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Above the condition of hardened sinners, above the state of those
sensual souls who live in dissipation, conversion or justification
sets us in the state of grace; grace which sin ought never to
destroy in us, grace which, like a supernatural seed, ought
continually to grow until it has reached its full development in
the immediate vision of the divine essence and in a perfect love
which will last for ever.
After conversion there ought to be a serious beginning of the
purgative life, in which beginners love God by avoiding mortal sin
and deliberate venial sin, through exterior and interior
mortification and through prayer. But in actual fact this
purgative life is found under two very different forms: in some,
admittedly very few, this life is intense, generous; it is the
narrow way of perfect self-denial described by the saints. In many
others the purgative life appears in an attenuated form, varying
from good souls who are a little weak down to those tepid and
retarded souls who from time to time fall into mortal sin. The
same remark will have to be made for the other two ways, each of
which likewise is found in an attenuated and in an intense form.
The transition to the illuminative life follows upon certain
sensible consolations which generally reward the courageous effort
of mortification. As the soul lingers in the enjoyment of these
consolations, God withdraws them, and then the soul finds itself
in that more or less prolonged aridity of the senses which is
known as the passive purgation of the senses. This purgation
persists unceasingly in generous souls and leads them, by way of
initial infused contemplation, to the full illuminative life. In
other souls that are less generous, souls that shun the cross, the
purgation is often interrupted; and these souls will enjoy only an
attenuated form of the illuminative life, and will receive the
gift of infused contemplation only at long intervals. [128] Thus
the passive night of the senses is seen to be a second conversion,
more or less perfect.
The illuminative life brings with it the obscure infused
contemplation of the mysteries of faith, a contemplation which had
already been initiated in the passive night of the senses. It
appears under two normal forms. the one definitely contemplative,
as in the many saints of the Carmel; the other active, as in a St.
Vincent de Paul, a contemplation which, by the light of the gifts
of wisdom and counsel, constantly sees in the poor and abandoned
the suffering members of Christ. Sometimes this full illuminative
life involves, not only the infused contemplation of mysteries,
but also certain extraordinary graces (visions, revelations,
interior speech), such as those described by St. Teresa in her own
life.
The transition to the unitive life follows upon more abundant
spiritual lights, or an easier and more fruitful apostolate, these
being, as it were, the reward of the proficient's generosity. But
in them the proficient is apt to take some complacency, through
some remnant of spiritual pride which he still retains.
Accordingly, if God wills to lead the proficient into the perfect
unitive life, He causes him to pass through the night of the
spirit, a painful purgation of the higher part of the soul. If
this is endured supernaturally it continues almost without
interruption until it leads the soul to the perfect unitive life.
If, on the other hand, the proficient fails in generosity, the
unitive life will be correspondingly attenuated. This painful
purgation is the third conversion in the life of the servants of
God.
The perfect unitive life brings with it the infused contemplation
of the mysteries of faith and a passive union which is almost
continuous. Like the preceding, this life appears under two forms:
the one exclusively contemplative, as in a St. Bruno or a St. John
of the Cross; the other apostolic, as in a St. Dominic, a St.
Francis, a St. Thomas, or a St. Bonaventure. Sometimes the perfect
unitive life involves, not only infused contemplation and almost
continuous union with God, but also extraordinary graces, such as
the vision of the Blessed Trinity received by St. Teresa and
described by her in the VIIth Mansion. In this perfect unitive
life, whether accompanied by extraordinary favours or not, there
are evidently many degrees, ranging from the lowest to the highest
among the saints, to the Apostles, to St. Joseph and our Lady.
This division of the three stages of the spiritual life is set out
in the following table, which should be read beginning from below;
the three purgations or conversions figure in the table as
transitions from one stage to another.
The scheme may be compared with the doctrine of Tradition, and
above all with the doctrine of St. Thomas, concerning the grace of
the virtues and the gifts, and with that of St. John of the Cross
on the passive purgations, on infused contemplation and on the
perfect union, the normal prelude to the life of heaven.
We have seen also how it may be compared with the three ages of
our bodily life, infancy, adolescence, and manhood, especially as
regards the crises which mark the transition from one to another.
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