When a soul first starts its spiritual journey, it begins in the stage we call the beginner’s path—a place of sincere devotion, learning, and effort. But eventually, God invites the soul to go deeper. He begins to draw it out of the beginning stage and into the next: the stage of progress, where prayer becomes more contemplative, more about receiving than striving. The goal is to lead the soul toward a final state of perfection, where it lives in deep and constant union with God.

To understand the dark night—this strange and often painful season the soul must pass through—we first need to understand what beginners are like. Though we’ll move quickly, this will help beginners recognize their current spiritual condition, see their limitations with honesty, and begin to long for something deeper. And that longing, even if it feels like longing for darkness, will be the beginning of God’s real work in them.

A Soul in the Beginning Stage

At the beginning of its relationship with God, the soul often receives a lot of comfort and encouragement. It’s like a newborn being held by a tender mother—nurtured, carried, fed with sweetness. The soul is energized. It finds prayer exciting, fasting easy, and the sacraments full of joy. God gives these consolations freely, knowing the soul is too young to walk on its own. This is spiritual milk—designed to nourish, not to mature.

But, just like a child must eventually grow up, the soul also has to learn to walk. The sweetness disappears. The warmth fades. God begins to withdraw the sense of His nearness—not because He loves the soul less, but because He loves it more. He wants it to grow.

This shift is confusing at first. The soul may feel like it’s doing something wrong. But in reality, God is preparing it for something deeper than emotional highs. He’s calling the soul beyond feelings, into faith and virtue.

The Subtle Danger of Spiritual Comfort

Many beginners don’t realize that their spiritual activity—though passionate—is often driven by pleasure, not purity. They love prayer because it makes them feel good. They fast and serve and worship because it’s rewarding. But they haven’t yet been trained in real virtue—things like humility, patience, detachment, and love without strings.

So, though they look devout, their strength is shallow. Their devotion is often fragile. Their actions may be sincere but are still tangled up in hidden pride, spiritual vanity, and subtle forms of self-interest.

To show just how these imperfections work, and how deeply rooted they can be, the next chapters will walk through them using the framework of the seven deadly sins—showing how even spiritual people, when still in the beginning stage, can be entangled in hidden flaws they’re unaware of.

It is precisely these flaws that the dark night will begin to purify.