Note: The formation presented here is not to be understood in the conventional sense of an initial formation followed by a period of ongoing formation. It is something of a different order: a formation that follows and accompanies the journey of spiritual growth itself. Its stages are not determined by time or by institutional programme, but by the interior journey of the person — a journey which the Church’s greatest spiritual masters have mapped, and which the School of Mary seeks to make accessible to all the faithful.

A General Presentation of the Five Years of Spiritual Formation

Spiritual Formation occupies in the Church a place as essential as Catechesis — it comes after it, presupposes it, and deepens it. The early Fathers of the Church spoke of this as Mystagogy: the initiation into the living mysteries of the faith that follows the first reception of the Gospel.

The Church reminds us that, regardless of our state of life, at a certain moment Jesus calls each one of us. He enters our life with a new and deeper intensity and invites us to follow Him on a journey that leads to the fullness of love and to holiness itself.

To answer this call, the Church offers the immense treasury of her living Tradition of spiritual teaching. Yet a practical, clear, and fruitful Spiritual Formation is needed to help us respond well — to walk in tune with the Lord and the Holy Spirit until we reach the goal: union with Jesus and the fullness of love. Such formation is ordinarily given within religious orders, alongside Religious Formation. The School of Mary, however, intends to offer it to all Christians.

To this end, the School draws on what is most common and most essential in the Church’s tradition of spiritual formation, anchoring its teaching firmly in the Mass. In the Mass we receive the most powerful spiritual nourishment there is: the Word of Jesus and the Body and Blood of Jesus. Drawing from the greatest Catholic spiritual masters, the School seeks to offer a clear, uncluttered, and practical teaching — one that helps people in every state of life, in the midst of today’s demanding world. Students also learn, in a practical way, what God expects of us and how — as the Masters teach — to correspond with His grace.

When we hear the Lord’s call to follow Him, the School identifies five distinct stages of formation, each adapted to a specific phase of growth in the spiritual life. These five stages fall into two parts: the first three, and then the following two. The first three stages are of paramount importance: they are, so to speak, the gateway through which one must pass to reach the later stages.

I. Spiritual Formation

1. The Universal Call to Holiness

On 21 November 1964, the Second Vatican Council published one of its most significant documents: the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium. Chapter Five declared that all members of the Church are called to holiness, regardless of their state of life. In many respects, this constitutes the most powerful statement of the entire Council.

Before the Council, the Church had tended in practice to operate with two implicit ‘classes’ of the faithful: those who simply avoided mortal sin and made it to salvation (perhaps through Purgatory), and the ‘holy ones’ — priests, monks, and religious. Lumen Gentium firmly and definitively rejected this division.

It is important to recognise that a call, by its very nature, comes at a particular moment in one’s life — early on, in midlife, or even toward the very end. This gives each life a certain shape: there is a time before the call, and a time after it. But are we always in a position to hear Jesus calling us? Not necessarily. The life before the call becomes, in this light, a preparation for hearing it. Catechesis and a sincere commitment to the Christian life are among the most important conditions for opening the interior way so that the call may be received.

2. Answering the Call: Spiritual Formation

To answer Jesus’ call properly — to stand up and truly follow Him — requires a formation that must be received. We cannot improvise either our response or the formation itself. This is precisely where the two-thousand-year-old wisdom of the Church becomes indispensable. It cannot be stressed enough how important it is to benefit from this richness. It is what takes place when someone enters religious life: formation requires a setting in which doctrine, methods, practices, discernment, and accompaniment can all be offered and supervised.

3. Religious Formation and Spiritual Formation

When a person enters a monastery, they receive two distinct but related formations: formation in the religious life proper to that Order (its traditions, charism, and practices), and formation in the spiritual life. Both are required for any new religious congregation to be founded and approved by the Church. They demand, first, a Rule of Life — a manner of living together — and second, a proven doctrine capable of leading souls to perfection.

Note: The immense spiritual wealth of the Church has often remained hidden behind the closed doors of the novitiate. Once one understands this, the imperative becomes clear: that ‘secret room’ — the room of God’s secrets — must be opened to all the faithful who have not taken vows but who are equally called to holiness. It would be inconsistent to proclaim the universal call to holiness and yet withhold the very formation needed to respond to it.

4. The Work of the School of Mary

This work of spiritual formation began in 1995 — first with religious, seminarians, monks, and nuns, and from 1998 onwards with lay people as well. Formation has been offered in many countries: in the Middle East, France, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States, and in five languages. The School of Mary and its programme of formation were formally established from 2003 onwards.

