Freedom From Spiritual Chaos: A Book Review of Discernment of Spirits

If your prayer life feels confusing or chaotic, Discernment of Spirits may be exactly what you are looking for.

Discernment of Spirits is Fr. Timothy Gallagher’s guide and commentary on St. Ignatius of Loyola’s fourteen rules - or principles -  for identifying, understanding and responding to the highs and lows of our personal prayer lives. 

St. Ignatius himself writes that “[these rules are] for becoming aware and understanding. . . the different movements which are caused in the soul. The good, to receive them, and the bad to reject them.” 

St. Ignatius has articulated a spiritual “system” for peacefully navigating our interior lives by being able to confidently identify whether, at any given time, “the mood” or disposition of our spiritual lives is stemming from “the enemy” or from “Christ our Lord.” Once we identify our internal state—whether we are in a state of “consolation” or “desolation”—and subsequently identify who is predominantly counseling us in that state—the Evil One or our Lord—Ignatius lays out the path for responding to our internal state with appropriate responses that will always lead us closer to Christ. 

While St. Ignatius’ 14 Rules are timeless, he sometimes uses archaic or veiled references that could leave the modern reader at a loss. Fr. Gallagher’s book is a simple, practical and concise commentary that breaks open these invaluable rules for spiritual clarity and peace in a manner that makes them accessible to anyone, even the spiritual beginner.

My Dad gave me this book when I was in a state of what St. Ignatius would call spiritual “desolation.” I felt far from God and I had recently noticed a pattern of confusion in my relationship with God. I was confused about how to know whether my feelings and thoughts were being guided by God, or not. Particularly when it came to any kind of negative emotion— confusion, sadness, anxiety, guilt—I often found I was unable to know whether to accept what I was experiencing as something that was begin permitted or designed by God or whether what I was experiencing was a spiritual attack or a result of my own fallen humanity. I prayed on a daily basis and was close to God, but this sense of confusion and spiritual aridity could not be shaken. 

I told my Dad all of this and he unzipped his backpack and pulled out this purple book with a regrettable cover design. He handed it to me and told me to read it. “The author,” my Dad said, “writes that this book is to help ‘set the captives’ free.’” 

The introduction to the book itself writes that “the basic message of Ignatius’s fourteen rules for discernment is liberation from captivity to discouragement and deception in the spiritual life.” (p.6)

The integration of Ignatius’ fourteen rules for discernment of spirit has dramatically changed my spiritual life and given me a confidence I did not have before. 

Previously, I was often uncertain in identifying God’s voice amid the highs and lows of my prayer life, and what the fourteen rules have given me is a peaceful, shoulders-back approach to knowing my Father’s voice and walking forward with what I need to virtuously respond to both spiritual highs and lows. 

For context, it is also important to note that the Fourteen Rules specifically apply to our spiritual lives - our prayer lives - not to our overall emotional or physical experiences. Fr. Gallagher goes into great detail explaining how to make the distinction, for instance, between “spiritual desolation,” which primarily relates to our prayer lives, as opposed to “natural desolation,” which could be a result of watching a sad movie or eating a bad meal, and therefore should be not be conflated with some deeper, spiritual movement. 

While each of the fourteen rules are invaluable, I’ll highlight Rule Five. 

In Christian contexts, you may have heard the saying “do not doubt in the darkness, what has been revealed to you in the light.” This saying comes from St.Ignatius’ Rule Five for discernment of spirits. Fr. Gallagher explains that Rule Five is a rule about when you are in a time of “desolation,” a spiritual low. “Spiritual desolation. . . is the time of the lie, and its ‘wisdom’ is never to be followed.” 

Operating from Ignatius’ principles, spiritual desolation is a “time for fidelity,” rather than change. Fr. Timothy describes how, during a time of desolation, it is essential to hold fast to whatever God has revealed to you in past times of consolation and to actively resist the urge to question or abandon whatever insights or directive that the Lord has given you when you were consoled.

I have found this rule particularly helpful, because in the past I had often experienced spiritual desolation and then felt confused about whether or not my desire to question what I had been confident about in better times was coming from God, or somewhere else. 

Maybe that wonderful thought I had in the past was just a burst of shallow enthusiasm or that spiritual gift was just me in a good mood, rather than God actually working in my life. Maybe this desolation is God’s way of telling me that I’m moving in the wrong direction. 

But according to St. Ignatius, now is not the time to change. Hold steady, draw close to the Lord, and wait to make any changes until the sunshine re-emerges. Having the confidence to resist the spiritual chaos of constantly questioning what is or isn’t the voice of God has given me tremendous peace in times of spiritual melancholy. 

Spiritual desolation is always difficult, but the burden is made lighter when you have the confidence of a warrior equipped with what they need to conquer and withstand.  

If you can relate to a sense of being pushed around by your spiritual “moods’ or unsure whether or not you know what God’s voice sounds like, Fr. Timothy Gallagher’s guide to St. Ignatius’ 14 Rules is an invitation into peace, freedom and spiritual confidence. 

I’m grateful to St. Ignatius—way back in the 1550s—for attending to the voice of the Lord and giving the Church these invaluable tools for drawing closer to the Lord with peace and hope. Throughout the book, Fr. Gallagher quotes a passage from the Gospel of Luke that sums up the gift of this book better than any other words:  “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tiding to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives. . . and to let the oppressed go free.” (Luke 4:18)