"The Interior Castle" or "The Mansions"
of S. Teresa of Jesus
of the Order of our Lady of Carmel
|
| THE FIRST MANSIONS
CHAPTER 1
This Chapter
- Treats Of The Beauty And Dignity
Of Our Souls
And
- Makes A Comparison To Explain This.
- The Advantage
Of Knowing And Understanding
- This And The Favours God Grants To Us
Is Shown,
And
- How Prayer Is
The Gate Of The Spiritual Castle.
|
| Chapter Contents
1. Plan of this book.
2. The Interior Castle.
3. Our curable self ignorance.
4. God dwells in the centre of the soul.
5. Why all souls do not
receive certain favours.
6. Reasons for speaking of these favours.
7. The entrance of the Castle.
8. Entering into oneself.
9. Prayer.
10. Those who dwell in the first mansion.
11. Entering.
12. Difficulties of the subject.
|
THE FIRST MANSIONS
CHAPTER I.
1. Plan of this book.
1.
WHILE I was begging our Lord today
to speak for me,
since I knew
not what to say
nor how to commence this work
which obedience has laid upon me,
an idea occurred to me
which I will explain, and
which will serve as a foundation
for that I am about to write.
2. The Interior Castle.
2.
I thought of the soul
as resembling a castle, [31]
- formed of
a single diamond
or
a very transparent crystal, [32]
and
- containing many rooms,
just as in heaven
there are many mansions. [33]
If we reflect, sisters,
we shall see
that the soul of the just man
is but a paradise,
in which, God tells us,
He takes His delight. [34]
What, do you imagine,
must that dwelling be
in which a King
so mighty,
so wise,
and
so pure,
containing in Himself all good,
can delight to rest?
Nothing can be compared
to the great beauty and capabilities
of a soul;
However keen our intellects may be,
they are as unable to comprehend them
as to comprehend God,
for, as He has told us,
He created us
in His own image and likeness. [35]
3. Our curable self ignorance.
3.
As this is so,
we need not tire ourselves
by trying to realize
all the beauty of this castle,
although, being His creature,
there is all the difference
between the soul and God
that there is
between the creature and the Creator;
the fact
that it is made in God's image
teaches us
how great are its dignity and loveliness.
It is no small misfortune and disgrace
that,
through our own fault,
we
neither understand our nature
nor our origin.
Would it not be gross ignorance,
my daughters,
if, when a man was questioned
about his name, or country, or parents,
he could not answer?
Stupid as this would be,
it is unspeakably more foolish
to care to learn nothing of our nature
except that we possess bodies,
and
only to realize vaguely
that we have souls,
because people say so
and it is a doctrine of faith.
Rarely do we reflect upon
- what gifts our souls may possess,
- Who dwells within them,
or
- how extremely precious they are.
Therefore we do little
to preserve their beauty;
all our care is concentrated
on our bodies,
which are but
the coarse setting of the diamond,
or
the outer walls of the castle. [36]
4. God dwells in the centre of the soul.
4.
Let us imagine,
as I said,
that there are many rooms in this castle,
of which
some are above,
some below,
others at the side;
In the centre,
in the very midst of them all,
is the principal chamber
in which God and the soul hold
their most secret intercourse. [37]
Think over this comparison very carefully;
God grant it may enlighten you
about the different kinds of graces
He is pleased to bestow upon the soul.
No one can know all about them,
much less a person so ignorant as I am.
The knowledge
that such things are possible
will console you greatly
should our Lord ever grant you
any of these favours;
People, themselves, deprived of them
can then at least praise Him
for His great goodness
in bestowing them on others.
The thought of
heaven and the happiness of the saints
does us no harm,
but cheers and urges us
to win this joy for ourselves,
Nor will it injure us to know
that during this exile
God can communicate Himself
to us loathsome worms;
It will rather make us love Him
for such immense goodness
and infinite mercy.
5. Why all souls do not
receive certain favours.
5.
I feel sure that vexation at thinking
that during our life on earth
God can bestow these graces
on the souls of others
shows a want of
- humility
and
- charity for one's neighbour,
for why should we not feel glad
at a brother's receiving divine favours
which do not deprive us of our own share?
