Don Dolindo on Navigating Spiritual Dryness

Lessons from St Zechariah and St Elizabeth on Persevering When God Seems Distant

                            St Zechariah and St Elizabeth, the parents of St John The Baptist

Many revered saints throughout history have endured periods of spiritual dryness and desolation in their journey of faith. While we may idealize the saintly life as one of constant connection with God, the reality is that even heroes of the church like Mother Teresa of Calcutta and St. John of the Cross went through desert-like seasons where prayer felt difficult and God seemed distant. Though they enjoyed times of closeness with God as well, their perseverance through spiritual aridity speaks volumes. Just as desert fathers like St. Anthony the Great devoted themselves to God in the literal desert, saints who persevered in metaphorical spiritual deserts teach us critical lessons about faithfulness in times when we do not "feel" the presence of God as tangibly. Their example reminds us that maturity in faith often comes through walking through the valley of shadows rather than simply basking on the mountain tops. By relying wholly on God instead of spiritual feelings or consolations, we too can follow in the footsteps of these spiritual giants.

The saints pave the way for resilience in spiritual droughts. Now let's glean some wisdom from Don Dolindo's commentary on Zechariah and Elizabeth in St. Luke's Gospel chapter 1. As we'll discover, he unpacks critical lessons from their story for staying rooted when God seems distant. In just a few choice lines, Dolindo charts a course for nurturing faith even when our "soul-terrain" feels dry and barren - when our inner spiritual landscape is devoid of feeling, lacking in fruitfulness, and parched of previous spiritual consolations.

Like all pious Jews, Zechariah and Elizabeth prayed long for the coming of the Messiah to liberate God's people. Yet even this holy couple saw no answer to their deepest spiritual plea. Meanwhile in their personal lives, they pleaded with God to bless them with a child in their advancing age, only to be met with barrenness. To outward eyes, it may have seemed their prayers went unheard. Yet as Don Dolindo declares, "what prayer is in vain before God? Even when it seems unanswered...it achieves its effect in a way that surpasses our expectation." Their hopes for both a child and the Messiah were "doubly answered" beyond imagination - "for they had a son and saw the Messiah, indeed they had him as part of their family." The same God who authors fruitful seasons revived their family line, bringing forth John the Baptist through a miracle. And He wondrously answered their messianic longing up close, as the blessed Virgin Mary, Elizabeth's relative according to Luke 1:36, newly carried the Incarnate Word. Like fresh rains reviving parched desert beds of dormant seeds, God resuscitated Zechariah and Elizabeth's spiritual landscape in ways that astonished.

Zechariah stood before God acutely aware of the collective longing of God's people for a Savior. As he lifted prayers heavenward (Luke 1:8-10), the priest entered a state of deep personal humility and spiritual poverty. Despite his holy office, Zechariah saw himself as "unworthy to fulfill that sacred ministry," even perhaps the "last and most despicable of the Priests" in his own eyes (Don Dolindo), because "the shame of barrenness ... had almost excluded Zechariah and Elizabeth from the blessing given by God to Abraham (Genesis 22:17 and 30:23)". Yet as Don Dolindo illuminates, "The Lord chooses these moments to reveal Himself to a soul." God frequently meets us in interior valleys of surrender, speaking into barren places when our gazes fix on his grace rather than our grasp. Thus as Zechariah offered incense, his soul stood emptied and aligned for the angelic announcement of answered prayer. Fear upon seeing the angel likewise flowed from a posture of godly reverence within. By stripping self-sufficiency to make room for the Savior, Zechariah paved the way for divine encounter.

Zechariah's response to the angel Gabriel foreshadows a temptation we all face - clinging to our own plans rather than embracing God's.  Though promised a miraculous son, Zechariah questioned, "How shall I know this?" (Luke 1:18). In response, Don Dolindo exclaims, "What a lesson for us who are so accustomed to opposing God's plans with our own and relying on our own foolishness to understand the ways of the Lord!" Like Zechariah, we often halt before grace that seeks to transport us, wanting to evaluate everything by the dim light of self rather than God's divine wisdom. Don Dolindo continues, "Oh, if we only knew how to surrender to the divine Will and divine action!" Zechariah's moment of disbelief directly inspired this priest's signature "Surrender Novena." Composed in the 1920s and still widely recited today, its prayers begin, "O Jesus, I surrender myself to You..." Flowing from biblical examples like Zechariah, Don Dolindo calls us to abandon limited human logic and fully yield to the gain that comes when we exchange our ways for God's higher plans.

