One of the things I have told many who are not regular readers of this blog is that they could go back and start with the series following the tags or labels. However, this is just a little footnote to remind one of the Doctors of the Church and the Dark Night of the Soul posts which are, of course, connected to the perfection series and can be read separately.
One of the reminders in this little footnote is that we must pray and seek for purification for three reasons; one, in order to be freed from self-will and selfishness which denies God access to our hearts; two, to be freed of habits of sin and imperfections which impede charity to our neighbors; and three, to allow God to lead us into union with Him not only for our sake, but for the sake of the holiness of the Church.
Without suffering, there is no purification. Without truth, seeing one's self for who one really is, there can be no humility, the key virtue gained in the Dark Night.
The Dark Night leads into the Illuminative Stage, the state of the freeing of the virtues and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. As I have said before, can you imagine the power which would come from the Church if all Catholics allowed God to lead them through suffering to this Illuminative State.
In the future, I shall return to this state with more detail, but there is much about it in the perfection series.