The Church Fathers describe spiritual growth in three stages: purification, illumination, and theosis. But these aren’t steps you climb like a ladder. They overlap, circle back, and continue throughout your life.
Think of purification (katharsis) as the beginning. You’re learning to let go of things that keep you from God. The passions, anger, lust, pride, anxiety, have less grip on you. This happens through the basic disciplines: coming to liturgy, fasting, praying, confessing. You’re detaching from what St. Paul calls “the flesh” and attaching to Christ. It’s hard work. Your body and habits resist. But you’re cooperating with grace to clean house.
Illumination (theoria) comes as you progress. Your spiritual eyes open. You start seeing things differently, not just knowing about God but perceiving His presence. Prayer becomes less about saying words and more about standing before Someone. The Jesus Prayer isn’t just a technique anymore. Scripture stops being a book you study and becomes a voice you recognize. This stage involves real repentance, the kind that changes you from the inside. Metropolitan Kallistos Ware calls this the opening of the “noetic eyes,” the faculty of the soul that perceives spiritual reality.
Theosis is the goal. Union with God. Becoming by grace what Christ is by nature. You’re not absorbed into God like a drop in the ocean, you remain yourself, but you’re so filled with His life that you reflect His glory. The saints show us what this looks like. St. Seraphim of Sarov radiated light. St. Silouan of Athos carried the love of Christ for every person. They didn’t stop being Seraphim or Silouan. They became fully themselves, fully human, because they were united to God.
Here’s what trips people up, especially if you’re coming from a Protestant background. We’re used to thinking salvation happens in a moment, you accept Jesus and you’re saved. Done. Orthodoxy says you were saved at baptism, you’re being saved now, and you’ll be saved at the resurrection. These three stages aren’t a program you complete. They’re a description of what happens as you’re being healed.
And they overlap constantly. You don’t finish purification and graduate to illumination. A saint still struggles with temptation. Someone new to the faith might have a moment of real illumination during their first Divine Liturgy. God isn’t bound by our categories. But the general pattern holds: you can’t skip the hard work of purification and jump straight to mystical union. The disciplines matter. Fasting trains your will. Confession breaks pride. Standing through Orthros when you’d rather be in bed teaches you that your comfort isn’t the center of the universe.
The sacraments carry you through all of it. Baptism and Chrismation start you on the path. The Eucharist sustains you. Confession heals you when you stumble. Marriage or monasticism give you a context for working out your salvation. You can’t do this alone in your head with a Bible and good intentions. You need the Church, the liturgical cycles, the fasting seasons, the feast days. They’re not extras. They’re how the Christian life actually works.
I think about the guys who work the refineries here in Beaumont, rotating shifts, trying to pray when they’re exhausted, fasting when the lunch truck shows up with barbecue. That’s purification. It’s not glamorous. But it’s real. And over years, not weeks, years, something shifts. Prayer becomes easier. The passions quiet down. You start to see God’s hand in your life, even in the hard parts. That’s illumination creeping in.
Don’t get anxious about which stage you’re in. That’s not the point. The point is to show up. Go to confession. Receive communion. Pray your morning prayers even when they feel dry. Fast on Wednesdays. Read a little Scripture. Ask the saints to pray for you. The stages take care of themselves. God knows where you are and what you need next.
If you want to read more about this, Fr. Thomas Hopko’s “The Orthodox Faith” series covers it well, and it’s available free on the Orthodox Church in America website. But honestly, the best way to learn about spiritual growth is to start growing. Talk to Fr. Michael about confession if you haven’t been yet. Come to vespers on Saturday evening. The life of the Church will teach you more than any article can.
