Where are you on the journey of holiness?

Yes. The questions and categories are based on Dom Chautard's Soul of the Apostolateand Dan Burke's additions in Devil in the Castle, both of which are rooted in St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Ávila, and the Church's spiritual tradition. Helpful additions are pulled in from other contemporary authors.

If there were descriptors for every aspect at every stage, the logic would be simple. As one can notice, certain aspects cease to have descriptors in authoritative works — Mortal Sin, for instance, in the first few stages. Therefore, scoring weight evolves from earlier stages to later stages roughly in this order: Sacraments, Mortal Sin, Venial Sin, Imperfections.

To say it differently: your answers will skew low if you do not attend Mass willingly, no matter what the other aspects are; and conversely, your disposition toward imperfections unlocks the later stages. Prayer is purposely not weighted heavily, given the high chance of deception or misunderstanding due to poor formation or spiritual direction. Union is ultimately about a union of wills, and so sin and imperfections were chosen to govern survey scoring.

While the survey is self-reported, some minimal checks are implemented — namely flagging large inconsistencies within the Sacraments, Mortal Sin, Venial Sin, and Imperfections questions. Furthermore, you'll notice that certain categories or long-form versions of questions are only made available for a certain level of responses.

We encourage you to check out any of the books listed throughout the website. If you find yourself in Mansions 2 or prior, you may want to start with accessible works such as books by Fr. Jacques Philippe or Fr. Thomas Dubay.

We are too. That's why we carved out time from our day jobs to put this together after years of positive feedback and discernment. Please share it with your parish priest and your network.

Efforts were made to enlist every Catholic parish around the world where there is permission from the appropriate authority to offer Mass. (See also: Baltimore Catechism, Volume 3, Question 1004.) If yours is missing, type its name into the free-text box on the demographics page and we'll review additions.

In short, the contrary view is contradictory to St. Teresa's thoughts, and we would do well to align with a Doctor of the Church teaching in her own area. Consider these quotes:

“To see itself described brings it intense joy, and then it sees clearly the path it is walking on. It is a great good to know what one must do in order to advance in any of these stages.”

“It is most important that you should realize you are making progress.”

We encourage you to see Chapter 6 of Fire Within by Fr. Thomas Dubay for a fuller summary on the topic.

As summarized by Fr. Aumann (catholicculture.org):

1. Vocal Prayer — with attention to what one is saying or reading and to God, whom one is addressing.
2. Discursive Meditation — consideration of a spiritual truth, application to oneself, and resolve to do something about it.
3. Affective Mental Prayer— one turns to “other,” namely God, and prayer becomes “the language of love.”
4. Acquired Recollection — also called prayer of simplicity, prayer of simple regard, or acquired contemplation: the loving awareness of God.
5. Infused Recollection — the first degree of infused, mystical contemplation.
6. Prayer of Quiet — the will is totally captivated by divine love; sometimes all the faculties are likewise captivated (sleep or ecstasy).
7. Prayer of Simple Union — both the intellect and the will are absorbed in God.
8. Prayer of Ecstatic Union— the “mystical espousal” or “conforming union.”
9. Prayer of Transforming Union— also called the “mystical marriage,” the most intimate union of the soul with God that is possible in this life.