CHOOSE A Spiritual Age
Each age has its own page. the soul can go through them in order or open the one the soul want to know.
DARKENING
AGE −1 · MILD DARKNING
AGE −2 · MEDIUM DARKNESS
AGE −3 · DEEP DARKNING
SLAVERY
AGE −4 · INCIPIENT SLAVERY
AGE −5 · CONSOLIDATED SLAVERY
AGE −6 · DEEP SLAVERY
REBELLION
AGE −7 · PASSIVE REBELLION
AGE −8 · ACTIVE REBELLION
AGE −9 · DIABOLIC REBELLION
OUTCOME
AGE −10 · SPIRITUAL DEATH
THE Heart of the Lord Jesus · MERCY
Spiritual Age -1 · Slight darkening
Moving Away from God → Darkening of the Soul → Spiritual Age -1
What happens in the soul?
The soul has not rejected God nor necessarily fallen into serious sins. Something much simpler and easier to go unnoticed begins: laziness and spiritual lukewarmness. Little by little the desire to meet the Good Lord weakens. Spiritual life begins to lose the place it once had and the person may become accustomed to this situation until they consider it normal.
How do you live?
Small oversights begin. It is more difficult to pray, fervor decreases and it becomes increasingly easier to distance ourselves from the Eucharist and the life of the Church. The person continues with the person’s or the person’s ordinary life and can continue to consider himself a believer. What the person previously looked for with interest begins to feel heavy; distractions increase and worldly interests take up more space.
The prayer
The prayer still exists, but it begins to feel heavy or mechanical. It becomes more difficult to spontaneously seek the Good Lord and the taste for His Word diminishes.
The great danger
The most dangerous thing is not yet the seriousness of the sins, but getting used to lukewarmness. As the inner light of living faith weakens, it also begins to lose clarity in distinguishing between truth and error.
Signs that may accompany this age
• Spiritual laziness or heartburn
• Lukewarmness and lack of fervor
• Decreased desire to pray
• Heavy or mechanical prayer
• Progressive loss of taste for the Word of God
• Distance from the Eucharist and the life of the Church
• Increased distractions and worldly interests
• Growing spiritual confusion
• Begin to consider one’s own warmth as normal
A phrase to remember
“Laziness and spiritual apathy gradually distance us from God.”
Where does it lead
If the soul do not recognize this warmth and continue to move away, the loss of inner light becomes greater and the Middle Darkening begins.
Spiritual Age -2 · Medium Darkening
Moving Away from God → Darkening of the Soul → Spiritual Age -2
What happens in the soul?
The darkening has advanced. What began as laziness, lukewarmness and neglect of the spiritual life now begins to influence the way of living. The person leads an increasingly worldly life and no longer feels great guilt when falling into venial sins. As the search for God weakens, the person begins to seek in immediate pleasure what The person previously found in a living relationship with Him.
How do you live?
Everyday life begins to revolve more and more around the satisfactions of the world. Amusement, comfort, desires and pleasures become more important, while the things of God become relegated. The person may still consider himself a believer, but the person’s faith has less and less influence on the person’s concrete decisions. Consciousness begins to lose sensitivity.
The prayer
The prayer continues to weaken. It can be maintained by habit, but it becomes tiresome, distracted or mechanical. The taste for the Word of God decreases and the heart begins to find greater attraction outside of God.
The great danger
The danger is in the progressive change of what the soul seeks to be happy. By losing the taste for the things of God, one begins to replace them with sensible or intellectual satisfactions that cannot fill the void.
Signs that may accompany this age
• Increasingly mundane life
• Less sensitivity to venial sin
• Search for immediate pleasure
• Increase in worldly interests
• Progressive loss of taste for the Word of God
• Decreased desire to pray
• Heavy or mechanical prayer
• Increasing distractions
• Spiritual confusion
• Weakening of the perception of God
A phrase to remember
“When we stop looking for happiness in God, we begin to look for it in the pleasures of the world.”
Where does it lead
If it continues, indifference towards God and sacred things increases and the deep Darkening begins.
Spiritual Age -3 · Deep darkening
Moving Away from God → Darkening of the Soul → Spiritual Age -3
What happens in the soul?
