ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the main features of the classical understanding of the Christian mystical path and considers the various stages and phases of an individual’s growth towards union with God. It explores the work of relatively recent writers who have studied the tradition and who present it, with fidelity and insight, in terms accessible to contemporary readers. The structure of the mystical path is drawn mainly from the work of Evelyn Underhill, who offers a reframing of the traditional “Triple Way” of purgation, illumination, and union; however, her approach to each stage is closely critiqued and complemented through exploring the work of Ruth Burrows, Thomas Merton, and Constance Fitzgerald.