Should we not
rather rejoice at His Majesty's
thus manifesting His greatness
wherever He chooses? [38]
Sometimes our Lord acts thus
solely for the sake of showing His power,
as He declared
when the Apostles questioned
whether the blind man
whom He cured
had been suffering for
his own or his parents' sins. [39]
God does not bestow these favours
on certain souls
because they are more holy
than others who do not receive them,
but
- to manifest His greatness,
as in the case
of St. Paul and St. Mary Magdalen,
and
- that we may glorify Him
in His creatures.
6. Reasons for speaking of these favours.
6.
People may say
such things appear impossible
and
it is best not to scandalize
the weak in faith
by speaking about them.
But it is better
that the latter should disbelieve us,
than that we should desist
from enlightening souls
which receive these graces,
that they
may rejoice
and
may endeavour to love God better
for His favours,
seeing He is so mighty and so great.
There is no danger here of shocking those
for whom I write
by treating of such matters,
for they know and believe
that God gives even greater proofs
of His love.
I am certain
that if any one of you
doubts the truth of this,
God will never allow her
to learn it by experience,
for He desires
that no limits should be set to His work:
therefore, never discredit them
because you are not
thus led yourselves.
7. The entrance of the Castle.
7.
Now let us
- return to our beautiful
and charming castle
and
- discover how to enter it.
This appears incongruous:
If this castle is the soul,
clearly no one can have to enter it,
for it is the person himself:
One might as well tell some one
to go into a room he is already in!
There are, however,
very different ways
of being in this castle;
Many souls live
in the courtyard of the building
where the sentinels stand,
neither caring to enter farther,
nor to know
who dwells
in that most delightful place,
what is in it
and
what rooms it contains.
8. Entering into oneself.
8.
Certain books on prayer
that you have read
advise the soul to enter into itself, [40]
and this is what I mean.
I was recently told
by a great theologian
that souls
without prayer
are like bodies,
palsied and lame,
having hands and feet they cannot use.
Just so,
there are souls
so infirm and
accustomed to think of nothing
but earthly matters,
that there seems no cure for them.
It appears impossible for them
to retire into their own hearts;
accustomed as they are to be
with the reptiles and other creatures
which live outside the castle,
they have come at last
to imitate their habits.
Though these souls are
by their nature
so richly endowed,
capable of communion
even with God Himself,
yet their case seems hopeless.
Unless they endeavour to
- understand
and
- remedy their most miserable plight,
their minds will become,
as it were,
bereft of movement,
just as Lot's wife became a pillar of salt
for looking backwards
in disobedience to God's command. [41]
9. Prayer.
9.
As far as I can understand,
the gate by which to enter this castle
is prayer and meditation.
I do not allude
more to mental
than to vocal prayer,
for if it is prayer at all,
the mind must take part in it.
If a person
neither considers
to Whom he is addressing himself,
what he asks,
nor
what he is
who ventures to speak to God,
although his lips may utter many words,
I do not call it prayer. [42]
Sometimes, indeed,
one may pray devoutly
without making all these considerations
through having practiced them
at other times.
The custom of speaking
to God Almighty
as freely as with a slave
--caring nothing
whether the words are suitable or not,
but simply saying the first thing
that comes to mind
from being learnt
by rote by frequent repetition--
cannot be called prayer:
God grant
that no Christian may address Him
in this manner.
I trust His Majesty will prevent any of you,
sisters, from doing so.
Our habit in this Order
of conversing about spiritual matters
is a good preservative
against such evil ways.
10. Those who dwell in the first mansion.
10.
Let us speak no more
of these crippled souls,
who are in
a most miserable and dangerous state,
unless our Lord bid them rise,
as He did the palsied man
who had waited more than thirty years
at the pool of Bethsaida. [43]
We will now think of the others
who at last
enter the precincts of the castle;
they are
still very worldly,
yet have some desire to do right,
and
at times, though rarely,
commend themselves to God's care.
