Occasioned by current challenges facing the Catholic Church, the article explores the role of lamentations and impasse in the life of the church. By drawing on resources in the Scriptures, Augustine’s Expositions on the Psalms, and classic texts in spirituality, the author advances the claim that ways must be developed in ecclesiology and pastoral practice to heed and discern the meaning of ecclesial laments as a necessary complement to a phenomenological and hermeneutical interpretation of the intentions of ecclesial texts and authorities.