The heart of the School’s formation is the Solid Foundations Course (SF 000). It is a long course — forty-eight hours of teaching — demanding but extraordinarily rewarding, and it has been offered every year without interruption. This course is the true gateway to spiritual life and spiritual formation. Beyond it, many further courses are available to deepen and develop what the Solid Foundations Course lays in place.

The formation offered corresponds to three important stages of spiritual growth that unfold after hearing Jesus’ call. Each stage has its own set of courses. The School’s website provides a rich range of resources: pre-recorded video courses, articles, books, tuition, and spiritual direction — all offered with respect for each person’s own rhythm and freedom.

II. The Contents of Formation

In shaping its syllabus, the School was guided by the following principles:

A solid common foundation, accessible to all — avoiding the cluttering of minds with non-essential elements and steering clear of divisions between the various schools of spirituality, while drawing freely from different Masters and Doctors of the Church.
A thoroughly practical teaching, aimed always at implementation.
A renewed and deepened understanding of the Scriptures.
A direct and personal approach to Christ.
A more accurate understanding of how the Holy Spirit works in the different essential forms of prayer.
Lectio Divina and the Prayer of the Heart. In seeking to offer the most essential and nourishing elements of the spiritual life, the School looked more deeply at the Mass — opening ways to receive the divine nourishment the Lord gives us there: His Word, and His Body and Blood. Hence the central importance of Lectio Divina and the Prayer of the Heart (Contemplative Prayer), which prolong the two liturgies of the Mass. In this way, the Mass itself has structured the teaching of the School of Mary.

Note: Spiritual Formation — such as that offered at the School of Mary — should not be confused with the Fourth Part of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (which treats of prayer in general). Adult formation in the faith is of great importance, and it opens the way for us to hear Jesus’ call. But Spiritual Formation goes infinitely deeper. It is situated, as it were, midway between the university classroom and the retreat chapel — or, if one prefers, the novitiate room of a monastery.

III. The Spiritual Journey

The School of Mary offers five ‘years’ of formation. The word ‘year’ here does not refer to an academic or calendar year; it is not a measure of time. It designates a stage of formation adapted to a specific phase of spiritual growth. The measure is not duration, but depth of growth — the stage of the journey at which a person finds themselves. One may spend many years in a single stage, or may advance more quickly. Much depends on generosity, courage, determination, perseverance, and resilience. Each stage (SF1, SF2 … SF5) addresses the needs and characteristics of one such phase of the journey.

The Church has always affirmed — and more explicitly since Vatican II — that the faithful are called to holiness by virtue of their Baptism. This awareness is well established in the pastoral life of the Church today. Yet there is far less practical guidance available regarding spiritual growth itself: its stages, how to discern them, and the means of moving from one to the next. Some hesitate to engage with this level of detail, fearing they might interfere with the Holy Spirit’s action, or become excessively self-focused. At the School of Mary, we prefer a balanced approach. God’s work in us carries an aspect of mystery that calls for faith and trust. But if God inspired the great masters to map the spiritual journey and offer guidance for each stage, He did so for a reason and for our good. Everything depends on how one uses this knowledge. The guidance of a wise, prudent, and knowledgeable spiritual director is, in any case, of great importance.

The Journey in Scripture

Mapping the stages of spiritual growth belongs to God’s own Revelation. He is the One who shows us that a journey of growth exists. From the narrative of Abraham’s call, through Joseph in Egypt, Moses in the desert, Joshua in the Promised Land, and Solomon building the Temple, we find a majestic and foundational revelation: there is a journey, a pedagogy, a growth, a transformation — and a clear goal: the dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem, God’s indwelling in the Holy of Holies, and the worship of God in His house.

We find the same truth in the Gospels. The Lord calls His disciples and invites them to follow Him on a transformative journey, one that passes through the deepest purification — His Passion and Death. His Resurrection, forty days of post-Resurrection teaching, the Ascension, and Pentecost mark further stages of their growth, transforming them into witnesses and heralds of the Gospel. In the Gospel of Mark, the Centurion’s confession of Christ’s divinity at the foot of the Cross stands as a defining milestone. In the Gospel of John, the journey is structured around seven signs — from the first miracle at Cana to the opening of Jesus’ side — forming a carefully constructed ladder of purification and transformation.