The initial lukewarmness and worldly life have deeply weakened the perception of God. The person begins to experience a growing indifference towards God and towards sacred things. the person may even mock or laugh at what the person previously respected. At the same time, it seeks to fill the inner void through ever greater pleasures and satisfactions.
How do you live?
The prayer
Prayer is deeply weakened. The spontaneous desire to meet the Good Lord has almost disappeared. Forgetfulness of divine experiences may appear: the soul no longer remember with the same vividness the moments of closeness, comfort or sweetness of God.
The great danger
The great danger is getting used to living without God. The person can fall into mortal sins and begin to get used to them as well; subtle demonic influences may appear.
Signs that may accompany this age
• Growing indifference towards God and sacred things
• Mocking about what previously inspired respect
• Increasing search for pleasures to fill the void
• Profound loss of taste for the Word of God
• Very marked decrease in the desire to pray
• Forgetting divine experiences
• Spiritual confusion
• Getting used to living without God
• Risk of becoming accustomed to mortal sin
• Possibility of subtle demonic influences
A phrase to remember
“When God stops filling the heart, we look in the world for something to fill its void.”
Where does it lead
If the descent continues, sin begins to acquire an increasing dominance over the will and one enters into the Enslavement of the Soul.
Spiritual Age -4 · Incipient slavery
Moving Away from God → Enslavement of the Soul → Spiritual Age -4
What happens in the soul?
Mortal sin begins to become frequent, but there is still some remorse. The person knows something is wrong and may want to change; however, what could have been an occasional fall before begins to repeat itself and gain dominance. The will begins to lose freedom from passions, habits or dependencies.
How do you live?
A double life frequently appears. Outwardly the appearance of a certain piety can be maintained while internally one lives in frequent mortal sin. Spiritual self-deception can arise and important areas of life and relationships begin to deteriorate.
The prayer
The prayer reflects the internal division. the soul may retain some religious practices, but the soul’s relationship with the Good Lord becomes less authentic. Prayer can become superficial or mechanical, and approaching God sincerely forces the soul to face what the soul still cannot abandon.
The great danger
The danger is self-deception. Since there is still remorse, the person looks for ways to live with the contradiction between what they know they should do and what they actually do.
Signs that may accompany this age
• Frequent mortal sin
• Still existence of remorse
• Weakening of the will
• Progressive loss of inner freedom
• Double life
• Outward appearance of a certain piety
• Self-deception and self-justification
• Superficial or mechanical prayer
• Loss of control in certain areas
• Deterioration of family and social relationships
A phrase to remember
“I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want.” — Romans 7:19
Where does it lead
If the soul continues to give in, the remorse begins to disappear and the bondage becomes consolidated.
Spiritual Age -5 · Consolidated slavery
Moving Away from God → Enslavement of the Soul → Spiritual Age -5
What happens in the soul?
Mortal sin becomes habitual and remorse ceases to exist. The repetition of sin has deeply weakened the conscience. The person no longer simply experiences a repeated fall: the person has begun to adapt the person’s life to that which enslaves the person.
How do you live?
Vices acquire an increasingly greater place. Decisions, relationships and desires can be organized around pleasure, power, pride or evasion. In extreme cases, other people may begin to be used as means to gain pleasure or power.
The prayer
There is an almost total abandonment of the sacraments and the life of the Church, accompanied by a clear aversion to the Eucharist. The prayer may be superficial or mechanical, or have been abandoned.
The great danger
In the previous age there was still remorse; here that internal signal has disappeared. The person can continue doing what destroys them without experiencing the same inner resistance.
Signs that may accompany this age
• Habitual mortal sin
• Absence of remorse
• Almost total abandonment of the sacraments
• Abandonment of the life of the Church
• Clear aversion to the Eucharist
• Serious vices such as lust, anger or greed
• Desires oriented to pleasure, power, pride or evasion
• Freedom conditioned by the dominant passion
• Superficial, mechanical or abandoned prayer
• In extreme cases, use of other people for pleasure or power
A phrase to remember
“When sin stops hurting, the chains become stronger.”
Where does it lead
If slavery continues to deepen, the passions can completely dominate the person.
Spiritual Age -6 · Deep slavery
What happens in the soul?
Slavery has reached its deepest degree. The person is totally dominated by the person’s passions. The loss of freedom has become extreme and the person has practically stopped fighting against that which enslaves the person.