They think about their souls
every now and then;
Although very busy,
they pray a few times a month,
with minds generally filled
with a thousand other matters,
for where their treasure is,
there is their heart also. [44]
Still, occasionally
they cast aside these cares;
It is a great boon for them
to realize to some extent
the state of their souls,
and
to see
that they will never reach the gate
by the road they are following.
11. Entering.
11.
At length they enter the first rooms
in the basement of the castle,
accompanied by numerous reptiles [45]
which
disturb their peace,
and
prevent their seeing the beauty
of the building;
still, it is a great gain
that these persons should have found
their way in at all.
12. Difficulties of the subject.
12.
You may think, my daughters,
that all this does not concern you,
because, by God's grace,
you are farther advanced;
Still, you must be patient with me,
for I can explain myself
on some spiritual matters
concerning prayer
in no other way.
May our Lord enable me
to speak to the point;
The subject is
most difficult to understand
without personal experience
of such graces.
Any one who has received them
will know
how impossible it is
to avoid touching on subjects
which, by the mercy of God,
will never apply to us.
____________________
| Foot Notes:
[31]
Way of Perfection, ch. xxviii, 9.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog addition:
"It is as if the soul ... sees
that worldly things
are nothing but toys;
so in due course
it rises above them,
like a person entering a strong castle,
in order that it may have nothing more
to fear from its enemies.
It withdraws the senses
from all outward things and
spurns them so completely
that,
without its understanding how...
the soul's spiritual sight becomes clear.
[ Way of Perfection, ch. xxviii ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
_________________________________
[32]
In her "Life",
St. Teresa likened God to a diamond
(ch. xl, 14);
and elsewhere (ch. xi, 10)
the soul to a garden
wherein our Lord takes His delight.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Let us suppose the Godhead to be
a most brilliant diamond...
and that all our actions are seen
in that diamond,
which is of such dimensions
as to include everything,
because nothing can be beyond it.
It was
a fearful thing for me...
a most piteous thing too..
to see such foul things as my sins
present in the pure brilliancy
of that light.
[Life: Ch 40: #14 ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
A beginner must look upon himself
as making a garden,
wherein our Lord may take His delight,
but in a soil
unfruitful, and abounding in weeds.
His Majesty roots up the weeds,
and has to plant good herbs.
Let us, then, take for granted
that this is already done
when a soul
is determined to give itself to prayer,
and
has begun the practice of it.
We have, then,
as good gardeners,
by the help of God,
to see that the plants grow,
to water them carefully,
that they may not die,
but produce blossoms...
refreshing to our Lord,
so that He may come often ...
and delight Himself in the midst
of these virtues.
[Life: Ch 11: #10 ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
_________________________________
[33]
St. John xiv. 2:
In domo Patris
mei mansiones multae sunt.'
St. John of the Cross
uses the same comparison:
"If the soul shall overcome the devil
in the first combat,
it shall then pass on to the second;
and if it shall be victorious there also,
it shall then pass on to the third;
and then through the seven mansions,
the seven degrees of love,
until the Bridegroom shall bring it
to the 'cellar of wine'
of perfect charity."
(Ascent of Mount Carmel,
bk. ii. ch. xi. 7.)
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
"in domo Patris mei mansiones multae sunt"
"In my Father’s house,
there are many mansions."
"...if the soul be faithful and humble,
the Lord will not cease
until He has raised it
from one step to another,
even to Divine union and transformation.
For Our Lord continues
to prove the soul and
to raise it ever higher,
so that He first gives it things
that are... exterior
and in the order of sense,
in conformity with the smallness
of its capacity;
...when it behaves as it should,
and receives these first morsels
with moderation...,
He may grant it further and better food.
If, then, the soul conquer the devil
upon the first step,
it will pass to the second;
and if upon the second likewise,
it will pass to the third;
and so onward,
through all seven mansions,
which are the seven steps of love,
until the Spouse shall bring it
to the cellar of wine
of His perfect charity.
[ Ascent of Mt Carmel
Bk 2: Ch. 11: #9
Translation - Peers ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
_________________________________
[34]
Prov. viii. 31:
'Deliciae meae esse
cum filiis hominum.'