This journey of growth distinguishes us from the angels. They are purely spiritual beings; we have flesh and live in time. Our decision to belong to God is not a single act but a long succession of acts that leads to transformation. God creates us without asking our permission, but He will not save us without our cooperation. In this sense, through real and transformative growth — in time, in stages — we are, as it were, co-authors of our own sanctification.

Two Kinds of Time

Within the structure of Scripture, there are two kinds of time. The first is ordinary chronological time — the time of history, of events placed in specific moments. But if we examine the inner logic of the Bible, we discover another ‘time’: the time of transformation. Each unit within this inner time is a step forward in our transformation in Christ.

The Lord speaks to us through time and space, using narratives, parables, and symbols to point toward something else: His own way of measuring things — not by duration, but by degree of transformation. His time is Eternity; and our journey is to move from ordinary clock-time into His eternity through a transformative process of ever-deepening union with Him.

This does not mean abandoning our ordinary time. On the contrary — through the Incarnation, God’s wisdom uses our time to communicate His grace. Hence the absolute importance of the liturgical year, with its seasons, its great feasts, its holy weeks and sacred tides. Through these, we receive the entire mystery of Christ in successive ‘mouthfuls’ — ‘grace upon grace’ (Jn 1:16). The dimension of spiritual growth does not replace the liturgical year; it adds a new depth to it. We come to understand that our ordinary time is an open window through which grace constantly flows, engendering transformation and tracing a path from our present moment to God’s eternity.

As St. Thomas Aquinas famously said, eternal life begins here on earth through the reception of God’s grace. The grace of God produces in us a real transformation that increases God’s life within us. Day by day, Eternity gains a firmer foothold in our heart and soul.

This is the tradition to which the greatest masters of the spiritual life have dedicated their lives: St. Athanasius in his Life of St. Antony, St. Gregory of Nyssa in his Life of Moses, St. John Climacus in The Ladder of Divine Ascent, St. Bonaventure in The Soul’s Journey into God — and above all, St. Teresa of Ávila in The Interior Castle and St. John of the Cross in The Spiritual Canticle and The Living Flame of Love.

The Classical Schema and Its Development

From the early centuries, Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite became the principal authority on the stages of the spiritual journey. Drawing on the traditions of Greek philosophy and Jewish mysticism, and Christianising them, he articulated the classical tripartite schema: purification, illumination, and union. His authority went largely unchallenged through the Middle Ages, partly because he was believed to be a disciple of St. Paul. This schema reigned, with only minor challenges, until the middle of the twentieth century.

In the late 1960s, some authors — notably Karl Rahner — questioned this tripartite division. More recently, Fr Laurent Touze has offered a valuable survey of how contemporary scholarship approaches spiritual growth^[1]. After what might be called the ‘implosion’ of the 1960s, there are signs of a return to a more traditional understanding of the journey. In this writer’s view, the theological and scientific reasons for that implosion have not yet been fully assessed — nor have certain striking spiritual phenomena, such as St. Thérèse’s trial of faith and the interior journey of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, been adequately situated within the traditional schema.

IV. The Complete Journey

The diagram of the spiritual journey presented by the School integrates (see below), above all, the seven Mansions of St. Teresa of Ávila’s Interior Castle — indicated by Roman numerals I through VII — as the overall framework. Within each Mansion, further detail is provided from the teaching of St. John of the Cross and St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, and from Fr. Louis Guillet OCD.

Two areas received substantial development. The Sixth Mansions were divided into two moments: the dark night of the spirit (with its three phases, following St. John of the Cross) and the spiritual betrothal — a division proposed by Blessed Marie-Eugène OCD in I Am a Daughter of the Church. The Seventh Mansions underwent even greater elaboration, with many phases added within the state of Spiritual Marriage. This work draws on the writings of Fr Louis Guillet OCD (1902–1992) and on further research into St. John of the Cross.

The approach mirrors that of Bl. Marie-Eugène (who leans primarily on the Interior Castle) and of Fr. Louis Guillet (who leans primarily on St. John of the Cross): both bring together the combined teaching of the three Doctors of Carmel — St. Teresa of Ávila, St. John of the Cross, and St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus.

On the diagram, the Roman numerals indicate the Mansions; the subdivisions within each Mansion (a, b, c, d … and 1, 2, 3 …) reflect the teaching, stages, and nuances of St. John of the Cross and the contribution of St. Thérèse.