How do you live?
The consequences no longer remain only internal. Destructive behaviors appear for the person themselves and for those around them. The sin that was previously repeated and then became habitual has ended up organizing a good part of existence.
The prayer
There is an abandonment of the Church and there is no longer the will to change. Prayer, when it still exists, can be superficial or mechanical, or completely abandoned.
The great danger
There is no longer a will to change. At this age demonic control intensifies, with possible spiritual infestation and, in some cases, intense spiritual oppression.
Signs that may accompany this age
• Total control of passions
• Destructive behaviors towards oneself and others
• Abandonment of the Church
• Lack of will to change
• Seriously conditioned inner freedom
• Superficial, mechanical or abandoned prayer
• Intensification of demonic control
• Possible spiritual infestation
• In some cases, intense spiritual oppression
A phrase to remember
“The soul no longer walks, it is dragged.”
Where does it lead
If the descent continues, the person will not only be dominated by the person’s chains: the person will begin to justify the person’s distancing from God and consciously resist Him.
Spiritual Age -7 · Passive rebellion
Moving Away from God → Rebellion of the Soul → Spiritual Age -7
What happens in the soul?
The person has seriously lost the person’s inner freedom and begins to experience a conscious rejection of God and that which reminds Him of His will. Internal hatred towards the Church and the truth, constant sarcasm and contempt for the sacred appear.
How do you live?
Rebellion can remain hidden under an external religious practice or manifest itself through reasoning that justifies separation from God. The person accepts from faith what coincides with the person’s way of living and rejects or relativizes what questions the person.
The prayer
Prayer can be abandoned or retained only to seek protection or some benefit. The soul no longer wants to place itself before the Good Lord to listen to His will and allow itself to be transformed.
The great danger
The truth, instead of being received as a help to return, can begin to feel like a threat. The person begins to internally defend the direction they have taken.
Signs that may accompany this age
• Inner hatred towards the Church and the truth
• Constant sarcasm
• Contempt for the sacred
• Great resistance to conversion
• Constant justification of one’s own behavior
• Selective or ideologized religious beliefs
• Possible external practice with internal indifference
• Abandonment of prayer or use for self-protection
• Conviction that the soul do not need to change
• Loss of inner freedom to choose the good
A phrase to remember
“The soul no longer just lives in chains: the soul begins to defend the soul’s chains.”
Where does it lead
If resistance continues, rebellion stops remaining primarily internal and can transform into active Rebellion.
Spiritual Age -8 · Active rebellion
Moving Away from God → Rebellion of the Soul → Spiritual Age -8
What happens in the soul?
Opposition to God no longer remains only within. The person begins to actively spread sin and lies. What the person previously needed to justify to herself now begins to present to others as acceptable, good or true.
How do you live?
The rebellion manifests itself openly. The person may try to convince others, promote that which distances the person or the person’s from God, or openly reject His law and fraternal correction. It can produce moral corruption, public scandal and destructive behavior towards others and oneself.
The prayer
Prayer is usually abandoned or can only be maintained in an interested manner, seeking self-protection or some benefit. The person no longer seeks to know the will of the Good Lord because the person actively defends a way of living contrary to it.
The great danger
Evil stops remaining locked in one’s own life and begins to reach others. The person not only justifies what the person or the person does, but can disseminate, defend or promote it.
Signs that may accompany this age
• Active propagation of sin
• Propagation of lies
• Open rejection of God’s law
• Rejection of fraternal correction
• Moral corruption
• Public scandal
• Destructive behavior towards others
• Self-destructive behaviors
• Deep resistance to conversion
• Prayer abandoned or used for self-protection
A phrase to remember
“It no longer just justifies evil: it begins to propagate it.”
Where does it lead
If it continues to deepen, rebellion can reach direct opposition against God.
Spiritual Age -9 · Diabolical rebellion
Moving Away from God → Rebellion of the Soul → Spiritual Age -9
What happens in the soul?
Rebellion has reached its deepest expression. The person no longer only rejects the will of God or promotes that which is contrary to it: His opposition begins to be directed directly against God. Spiritual darkness can reach such a depth that it hates any form of light and, in its extreme manifestation, even reaches the point of direct worship of evil.
