Where are you on the path: Illuminative Way → Full Enlightenment → Spiritual Age 18
What happens in the soul?
After having learned to monitor its inner movements and to discern more clearly the will of God, the soul begins to receive the first illuminations and supernatural graces in the spirit. These thanks are not the product of your effort. They are received. They can manifest as inner illuminations or as deep movements of love that the soul recognizes as something that has been given to it. Infused contemplation also begins with them.
The action of the Good Lord
the Good Lord’s initiative now becomes more evident. The soul had learned to seek it through prayer, meditation and discernment. Now the soul begins to experience moments in which it is God who acts directly in the soul, granting the soul’s graces that the soul cannot produce on the soul’s own. The Divine Work even mentions that a light can be felt above the head or in the heart during prayer, along with deep movements of love.
How do you live?
Daily life continues to acquire the luminous stability typical of this progressive state. Prudence, good judgment, inner silence and a peace that does not depend so much on circumstances are deepened. The person spontaneously seeks greater recollection and begins to feel attracted to a quieter and more orderly life. The person can remain silent for long periods of time without feeling uncomfortable and begins to progressively distance herself from agitation, crowds and unnecessary noise. In coexistence, however, the person does not become distant: the person can continue to be happy and simple, although those around the person’s can perceive a deeper look in the person.
The prayer
Here one of the most important changes of the Illuminative Way occurs: infused contemplation begins. Along with the forms of prayer that the soul has already learned, moments appear in which the Good Lord directly grants a light, a grace or a deep movement of love. Prayer becomes quieter and deeper, and the desire to meet Him grows even more. The soul begins to discover, through experience, that there are moments in which its task is not to produce something during prayer, but to receive what the Good Lord grants it.
Signs that may accompany this age
• First supernatural illuminations.
• Graces received in the spirit.
• Deep movements of love.
• Possible perception of a light above the head or in the heart during prayer.
• Beginning of infused contemplation.
• Quieter and deeper prayer.
• Greater withdrawal.
• Growing inner peace.
• More intense desire to meet the Good Lord.
A phrase to remember
“Thanks are not produced, they are received.”
Where does it lead
The first graces awaken in the soul an ever greater desire to remain with the Good Lord. Prayer then begins to extend beyond the moments expressly reserved for it. The Holy Spirit begins to move the soul towards prayer throughout the day, even using different forms of prayer. Age 19 — Spirit of prayer →