The Sixth Mansions

The Sixth Mansions are divided into two sections. Section ‘a’ covers the purification of the spirit — what St. John of the Cross calls the Dark Night of the spirit — which is itself divided into three phases (VIa1, VIa2, VIa3), following the analysis in Book II of the Dark Night. Section ‘b’ covers the spiritual betrothal.

Note: St. Teresa of Ávila does not use the language of the Dark Night of the Spirit. Only one chapter of her Sixth Mansions (chapter eleven) comes close to describing it. It is worth noting that St. Thérèse of Lisieux appears to have passed through this purification in the years preceding Christmas 1892 (1889–1892), as her letters to her sister Céline reveal — without her having read the Dark Night in its entirety. She drew instead on her devotion to the Holy Face and to the suffering Servant of Isaiah 53.

The Seventh Mansion

The four chapters in which St. Teresa describes the Seventh Mansion are a masterpiece of concentrated wisdom, rich with light and theological implication. They demand considerable unpacking to be properly understood. Within this Mansion, the diagram distinguishes the following stages:

VIIa1: The celebration of the Spiritual Marriage.
VIIa2: The deepening intensification of the transforming fire.
VIIb: A new phase within the Spiritual Marriage, in which the spirit — now transformed into fire — begins to emit flames. This state continues until death. In St. Thérèse, it is linked to her Act of Oblation to the Merciful Love of God.
VIIc1, c2, c3: Different forms of participation in the Passion of the Lord.
VIId1 and d2: The final hours of life — the holy agony and the entry into eternal life — moments that are precious and weighty in the eyes of God.

Changes and Turning Points

The diagram marks seventeen turning points (numbered 1 to 17), indicating major transitions in the process of spiritual growth. A natural question arises: when we speak of ‘changes’ and ‘turning points’, does this mean they are always perceptible? Perceived in the same way by everyone? Are they primarily for the spiritual director to discern, or for the person themselves?

These questions are fundamental and deserve a careful answer. If God inspired the authors of Scripture and the great spiritual masters to describe the journey of growth, it is because knowing about this journey is genuinely good for us. Knowing that faith is not static — that it begins as a tiny seed and is called to become a great tree — sets a clear goal before us, nourishes our act of Hope, and gives us energy, determination, and a sense of the meaning of our struggles and challenges.

At the same time, great prudence is required. The essence of God’s work takes place in our spirit — that is, largely beyond direct perception. The danger of projection is real: one can easily imagine having reached a certain stage simply because something one reads resonates with one’s own experience. But the stages of growth are like a spiral: we revisit similar points at ever-deeper levels, which means that surface resemblance is never sufficient evidence. True discernment grows through the practice of spiritual direction, where we learn to listen to God, to obey Him, and to see with new eyes.

An excessive preoccupation with where one stands on the journey of growth can become counterproductive. What is most fruitful is to attend to the guidance given for one’s stage and to put it faithfully into practice.

Note: Some transitions are clearly felt — for instance, the end of the deep purification. Strangely, the Spiritual Marriage often is not. The entry into participation in the Lord’s Passion, by contrast, is perceived. On the importance of approaching this knowledge with humility and wisdom, see especially the section ‘Mystery of Growth’ in Blessed Marie-Eugène OCD’s I Want to See God.

V. The Turning Points: A Commentary

The following notes offer a brief commentary on each of the seventeen turning points marked on the diagram.

Point 1 — Entry into Oneself

The Third Mansions represent a genuine Christian achievement. The person is seriously committed to the faith, living an ordered moral life, and aware of it. Yet — as St. Teresa puts it — love has not yet made this person ‘lose their reason’ for the Lord (in Spanish: sacar de razón). There are exceptions, as with St. Paul, where a sudden and powerful intervention of God precipitates what we call the second conversion.

Point 2 — The Second Conversion

This is the major turning point: hearing Jesus’ personal call and beginning to follow Him. St. Teresa of Ávila describes it at the opening of the Fourth Mansions as the entrance into ‘the supernatural.’ Elsewhere she speaks of it as the beginning of a new and direct mode of God’s action in the soul — the ‘Particular Help of the Grace of God.’ The entire journey that follows is lived under this form of grace. It will develop and deepen over time, moving from a human modality (Mansions IV–V) to a divine one (Mansions VI–VII). The transition from one to the other takes place through the deep purification (VIa1, 2, 3). In most cases, the second conversion is a gradual process rather than a sudden event — though exceptions exist, as when the Lord struck down Saul on the road to Damascus.

