The Battleground of the Mind and the 14 Rules of St. Ignatius Rule 12; The Woman

Audio Version Here

Jacinta: Hello and welcome to Two Hearts True Healing! I am your host Jacinta Wick. With me is co-host Angela Stansell. The language now of the Rules changes. We have been talking for quite a while about consolation and desolation, but now there is a shift in the last three rules from this topic to more on how the enemy operates depending on our response. Angela can you read for us the rule and we will break it down? 

Angela: Here it is: “The enemy acts like a woman in being weak when faced with strength and strong when faced with weakness. For, as it is proper to a woman, when she is fighting with some man, to lose heart and to flee when the man confronts her firmly, and, on the contrary, if the man begins to flee, losing heart, the anger, vengeance and ferocity of the woman grow greatly and no know bounds, in the same way, it is proper to the enemy to weaken and lose heart, fleeing and ceasing his temptations when the person who is exercising himself in spiritual things confronts the temptations of the enemy firmly, doing what is diametrically opposed to them; and, on the contrary, if the person who is exercising himself begins to be afraid and lose heart in suffering the temptations, there is no beast so fierce on the face of the earth as the enemy of human nature in following out his damnable intention with such growing malice.”

Jacinta: Well now after that some of us might be a little squeamish about his use of the word woman. What St. Ignatius is saying is not of a normal woman trying to live well and in harmony but a woman who is decidedly fighting grace and not following the path. He is not being anti-woman at all. Nor is he describing her character in general but particularly when she is giving in to temptation and weakness. He is using metaphor. But in our age receiving this metaphor can be a little difficult unless we understand what St. Ignatius is driving at. Fr. Gallagher helps us understand the theology in the chapter about this rule really well, and I found it most helpful. For our age sometimes it is helpful to change the metaphor to something else that illustrates the core concept of what St. Ignatius is teaching and then go back and examine St. Ignatius’ use of language and more fully understand and grasp what is being said.

Fr. Gallagher uses the metaphor of a spoiled child. When we deal firmly with these types of children and set a specific boundary, they do not display their whole pattern of strong behaviors but cease them almost instantly. Whereas if we display weakness or unsurity with them, then the behaviors start. They see a crack and start getting stronger and stronger with their attempts at getting their way through that crack. They ply their behavior to meet our weakness and make us give in. The Enemy is the same. What the theology is saying in this rule is when we first recognize that we are experiencing restlessness or disquiet and agitation, we try to stop it in its tracks before it snowballs into something bigger. It means that we do the exact opposite of what is being suggested. For example, let’s say I am about to just sit down to prayer and suddenly a restless feeling begins suggesting, “Pray later. You are going through a rough patch.” This is where the moment of decision sets in. I can either say, “No, I will carry on as planned,” and go on with our prayer or say, “Yes, that is true…it is a rough patch,” and then we open the door for further deception. I am not saying to stop being spiritually aware but to further ply strength because when the Enemy sees that we are not going to let him in, he ceases. Often with a little fighting he flees because he sees he cannot make headway. But once we give in, then he builds and builds upon the lie until suddenly we have quite the time trying to stop the clamor and damage that could happen to build into desolation and discouragement and throw us off the path completely. Meaning it's better to stop it when it's small and first starts then to give in even slightly and all the sudden we have more to fight. Angela Can you further describe this phenomenon?

Angela: Sure. I’ll contribute a few more metaphors. St. Ignatius is telling us the best thing to do is “nip it in the bud” before it can grow into a mature problem; just hang up the phone, for those of you who have experienced the annoyance of telemarketers. This isn’t a battle won by engaging in arguments or counter arguments. You’re not going to change Satan’s mind; he just wants to change your soul. The personal battle is won, in a sense, by immediately disengaging. The enemy is weak, he has lost the war, and he’s a coward. Satan can only do his work when we allow him to. We give him power when we try to reason with him. He’s not interested in reason. He’s interested in killing, stealing, and destroying and in using whatever means are available. 

Another way to explain it is that, over time, our conscience can become eroded. What begins as a slow, seemingly harmless drip has the power to carve away ages old rock. God will always give us the grace to resist at any point, but the further along we allow ourselves to go, the less likely we are to ask for that grace. We can spare ourselves and those around us this damage when we learn to stay spiritually alert. While a person can be especially susceptible to temptation when feeling something negative, temptation itself can happen any time. It can happen during positive feelings, negative feelings, or when there’s not much at all going on.

In Discernment of Spirits: An Ignatian Guide for Everyday Living, Fr. Gallagher says on p. 154, “The crucial moment in resisting the temptations of the enemy is when they first begin. Everything else will depend on how faithful persons respond at this initial point.” So, if you’re a person who likes to take in all the information before reacting to something and turn things over in your mind, know that you may need to lean in the opposite direction of that tendency. This is a time to be decisive. You can take comfort in that God wants to help you. If you’re not sure what’s going on, you can do things like ask your guardian angel to help you. “Guardian angel, silence any voices in my mind that are not of God. Help me to hear His voice.” You can ask Mother Mary to protect you. “Mother Mary, cover me with your mantle of love. Protect me from all harm, strengthen my faith, and lead me safely to Jesus. Amen.” 

One very powerful response is to name whatever the temptation is, for example: “In the name of Jesus Christ and by the power of His most precious blood, I reject the spirit of fear. Lord, fill me with your peace.” And then immediately do the opposite of that temptation. Take a step in faith, whatever that might be. For example, if you’re tempted to the sin of greed, put the bag of chips back and go do something generous. If you’re tempted to criticize someone and it’s not a clear call from the Holy Spirit to correct out of love, find a way to affirm that person.