How do you live?
The person can express open opposition to God, the Church, the truth and everything that represents the light that they have decided to reject. The resistance to turning to God becomes extreme.
The prayer
True prayer has practically disappeared. Within the Rebellion it may have been abandoned or used only for self-protection. The soul does not want to encounter the light that comes from God.
The great danger
This age represents the extreme of the Rebellion. The downward process has gone from neglect of God to direct opposition against Him.
Signs that may accompany this age
• Direct opposition against God
• Extreme rejection of truth and sacred things
• Hatred towards any form of light
• Extreme resistance to conversion
• Abandonment of true prayer
• In its extreme manifestation, direct worship of evil
A phrase to remember
“The person hates any form of light.”
Where does it lead
With this age the Rebellion of the Soul ends. If the Descending Path reaches its final consequence, spiritual Death is reached.
Spiritual Age -10 · Spiritual death
Moving Away from God → End of the descending path → Spiritual Age -10
What happens in the soul?
This is the last level of the descending spiritual path. The soul has become completely disconnected from the life of grace. The soul no longer perceives God, the soul does not seek Him or desire Him and The soul has lost the sense of His own spiritual condition. Even opposition can disappear: the soul is deeply anesthetized.
How do you live?
Outwardly the person can continue leading the person’s or the person’s ordinary life, but internally there is a deep emptiness marked by superficiality and insensitivity. It can manifest itself as cold death—total indifference—, proud death—absolute self-sufficiency—or comfortable death—morally dissolved life without consciousness of guilt.
The prayer
There is total abandonment of prayer. The soul no longer seeks God because it has stopped even feeling the need to seek Him.
The great danger
The deepest danger is not recognizing one’s own situation. The soul has lost the sense of its spiritual condition and may not experience any need for conversion. A loss of meaning in life may also appear.
Signs that may accompany this age
• Disconnection from the life of grace
• Loss of perception of God
• Absence of the desire to search for it
• Loss of sense of one’s own spiritual condition
• Deep spiritual anesthesia
• Absence of true remorse
• Total abandonment of prayer
• Interior void
• Superficiality and insensitivity
• Extreme relativization of morality
• Self-sufficiency or spiritual indifference
• Possible loss of meaning in life
A phrase to remember
“The soul no longer perceives God, the soul does not seek Him, The soul does not desire Him.”
Where does it lead
This is the outcome of the Descending Path. However, mercy has the last word.
THE Heart of the Lord Jesus
Mercy has the last word
We have reached the end of the descending spiritual path. The soul may have distanced itself to the point of ceasing to perceive God, to seek Him, and to desire Him. The soul may even have lost awareness of the soul’s own spiritual condition.
But here appears a truth that we must never forget: “The last word, always, always, is mercy.”
No matter how low the soul has fallen. the Good Lord comes to meet the soul with love and power. It does not even abandon the soul that has reached the state of spiritual Death.
When the soul is so hardened that it no longer hears a soft call, the Good Lord can allow events capable of breaking that indifference.
Painful light: through a revealing grace, the soul is able to see itself as it is. It may be painful, but precisely that light allows the soul to search for God again.
Saving humiliation: a borderline experience, even close to death, makes the person recognize their need for mercy again.
Crises, breaks, falls, voids and ruptures can then become instruments of mercy. Not because the Good Lord wants to destroy the soul, but because the soul wants to awaken it.
“Awake, you who sleep, rise from the dead and Christ will enlighten you.” — Ephesians 5:14
The distancing of man does not diminish the love of the Lord Jesus.
Among the promises traditionally associated with the revelations of the Sacred Heart to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque is: “Sinners will find in my Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.”
His love remains ready to rescue those dearly loved. That is why the Heart of the Lord Jesus is found precisely at the end of the Descending Path: to remember that no depth of human alienation is greater than the soul’s mercy.
“The last word, always, always, is mercy.”
The Heart of the Lord Jesus is not a Spiritual Age or a progressive state. It is the meeting point between the descent of man and the mercy of God.
The soul that had been sunken can be rescued. “Our Lord Jesus rescues the soul from everything that harms it, removing it from the waters of death.”
Moved again by grace, the soul can respond, turn towards God and begin the ascending spiritual path: the Purgative Way.
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