DIRIMENT
28
DISCERNMENT
Bishops of Quebec in the issue for 190S, in commemo-
ration of the centenary celebrations. The Rev.
Charles P. Beaubien edited the publication.
Files of these various publications; FlxoTTl, BiUiographia Catholica Americana (New York, 1S72).
Thomas F. Meehan. Diriment Impediments. See Impediments.
Discalced (Lat. dis, without, and calceus, shoe), a term applied to those religious congregations of men and women, the members of which go entirely imshod or wear sandals, with or without other covering for the feet. These congregations are often distinguished on this account from other branches of the same order. The custom of going unshod was introduced into the West by St. Francis of Assisi for men and St. Clare for women. After the various modifications of the Rule of St. Francis, the Observantines adhered to the primitive custom of going unshod, and in this they were followed by the Minims and Capuchins. The Discalced Franciscans or Alcantarines, who prior to 1897 formed a distinct branch of the Franciscan Order went without footwear of any kind. The followers of St. Clare at first went barefoot, but later came to wear sandals and even shoes. The Colettines and Capu- chin Sisters returned to the use of sandals. Sandals were also adopted by the Camaldolese monks of the Congregation of Monte Corona (1522), the Uniat Maronite monks, the Poor Hermits of St. Jerome of the Congregation of Bl. Peter of Pisa, the Augustinians of Thomas of Jesus (1532), the Barefooted Servites (159.3), the Discalced Carmelites (1568), the Feuil- lants (Cistercians, 1575), Trinitarians (1594), Merce- darians (1604), and the Passionists. (See Friaks Minor.)
Heimbucher, Die Orden «. Kongregatio-nen (Paderbom, 1907), I, 44; Buchberger, Kirchliches Handlrx., s. v.
Stephen M. Donovan.
Discernment of Spirits. — All moral conduct may be summed up in the ride: avoid evil and do good. In the language of Christian asceticism, spirits, in the broad sense, is the term apjilied to certain complex influences, capable of im]ielliiig the will, the ones toward good, the others toward evil; we have the worldly spirit of error, the spirit of race, the spirit of Christianity, etc. However, in the restricted sense, spirits indicate the various spiritual agents which, by their suggestions and movements, may influence the moral value of our acts. Here we shall speak only of this second kind. They are reduced to four, includ- ing, in a certain way, the human sold itself, because in consequence of the original Fall, its lower faculties are at variance with its superior powers. Concupiscence, that is to say, disturbances of the imagination and errors of sensiliility, thwart or pervert the operations of the intellect and will, by deterring the one from the true and the other from the good (Gen., viii, 21; James, i, 14). In opposition to our vitiated nature or, so to speak, to the flesh which drags us into sin, the Spirit of God acts within us by grace, a supernatural help given to our intellect and will to lead us back to good and to the observance of the moral law (Rom., vii, 22-25). Besides these two spirits, the human and the Divine, in the actual order of Providence, two others must be observed. The Creator willed that there should be communication between angels and men, and as the angels are of two kinds (see Angels), good and bad. the latter try to win us over to their rebellion and the former endeavour to make us their companions in obedience. Hence four spirits lay siege to our liberty, the angelic and the Divine seeking its good and the human (in the sense heretofore men- tioned); the diabolical its misery. In ordinary lan- guage they may, for brevity sake, be called simply the good and the evil spirit.
Discernment of spirits is the term given to the judg- ment whereby to determine from what spirit the im-
pulses of the soul emanate, and it is easy to understand
the importance of this judgment both for self-direction
and the direction of others. Now this judgment may
be formed in two ways. In the first case the discern-
ment is made by means of an intuitive light which in-
fallibly discovers the quality of the movement; it is
then a gift of God, a grace gratis data, vouchsafed
mainly for the benefit of our neighbour (I Cor., xii, 10).
This charisma or gift was granted in the early Church
and in the course of the lives of the saints as, for ex-
ample, St. Philip \eri. Second, discernment of spirits
may be obtained through study and reflexion. It is
then an acquired human knowledge, more or less per-
fect, but very useful in the direction of souls. It is
procured, always, of course, with the assistance of
grace, by the reading of Holy Writ, of works on the-
ology and asceticism, of autobiographies, and the cor-
respondence of the most distinguished ascetics. The
necessity of self-direction and of directing others,
when one had charge of souls, produced documents,
preserved in spiritual libraries, from the perusal of
which one may see that the discernment of spirits is a
science that has always flourished in the Church. In
addition to the special treatises enumerated in the
bibliography the following documents may be cited
for the history of the subject: they are the "Shepherd
of Hermas" (1, II, Mand. VI, c. 2); St. Anthony's dis-
course to the monks of Egypt, in his life by St.
Athanasius; the "De perfectione spirituali" (ch. 30-
33) by Marcus Diadochus; the "Confessions" of St.
Augustine; St. Bernard's XXIII sermon, "Dediscre-
tione spirituum"; Gerson's treatise, "De diversis dia-
boli tentationibus"; St. Theresa's autobiography and
"Castle of tlie Soul"; St. Francis de Sales' letters of
direction, etc.
An excellent lesson is that given by St. Ignatius Loyola in his "Spiritual Exercises". Here we find rules for the discernment of spirits and, being clearly and briefly formulated, these rules indicate a secure course, containing in embryo all that is included in the more extensive treatises of later date. For a complete explanation of them the best commentaries on the "Exercises" of St. Ignatius may be consulted, espe- cially those by P. Gagliardi and a few authors like Godinez, Lopez Ezcjuerra, and Scararaelli who, setting aside the other parts of the "Exercises", are mani- festly imbued with the doctrine of this book on the discernment of spirits. Of the rules transmitted to us by a saint inspired by Divine light and a learned psy- chologist taught by personal experience, it will suffice to recall the principal ones. Ignatius gives two kinds and we must call attention to the fact that in the second category, according to some opinions, he some- times considers a more delicate discernment of spirits adapted to the extraordinary course of mysticism. Be that as it may, he begins by enunciating this clear principle, that both the good and the evil spirit act upon a soul according to the attitude it assumes toward them. If it pose as their friend, they flatter it; if it resist them, they torment it. But the evil spirit speaks only to the imagination and the senses, whereas the good spirit acts upon reason and con- science. The evil labours to excite concupiscence, the good to intensify love for God. Of course it may hap- pen that a perfectly well-disposed soul suffers from the attacks of the devil deprived nf the sustaining consola- tions of the good angel: but this is only a temporary trial the passing of which must be awaited in patience and humihty. St. Ignatius also teaches us to distin- guish the spirits by their mode of action and by the end they seek. Without any preceding cause, that is to say, suddenly, without previous knowledge or senti- ment, God alone, by virtue of His sovereign dominion, can flood the soul with light and joy. But if there has been a preceding cause, either the good or the bad angel m.ay be the author of the con.solation; this re- mains to be judged from the consequences. As the
