Jul 20 2008
Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange’s The Three Conversions of the Spiritual Life
The Three Conversions of the Spiritual Life is a short masterpiece. In about 100 pages, Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange outlines the traditional journey the soul makes as it advances toward God. These are sometimes called the “three ways” or the “three stages” of the spiritual life. They’ve been around at least since the time of Origen (the 250’s) and have been the hallmark of Catholic spirituality.
We may speak of the three ways as the way of purgation, the way of illumination, and the way of union.
Or we may speak of them in terms of the beginner, the proficient, or the perfect.
Or, as Garrigou-Lagrange does, we may speak of the first conversion, the second conversion, and the third conversion — i.e., the pivotal transformations of the soul one must undergo to advance in the spiritual life.
The first conversion is necessary to reach the stage of the beginner, or the way of purification. On the interior level, this is a conversion from a state of sin to a state of grace. On the exterior level, it is a response to Christ’s call to follow him. Simply, it means repenting of your sins and seeking to life a life worthy of God. Thus the beginner in the spiritual life sets out on the way of purgation; that is, the purification of one’s life from sin and the things that lead to sin.
But at some point, the soul must undergo a second conversion. Garrigou-Lagrange compares this second conversion to the trial the apostles underwent during our Lord’s crucifixion. They had become attached to the humanity of Jesus and, thus, still attached to the things of the world. Just as the crucifixion severed this attachment, this second conversion severs our attachment to worldly things.
How can one be too attached to the humanity of Christ? According to Garrigou-Lagrange, we are too attached to Christ’s humanity when we love God for what God gives us — for the spiritual pleasure we receive in prayer — more than we love God for God’s sake. We love being with Jesus in a superficial way, and the second conversion is the spiritual darkness and dryness we must experience in order to purge ourselves of this superficial and childish love.
If we successfully endure the second conversion, we enter the stage of the proficient. We have a new, deeper sense of Christ’s presence — just as the apostles had a new, deeper experience of the crucified and risen Lord. This way is marked out by a deep desire to grow in virtue and holiness.
Nevertheless, a third conversion is needed, for the soul, though advanced, is still attached to superficial things — not the superficial things of the world, but a kind of spiritual superficiality. These souls may desire to be saints — a noble desire, to be sure — but they also desire a kind of ecclesiastical glory.
The apostles also experienced this same kind of desire for spiritual superficiality. Before Christ ascended into heaven, they asked him if he was not going to restore the kingdom of Israel (Acts 1.6). They were still thinking in terms of earthly glory. Thus, they had to undergo a third conversion.
This third conversion is called the dark night of the soul. Whereas the dark night of the senses severed our attachment to worldly things, the dark night of the soul severs our attachment to spiritual things so that we can love God alone.
If we successfully pass through this third conversion, we enter what is called the way of unity — the stage of the perfect. All the great saints achieved this level of holiness and many, many unknown souls as well. At this level, one love God alone and desires only to do God’s will — regardless of personal cost.
Thus, a basic outline of The Three Conversions of the Spiritual Life. It’s a great book for someone who has a good grasp of the basics of the spiritual life (daily prayer, spiritual reading, mortification, and so forth) and wants to go deeper into their relationship with God.