After walking through Zechariah's journey, we now turn full attention to Don Dolindo's masterful analysis of spiritual barrenness. Through the lens of this biblical account, he charts a different course than reactionary despair when consolation fades: "One does not combat spiritual barrenness by losing faith or despairing, but by humbling oneself and praying...".

With meticulous clarity, this holy priest outlines keys for enduring dry seasons with eyes elevated beyond what feelings may falsely report: "Pessimism is always deadly on the paths of the spirit, while hope and abandonment in divine Mercy are a secret of great life." Indeed, "Does one not prune a plant to make it bloom more abundantly?" If we hold on and soldier on through the pruning, relying on grace rather than self-sufficiency, a vibrant spiritual landscape awaits on the horizon - for "God prunes souls with dryness...and then at the opportune moment floods them with grace and fulfills His great designs in them."

Facing spiritual dryness, Don Dolindo advises perseverance over despair: “One does not combat spiritual barrenness by losing faith or despairing, but by humbling oneself and praying...” Rather than panic, we can honor God's purposes in dry seasons through continued obedience. Quietly plowing forward plants seeds for surprises ahead. “To believe it impossible to be freed from it means to fall into the little faith that St. Zechariah had in the words of the Angel...” Though the elderly priest briefly doubted, God still fulfilled His promise in due time. Perseverant trust required. “St. Zechariah, offering incense, received the great announcement...” Despite feeling unworthy, Zechariah’s discipline amid his priestly duties opened the way for grace. So too we should follow in example: “...that is what the withered soul must do: pray and engage in zealous works, which hold a great secret of interior fertility."  Don Dolindo cautions us that “Satan, on the other hand, tempts the soul with discouragement and inertia, and makes it believe even that it is on the brink of perdition...” Meanwhile the devil schemes attack, undermining spiritual sanity in seeming wastelands. Clarity comes through clinging to Christ. Don Dolindo emphasizes the importance to seek assistance from our spiritual director by saying that “The Angel who speaks to the soul is the Priest [our Spiritual Director] , and it must believe in his assurances if it does not want to fall into an abyss of thick darkness that makes it impossible to rise and flourish again.” He continues by saying that “Pessimism is always deadly on the paths of the spirit, while hope and abandonment in divine Mercy are a secret of great life.” He finally draws this analogy between the soul and a plant “Does one not prune a plant to make it bloom more abundantly? God prunes souls with dryness...” If we endure necessary seasons of spiritual pruning, abundant life waits on the horizon. “One does not repair the barrenness of a plant by cutting it down, but by fertilizing it; now, humility is the most appropriate fertilizer for our interior powers...” Just as even the lowliest, forgotten organic matter transforms over time into the rich fertilizer that nourishes abundant harvests, humility profoundly enriches the terrain of the soul. Without force or self-manufacture, the quiet decomposition of pride silently cultivates spiritual soil to receive new life. What feels like barrenness or dormancy from a surface view becomes the very ingredients for later bloom. As the most unassuming elements graciously sink to feed eager roots, humility likewise sinks the soul to soar. By kneeling low rather than reacting when our spiritual landscape feels depleted, we activate grace to resurrect and restore in due season.

O Blessed Virgin Mary, humble handmaid who walked in grace, teach us to treasure dry and lonely places. Help us to respond with surrender, not dismay when spiritual consolation fades. As you persevered through soul-piercing sorrows (Luke 2:35), to stand steadfast at the foot of the Cross, embolden us to cling to Christ when inner light dims. Sheltered by your mantle of resilience, may we model David’s patient hope in darkness (Psalm 30:5), Hannah’s trust that even a “barren womb knows God’s bounty” (1 Samuel 2:5). Revive in us unwavering reliance like Abraham, “who hoped against hope” (Romans 4:18). As you attended to your relative Elizabeth in her difficult pregnancy in old age, bring us comfort when we feel isolated in seasons of spiritual dryness. Teach us to carry whispered promise deep within, though mysteries of grace rarely unfold on our timetables. Instill your courage to walk in holy darkness, for “the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.” (Proverbs 4:18). Above all, let the “yes” of your supreme Fiat resound again in our barren sole, with the promise that our soul-ground turns fertile like seed scattered upon the soil prolific to yield a fruitful spiritual harvest ”some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” (Matthew 13:8).

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