Abandonment
(More properly, SELF-ABANDONMENT)
A term used by writers of ascetical and mystical books to signify
the first stage of the union of the soul with God by conforming to
His Will. It is described as the first step in the unitive or perfect way of
approaching God by contemplation, of which it is the prelude. It
implies the passive purification through which one passes by
accepting trials and sufferings permitted by God to turn souls to
Him. It implies also the desolation
which comes upon the soul when relinquishing what it prizes
inordinately in creatures, the surrender of natural consolations in order to
seek God, and the loss for a time of the consciousness of strong and
ardent impulses of the virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity; and
finally aridity or a lack of fervent devotion in prayer and in other
spiritual actions. According to some, it is equivalent to the
"obscure night," described by St. John of the Cross, or the darkness
of the soul in a state of purgation, without light, amid many
uncertainties, risks, and dangers. It is also misused to express a
quietistic condition of the soul, which excludes not only all
personal effort, but even desires, and disposes one to accept evil
with the fatalistic motive that it cannot be helped.
JOHN J. WYNNE
Transcribed by Christine J. Murray
The 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia