The Interior Castle or The Mansions of S. Teresa of Jesus of the Order of our Lady of Carmel St. Teresa of Avila Discussion of Mansion 3 - Chapter 1 |
Discussion ▀ Souls in the Third Mansions. ■ Through God's graces and their own efforts (prayer and good works) they strive to dispose themselves to God's grace to make proprer use of God's grace. ▀ Dangers of Relapse ■ The Soul's Insecurity in this Life ■ Even some holy persons fell ■ St. Teresa's Advice ▪ Rely on God ▪ Not on one's own efforts ▪ Prayer ▪ Humility and Perseverence ▪ Desire to live for God despite insecurity ▀ Further Progress of these souls: Advancement to the Last Mansions: ■ Possibility of Advancement ■ What is needed ▪ Attachment to God; and Detachment from the world ▪ Words, Desire, Intentions are not enough ▪ "We must prove it by our works" ▪ Humility: Ever mindful of our worthessness; Not demanding rewards for our paltry efforts But striving to repay our debt to Him ▀ Dryness in Prayer caused by: ■ Lack of Detachment ■ Lack of Humility and Impatience for Consolations St. Teresa Advises ▪ Prayer ▪ Humility ▪ Trials: A way to be strengthened in virtue A way to Self-Knowedge ▪ Consolations are not a proof of holiness Lack of consolation is not a sign of the lack of spiritual progress. ▪ Other reasons for dryness in prayer ▀ Regarding her Writing of this Book |
▀ Souls in the Third Mansions. ■ Through God's graces and their own efforts (prayer and good works) they strive to - dispose themselves to God's grace - to make proper use of God's grace. " ...for this is the right disposition for receiving all His favours" [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #8] ▪ Through God's grace and mercy "God has shown them no small favour, but a very great one, in enabling them to pass through the first difficulties. [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #8] "...Those, who by the mercy of God, - vanquished in these combats and - persevered until they reached the third mansions..." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #1] "you see how important it is for them to conquer in their former struggles", [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #1] " this great blessing, ....after he has passed through the chief difficulties..." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #9] "When the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us. not because of any righteous deeds we had done, but because of His mercy." [ Titus 3:4 ] ▪ Good Disposition and efforts with God's help "unless they turn back in their course they are on the safe road to salvation..." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #1] "If they do not cease to continue as they have begun." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #2] ▫ "They are very desirous not to offend His Majesty even by venial sins" [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #8] "nothing would induce them to commit a sin (many of them would not even commit a venial sin advertently) " [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #10] ▫ They love penance and spend hours in meditation, [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #8] ▫ they employ their time well, exercise themselves in works of charity to their neighbours, are well-ordered in their conversation and dress, and those who own a household govern it well. [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #8] "...they employ their life and riches well." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #10] ■ "This is certainly to be desired" [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #8] ■ Many people are in the Third Mansions "There are many such people in the world" [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #8] "Yet of these, all do not progress beyond "An earthly king may have many subjects yet all do not enter his court." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #10] |
▀ Dangers of Relapse ■ The Soul's Insecurity in this Life "...must not lay aside their arms... lest the foe should enter the fortress by some breach in the walls." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #2] "haunted as we are by the dread of losing Thee for ever!" [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #2] "with such fears, what pleasure can she enjoy whose only pleasure is to please God?" [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #3] ■ Even some holy persons fell "Remember, many Saints have felt this as we do, and were even far more fervent, yet fell into grave sin, and we cannot be sure that God would stretch forth His hand to raise us from sin again to do such penance as they performed." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #3] "David was very holy…" [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #6] "you know what Solomon became." