Acedia, the "noonday devil"

A Catholic philosopher friend of mine e-mailed me a link last night on a new book that discusses acedia, a lack of spiritual kind of unwitting pride and spiritual sloth. From the link:
By the first definition, acedia is a sin against the gaudium de caritate (the joy of love). This is because acedia is sadness about not just spiritual good in general, but about the ultimate spiritual good—the Beatific Vision itself! For St. Thomas, joy is an affective reaction to a good, whereas sadness is an affective reaction to an evil. The implication for our time begins to reveal itself here, for somehow the soul suffering from acedia comes to perceive the greatest possible good—union with God—as an evil.

How does this come about? As a general answer, St. Thomas says that man can become sad at the prospect of union with God because it requires him to give up limited or apparent (and seemingly more concrete) goods to which he is attached. Acedia is complex, however, and works on many levels and in different forms. We may flee union with God itself, or we may simply flee the things that will lead us to union with God. In the first case, when beatitude itself saddens us, we are dealing with the direst consequence of acedia: despair. Nault writes:


Those who despair of being able to attain man’s highest vocation, St. Thomas warns, run the risk of becoming satisfied with a mere “animal beatitude.” This is the modern condition, where we are not even aware of our own despair; as Flannery O’Connor put it, our age has “domesticated despair.” We begin to believe that human life is fundamentally absurd. When animal beatitude ultimately fails us, we embrace nihilism, at best with a senile and ineffectual coating of humanism, at worst as an open “hatred of being,” a belief that it would be better not to exist. Recognizing the Noonday Devil - Catholic Culture

I'd never even heard the term "acedia" until I clicked on the link, but I hope that those of us of various faiths will find what's said here to be useful to contemplate.

I was tempted to say that this was too subtle, or perhaps too Catholic, for me to unravel.


But upon third look, I think I get it. It refers to someone who views union with God as something burdensome, something they gave up too much for and do not find a thing of joy. The "dour Christian" who sighs over having to give up his favorite sins. Or, the one who despairs of that union due to his sense of being unworthy of it.

I think that latter is common.... people forget the magnitude of God's Grace, or get so hung up on their own faults that they lose sight of it.

I'd actually never heard of the term before I came across the article on Facebook either. It certainly is an complex concept, and one which I probably struggle with more than a little bit myself.

I think the result of this spiritual malaise in our culture is boredom. As a whole, our society seems to seek ever more empty and fleeting distractions to paper over the spiritual failing.

Goshin said:

I was tempted to say that this was too subtle, or perhaps too Catholic, for me to unravel.


But upon third look, I think I get it. It refers to someone who views union with God as something burdensome, something they gave up too much for and do not find a thing of joy. The "dour Christian" who sighs over having to give up his favorite sins. Or, the one who despairs of that union due to his sense of being unworthy of it.

I think that latter is common.... people forget the magnitude of God's Grace, or get so hung up on their own faults that they lose sight of it.

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I had to read this thoughtfully too, and I'm still thinking about it because I'd never considered it before. That's why I posted; I'm hopeful that others will have insights about mere "animal beatitude" and Flannery O'Connor's chilling "domesticated despair."

It bothers me to wonder if I myself flee beatitude or how often I succumb to spiritual ennui.

Very interesting, thanks.

I have never seen that link between the sin of sloth (one of the "7 deadly sins") and the sin of discouragement. Frankly, I'd always sort of viewed discouragement in terms of general spiritual weakness, even to the point of excusing it on the basis of one's circumstances as a sort of temporary weakness a Christian can experience from time to time.

The terms that struck me were "desultory," "spiritual malaise," "discouragement," and "general sadness."

When one's Christian walk can be described as one of "spiritual malaise" - or, an on-going, every day attitude of "low spirits" characterized by a critical, complaining spirit, by despair, by continual discouragement over one's walk, it has always seemed to me to be more than just weakness - but I've never been quite able to put my finger on exactly what (or why). This author describes it in far more convicting and sobering terms - asserting that we need to take it far more seriously than perhaps we have been.



Much to meditate on and pray about...

