Consolations & the “Desert”: St. Anthony, St. Thérèse, and the Fight for Hope

About this sermon

When God feels silent, He may be closer than you think. This sermon explores spiritual dryness—why God sometimes withdraws consolations—and how He uses these seasons to strengthen us in humility, patience, charity, and steadfast prayer. Drawing on St. Anthony of the Desert, St. Francis de Sales, and St. Thérèse of Lisieux, we learn why consolations are a sauce—good, but not the solid meat—and how true growth comes through fidelity amid aridity. We look at the Gospel crowd in the desert as an image of the soul: hungry, uncomfortable, yet provided for by Christ. Like St. Paul, we press on: “Not I, but the grace of God with me.” If you’re in dryness, you’re in a precious land of opportunity. There are flowers even in the desert. Timestamps/Chapters 00:00 Title & intro 00:43 Opening prayer (Sign of the Cross) 00:48 Why the “desert crowd” images spiritual dryness 01:34 What spiritual dryness feels like & why God allows it 02:03 When consolations are withdrawn—and how to respond 02:18 St. Anthony of the Desert: courage without superstition 03:00 Virtues formed in the fight 03:35 Combat with temptation: prayer, fasting, vigilance 04:50 “Not I, but the grace of God” — the victory of Christ in us 05:09 Progress measured by desire & steadfastness (not years) 05:35 “Forgetting what is behind…” (Phil 3:14) 05:52 St. Francis de Sales: consolations as “sauce,” not the meal 07:03 Discernment: when the enemy misuses “sweetness” 07:30 St. Thérèse: aridity before profession—letting Jesus “sleep” 08:39 Peace in letting God work beneath the surface 09:21 “He remembers we are dust” — mercy in our weakness 09:33 Beauty, oases, and hidden gifts in the spiritual desert 10:18 Closing prayer & blessing 10:26 Peace and love For more please visit https://institute-christ-king.org/oakland-sermons & say 3 Hail Marys for the priest https://themartyrswalk.com/ #Catholic #Homily #SpiritualDryness #Consolations #DesertFathers #StAnthony #StTherese #StFrancisDeSales #Prayer #CatholicFaith #TraditionalCatholic #TLM #SpiritualWarfare #Perseverance #Grace 🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴 Support Catholic Businesses here - https://sensusfidelium.com/catholic-businesses/ Sensus Fidelium Press - https://sensusfideliumpress.com/ Sensus Fidelium Apps - https://sensusfidelium.tv/ Support Sensus Fidelium - https://sensusfidelium.com/donate-support/ 🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴 🙏🏻PLEASE HELP OUR CHANNEL GROW 🙏🏻 ▶️ 1. Become a Channel Patron: https://www.patreon.com/SensusFidelium ▶️ 2. Visit the website https://www.sensusfidelium.us for Gueranger, Saint of the Day, Apologetics, Meditation by the Saints, Scripture Study and more. ▶️ 3. Subscribe to Other Video Platforms 🔴 SpiritusTV - https://spiritustv.com/@SensusFidelium 🔴 BitChute --- https://www.bitchute.com/channel/Sensus_Fidelium/ 🔴 Rumble --- https://rumble.com/c/c-298311 🔴 My Catholic Tube - https://mycatholictube.com/videos/sensus-fidelium-channel/ 🔴 LBRY.tv --- https://lbry.tv/@SensusFidelium:c 🔴 ODYSEE - https://odysee.com/@SensusFidelium:c 🔴 UGETube - https://videos.utahgunexchange.com/@Sensus%20Fidelium 🔴 BrandNewTube - https://brandnewtube.com/@SensusFidelium 🔴 GabTV - https://tv.gab.com/channel/Sensus_Fidelium 🔴 GloriaTV - https://gloria.tv/Sensus%20Fidelium 🔴 Brighteon - https://www.brighteon.com/channels/sensusfidelium ▶️ 4. Paypal, Bitcoin, Anedot, Stripe, Square & PO Box donations - https://sensusfidelium.com/donate-support/ ▶️ 5. YouTube: Click Subscribe, then Click "Notification Bell" = 🔔 Please "Like" our videos so that Youtube shares it to others by clicking the "Like" thumbs-up under the video = 👍🏻 ▶️ 6. Please share this video 📲, and help others find Christ inside the Catholic Church! Please share this video on Facebook and Twitter using the share button. ▶️ 7. Follow on Social Media: 🔴 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SensusFidelium/ 🔴 Twitter: https://https://twitter.com/Sensus_Fidelium 🔴 YouTube: Click Subscribe, then Click "Notification Bell" = 🔔 🔴 Parler: https://parler.com/profile/Sensusfidelium/posts 🔴 SP3RN: https://www.sp3rn.com/community/pages/14-sensus-fidelium 🔴 GAB: https://gab.com/Sensus_Fidelium 🔴 Bastyon: https://bastyon.com/sensusfidelium 🔴 GETTR: https://gettr.com/user/sensus_fidelium 🔴 INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/sensusfidelium/ 🔴 Telegram: https//t.me/RealSensusFidelium ▶️ 8. Follow on iTunes: 🔴 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sensus-fidelium-catholic-podcast/id1477010758 #jesus #desert #truth #prayer #spiritual #catholic #faith

Topics

• Hope
• Suffering & Trials