Purification is the word used in the world of spirituality to express the process by which an individual is cleansed and freed from impediments, (of the senses, the intellect and the spirit) which block the quest for the authentic existence and union with God.

As Christians we seek to draw closer to God, to in fact become one with God. Traditionally spiritual writers have described this as a three-stage event. Firstly, the purgative stage in which one is freed from attachment to worldly things; things that stimulate our senses or our sensual appetites are disciplined and mortified. The next stage, the illuminative way is characterised by a contemplation or knowledge of God. For a few this stage is succeeded by a third stage - the unitive stage which is the ecstatic union of the soul with God in the darkness of the unknowing in which the soul is radically transformed in God so that God alone shines in the soul.

Following this description, the Purification we are going to explore this afternoon is the first step on this three-phase operation.

Describing it like this makes it sound awfully scientific, logical and rational. It makes it appear like an instruction on the side of our souls, "Light blue taper and stand well clear" and the rest just happens. But of course it isn't. Just reading what the mystical saints, such as John of the Cross, Theresa of Avila, Julian of Norwich went through, we quickly realise that it is anything but simple follow the steps and things happen. In fact the steps might come in a different order or not come at all in spite of our ongoing struggle to get them started. This sometimes results in us, as individuals, deciding that God cannot be on our side, or that God is punishing us or that our faith is not strong enough.