"Desultory" is a powerful word upon which to reflect, isn't it? I hadn't thought much about spiritual malaise either. I am now and am troubled by the notion that the sin of discouragement can lead to the sin of cynicism or, rather, the abandonment of hope.

nota bene said:

"Desultory" is a powerful word upon which to reflect, isn't it? I hadn't thought much about spiritual malaise either. I am now and am troubled by the notion that the sin of discouragement can lead to the sin of cynicism or, rather, the abandonment of hope.

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These typically describe DESPAIR. As you stated, that is the abandonment of hope. This HOPE is not the "wish" that it is used consistently these days. It is a sure promise that is believed by faith.


We may see a little discouragement, and not like it. Some these days are truly being persecuted, and that is something we should pray about. The concern described here by the Apostle Paul is that, day to day, the Apostles and their helpers were in jeopardy of their lives, and that from every direction. The Jewish religion had killed the first martyrs, and pagan governments were doing the same. Pagan worshipers of false gods were against "Christianity" that exposed the error of their religion, (Acts 19) as it did to other religions. These often sought to silence the opposition.

I think there is also a spiritual ennui that perhaps we ignore.

Welcome to DP.

nota bene said:

"Desultory" is a powerful word upon which to reflect, isn't it? I hadn't thought much about spiritual malaise either. I am now and am troubled by the notion that the sin of discouragement can lead to the sin of cynicism or, rather, the abandonment of hope.

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"Desultory" is the word that piqued my ears right off the bat and generated an immediate "omG!" when I saw it.

I've never given much weight to the sin of sloth - associating it strictly with laziness; but then, I've never put it along side passages like I Thess 2:9 either: "For you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God."

Where are similar hard-working men in today's church? Where am I in that regard? Why are so many "Christian" men so listless in their (our) service to the King? Why are there so few genuine, inspiring males taking leadership roles (visible or not) in the church? Why do we let our women do most of the work? Why are we so... uninspired to take responsibility for the great commission? Sure, we'll mow the church's lawn, shovel its walks from time to time, maybe lead a prayer. Maybe we'll volunteer to serve the Lord's Supper once in awhile - but please don't ask us to attend a men's retreat, especially on football Sunday or NASCAR Saturday. Where is the [true] joy in being His? Where is the zeal, the desire to sacrifice and work hard for the sake of other's spiritual lives?

And not to make this just about the men - but since when did church become all about just sitting back in the pews and being entertained?

nota bene said:

"Desultory" is a powerful word upon which to reflect, isn't it? I hadn't thought much about spiritual malaise either. I am now and am troubled by the notion that the sin of discouragement can lead to the sin of cynicism or, rather, the abandonment of hope.

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The reason it struck me so is that that is sort of where I feel I'm at right now spiritually

I yearn to be passionate about my Christianity - at least I think I do. So when I'm not, when reading my bible becomes drudgery, boring, "same-o, same-o" when in my heart I know I'm not feeling particularly passionate about my relationship with Christ, when there just isn't that genuine joy, when it becomes easier to give in to temptation and sin, when I spend more time complaining about this and that, and just not that interested in participating in things... then something's very, very wrong.

nota bene said:

"Desultory" is a powerful word upon which to reflect, isn't it? I hadn't thought much about spiritual malaise either. I am now and am troubled by the notion that the sin of discouragement can lead to the sin of cynicism or, rather, the abandonment of hope.

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Another word, one the author used in the first sentence of the article is: vice.

Oof

EdwinWillers said:

The reason it struck me so is that that is sort of where I feel I'm at right now spiritually

I yearn to be passionate about my Christianity - at least I think I do. So when I'm not, when reading my bible becomes drudgery, boring, "same-o, same-o" when in my heart I know I'm not feeling particularly passionate about my relationship with Christ, when there just isn't that genuine joy, when it becomes easier to give in to temptation and sin, when I spend more time complaining about this and that, and just not that interested in participating in things... then something's very, very wrong.

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Sometimes a field needs to lie fallow for a bit, only to return in great beauty and strength.

And although times in the desert are lonely, they too can be the beginning of a renewal of fortitude and commitment, just as they were for our Savior.

nota bene said:

Sometimes a field needs to lie fallow for a bit, only to return in great beauty and strength.

And although times in the desert are lonely, they too can be the beginning of a renewal of fortitude and commitment, just as they were for our Savior.

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I've been meditating on this ever since you wrote it. Thanks.