by David Travers, OCDS

All our Carmelite teaching is designed to make us docile to the workings of the Holy Spirit as our Constitutions and Ratio show. These documents teach us that the Holy Spirit is our principal educator to whom:

the one called to life in Carmel, aware of the indwelling grace of the Spirit, should strive to become ever conscious of that ineffable Presence. It will lead us to knowledge of truth, especially with regard to a personal vocation (Ratio #16).

So the purpose of discernment is quite simple: to help us make good life decisions. And discernment requires us to do two things: listen and respond. And what better example of this do we have than our very own St. Therese who told us:

Jesus has no need of books or teachers to instruct souls; He teaches without the noise of words. Never have I heard Him speak but I feel that he’s within me at each moment ... guiding and inspiring me with what I must say and do. (Story of a Soul, Pg 179)

These words of Therese refer to her ability to perceive the language of the heart ... God’s voice within us. Her intuition was heightened to a very profound degree.

Notice the type of words we are using in the context of discernment: hearing ... listening ... awareness ... perception ... consciousness ... intuition ... inspiration. How do we get to the point where we become more in tune to these characteristics of our soul? This is no easy task.

Discernment is a spiritual art form requiring grace upon grace so that we may come to listen and respond correctly. So first we should begin by examining some of the conditions required for us to become docile to the workings of the Holy Spirit. Father Garrigou Lagrange provides this wonderful synopsis on Carmelite teaching:

To be docile to the Holy Spirit, we must first hear His voice. To do so recollection and detachment from the world and from self are necessary as are the custody of the heart, the mortification of self will and personal judgment. If silence does not reign in our soul,  if the voice of excessively human affections troubles it, we cannot of a certainty hear the  inspirations of the interior Master. For this reason the Lord subjects our sensible appetites to severe trials and in a way crucifies them that they may eventually become silent or fully submissive to our will animated by charity. If we are ordinarily preoccupied with ourselves, we shall certainly hear ourselves or perhaps a more perfidious, more dangerous voice which seeks to lead us astray. Consequently our Lord invites us to die to ourselves like the grain of wheat placed in the ground. (Three Ages of the Interior Life, Vol 2, pg 233)

Thus, to hear divine inspirations we must learn to cultivate an attitude of silence; but even then the voice of the Holy Spirit will remain mysterious. At first we perceive it as indistinct and obscure, in St. John of the Cross’ terms. Later, with time, practice and grace, the workings of the Spirit may become more clear and certain as we enter the light of His illumination ... the fruit of contemplation.

As Father Garrigou Lagrange alludes, in discernment we must learn to distinguish three distinct spirits: the thoughts and feelings that originate in our natural self, those that are of God and those of the devil.

Theologians show us our natural spirit is a consequence of original sin and leads us to seek self in all things. In Carmelite teaching, it predisposes us to sensory excess by resisting mortification, fearing trials and seeking pleasures of all kinds. And our spirit suffers too through deeply ingrained egoism that must be pulled up by the roots so that we become less reliant on our personal opinions and preferences which so often lie at the root of our conflicts with others. In short, we must learn to be wary of trusting too much in self.

The devil, recognizing our weakness, seeks to exploit our natural self to his advantage. He appeals to our pride by inflating our opinion of our self and he causes charity to grow cold by inducing us to acts of self love. His spirit is marked by anxiety ... fear ... agitation ... dissension ... confusion ... doubt ... insecurity ... even despair. We can always tell his presence in our soul for he enters, as St. Ignatius teaches “like a banging gong.”

The spirit of God, on the other hand, is the opposite of this. He inspires us to humility not pride; selfless giving not selfish seeking. His spirit fosters charity, zeal and all the virtues to blossom ... growth in which St. Teresa teaches is the only true test if a prayerful experience is from God. He gives us patience in trial, love of the cross and love of enemies. His gift is peace   with our selves and others. More so, He gives a peace that is grounded in true interior joy.

So how can we begin to sort out the various spirits that are continually at work in our souls? Well, St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises are one of the Churches greatest teachings on the discernment of spirits ... a wonderful complement to what our own Carmelite masters show!

Following is a brief overview of some of the basic principles of discernment from the Ignatian and Carmelite traditions; the purpose of which is to help us “distinguish inspiration from instigation and grace from temptation so as to be able to respond to the one and resist the other.” (Fr. Hardon, Discernment of Spirits)