Point 3 — The Two States of the Fourth Mansions

Immediately after the second conversion, one often enters a state of great spiritual consolation, where signs and gifts can be abundant. Exceptions exist: one can begin in a more obscure state, as St. Teresa notes (Life, chapters 10–11). During this period, the person must practise choosing the Lord over earthly goods, learn to carry the cross, and establish an ordered prayer life.

If one gives oneself fully to the Lord, He gradually withdraws some of the consolations on which the beginner has been relying. This calls for solid teaching on the theological virtues and on how to live by faith through the rhythms of consolation and aridity. Point 3 marks the existence of these two states within the Fourth Mansions — one more exuberant, the other more settled and steady — without implying a rigid chronological division between them.

Points 4–5 — The Fifth Mansions

This sustained effort eventually bears fruit. The person reaches a new plateau, experiencing the first liberation from the dominion of the lower, sensual part of their being. This grace, received within the Fifth Mansions, marks a new and stable manner of living with God — robust, ordered, and genuinely holy in appearance. It is so convincing that the person may well believe they have reached their goal, and plan simply to continue as they are, faithfully serving the Lord until death.

Point 5 signals the grace that St. Teresa calls the ‘Union of Will’: the moment when charity in the person has attained a quality no longer dependent on sensible inclination or natural affinity, reaching a genuinely heroic level that propels the person powerfully forward on the journey.

Point 6 — Entry into the Dark Night of the Spirit

This is another major turning point. The person’s faithful and courageous commitment draws a new action of the Holy Spirit: entry into the deep purification that St. John of the Cross calls the Dark Night of the spirit (VIa1–VIa3). The Holy Spirit now works on the deepest roots of sin and the habits those sins have engraved in the soul. This is the purification par excellence — the solemn moment when the new man or woman is finally born. Following the analogy of the natural night, St. John of the Cross identifies three phases within this spiritual darkness. The deep purification extends from point 6 to point 9.

Point 9 — The Spiritual Betrothal

Point 9 marks the end of the deep purification and the beginning of the spiritual betrothal. In St. John of the Cross, it corresponds to Stanza 13 of the Spiritual Canticle: ‘Turn them away, O my Beloved!’ This phase (VIb) is developed extensively by St. Teresa of Ávila in her Sixth Mansions.

Point 10 — The Spiritual Marriage

Point 10 marks the grace of the Spiritual Marriage, corresponding to the Seventh Mansion and to the Spiritual Marriage described by St. John of the Cross in the Spiritual Canticle. From this point onward (10 to 17), we remain within the interior of the Seventh Mansion.

Note: The four chapters of the Seventh Mansion are so dense, so rich with light and implication, that despite all that the great Doctors have said, much still remains to be said. After the Spiritual Marriage, the Lord frequently teaches the soul about the mysteries of His Incarnation and Redemption.

Point 11 — The Honeymoon of Spiritual Marriage

From point 10 to point 11, the soul lives in the joy of the first union — something like a honeymoon. This period is described by St. John of the Cross in the Spiritual Canticle.

Point 12 — The Flares of the Holy Spirit

From point 11 to point 12, there is a growing intensification of the transforming fire and the power of its flame. Point 12 marks a new turning point — the moment at which we may place St. Thérèse’s Act of Oblation to the Merciful Love of God.

From point 12 until death, the Holy Spirit sends forth flares — flames from the spirit transformed in Him — toward the Father and toward all those the soul desires. This sparkling of love, so beautifully described by St. John of the Cross in theLiving Flame of Love, is the ‘pure act of love’ which, he says, has greater value before God than all other works in the Church (see Spiritual Canticle B, stanza 29, introduction). It is these acts of love that count supremely in God’s eyes and that send invisible but powerful ripples of grace throughout the world.

Points 13–15 — Participation in the Passion

From point 13 onward, the person begins to participate in the Passion of the Lord, taking an interior and mystical share in the redemption of their brothers and sisters. This is the great mystery to which St. Paul alludes in Colossians 1:24:

In my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church.

St. Thérèse describes this as being led by God into a mysterious ‘tunnel’ and being permitted to sit at table with sinners — just as Jesus sat at table with tax collectors and sinners (Mt 9:10). The participation takes successive forms: suffering of the body (13–14), suffering of the emotions (14–15), and suffering of the soul (15–16).

Point 16 — The Holy Agony

Point 16 marks the final hours of the person’s life: the holy agony (VIId1). Though brief in duration, the intensity of what is taking place — the meeting of suffering and love at their most acute — confers on these moments an extraordinary weight and value before God.

