The Saints and Depression

I just finished reading an amazing article: The Saints and Depression.

Depression is in my genes. My parents both suffer from it, and there is reason to suspect that generations before theirs suffered from it, too. I have definitely seen it, at times, manifesting it's dull talons in my own life as well, during much of my teenage years.

I have often wondered if someone who suffered this way could become a Great Saint. I know "we are all called to holiness and sainthood." I am sure many people have suffered from numerous forms of mental illness and and are now in Heaven. My question was, can someone who suffers this way become a Great Saint? Can he or she be beatified or canonized? Can they make it that far, despite the feelings of doubt and temptations to despair; the mood swings; the feelings of being intensely overwhelmed; the emotional highs and lows?

According to this article, yes, indeed they can. Apparently God has allowed Great Saints in the past to suffer from these same difficulties, and has sanctified them through it and beyond it and brought them to Holiness. So how can I doubt that He would do the same for me? I need to be gentler with myself, and I need to pray for more perseverance and the ability to keep trying even though I fail over and over (and over) again. My M.O. is to try something for a while, and when it gets hard I give up. Well, I can't necessarily change that. But God can, and He will. I just have to let Him, and I need to accept the grace to keep trying in the meantime. Who knows? Maybe He intends to make me a Great Saint after all, despite all my depression, frustration, sinfulness, failures, and temperamental nature. I hope so.

Here is my favorite part of the article.

St. Ignatius experienced first-hand what he was later to refer to as desolation in his Spiritual Exercises. Much akin to depression, desolation is a state in which we feel restless, irritated, uncomfortable, unsure of ourselves and our decisions, assailed by doubts, and unable to persevere in our good intentions. According to Ignatius, God cannot cause desolation, although He may allow it for His own purposes — such as to remind us of our profound need for Him, or to “shake up” a sinner so as to bring about repentance. Feelings of desolation, Ignatius notes, are often caused or provoked by the evil one, especially after we’ve taken practical steps to grow in holiness or to discern and follow God’s will. Based in part on his own experience, St. Ignatius of Loyola offers three very important pieces of advice to anyone undergoing desolation:

·Don’t change an earlier good resolution, for after you’ve made a decision that’s pleasing to God, the Devil may try to make you have second thoughts.

·Intensify your religious activities — that is, spend more time in prayer, meditation, and good deeds. For if Satan’s temptations merely cause you to increase your efforts to grow in holiness, he’ll have an incentive to leave you alone.

·Persevere in patience, for the Devil’s authority and ability to assault you is strictly limited by God, meaning that you’ll be relieved of your spiritual sufferings if only you hold out long enough.

Read the rest here:  http://catholicexchange.com/saints-depression#.U40TFc6Nxv0.facebook