The Interior Castle or The Mansions of S. Teresa of Jesus of the Order of our Lady of Carmel Discussion of Mansion 4 - Chapter 1 |
Discussion of Mansion 4 - Chapter 1 █ Summary Chapter 1 of Mansions 4 seems to be giving a general overview of the later mansions, which are "nearer the King's dwelling" rather than giving details concerning the Fourth Mansions, itself. The Editor, supplemented this preview of the farther mansions through foot note references to St. Teresa's other works. St. Teresa introduces the topics of: - supernatural prayer and consolation, - the faculties as powers of the soul ( Understanding, Imagination, and the Will ). - Distractions in prayer Characteristic of the first three mansions, is the experiencing of "sweetness in devotion" by those "who are nearly always using their understanding and reason in making meditations." (Paragraph # 7) Contrasted to this, is the "spiritual consolation" of the later mansions which, if God grants it, is received passively as a supernatural gift of God not aquired by the labor of the human faculties. ▀ The Mansions and their related references from St. Teresa's Autobiography, "The Life..." ▀ Who is led by God into the farther Mansions ▀ The Difference between sweetness in prayer and spiritual consolations. ▀ The difficulty in Communicating regarding Spiritual Consolations ▀ St. Teresa Recommendations for Prayer ■ Love "The good of the soul does not consist in its thinking much, but in its loving much." ■ Place oneself in the Presence of Christ His Sacred Humanity ■ Praise and Honor ■ Detachment from Spiritual Consolations ■ Solitude; Silence; Make room for the Lord ▀ Regarding Distractions ■ The Faculties ■ St. Teresa's Advice regarding Distractions ▪ Self Knowledge ▪ Errors in dealing with Distractions: ◦ Error: Thinking that distraction are always our fault and that our prayer time was wasted ◦ Error: Thinking that we can control distractions ▪ How to deal with Distractions ■ Physical Distractions experienced and described by St. Teresa _____________________ █ Addendum: ▀ The Faculties during "the Prayer of Quiet" ▀ Glossary ▀ Question to all Readers |
▀ The Mansions and their related references from St. Teresa's Autobiography, "The Life..." ■ The first three mansions of the Interior Castle correspond with the 'First Water,' or 'The Prayer of Meditation', explained in ch. xi-xiii. of the Life; ■ The Fourth Mansion, or 'The Prayer of Quiet', with the 'Second Water,' Life, ch. xiv. and xv.; ■ The Fifth Mansion, or 'The Prayer of Union', with the 'Third Water', Life, ch. xvi. and xvii.; ■ The Sixth Mansion, ecstasy, etc., with the 'Fourth Water,' Life, ch. xviii.-xxi. [ Interior Castle: Mansions 4: Ch, 1: Foot Note #113] |
▀ Who is led by God into the farther Mansions "Apparently a person must have dwelt for a long time in the former mansions before entering these; yet, as you must often have heard, there is no fixed rule, for God gives when (He wills), how (He wills), and to whom He wills The goods are His own, and His choice wrongs no one." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #3] Mt 20:15 "Or, is it not lawful for me to do what I will? is thy eye evil, because I am good?" "Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?" [ Mt 20:15 ] "there is no reason whatever, except His mere goodness, why God should grant us so great a grace" [ Life: Ch. 15: #11 ] ▪ In order that we may strive with God's help to dispose ourselves to such graces St. Teresa further teaches: "He gave this strength to the Magdalene in a moment." "He gives the same grace to others, according to the measure of their abandonment of themselves into the hands of His Majesty, that He may do with them as He will." [ Life: Ch. 22: # 23 ] " ... this King does not allow Himself to be taken except by one who surrenders wholly to Him. [ Way of Perfection: Ch. 16: #4 ] ".... except in the case of people to whom our Lord gives some special call, like St. Paul, whom He, at once, raised... God, as a rule... keeps these very sublime...consolations for those who have laboured greatly in His service. These souls have - longed for His love and - striven to please Him in every way, - have fatigued themselves by many years of meditation and search for their Bridegroom, and are thoroughly weary of the world." [Conceptions Of The Love Of God: Ch. 5: #3 - St. Teresa ] |
▀ The Difference between sweetness in prayer and spiritual consolations. ■ "Sweetness in devotion" is "what we acquire for ourselves in meditation and petitions to our Lord" [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #4 ] ▪ "they begin in ourselves and end in God." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #4 ] "the tears and good desires are often partly caused by the natural disposition, yet...these feelings terminate in God." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #6 ] ▪ One should strive to dispose oneself to these graces through prayer and good works "This sweetness ◦ arises principally from the good work we perform, and ◦ appears to result from our labours" "...produced by devotion spring from a more noble source" [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #4 ] "The water running through the aqueducts resembles sensible devotion, which is obtained by meditation. We gain it by our thoughts, by meditating on created things, and by the labour of our minds; in short, it is the result of our endeavours, and so makes the commotion I spoke of, while profiting the soul. [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch2: #4 ] ▪ Loving is more essential than thinking " Natural or acquired contemplation is based upon an idealistic turn of mind ◦ which enables the soul to gaze upon the Godhead (simple gaze, as St. Teresa calls it) ◦ without approaching Him by the laborious process of reasoning, and in so doing embraces Him with its affective powers; like a person who, devoid of technical skill, takes in and is enamoured by the beauty of a painting." