of S. Teresa of Jesus
of the Order of our Lady of Carmel
The Prologue
THE INTERIOR CASTLE
OR
THE MANSIONS
BY ST. TERESA
IHS
This treatise,
Styled, 'The Interior Castle',
was written by
Teresa of Jesus,
Nun of Our Lady of Carmel,
For her sisters and daughters,
the Discalced Carmelite Nuns.
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RARELY has obedience laid upon me
so difficult a task
as this of writing about prayer;
for one reason,
- because I do not feel
that God has given me
either the power
or the desire for it,
- besides which,
during the last three months
I have suffered from noises
and a great weakness in my head
that have made it painful for me
to write even on necessary business. [30]
However,
as I know the power obedience has
of making things easy
which seem impossible,
my will submits with a good grace,
although nature seems greatly distressed,
for God has not given me
such strength as to bear,
without repugnance,
the constant struggle against illness
while performing many different duties.
May He,
Who has helped me
in other more difficult matters,
aid me with His grace in this,
for I trust in His mercy.
____________
____________
I think I have but little to say
that has not already been put forth
in my other works
written under obedience;
in fact, I fear
this will be but repetition of them.
I am like a parrot which has learnt to talk;
only knowing what it
has been taught or
has heard,
it repeats the same thing
over and over again.
If God wishes me to write anything new,
He will
teach it me,
or
bring back to my memory
what I have said elsewhere.
I should be content even with this,
for as I am very forgetful,
I should be glad to be able to recall
some of the matters about which
people say I have spoken well,
lest they should be altogether lost.
If our Lord will not even grant me this,
still, if I
weary my brains and
increase my headache
by striving to obey,
I shall gain in merit,
though my words should be useless
to any one.
____________
So I begin this work
on the Feast of the Blessed Trinity
in the year 1577,
in the Convent of St. Joseph of Carmel
at Toledo,
where I am living,
and
I submit all my writings
to the judgment of those learned men
by whose commands I undertake them.
That it will be the fault
of ignorance,
not malice,
if I say anything contrary to the doctrine
of the Holy Roman Catholic Church,
may be held as certain.
By God's goodness
I am, and
always shall be,
faithful to the Church,
as I have been in the past.
May He be for ever blessed and glorified. Amen.
____________
____________
He
who bids me write this,
tells me that the nuns of these convents
of our Lady of Carmel
need some one to solve
their difficulties about prayer:
He thinks
- that women understand
one another's language best
and
- that my sisters' affection for me
would make them pay special attention
to my words,
therefore it is important for me
to explain the subject
clearly to them.
Thus I am writing
only to my sisters;
the idea
that any one else could benefit
that any one else could benefit
by what I say
would be absurd.
Our Lord will be doing me a great favour
if He enables me
to help but one of the nuns
to praise Him a little better;
His Majesty knows well
that I have no other aim.
If anything is to the point,
they will understand
- that it does not originate from me
and
- there is no reason to attribute it to me,
as with my scant understanding and skill
I could write nothing of the sort,
unless God, in His mercy,
enabled me to do so."
Foot Notes:
[30]
'I am always suffering from my head.'
Letter of June 28, 1577.
Letters. VOL. II.
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End of
The Prologue
of the
The Interior Castle
or
The Mansions
of S. Teresa of Jesus
of the Order of our Lady of Carmel
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