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
('My delights were to be
with the children of men.' Proverbs 8:31).
"Before the earth was made...
I was with him forming all things:
and was delighted every day,
playing before him at all times;
"Playing in the world:
and
my delights were to be
with the children of men.
Now, therefore, ye children, hear me:
Blessed are they that keep my ways.
Hear instruction, and be wise,
and refuse it not.
Blessed is the man
that heareth me, and
that watcheth daily at my gates,
and waiteth at the posts of my doors.
He that shall find me,
shall find life, and
shall have salvation from the Lord.
[ Proverbs: 8:23, 8:30-35 ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
__________________________
[35]
Gen. i. 26:
'Faciamus hominem
ad imaginem et similitudinem nostram.'
_________________________
[36]
Way of Perf.
ch. xxviii.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
"And now let us imagine
that we have within us
a palace of priceless worth,
built entirely of gold and precious stones
a palace, in short,
fit for so great a Lord.
Imagine that it is partly your doing
...
for there is no building so beautiful
as a soul
that is pure and full of virtues,
and,
the greater these virtues are,
the more brilliantly do the stones shine.
Imagine
that within the palace
dwells this great King,
Who has vouchsafed
to become your Father
and
Who is seated
upon a throne of supreme price-
namely, your heart.
...that we actually have
something within us
incomparably more precious
than anything we see outside.
If we took care always to remember
what a Guest we have within us,
I think it would be impossible for us
to abandon ourselves to
vanities and things of the world,
for we should see
how worthless they are
by comparison with those
which we have within us.
[ Way of Perfection, ch. xxviii ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
_______________________
[37]
St. John of the Cross on the words
of his stanza:
In the inner cellar of my Beloved
have I drunk.'
Here the soul speaks
of that sovereign grace of God
in taking it into the house of His love,
which is the union or transformation
of love in God . . .
The cellar is the highest degree of love
to which the soul can attain in this life,
and is therefore said to be the inner.
It follows from this
that there are other cellars
not so interior;
that is, the degrees of love
by which souls reach to this, the last.
These cellars are seven in number,
and
the soul has entered them all
when it has in perfection
the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost,
so far as it is possible for it. . . .
Many souls reach and enter
the first cellar,
each according to the perfection
of its love,
but the last and inmost cellar
is entered by few in this world,
because therein is wrought
the perfect union with God,
the union of the spiritual marriage.'
A Spiritual Canticle,
stanza xxvi. 1-3.
Concept. ch. vi.
(Minor Works of St. Teresa.)
_________________________
[38]
St. Matt. xx. 15:
'Alit non licet mihi
quod volo, facere?
an oculus tuus nequam est,
quia ego bonus sum?'
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog addition:
'Or, is it not lawful for me
to do what I will?
Is thy eye evil,
because I am good?'
'When therefore they were come
that came about the eleventh hour,
they received every man a penny.
But when the first also came,
they thought
that they should receive more:
And they also received
every man a penny.
And receiving it they murmured
against the master of the house,
Saying:
These last have worked but one hour.
and thou hast made them equal to us,
that have borne the burden
of the day and the heats.
But he answering said to one of them:
Friend, I do thee no wrong:
didst thou not agree with me for a penny?
Take what is thine, and go thy way:
I will also give to this last
even as to thee.
Or, is it not lawful for me to do
what I will?
Is thy eye evil, because I am good?
So shall the last be first and the first last.
For many are called but few chosen.
[ Mt: 20: 9 - 16 ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
______________________
[39]
St. John ix. 2:
Quis peccavit, hic, aut parentes eius,
ut caecus nasceretur?'
_______________________
[40]
Imitation, bk. II. ch. 1:
Regnum Dei intra vos est.'
Luke. xvii. 21.
The Imitation is one of the books
which according to
St. Teresa's Constitutions, (# 7)
every prioress was bound to provide
for her convent.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
"And being asked by the Pharisees
when the kingdom of God should come,
he answering them and said:
'The kingdom of God cometh
not with observation.
Neither shall they say:
Behold here, or behold there.