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: Foot Note # 108 ] ▪ Received from God through His mercy "aided by the grace of God". "for we can do nothing without Him" [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #4 ] ▪ "It is natural" (not a supernatural gift) "I consider....those...joys... to be natural ones." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #4 ] "...comes from the sensitive disposition and ...is natural [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #5 ] ▪ "Does not dilate the heart" "The sensible devotion... does not dilate the heart, but generally appears to narrow it slightly; Although joyful at seeing herself work for God, yet such a person sheds tears of sorrow which seem partly produced by the passions." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #5 ] "Sensible devotion is very desirable if the soul is humble enough to understand that it is not more holy on account of these sentiments, which cannot always with certainty be ascribed to charity, and even then are still the gift of God." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #6 ] ▪ "These feelings of devotion are most common with souls in the first three mansions, who are nearly always using their understanding and reason in making meditations. This is good for them, for they have not been given grace for more" [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #7 ] ▪ Description of the "sweetness" ◦ "we feel happy at having thus spent our time." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #4 ] "joyful at seeing herself work for God" [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #5 ] ◦ "...Many temporal matters give us the same pleasure" The feeling is comparable to the pleasure of : "unexpectedly coming into a large fortune, suddenly meeting with a dearly-loved friend" [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #4 ] ◦ St. Teresa provides examples from her own experience: "My own experience of this delight and sweetness in meditation was that - when I began to weep over the Passion - when I grieved over my sins: this was a great grace from our Lord" [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #6 ] __________________ ■ Spiritual consolations, on the contrary, ▪ "arise from God... ▪ our nature feels them and rejoices...in them...far more keenly, than in ( the 'sweetness in prayer')" [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #4 ] "The other fountain, like divine consolations, receives the water from the source itself, which signifies God: [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch2: #4 ] "Infused contemplation is the highest act of the Gifts of the Holy Ghost of Knowledge and Wisdom. [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: Foot Note # 108 ] ▪ Description: ◦ peace, calm, and sweetness "as usual, when His Majesty wills to bestow on us any supernatural favours, we experience the greatest peace, calm, and sweetness in the inmost depths of our being; I know neither where nor how. [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch2: #4 ] ◦ God is leading the soul without the labor of its intellect "A ship moved by a gentle breeze is rightly said to be actually sailing though the rowers are at rest." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: Foot Note # 108 ] ▪ Dilates the heart 'Cum dilatasti cor meum' --When Thou didst dilate my heart: [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #5 ] These graces bring a growth in Love and all the virtues. ■ It is often impossible, nor is it always essential, to determine where acquired contemplation ends and infused contemplation begins. [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: Foot Note # 108 ] |
▀ The difficulty in Communicating regarding Spiritual Consolations - "for it is one grace that our Lord gives grace; and - it is another grace to understand -- what grace and -- what gift it is; and - it is another and further grace to have the power -- to describe and explain it to others. [Life: Ch. 17: #7 ] "God gave me to understand with all distinctness in a moment, and also enabled me to express myself, [ Life: Ch 12: #11 ] ■ The Difficulty to describe Consolations ▪ Difficulty to express in words "I believe I now possess more light about the favours God grants some souls, but that is different from being able to elucidate them. [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #1 ] How I wish I could elucidate this point! "yet I have not the skill to make myself understood" [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #5 ] ▪ She prays for the ability to express in words "May God give it me!' [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #5 ] "Now that I commence writing about the fourth mansions, it is requisite... - to commend myself to the Holy Ghost and - to beg Him henceforth to speak for me, that I may be enabled to treat these matters intelligibly. Henceforth they begin to be supernatural and it will be most difficult to speak clearly about them, unless His Majesty undertakes it for me" [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #1 ] ___________________________ ■ Difficulty to understand Consolations ▪ The difficulty to understand if one hasn't experienced Spiritual Consolations "the mind cannot give a lucid idea of them to those inexperienced in the matter. People who have enjoyed these favours, especially if it was to any great extent, will easily comprehend me." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #2 ] To those with much experience, this suffices to show the difference between sweetness in prayer and spiritual consolations; Other people will require more explanation." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #5 ] "But...if you have only a little experience of it you will understand it and be able to profit by it, and you will praise the Lord for being pleased to enable me to explain it. [ Way of Perfection: Ch31 : # 12 ] |
