The Three Ways — Part 2: The Illuminative Way

07-21-2024Weekly ReflectionJen Arnold, M.A.

Last week, I began a series about “The Three Ways” – a practical process for growing in holiness and becoming a saint. Those who undertake this path will not only move through each of the three phases consecutively as they mature spiritually but also concurrently, as one can never be removed entirely from the foundational principles.

To briefly review, the first of the Three Ways is the purgative way. In this beginning stage of holiness, the soul undergoes a purification process. The practitioner is taking deliberate steps to purge oneself of sinful habits, disordered attachments, and worldly distractions. This is accomplished through prayer, replacing sins and bad habits with their opposite virtue and voluntary mortifications of the senses. As one progresses in the purification process, reliance on things of the world and oneself decreases as attachment and dependence on God (who is the source of levels of pleasure and comfort that are higher than those offered by the lower goods of the world) increases. Frequently, in its end stages, the purgative way climaxes with the practitioner suffering a period of time where he or she receives no consolation in prayer and cannot feel God's presence and love. This breaks the disordered attachment to the good feelings a person can receive in prayer to redirect one’s motivation from self-focus to praying purely out of love for God. Persevering through this spiritual dryness will then move the person into the illuminative way.

The Illuminative Way

The fruit of purging your soul from attachments to lower goods is that your spiritual eyes can now see much more clearly, and the higher spiritual goods are now illuminated. By this point, it is much easier to avoid mortal sin, though venial sins may still be a struggle, and your passions and senses are much more under your control, rather than having them control you. Because you've been cultivating virtue at the same time as you've been rooting out sin, acting virtuously in any given situation becomes more second nature instead of a concerted effort. A key indicator of the illuminative way is a perceptible increase in the hallmarks of charity and joy because your will is operating more in line with God’s will. You will still find pleasure in earthly things and succumb to distraction, so you must continue purging the internal and external senses with various forms of mortifications. Still, you will see those needs more clearly and the effects of your efforts.

In the illuminative way, the temptations you face will take on a new meaning. Let's use the example of someone who annoys you or makes you angry. When you are still in the purgative way, you are resisting your temptation to lose your temper while cultivating the virtue of exhibiting patience with them. Of course, as we work through purging our automatic response and move toward a more habitually virtuous reaction, suffering is involved, both internally, as we move through the feelings, and externally, as we will have moments of resisting what is good in favor of what is easy, as well as weakness and slip-ups. When you get to the illuminative way, you find yourself incredibly grateful to have that person in your life. You now view him or her as an opportunity for your sanctification and growth in holiness. Your spiritual vision now illuminates the person’s higher spiritual value in your journey, which brings you joy. Whatever your struggles, what you once perceived as an obstacle, you now perceive as an opportunity, and with reduced resistance comes less suffering. Essentially, in this phase, our crosses become easier to embrace rather than drag, and the burden lightens considerably.

Another fruit of the illuminative way is clarity regarding divine truths and mysteries of the faith. Of course, we can never fully understand God until we see him face-to-face in heaven. He is much too awesome for our tiny human brains to comprehend, but we are capable of seeing a little more clearly. In the book Friendship of Christ: Exploring the Humanity of Jesus, Fr. Robert Hugh Benson explains the clari- ty a practitioner receives in the illuminative way like this: “When Illumination comes, the mysteries don't cease to be mysteries, but now there begins to shine to her spiritual sense, point after point in those jewels of truth which up now have been opaque and colorless.” The dogmas and teachings of the Church, which were previously held with mere intellectual assent, now become living realities that resonate within the soul. You will begin to see with a new supernatural lens through which you can perceive the world and your experiences with increased clarity of the truth.

Last week I explained the critical need for a spiritual director by the time you get to the illuminative way. It should be noted that by purging your tendencies and attachments to base or immature sins, Satan can no longer tempt you with the little things that were once so easy to dangle in front of you. As you grow and mature, Satan and his demons will adapt to more subtle methods of tempting you to sin. This typically occurs by appealing to your spiritual, emotional, and intellectual pride. Knowing and understanding God more deeply, experiencing reduced suffering because you are embracing your crosses, being more charitable and having more joy, and experiencing ease in rejecting the sins of your old life are all opportunities to rationalize a sense of superiority in your ability to enjoy the fruits of all your hard work. Historians and theologians have noted that heretics and others who have caused division in the Church have done so when in the illuminative stage, submitting their will to the lie that they know God's will better than the Church that Jesus established and promised to protect. It can become dangerous for your soul if you do not remain vigilant about keeping your pride in check and remaining humble, knowing that God is the source of the grace that carried you on your journey. Your spiritual director will help you recognize if or when you fall into this trap.

As with all stages of spiritual growth, a robust prayer life is essential. In the purgative stage, prayer occurs at a lower level of vocal and meditative methods. These are not bad forms of prayer and will remain useful throughout your spiritual journey, but things change in the illuminative phase. In this stage, you become much more keenly aware of the divine life of God within you. He is no longer something external that you have to seek out. Instead, the awareness of his presence inside of you is constant, which significantly increases intimacy with God and is the driving motivator for all of your activity. You can also contemplate supernatural mysteries more profoundly and with improved clarity. When you contemplate these mysteries, it will be out of love for God, who he is, and what he does, with no desired outcome for yourself. Also, because you’ve been through the purgative stage, your distractions in prayer will be fewer or easier to ignore, creating ease in staying engaged with his presence inside you. Of course, the fruit of this type of prayer life is more grace for the journey, because God does not ask you to be holy without offering assistance.

Consider the illuminative phase of the three ways this week. Ask yourself if it is a stage of spiritual growth you’d like to achieve because of the benefits to your soul and the personal and intimate relationship with God it offers. It won't be easy, but it is certainly possible because all things are possible with God. Identify any fears holding you back from moving forward in your journey and ask God to remove them.