For lo,
the kingdom of God is within you.' "
[ Luke: 17:20-21 ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
" 'THE kingdom of God is within you,'
says the Lord.
Turn, then, to God with all your heart.
Forsake this wretched world
and your soul shall find rest.
Learn
to despise external things,
to devote yourself to those
that are within,
and you will see the kingdom of God
come unto you,
that kingdom which is peace and joy
in the Holy Spirit,
gifts not given to the impious.
Christ will come to you
offering His consolation,
if you prepare a fit dwelling for Him
in your heart,
whose beauty and glory,
wherein He takes delight,
are all from within.
...
Therefore, faithful soul,
prepare your heart for this Bridegroom
that He may come and dwell within you;
He Himself says:
“If any one love Me,
he will keep My word,
and My Father will love him,
and We
will come to him,
and
will make Our abode with him.”
...
If you do not know
how to meditate on heavenly things,
direct your thoughts to Christ’s passion
and willingly behold His sacred wounds.
If you turn devoutly to the wounds
and precious stigmata of Christ,
you will find great comfort in suffering,
you will mind but little the scorn of men,
and
you will easily bear their slanderous talk.
[ Imitation, bk. II. ch. 1]
Source from CCEL
Christian Classics Ethereal Library
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/kempis/imitation.txt
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
"Let the mother prioress see
that they have good books —
- the Carthusian,
- Flos Sanctorum,
- Contempus Mundi
- the Oratory of Religious,
- Fray Luis of Granada, or
- Fray Peter of Alcantara;
for this nourishment
is in part as necessary for the soul
as food is for the body.
...
Contemptus Mundi is the titles
of the Imitation of Christ"
[The Book of the Foundations
of S. Teresa of Jesus
of the Order of our Lady of Carmel:
The Constitutions: #7 ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
_________________________________
[41]
Gen. xix. 26:
Respiciensque uxor eius post se,
versa est in statuam salis.'
__________________________
[42]
Way of Perf.
ch. xxi. 6; xxix. 4.
Blog Addition: (examples)
"I am not now discussing whether or no
everyone must practice
mental or vocal prayer;
but I do say that you yourselves
require both..."
[ Way of Perf: ch. 21i... ]
"I should like to be able to explain
the nature of this holy companionship
with our great Companion,
the Holiest of the holy,
in which there is nothing to hinder
the soul and her Spouse
from remaining alone together,
when the soul desires
to enter within herself,
to shut the door behind her
so as to keep out all that is worldly and
to dwell in that Paradise with her God
[Way of Perf. ch. 29...]
____________________________
[43]
St. John v. 5:
Erat autem quidam homo ibi triginta
et octo annos
habens in infirmitate sua.'
_________________________
[44]
St. Matt. vi. 21:
Ubi enim est thesaurus tuus ibi est
et cor tuum.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
"But lay up to yourselves treasures
in heaven:
where neither the rust
nor moth doth consume,
and where thieves do not
break through, nor steal.
For where thy treasure is,
there is thy heart also.
The light of thy body is thy eye.
If thy eye be single,
thy whole body shall be lightsome.
But if thy eye be evil,
thy whole body shall be darksome.
...
No man can serve two masters...
You cannot serve God and mammon.
Therefore I say to you,
be not solicitous for
your life,
what you shall eat, nor for your body,
what you shall put on.
Is not the life more than the meat:
and the body more than the raiment?
Behold the birds of the air,
for they neither sow, nor do they reap,
nor gather into barns:
and your heavenly Father feedeth them.
Are not you of much more value than they?
...
Consider the lilies of the field,
how they grow:
they labour not, neither do they spin.
But I say to you,
that not even Solomon in all his glory
was arrayed as one of these."
[ Mt: 6:19-29 ]
___________________________
[45]
Many an ancient castle was provided
with a bear-garden
where rare animals were kept
for the amusement of the inhabitants.
This may have supplied the material
for St. Teresa's comparison.
|
| End of
of Mansion 1 Chapter 1
The Interior Castle
or
The Mansions
of S. Teresa of Jesus
of the Order of our Lady of Carmel
|
