18. When You Cannot Feel God

“For we walk by faith and not by sight.”

— 2 Corinthians 5:7, original Rheims New Testament (1582)¹

Some souls leave prayer because prayer ceases to feel like anything. They once knew fervor, peace, tears, or a strong sense that God was near. Then the warmth faded. The Rosary became labor. The words of morning prayer seemed to fall to the floor. At Mass they felt distracted rather than consoled. They concluded that God had withdrawn, that their faith was unreal, or that religious life had failed.

Others never possessed such consolations at all. They hear people speak of a personal experience of God and quietly fear that some necessary faculty is missing in them. Because they cannot point to an inward sweetness, they wonder whether they have ever believed.

The Catholic answer begins by placing feeling in its proper order. Feeling is not evil. Consolation can be a gift, gratitude for it is good, and the affections should be raised toward God. But sensible consolation is not the foundation of supernatural faith. Faith adheres to God revealing because He can neither deceive nor be deceived. The truth of the Creed does not rise and fall with the weather inside the soul.

Absence of Feeling Is Not Proof of God's Absence

Our Lord said to St. Thomas:

“Because thou hast seen me, Thomas, thou hast believed: Blessed are they that have not seen and have believed.”

— John 20:29, original Rheims New Testament (1582)¹

The blessing does not belong to a man because he feels nothing. Dryness is not itself holiness. The blessing belongs to faith that remains obedient when immediate confirmation is withheld.

This distinction protects the soul from a grave mistake. If feeling becomes the judge of God's presence, the soul will be tempted to seek stronger experiences whenever ordinary fidelity seems dull. Novel devotions, private revelations, emotional gatherings, dramatic personalities, and even counterfeit worship may then appear more alive than the quiet religion Christ established. What produces intensity begins to be mistaken for what communicates grace.

But God is not proved by excitement. A true Sacrament does not become false because the recipient feels little; a false rite does not become true because the recipient feels much. Doctrine, sacramental reality, and lawful Catholic order must govern experience—never the reverse.

Dryness Must Be Examined Honestly

Not every spiritual dryness has the same cause. Sometimes prayer is dry because the body is tired, attention has been scattered, or natural emotion has spent itself. Sometimes the soul has neglected prayer, entertained a near occasion of sin, refused a known duty, or filled the imagination with noise until recollection became difficult. At other times God may permit consolation to be withdrawn so that love becomes less dependent upon reward.

The soul should therefore avoid both presumption and panic. It should not declare every dull hour a lofty spiritual purification. Neither should it assume that every dull hour proves abandonment.

Begin with a plain examination. Is there unconfessed mortal sin? Has a commandment been knowingly refused? Has prayer been carelessly abandoned? Is resentment being protected? Has curiosity consumed the hours meant for duty? If conscience identifies sin, the answer is penance and Confession, not a theory about mystical darkness.

If no deliberate infidelity is found, keep the ordinary rule. St. Francis de Sales teaches souls to remain steady in spiritual dryness rather than continually testing whether devotion feels pleasant, while St. Ignatius directs the desolate soul not to abandon sound resolutions made in greater light.² Their counsel is sober: do not remake your religion during a dark hour.

Fidelity in Dryness Is Real Love

When prayer is sweet, nature may quietly enjoy itself alongside grace. When prayer is dry, the will's choice becomes easier to see. The soul kneels because God is God. It keeps Sunday holy because God commanded it. It avoids sin because sin offends Him. It says the Rosary because Our Lady leads the soul to Christ, not because each mystery produces an emotion.

This is not coldness. It is love being purified of the demand to be paid immediately in feeling.

The Psalmist does not deny the heaviness of the soul. He speaks to it under God:

“Why art thou sorrowful my soul? and why dost thou trouble me? Hope in God.”

— Psalm 41:6, original Douay Old Testament (1609–1610)³

Hope does not pretend that sorrow is pleasant. It refuses to let sorrow issue the final judgment upon God's fidelity.

Remain with Our Lady beneath the Cross

At Calvary nearly every sensible sign appeared to contradict the promise. Our Lord was humiliated, wounded, and dying. His enemies seemed vindicated. Yet Scripture records:

“And there stood beside the cross of Jesus, his mother.”

— John 19:25, original Rheims New Testament (1582)¹

Our Lady stood. Her faith did not require Calvary to feel like Easter before she would remain faithful. She did not flee from the Cross in search of a more consoling Christ. She kept the truth while the sword passed through her soul.

The dry soul should place itself beside her. Say, “Mother of God, I do not know how to pray well today. Keep me near thy Divine Son. Offer Him this poor fidelity and teach me to remain.” Then perform the prayer without measuring it every few moments.

Keep morning and night prayer. Make the acts of faith, hope, and charity. Attend true Catholic worship when Providence permits. Read a small portion of the Gospel slowly. Fulfill the duties of your state in life. Reject the temptation to manufacture religious excitement. If dryness persists or becomes entangled with scruple, seek prudent guidance from a faithful priest.

The soul need not feel God's nearness in order to be seen by Him. It need not produce consolation in order to love Him. It must remain in the truth, avoid sin, use the means of grace, and persevere.

Faith in darkness is still faith. Prayer without sweetness is still prayer. A child walking under Our Lady's mantle is not abandoned because he cannot see the whole road.

Continue from Here

Continue to Perseverance in Conversion: Darkness, Completion, and Living Christ to the End. If the present struggle is chiefly discouragement after repeated falls, read When the Rule Is Broken.

Sources and Editorial Notes

Footnotes

1. The New Testament of Jesus Christ, Translated Faithfully into English, out of the Authentical Latin (Rheims: John Fogny, 1582), original translation with spelling modernized; typographical ampersands expanded and annotation markers omitted. ↩ ↩² ↩³

2. St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life, part IV, chapters 13–15; St. Ignatius of Loyola, The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, trans. Father Elder Mullan, S.J. (New York: P. J. Kenedy & Sons, 1914), Rules for the Discernment of Spirits, First Week, especially §§318–324. ↩

3. The Holie Bible Faithfully Translated into English, out of the Authentical Latin (Douay: Laurence Kellam, 1609–1610), original translation with spelling modernized; typographical ampersands expanded and annotation markers omitted. ↩