Domine, ut videum

Luke 18:35-43

"There are times when the soul can experience obscurity and even blindness. The path that once seemed so clearly defined can become more difficult to make out. What was light and joy can turn to shadows. Sadness can then overtake the soul. This situation may often be the consequence of personal sins or a failure to correspond to grace: perhaps the dust we stir up as we walk - our miseries- forms an opaque cloud that cuts off the light from above. Another explanation is that the Lord may permit the onset of a period of obscurity as a means of purifying the soul, of increasing our humility and trust in him. When we experience this kind of trial everything demands more effort. That is only logical. These are times when the devil tries to plunge us more deeply into sadness and undermine our dedication.

No matter what its origin, what is a person to do in this quandary? The blind man of Jericho...has given us a wonderful lesson: we should go to the Lord all the more earnestly. He is always near. He hears our prayer. He will respond in his infinite mercy. Even when it may seem that he would pass us by, He is wholly conscious of our situation.

...Let us learn a lesson from the blind beggar: the greater our interior confusion, the more our difficulties on the way, so much the stronger should our prayers become.

...We may not know the reason, but we can be sure of the remedy. It is persevering prayer. When darkness surrounds us and our soul is blind and restless, we have to go to the Light, like Bartimaeus. Repeat, shout, cry out ever more strongly, 'Domine, ut videum!' Lord, that I may see. And daylight will dawn upon you, and you will be able to enjoy the brightness He grants you."

--from In Conversation With God, vol.5, pp.489-490