How can you tell whether you are actually growing in the spiritual life?

In this episode of The Devil Is in the Details, Dan and Jordan Burke continue their series through The Devil in the Castle, exploring the Third Mansion of St. Teresa of Avila’s Interior Castle and the signs that a soul is beginning to make real spiritual progress.

The Third Mansion marks a serious transition. Habitual mortal sin is being overcome, mental prayer has become more consistent, and love of God begins to reshape how a person speaks, dresses, works, manages responsibilities, and treats others.

But spiritual growth is also easy to misunderstand.

Dan and Jordan discuss why mystical experiences are not reliable evidence of holiness, how pride can distort our perception of where we are spiritually, and why love, humility, virtue, and fidelity are far better indicators of progress than visions, locutions, or extraordinary experiences.

They also examine the three traditional stages of the spiritual life: the purgative, illuminative, and unitive ways, and explain why understanding your general trajectory matters more than obsessing over exactly which mansion you occupy.

In this episode:

• Signs of progress in the Third Mansion
• What it means to overcome habitual mortal sin
• Why mental prayer is essential for spiritual growth
• How love changes speech, dress, work, and relationships
• Why sins of the tongue reveal spiritual immaturity
• The purgative, illuminative, and unitive ways
• Whether someone can be in two mansions at once
• Why mystical experiences do not prove holiness
• How the enemy can imitate spiritual experiences
• Why humility and love are the truest signs of progress
• The importance of confession, the Eucharist, and a rule of life

The spiritual life is usually not dramatic. It is built through ordinary fidelity: getting up, praying, fighting sin, receiving the sacraments, fulfilling your duties, and beginning again.