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #6] ■ St. Teresa's Advice ▪ Rely on God "...nothing to rely upon but His mercy; ...no other remedy but ▪ to flee to Him, and ▪ to confide in the merits of His Son and of His Virgin Mother... you have such a good Mother. Imitate her... what a blessing it is for you to have her for a Patroness... [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #5] ▪ Not on one's own efforts "...do not rely on your enclosure, on your penitential life, nor on your continual exercise of prayer and constant communion with God, nor trust in having left the world or in the idea that you hold its ways in horror. All this is good, but is not enough... [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #6] ▪ Prayer "therefore ▫ meditate on this text and ▫ often recall it: 'Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord.' [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #6] "Watch ye: and pray that ye enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." [Mt 26: 41 ] ▪ Humility and Perseverence "I must give you one warning: ◦ Be not too confident because you are nuns... [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #6] ◦ "but he that shall persevere unto the end, he shall be saved." [Mt 10: 22 ] ▪ Desire to live for God despite insecurity St. Teresa teaches the value of life of living for God among this "wretched existence": "What misery to live in this world!" "How canst Thou wish us to prize such a wretched existence?" "We could not desist from longing and begging Thee to take us from it, were it not for the hope of ▫ losing it for Thy sake or ▫ devoting it entirely to Thy service ▫ it is Thy will that we should live." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #2] |
▀ Further Progress of these souls Advancement to the Last Mansions: ■ Possibility of Advancement "there appears no reason to forbid their entrance to the last mansions; nor will our Lord deny it them if they desire it, for this is the right disposition for receiving all His favours." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #8] ▪ "unless they turn back in their course they are on the safe road to salvation…" [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #1] "If they do not cease to continue as they have begun." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #2] "If we continue in it and do not return, even in desire, to the company of the reptiles of the first rooms" [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #13] Yet "An earthly king may have many subjects yet all do not enter his court." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #10] ■ What is needed ▪ Attachment to God; and Detachment from the world "We must give all to God." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #13] "but there is need of more ... for the Lord to possess entire dominion over the soul. [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #9] "for He must proportion the reward to our love for Him." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #12] Like Sts. Peter and Andrew who dropped everything: "And he saith to them: 'Come ye after me, and I will make you to be fishers of men.' And they immediately leaving their nets, followed him." [Mt. 4: 19-20] "And Peter began to say unto him: 'Behold, we have left all things, and have followed thee.' " [ Mark 10: 28 ] "It seems to us we have done everything by - taking the religious habit of our own will, and - renouncing worldly things and all our possessions for God (...they seemed much to us, for they were our all). This is an excellent disposition: doubtless, by persevering in this poverty and detachment of soul, we shall obtain all for which we strive. [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #13] ▪ Words, desire, intentions are not enough "It is not enough to say so, any more than it was enough for the young man... for we are exactly like him... when our Lord told him what he must do if he desired to be perfect. [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #9] "This love...must not be the fabric of our imagination" [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #12] ▪ "We must prove it by our works" "Jesus saith to him: 'If thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come follow me.' " [ Matt. xix. 21] "If we turn our backs on Him and go away sorrowfully like the youth in the Gospel when He tells us what to do to be perfect, what can God do?" [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #12] ◦ To convert one's good intentions and resolutions into actions "Yet do not suppose that our Lord has need of any works of ours; He only expects us to manifest our goodwill." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #12] "Once, having a desire to render some service to our Lord, I considered that I could serve Him but poorly, and said to myself: 'Why, O Lord, dost Thou desire my works?' And He answered: 'To see thy good will, My child.' " [ Relations: Ch 9: #15 Life: Translated by D. Lewis ] ▪ Humility: Ever mindful of our worthessness; Not demanding rewards for our paltry efforts But striving to repay our debt to Him ◦ St. Teresa warns against - Tepidity and - thinking that by our efforts, we can deserve or merit reward "Let us consider what (we) do for God and we shall see at once what little right we have to murmur against His Majesty." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #12] "by persevering in this poverty and detachment of soul, we shall obtain all for which we strive. "But, mark this -- it must be on one condition -- ◦ that we realize we are only doing what we are supposed to do and nothing more "that we hold ourselves 'for unprofitable servants,' " [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #13] "when you shall have done all these things that are commanded you, say: 'We are unprofitable servants; we have (only) done that which we ought to do.' " [ St. Luke 17: 9 - 10 ] ◦ "that we do not consider that our Lord is bound to grant us any favours, [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #13] "And when evening was come, the lord of the vineyard saith... 