Point 17 — The Death of Love

Point 17 marks the holy death of the person — described by St. John of the Cross in the Living Flame of Love (VIId2). The death of one whom God loves is precious in His sight. St. Thérèse had read the Living Flame of Love and longed to die such a death. Her agony was not initially peaceful, but it ended in an ecstasy of love. The same final ecstasy is attested in the death of St. Teresa of Ávila.

VI. The Solid Foundations Course (SF 000)

The School of Mary considers the Solid Foundations Course (SF 000) the indispensable entrance gate to spiritual formation. It lays the foundations of a solid spiritual life, offering each student the essential elements needed for the journey ahead.

The course establishes a common ground and teaches what is necessary to begin a good spiritual life. It presents, first and foremost, the goals of the spiritual life — union with Jesus and the fullness of love — and the stages of growth by which they are reached. A transformative vision emerges from the very first lesson and shapes everything that follows.

The core of the course consists of two essential spiritual practices rooted in the Mass: Lectio Divina and the Prayer of the Heart (or Contemplative Prayer). Students are taught both forms of prayer, and deepening their practice becomes the primary challenge and goal of all that follows. These two forms of prayer enable us to properly receive and digest what the Lord gives us in the Mass — His Word and His Body and Blood — and to bear fruit from it.

Beyond these two central practices, the course addresses many other important dimensions of the spiritual life, including spiritual anthropology, the theological virtues, and the art of discernment.

VII. The Five Phases of Growth

Drawing on the description of the early stages of growth given by St. Teresa of Ávila and St. John of the Cross, the School identifies three important phases of growth following the second conversion. Each phase corresponds to a ‘year’ of formation (SF1, SF2, SF3). Growth, it must be emphasised, is not measured by time but by personal effort and divine grace — which is why ‘year’ is placed in quotation marks. Each ‘year’ has its own main course (SF100, SF200, SF300) and a range of supplementary courses to nourish and support that specific phase.

First Part: SF1, SF2, SF3 — The First Three Phases

Phase One: SF1

The first phase is the phase of new life — the implementation of new habits: a new daily schedule, the beginning of a regular prayer life, and a new attentiveness to fraternal charity. Students begin to practise Lectio Divina and the Prayer of the Heart on a daily basis, with the support of tuition and spiritual direction. Personal commitment and perseverance are of the essence. One aims toward a steady practice that, by God’s grace, leads to a steady growth.

In this phase, ‘consolations’ are often given — the ‘milk’ of which St. Paul speaks (1 Cor 3:1–3). Students learn how to understand and manage the challenges typical of this initial stage, including the need for regularity and serious commitment. This phase corresponds to the Fourth Mansions of St. Teresa of Ávila and to the active purification described by St. John of the Cross in Book I of the Ascent of Mount Carmel.

Phase Two: SF2

The second phase (SF2) covers the movement from the Fourth to the Fifth Mansions (diagram points 3 to 5). Provided the person perseveres with regular practice and fervour, this effort is normally crowned by the graces St. Teresa describes in the Fifth Mansions: liberation, a deep rootedness of the will in God’s will, which she calls the ‘Union of Will.’ St. John of the Cross describes this as the purification of the senses — a detachment from material and earthly things — granted in response to our faithful correspondence with God’s grace.

The main course of this phase is SF200: Ensuring Steady Growth, covering the Fourth and Fifth Mansions and complemented by study of St. John of the Cross’s Ascent Book I and Dark Night Book I.

At this stage, the person reaches a new plateau: a regular prayer life and genuine depth in spiritual living. It is easy at this point to think one has reached a final stage — that this solid, liberated life of faith is holiness. Unfortunately, it is not. A drastic change is about to occur.

Phase Three: SF3

After a time, the Lord tests the person with ‘mouthfuls’ of a new and deeper purification. If He finds the person able to bear them, He begins to act more deeply and powerfully: the Purification of the Spirit (diagram points 6 to 9). Until this point, the person has not realised that their holy way of life is still largely lived in a human mode. The new intervention of God in this phase has one great goal: the transition from a human modality to a divine one.

The main course for this phase is SF300, which provides the necessary teaching on this central transition — the crossing of the proficient into a mature spiritual life. The Letter to the Hebrews alludes to this when it says: ‘There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain’ (Heb 5:11–14). St. Paul speaks of milk giving way to ‘solid food’ (1 Cor 3:1–3). And the Lord Himself promises it: ‘I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth’ (Jn 16:12–13).

