Surviving the Dark Night of the Soul - Explaining the Faith

We all must go through it. But what is the "Dark Night" of the senses and Dark Night of the Soul? Fr. Chris Alar explains that we will all face deep desolation and dryness and what the difference is between depression and something spiritual that God may be doing in us. This critical teaching in moral theology of St. John of the Cross and Theresa of Avila is paramount to growing in holiness and preparing for death.

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[PatriciaSmith-glij]

I pray my children come back to Catholic Church before I die.

[francisesho]

Thank you Father, I will listen to this again and again in my loneliness to correct and repent from all my evil ways.

[gordon]

Father chris i was blown away by this talk when i seen it. Im in ireland i was talking with you about a year ago, so im in trouble with drugs and i honestly think god is getting me ready through rehab. So it was a fantastic talk thanks brother, say a prayer for me my name is gordon from dublin ireland. Thank you father

[giarose]

I went to prison where I made bad decisions now it my mission to win the race to see Gods face pray 🙏 daily for his grace no one ☝️ takes my place

[katherinebrumley]

Please pray for us who want a spiritual director and cannot find one.

[mrsandmom]

I literally just came out of the dark night. I could not forgive a priest that hurt me a few years back. I hated him . I became oppressed. Satan was having his way. This week I was reading about our Lady of Guadalupe. I could hear her tell me” you belong to me”. It was instantaneous relief.

[amggomez]

The Dark Night is purgatory on earth 🤯 I have never heard it expressed so succinctly. Thank you Fr Chris

[Sheilamarie]

Thank you, Father Chris. I pray the Priest's Prayer for you and the Marion Brothers: "O Jesus, I implore Your devine assistance for Your faithful and fervent priests; for Your unfaithful and tepid priests; for Your priests laboring at home or abroad in distant mission fields; for Your lonely and desolate priests; for Your young priests; for Your dying priests; for the souls of Your priests in purgatory. But above all, I commend to You the priests dearest to me; the priest who baptized me; the priests who have absolved me from my sins; for priests whose masses I assisted and who gave me your Body and Blood in Holy Communion; the priests who taught and instructed me; all the priests whom I am indebted in any other way. O Jesus, keep them close to Your Sacred Heart, and bless them abundantly in time and eternity. Amen." God Bless you, Father.

[sofiamalacara]

Great talk Father Chris on The Dark Night. You saved my family & myself during covid in 2021. I started watching your masses around Christmas of 2020 was lost needing answers. During my Dark Night my oldest daughter was admitted in a mental hospital on Thanksgiving 2020 & got bad after that. When I started watching your mass it changed my life for the better took time but its getting there. God doesn't answer that second. But he does help you continuously. It was hard but it got better. Praise God & you Father Chris & rest of the Marian Brothers & Marian Helpers.

[ChersJourney]

Father Alar.
I found this on my Audiobook, I randomly picked this sermon, .. Your describing my life.

Everything I’ve known is gone, now it’s solitude & Silence.

My 2 year depression is unlike any I’ve had before.. there is no break.
Then I found this and I knew this is what I’m going thru.

So many tears, pray for me please to stay strong. Bless you

[patman_for_sure]

This came at exactly my dark night. Thank you, Jesus.

Feels like all my prayers are empty sometimes. He says He will guard but then dangers and suffering come through. It makes one wonder if He is really there. But there are sudden brief moments when I feel His presence and comfort. The desolation and abandonment feeling hurts, but the belief that He is there even when He is seemingly quiet and not there is highly necessary.

Praying for anyone in a similar situation

[giarose]

God make my fear disappear without God is despair no one ☝️ else can compare… God come near don’t leave me alone I can’t make it on my own please bless my home 🏡 remove all evil and sins

[jcgurl]

Oh my heart, I went through dark night of the senses for almost two years. I had no idea what was going on, nothing helped and I felt so abandoned. At the same time I could not get a priest to respond to phone calls, emails etc. Most of it happened during the pandemic when the parishes were closed. Watching this helps me understand what happened. Lord have Mercy, thank you Fr. Chris!!!

[giarose]

Father Chris Thank you Im hear because of you I went to church you had a huge push in me going to church ⛪️

[MeekCatholic]

During my dark night, I was tempted to join the Freemasons and live a life of luxury. Thank the Lord for keeping me from such a horrendous path! I found Our Lady in my time of trouble and my family now abounds in graces.

Note: I also had dreams of judgment day and wrestling with the enemy in Heaven prior to making it out of the dark night of my soul. It was very scary but very enlightening to know for certain which side I stand by.

[vickyd]

My husband is struggling right now as he was diagnosed with flu a. In our 29 years married I have never seen him this sick and scared. I know God surrounds us always I pray he feels Gods divine mercy and gets physically well soon. Thank you thank you thank you.

[gstrikr]

Currently experiencing this. Pray for me please, as I pray for all of you, especially the ones also going through this.

[carolereynolds-gr]

I am in the midst of the dark nights of the soul. It has been a very difficult time for me. Lots of tears and prayers. I will come out of this a better person.

[sashlid]

I'm not Catholic, I go to Pentacostal churches. I found this very helpful and I feel God brought me to this video. And here I thought Catholic services were boring. God has been telling me to fast and the scripture about certain demons coming out only through prayer and fasting has been coming up a lot so I know what I need to do. It's not just food that I need to fast from I have to give up a bunch of things.

[nievaconsing]

As a Secular Carmelite, I am very thankful for this talk that helps me understand my vocation. God bless. ❤