Again on p. 154 Fr. Gallagher writes, “Recall the essential weakness of the enemy, realize that now, when the deceptive suggestion first presents itself, is the crucial moment of decision, and strive immediately and firmly to do exactly the opposite of what [the] enemy suggests.” Then, he says, a person is “unlikely to be harmed by such temptations. They will be liberated from these deceptions and will progress unerringly toward God.”

On p. 155 we have an anecdote of a seminarian who goes on a retreat to prepare for his upcoming ordination to the diaconate. He is an occasional smoker and decides to give up smoking during these eight days. Things start off great, and he feels close to God. In the evening on the fourth day, he loses his feeling of consolation. He decides to go for a walk, but this does not help. He breaks his resolution and smokes a cigarette, then goes back to his room for his last time of prayer for the day– unhappy with himself that he chose to smoke. He starts the prayer as per his routine but ends it early. The next day, the desolation continues. He persists in his prayer routine, but then the following thoughts from “the accuser” are suggested to him, p. 156: “You are about to be ordained a deacon, and you wish to become a priest. Look at you! You can’t even keep a simple resolution not to smoke for eight days. You can’t complete an hour of prayer as planned. You are unable to pray with any fruit at all, after all these years of training. If you can’t even do these simple things, how are you ever going to handle the responsibilities of priesthood for the rest of your life?”

So Steve is not spiritually aware enough to name his desolation and to know that going against his smoking resolution and shortening his prayer time are actually very significant things. The enemy introduces shame and tries to give him cold feet. He knows that for Steve, this spiritual unawareness and one cigarette can be enough, if not handled appropriately, to derail his answer to God’s vocational call. Think of how many souls are helped by our priests. This is a ripple effect that Satan wants to prevent. When we begin to show signs of holiness, he also wants to nip that in the bud.

So what does Steve do next. We’ll talk about this more in our next episode, but he seeks counsel from the retreat director, ending his isolation. There is much improvement, and his peace returns to him. He finishes the retreat and is eventually ordained a deacon.

The chapter on Rule 12 ends with this quote from St. Francis of Assisi. It has really stayed with me since the first time I read Discernment of Spirits years ago. He says, “The saint, therefore, made it a point to keep himself in joy of heart and to preserve the unction of the Spirit and the ‘oil of gladness’ [Ps 45:7]. He avoided with the greatest care the miserable illness of dejection, so that if he felt it creeping over his mind even a little, he would have recourse very quickly to prayer. For he would say: ‘If the servant of God, as may happen, is disturbed in any way, he should rise immediately to pray and he should remain in the presence of the heavenly Father until he ‘restores unto him the joy of salvation.’” [Ps 51:12]

Jacinta: Thank you Angela. That last quote about St. Francis touches on where I wanted to take you scripturally to understand the role of women and perhaps why St. Ignatius is touching here. St. Ignatius remember is very clever in his metaphor language and I am going to take it a step farther. This is best illustrated by looking at a parallel of two women and God’s action to their response. This parallel is Eve and Mary. We are going to start with Mary who kept very well the “oil of gladness” and would very quickly turn to prayer and living an interior life with the Holy Spirit in difficulty to better understand the mystery of God. Where does the heart turn in difficulty? It should turn to praise and stating bluntly where our heart is and where God’s faithfulness is and trust in Him. Here is the scripture quote that came to me in preparation for this episode.

My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together! The face of the Lord is against evildoers, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the Lord delivers him out of them all. - Psalms 34:2-3, 16-19

Hmm. This language is echoed by Mary in the Magnificat. There is so much strength in this quote. It displays trust. It displays the truth of the fact that we have struggles but that God is always close to us. When the Enemy comes we have two choices kinda like the parallel that I presented to you. We can choose to quickly turn our mind to God and remind ourselves that He has a plan and wants our participation and saying Yes to Him. He is a God of strength and wants us to share in that life and strength. He is a God of Love and only allows things out of love. Or we can weakly take our eyes off of God and eat the forbidden fruit. Is that less in both male and female? No. We both have unique roles that I spoke more about in season two and three. St. Ignatius is perhaps being a bit provocative in his metaphor because the role of the woman is so important. When she isn’t following her role both man and woman fall…Satan knows this. His act is to take us down any way he can. How did he do this with Eve? He suggested that God wasn’t a benevolent God who was holding out on both of them. Women are very benevolent. I am not saying that men aren't, they just express it differently. The woman influences our culture very much by her feeding benevolence and multiplying it. But passion needs to be directed (in both male and female). Man protects and guards, rules and directs. Women rule too in sharing the mission and living their calling and I am in no way diminishing either role. They feed each other with deep strength. And if one or the other doesn’t live it then it is easy to fall. 

Eve fell because she listened to the serpent. She dialogued with him. And then “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate.” - Genesis 3:6 These are three of the root sins…Gluttony, Lust of the Flesh, Pride of Life. The opposite is Temperance, Chastity, and Prudence/Wisdom. These are the good, true and beautiful. They are the expression of man’s deepest longing. A positive action. See how the Enemy twists? He takes our eyes from the giver to the good (or the gift). By good I mean pleasures and the end result. Because we want the Good, True, and Beautiful. Eve showed Adam the goods not the giver and the gift and he didn’t put himself out there because he wanted the goods too. Neither one was thinking about God but about themselves. God still reaches in benevolence to them and with the curse of the fall comes blessing. But God had to do this in the proper order of the female and male so he gives us the New Adam and the New Eve. Mary and Jesus. They go together in a unique mystery. The Enemy has an especially deep hate of women because of this. This is why we have such contention.

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” - Genesis 3:15 If you like, keep reading to verse 17 for further depth.

The hatred of the enemy is very deep because of the begetting of life and the crushing of his head…Both Male and Female do this together in a unique dance.

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