This third ‘year’ also introduces new depths: an exploration of the Gospel of St. John and new themes such as Contemplation.

Second Part: SF4 and SF5 — In Depth

Phase Four: SF4

SF4 addresses the Spiritual Betrothal, the Spiritual Marriage, the celebrations of the Spiritual Marriage, and the flares of the Holy Spirit — corresponding to diagram points 9 to 13.

Phase Five: SF5

SF5 addresses a new and final phase within the Spiritual Marriage: participation in the Passion of the Lord, and the spiritual fecundity of the soul at this stage — corresponding to diagram points 13 to 17.

VIII. After the Solid Foundations Course

The School of Mary regards the Solid Foundations Course (SF 000) as the true entrance gate to spiritual formation. After completing the course, the central question is: what now?

The majority of the teaching in SF000 is practical — it is meant to be put into practice so that divine life may take root and grow in the student. A genuine journey of growth depends entirely on the implementation of what has been learned. The following points indicate what this implementation looks like:

Making union with Christ the true object and driving force of one’s act of Hope — the primary goal of the entire spiritual life.
Putting into practice the teaching on Our Lady and her role in the spiritual life.
Deepening one’s understanding of spiritual anthropology — the mystery of Jesus as Temple, as the place where we pray to the Father in the Spirit — and entering more fully into what He accomplished on the Cross.
Beginning or deepening the practice of Lectio Divina, noting what distinguishes the School’s approach, and learning how the Fathers of the Church read the Scriptures ‘in the Spirit.’
Putting into practice the act of Faith: learning to open the inner eye to perceive the presence of Christ in daily life.
Attending to the variations in one’s sense of God’s presence — the rhythms of consolation and aridity — and persevering in faith through both.
Learning the art of spiritual warfare: understanding what God wants of us and how His grace is offered to us at each moment.
Learning to attend throughout the day to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
Learning to enter into Christ more deeply — into His inner life, His attitudes, His prayer.
Noticing how our acts — even hidden and apparently insignificant — have effects on our brothers and sisters.
Deepening one’s knowledge of the Holy Spirit as Master and Guide and learning to correspond with His promptings.
Deepening one’s understanding and contemplation of God’s love for us — returning constantly to this foundation: God the Father saying, ‘I love you with all my heart, with all my strength, with all my mind.’
Recognising that our desire to love and be loved is a powerful drive within us — and that Jesus, the true Bridegroom, is asking for this part of our heart, exclusively.
Beginning or deepening the practice of the Prayer of the Heart and reviewing it from time to time.
Seeking the accompaniment of a spiritual director — a monthly meeting is a reasonable rhythm.
Working with a wise spiritual director to bring order to one’s life, deepen the practice of Lectio Divina and the Prayer of the Heart, and revise one’s daily schedule.
Maintaining a habit of spiritual reading so as to strengthen one’s interior culture and resist the pressure of a world largely ignorant of the spiritual life.

The spiritual formator, seeking to convey the mind of the Church to the student, reasonably expects that after completing the Solid Foundations Course, the student will begin to implement these points. It must be noted, however, that some students may not yet have reached the second conversion, and would find all of the above overwhelming. Discernment is paramount: SF000 is directed at those who are spiritually ready — those who have reached, or crossed, the threshold of a desire for a personal relationship with Jesus in response to His call.

Step by step, implementing what has been learned, a steady growth can be expected. This is God’s earnest desire. Growth is not presumption, nor a sinful movement of pride. It is the right generosity of heart — the heart that aligns itself with God’s own ambitions for us. If He calls us, He calls us to union with Himself and to the fullness of love. He ardently desires to give us these gifts during our lifetime. It is not even enough simply to accept them; we must earnestly desire what God desires for us. It is sinful, says St. John of the Cross, not to want to reach this fullness. To refuse God’s Gift wounds Him deeply.

We will often experience our own weakness during this period — moments of going astray, failures of discernment, falls and returns. We resist temptations, doubts, and spiritual laziness. We are tempted to abandon Lectio Divina, or make it just a meditation, or to seek consolations during the Prayer of the Heart. We may not notice how Jesus is waiting for us in the small things — and here St. Thérèse of Lisieux is an incomparable guide. Our weakness can seem to have the upper hand, and we can feel as though everything depends on us.