'Call the labourers and pay them their hire, beginning from the last even to the first. 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 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... Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst thou not agree with me for a penny?... 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: 8 - 16 ] ◦ "but that, as we have received more from Him, we are the deeper in His debt." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #13] How little is all we can do for so generous a God, Who died for us, Who created us, Who gives us being, that we should not think ourselves happy to be able to acquit ourselves of part of the debt we owe Him... without asking Him for fresh mercies and favours? ...He did nothing else during the whole time He lived in this world but serve us. [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #14] |
▀ Dryness in Prayer caused by: ■ Lack of Detachment not allowing "the Lord to possess entire dominion over the soul" "This very frequently produces the great dryness we feel in prayer" [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #9] ■ Lack of Humility and Impatience for Consolations "They cannot, therefore, patiently endure to be excluded from the presence of our King, Whose vassals they consider themselves, as indeed they are. An earthly king may have many subjects yet all do not enter his court." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #10] "I am always tempted to think that persons who complain so much of aridities must be a little wanting in this virtue." (humility) [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #11] ► St. Teresa Advises: ▪ Prayer ◦ "Enter then...into your interior; ◦ Pass beyond the thought of your own petty works... ◦ Do not pursue so much as to catch nothing. [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #10] ▪ Humility "Do not ask for what you do not deserve, nor should we ever think, however much we may have done for God, that we merit the reward of the saints, for we have offended Him." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #11] "that you may reap humility from your dryness, instead of the disquietude the devil strives to cause by it." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #15] "I believe that where true humility exists, (even if ) God should never bestow consolations, yet He gives a peace and resignation which make the soul happier than are others with sensible devotion. [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #15] ▪ Trials: A way to be strengthened in virtue A way to Self-Knowedge "..the fortitude of Christians serving God in aridities" [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #15] "Do Thou, O Lord, Who knowest all truth, so prove us that we may know ourselves." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #15] ▪ Consolations are not a proof of holiness Lack of consolation is not a sign of the lack of spiritual progress: "These consolations... are often given by the Divine Majesty to the weakest souls who, I suppose, would not exchange them for the fortitude of Christians serving God in aridities: we love consolations better than the cross!" [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #15] "Be sure that, if you do what lies in your power and prepare yourself for high contemplation…, then, if He does not grant it you ( and I think He will not fail to do so if you have true detachment and humility), it will be - because He has laid up this joy for you so as to give it (to) you in Heaven, and - because... He is pleased to -- treat you like people who are strong and -- give you a cross to bear on earth like that which His Majesty Himself always bore. What better sign of friendship is there than for Him to give you what He gave Himself?... [ Way of Perfection: Ch. 17: See #6, 7, 8 ] ■ Other reasons for dryness in prayer "though sometimes it proceeds from other causes as well. ◦ "...certain interior sufferings which give intolerable pain to many devout souls through no fault of their own; From these trials, however, our Lord always delivers them with much profit to themselves..." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #9] "I am not speaking of severe interior sufferings, which are far worse than a want of devotion." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #11] ◦ "people who suffer from melancholy and other infirmities." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #9] |
▀ Regarding her Writing of this Book ▪ Humility "I see that I am explaining these matters to those capable of teaching me." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #4] ▪ Written under Obedience to her Superiors "What a hard task has obedience laid, upon me! ▪ Praying that with the help of God, her efforts (by this book) will benefit others "God grant that, as I do it for Him, it may be of some service to you" [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #4] ▪ Self-Knowledge (of faults) "It is impossible for me to write this without tears and great shame, [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #4] "that I know not how to write it, nor even how to go on living... when I reflect upon it after a life so badly spent as mine has been? [ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:Ch 1: #3] |
End of the Discussion of Mansion 3 Chapter 1 of The Interior Castle or The Mansions of S. Teresa of Jesus of the Order of our Lady of Carmel |
