help discern whether the soul is truly in the Night of the Senses and, if so, what the soul can expect to encounter there. However, such a director might not be readily available.
If the soul is sufficiently persuaded that psychological or physical abnormalities are not causing the aridity in prayer and if the soul is experiencing the characteristics of the Night of the Senses, then the soul quite probably is in the Night. Once this has been determined, the soul can recognize that, however painful it may seem, what is taking place is occurring so that she can be drawn into a deeper relationship with God, one that does not depend on sensory, emotional or intellectual gratifications.
The Night of the Senses is intended to be a time of purification, and the soul should take it in that spirit. God is working within the soul to transform it, to help it detach from that which is not God so that it can belong more completely to God. With this is mind, the soul should remain faithful, conforming her will to what she believes is God’s will for her. Always keep in mind that holiness resides in the choices we make, not in the senses, emotions or intellect.
When God does not seem present, faith indicates that he remains as present as ever, perhaps even more present than when we counted his presence by our emotions. The Night of the Senses may be a time of darkness, but we can, with God’s help, be present to God in that darkness through faith, hope and charity.
Someone in the Night may well be asking, “How long, O Lord, how long?” There is no ready answer to this question. Nor is the Night necessarily one continuous period of time. God may give additional consolations to the soul to encourage it from time to time before allowing the soul to plunge once more into the darkness.
Who will experience this Night? Most writers on the subject who venture an opinion, such as Teresa of Avila, believe that almost all souls that are serious in prayer will encounter the Night of the Senses. Thomas Greene, a noted Jesuit author on the spiritual life, implies that this Night can last a long time, even a lifetime. Whatever the individual experience of the Night may be, it should be looked on as a blessing, not a curse, and a time for learning how to love more fully and unconditionally.
No comments:
Post a Comment