In fact, the grace of God is offered to us, within reach at every moment — but we are not yet accustomed to drawing on it. This should not discourage us. We must arm ourselves with firm and renewed courage, with determination, with the spirit of the athlete who knows he will win — because it is Jesus who calls, and Jesus who gives the strength. Let us count on Our Lady’s presence and support. The spiritual life is her domain. She is in charge of it. Let us entrust ourselves to her and renew that act of entrustment each day.

IX. The School’s Fruits

1. New Teaching

It is a great challenge to offer the living teaching of the spiritual life — as it truly is — to everyone, lay and religious alike. Experience shows that the struggles are remarkably similar across both groups. Both have benefitted from the School’s clarity of teaching, as is evident when experienced nuns and lay people alike say: ‘I have never heard this before.’ Offering a course as long and demanding as the Solid Foundations Course is a challenge; and yet many have followed it and asked for more. This teaching is vitally needed.

2. Transformation and Thirst

What strikes observers most is the change that people experience in their lives. The teaching is practical — aimed at implementation, at ‘telling me what to do in order to grow spiritually.’ Seeing people’s lives change — the way they attend Mass, the way they pray, the way they understand their faith and Christianity itself — is the greatest sign and reward one can hope for. Meeting the Risen Lord on a daily basis, finding it ‘impossible’ to spend a day without listening to Him in Lectio Divina, is a commonly observed fruit. The exterior circumstances of life may not change, but the way those circumstances are perceived and lived is transformed entirely.

3. The Need for Serious Commitment

The Solid Foundations Course is demanding, and whoever undertakes it wholeheartedly sees the tangible fruits of this practical teaching of the Church. There is no shortcut. But the rewards are real, and lasting.

X. Transmitting Spiritual Formation

1. The Spiritual Formator

The question the School of Mary hears most insistently is this: what are we leaving to our children and grandchildren? This is, in the end, the most important question: the question of legacy. Books? Articles? Videos? Or living persons capable of transmitting the living tradition?

The School of Mary believes that Spiritual Formation is essential, that it is not a luxury, and that in order to transmit it effectively we need living persons — formed in the living spiritual tradition of the Church and capable of communicating it, in every part of the world.

The Spiritual Formator is the indispensable and irreplaceable agent of transmission.

Note: The Spiritual Formator is considerably more than a Spiritual Director. He or she covers a much wider spectrum of teaching and influence. The Formator teaches the spiritual life — what it is and how to practise it. The Spiritual Director, meanwhile, verifies how things are going and offers guidance. The Formator provides the foundation on which the Spiritual Director works. Spiritual direction is not mere private tuition.

2. A Formation Course for Formators

The School has already begun forming Spiritual Formators. Formation is currently being offered online, helping candidates learn how to teach the backbone of spiritual formation: the Solid Foundations Course (SF 000).

3. A True Vocation in the Church

We believe it is essential to leave formed Formators for future generations, and we regard the Spiritual Formator as a specific vocation in the Church — one that needs to develop and to be recognised. We cannot continue to leave the novitiate room with its treasures hidden behind closed doors. Spiritual Formation is for all Christians and must be available to all.

4. Residential Formation

We wish to inspire young adults (18 to 40 years old) to train as Spiritual Formators. We envisage a programme of full-time residential formation lasting a minimum of three years, offered in the same spirit as a seminary or religious novitiate: the young person is formed full-time and bears no financial burden, the formation being offered as a service of the Church.

5. A Service, Not a Religious Life

This formation does not imply a commitment to religious life. After three years, the formed Formator is free to work within their diocese, within any context where spiritual formation is needed, or to join the leadership team of the School of Mary. If this vision speaks to you, and if you feel called to support this work — whether by sponsoring a candidate or in any other way — we warmly invite you to make contact with us.

School of Mary — schoolofmary.org

^[1] Laurent Touze, ‘Come la ricerca contemporanea presenta la crescita spirituale’, in Mysterion, Anno 10, n. 2 [2017].

Read also

– A continuation of this article: The Aim in Spiritual Life: the Act of Charity

– “Spiritual Growth”, from “I Want to See God”, Bl. Marie-Eugene (especially “B. Mystery of Growth”) (It is a very important caveat)

– Regarding the Spiritual Journey see this book/articles: https://schoolofmary.org/the-spiritual-journey-in-11-diagrams/

– The Epiphany of the Church of the Desert

– The Prophetic Creed

– The Transfiguration of the Parish