HIGHS AND LOWS
“The soul that attaches itself to these false consolations falls into very dangerous errors, for God justly permits the devil to have power to augment in it these kinds of spiritual tastes, to repeat them frequently, and to inspire it with sentiments tat are false, dangerous, and full of illusions, but which the misguided soul imagines to be true. Alas! How many souls have been seduced by these deceitful consolations? The majority of raptures and ecstasies, or, to call them by their proper name, frenzies of these forerunners of Antichrist spring from this cause.” St. Vincent Ferrer
The spiritual highs and lows that go with charismatism are keeping souls in an endless cycle of spiritual struggle. Charismatics look upon this as a mark of spiritual maturity, but in fact, it is as useful as a dog chasing its own tail.
The notion that people go to the prayer group for infilling is true, but not for reasons one would think. You see, once there is charismatic contamination in the soul, there is need for regular “anointing”, or the person falls into a most dreadful state; an artificially induced dark night of the soul.
Conferences and large prayer groups are particularly useful to rejuvenate. The only trouble is the degree of desolation is dependent on the degree of spiritual consolation, creating a vicious circle of misery. When the Holy Spirit anoints, desolation does not follow. But we are not dealing with the Holy Spirit here; this is a counterfeit spirit.
vacant look of tranced charismatics
Check it out: People are high as a kite after a conference. But in a week or two everybody is suffering and the morale sinks to exceptionally low levels. My friendship with charismatics didn’t end when I left the renewal. I had a close friend who would show up absolutely vibrating after a conference or a visit to the retreat house. I learned to predict that she would be standing at my door weeping and wretched within a week. I knew how she felt, but I also knew why. I tried to tell her what was so obvious, but it is not that easy to get out of the renewal. Only God can lead you out and only God can sustain you through what follows; the worst time of your life.
