MOSAIC Fall 2016 | Page 13

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Mother Teresa received the Medal of Freedom
from Pres. Ronald Reagan in 1985. “I accept
it,” she said, “for the greater glory of God,”
deflecting the praise.

And finally, she was being given to a remarkable degree the gift of being one with
Jesus in his passion, out of which comes so
much redemptive power. This gift she had
asked for on more than one occasion.
Yes, she experienced temptations to give
up, to despair, even temptations to blasphemy and unbelief, but to be tempted is
not to sin. Her heroic perseverance in the
face of such interior suffering is truly aweinspiring to behold. What an example to
us in our need to persevere no matter what
the difficulties, no matter what we experience or don’t experience.
Why Is There Darkness?
On the other hand, there are dangers in
misunderstanding Mother Teresa’s unusually sustained experience of darkness. It was
because of her very special vocation that
this darkness accompanied her for so long.
It is not the normal purifying “dark nights”
that John of the Cross speaks of, neither
for beginners or the more advanced. Nor
is every experience of aridity, emptiness, or
darkness a purifying or redemptive “dark
night.” It is very helpful to avail ourselves
of the wisdom of our spiritual tradition to
understand this better.
In brief, John of the Cross teaches that
there are three reasons why someone may
experience deep aridity, emptiness, or darkness in their prayer or relationship with
God. (See Chapter 14 of The Fulfillment of
All Desire for a much more complete explanation.) One reason why such aridity may
be experienced is because of “lukewarmness” or infidelity in “doing our part” in

sustaining our relationship with God.
We may become careless about regular
prayer and spiritual reading, we may not
frequent the Eucharist and Sacrament of
Reconciliation, we may fill our minds and
hearts with worldly entertainment, we may
not be diligent in rejecting temptation, we
may not develop relationships with others
who desire to follow the Lord. This carelessness and infidelity lessens our hunger
for God and desire to be with him and
produces lukewarmness and repugnance
for things of the spirit. This is not a purifying darkness but rather the result of laxity,
and the only solution is to repent and take
up the spiritual practices that dispose us
for union with God.
A second reason why such aridity may
be experienced is because of physical or
emotional illness. The advice of the saints
is to try to get better, pray for healing, go
to the doctor, but keep on as best one can
in living a fervent Christian life. And if
one is not healed, it’s an invitation to join
our suffering with the suffering of Jesus
and offer it as reparation for our own sins
and as intercessory prayer for others.
A third reason why such darkness or
aridity may be present is that we are ready
to move to a deeper level of faith, hope,
and love and that God purposely removes
the experience of his love, presence or favor—but not their reality—in order to give
us a chance to believe, hope, and love
more deeply and purely.
This true “dark night” may be quite intense and last for a long period of time, or
it may happen intermittently, interspersed
with times of sensible consolation. A true
dark night is accompanied by deep, painful longing for God. This is acutely present in Mother Teresa.
One sign that it is an authentic dark
night is that we don’t in our aridity try to
fill the emptiness with worldly or fleshly
consolations but remain faithful in seeking God even in the pain of his apparent
absence. The authentic dark night isn’t an
end in itself, but is intended to prepare us
for an even greater union with and experience of God.
St. Teresa, pray for us!

What Causes Spiritual
Darkness?
• Spiritual emptiness from a
“cooling” relationship with
God.
• Emotional or physical
illness hampers our
progress.
• God intentionally removes
himself to create a spiritual
longing.

What Are the
Unexpected Blessings?
• Prods us into greater effort
for deeper union.
• Grace is generated through
sacrificial suffering.
• Builds-up the virtue of
perseverance.

Dr. Ralph Martin is director of graduate theology
programs in the New Evangelization at Sacred
Heart and president of Renewal Ministries
(www.renewalministries.net.)

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