States of prayer (Christianity)

Marie of the Incarnation, in her account of the states of prayer, describes three intellectual visions of the Trinity and concludes with a description of the permanent state of union which she experienced.[First Vision]

affecting the understanding: Light and insight way beyond the powers of expression flood intelligence. The soul is seen as created in the image of God. Memory relates it to the eternal Father; understanding relates it to the Son; and will relates it to the Holy Spirit. Just as the Trinity is threefold in person but one in essence, so the soul is threefold in its powers but one in substance.

[Second Vision]

affecting the will: Engulfed in the presence of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and acknowledging the lowliness of the soul, there is awareness of Christ as true spouse of the faithful soul. The soul experiences the presence of this Being which has taken possession of her in spiritual marriage, inflaming her and consuming her with fire in so agreeable and pleasant a manner it is impossible to describe. In this spiritual marriage the soul changes state, no longer tending towards and expecting a grace seen from afar, but actually experiencing possession of Him whom she loves and therefore having no more desires.

[Third Vision]

: Loving Christ, the soul becomes the abode of the three Divine Persons of the Trinity, They possess the soul entirely. Possessed by them, she also possesses them. The Father becomes her father, the Word her spouse; and the Holy Spirit is the one by whom the divine impressions are received. Even though the self is seen as nothingness, nevertheless it belongs entirely to God.

[Union]

: The Word Incarnate is love itself, united to the spirit, the spirit united to His. Intimately united in Him, the soul is also united with the Father and the Holy Spirit. This is no imaginative image but a real experience, with constant communication in delicate, simple and deep manner. Communication in the language of the spirit is through His impulse. Rather than an action it is an atmosphere in the centre of the soul, impossible to describe in its simplicity. Sometimes there is an experience of being totally consumed by love which, if its splendour were not immediately tempered by a second impression, would be too great to bear in this present life. The second impression refers to the Word as Divine Spouse. The effect of this state are an annihilation, a knowledge of one's nothingness to keep one humble, a fear without anxiety of being deceived in the ways of the spirit (useful for abnegation and the spirit of compunction), and patience with one's crosses and inclination towards peace and benignity with everyone from one's whole soul. Sufferings are accepted in a spirit of love for and union with the Word. The state brings love for the vocation to which God calls the soul, love for everything practised in the Church of God, and an urge to allow one's self to be guided by those holding the place of God and submitting one's judgement to them.