Some people have these experiences, others do not. Some Saints did not, and some had lots.
It really depends on the way that God wants to sanctify you.
But - it’s not good to seek any experiences. St Teresa of Avila warns us against this (she herself had many visions, etc, but never sought them and obeyed her spiritual director).
I think that you’re fully sanctified once your will is completely surrendered to God’s will. the Blessed Virgin Mary is a great example of this
she did not perform big public miracles and she lived a very simple life, yet she definitely did achieve holiness and was even without sin. We can follow in her example. Humility, prayer, love, obedience, purity
those are her great virtues. Then there are Saints, like St Therese, who lived very simple hidden lives and did only “little” things for God, but with great love… and they never had lots of really mystical experiences, but they didn’t have to go to Purgatory.
Just seek to love God with all your heart and do God’s will only. Rely on His grace and cooperate with it. Be devoted to Mary. Receive the Eucharist as much as you can and go to Confession. And you will grow. You might not feel anything. You might even be sent lots of crosses to carry. Jesus says, suffering is a sign that He is with us.
How will you know if you got there?
Well we can’t really rely on feelings… see the problem with using mystical experiences as the “measure” of holiness is that they actually don’t 'reflect holiness that much at all. St Bernadette saw the Virgin Mary. But she became a Saint simply because she was patient through suffering. See it works like that… and there are people who have lots of visions etc but they might even go to hell. It says in the Bible… there will be people who Jesus will say to, “depart from Me, I do not know you.” And they will say, why Lord, we prophesied in Your Name and cast out demons, etc… see all these things, they only exist for God’s glory. They don’t reflect our sanctification. Really what reflects it is LOVE and HUMILITY. Remember the parable of the sheep and the goats… how Jesus allows into Heaven those who helped the “least of these” out of love. And in Corinthians, the passage about only love being important. Focus on that
not on the externals.
But the question remains, how will you know…
and I don’t know if there’s an answer… see the Saints all considered themselves the greatest sinners. They didn’t FEEL holy. So you might not know until you get to Heaven. If you’ll become a saint on earth…if you’ll be fully sanctified…you might still think of yourself as a horrible sinner and weep for your sins. And …that is good. Humility is a great sign. DON’T try to examine yourself to see “where you are spiritually”. The only examination you need to do is the examination of conscience. If you can, get a spiritual director to help you along. But really just keep your eyes on God and try to live for Him and love Him with all your heart…make Him, and HIm only (not even holiness) your greatest treasure. Don’t worry if you don’t have any mystical experiences. If you ever do, thank God for them. If you don’t, thank God that He’s allowing you to learn blind faith. If He gives you consolation, thank Him for the encouragement. If He allows suffering and gives you crosses to carry, thank Him for that too.
thank Him for whichever way He leads you, whether it’s easy or hard, and ask one thing - to love Him. And don’t get discouraged if you don’t see yourself advancing as much as you’d like. Be humble and patient. Place God and others above yourself. Love your neighbour, forgive everyone who has hurt you.
hope that makes sense. That’s how I look at it and I don’t know if I’m right, but just think about it and see where God leads you.
Remember, holiness is seeking God’s will above your will in all things and dying to self. Being not of the world but of God.
God bless you.