▀ St. Teresa Recommendations for prayer ■ Love "I only wish to warn you that to make rapid progress and to reach the mansions we wish to enter, ▪ it is not so essential to think much as to love much: therefore you must practise whatever most excites you to this. [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #7 ] ◦ Loving Meditation on Christ's life and work if one is able to meditate "I am not saying that it is not a grace from our Lord that a person should be always able to persevere in meditation on His works... It is right to make an effort to do so; ◦ but it must be understood ♦ that not every imagination is by nature able to do it, ♦ but every soul is able to love Him... ◦ Perfection lies in that (loving God) rather than in thinking ]. ♦ that the soul is not the power of thinking, and that the will is not ordered by it... ♦ the good of the soul does not consist in its thinking much, but in its loving much. And if you were to ask how is this love to be had, My answer is, - by a good resolution to do and suffer for God, and - by carrying out that resolution into action whenever the opportunity occurs. [Bk of Foundations: Ch. 5: #2 ] "- Let the will stir up some of those reasons, which proceed from reason itself, to quicken its love, such as the fact of its being in a better state, and - let it make certain acts of love, as what it will do for Him to whom it owes so much... without any noise of the understanding, in the search after profound reflections. A little straw...laid on with humility, will be more effectual here, and will help to kindle a fire more than many fagots of most learned reasons, which, in my opinion, will put it out in a moment. [ Life: Ch. 15: # 11 ] "...to be aware that we are so near Him… not, however, with noise of words, but with a heartfelt desire to be heard. This is a prayer that contains much, and by it more is obtained than by many reflections of the understanding" [ Life: Ch. 15: # 11 ] Perhaps we do not know what love is... ▪ Love does not consist in great sweetness of devotion, but - in a fervent determination to strive to please God in all things, - in avoiding, as far as possible, all that would offend Him, and - in praying for the increase of the glory and honour of His Son and for the growth of the Catholic Church. These are the signs of love" [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #7 ] ▪ "Make many acts of good resolutions to do much for God, and enkindle its love..and.. which may help the growth of virtues, [ Life, ch. xii ] ■ Place oneself in the Presence of Christ His sacred Humanity ▪ "The soul may also - place itself in the presence of Christ, - and accustom itself to many acts of love directed to His sacred Humanity, and - remain in His presence continually, and - speak to Him, - pray to Him in its necessities, and - complain to Him of its troubles; - be merry with Him in its joys, and - yet not forget Him because of its joys. All this it may do without set prayers, but rather with words befitting its desires and its needs." [ Life, ch. xii. 3 ] "This is an excellent way whereby to advance, and that very quickly. He that - will strive to have this precious companionship, and - will make much of it, and - will sincerely love our Lord, to whom we owe so much, is one...who has made some progress." [ Life, ch. xii. 4 ] "This practice of the presence of Christ - is profitable in all states of prayer, and - is a most safe way -- of advancing in the first state, and -- of attaining quickly to the second; -- and as for the last states, it secures us against those risks which the devil may occasion." [ Life, ch. xii. 4 ] ■ Praise and Honor ▪ "try occasionally to elicit some acts such as praising God, rejoicing in His goodness and that He is what He is ▪ let them desire that He may be honoured and glorified. They must do this as best they can, for it greatly inflames the will. ▪ Let them be very careful, when God gives these sentiments, not to set them aside in order to finish their accustomed meditation". [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #7 ] ■ Detachment from Spiritual consolations "And if the soul is - humble, - indifferent to and detached from, all joy, however spiritual, and - if it loves the cross, it will make no account of the sweetness which Satan sends. But it cannot so deal with that which comes from the Spirit of God; of that it will make much." [ Life, ch. xv, 16] Those who... "neither... rejoice nor... greatly afflicted, whether sweetness and tenderness fail it, or our Lord grants them, has already travelled a great part of the road... [Life: 11: #20 ] It is certain that the love of God does not consist in tears, nor in this sweetness and tenderness which we for the most part desire, and with which we console ourselves; but rather in serving Him in justice, fortitude, and humility. That (sweetness) seems to me to be a receiving rather than a giving of anything on our part." [Life: 11: #20 ] "There is therefore no reason why we should trouble ourselves because we have no sensible devotion... But let us rather give thanks to our Lord, Who allows us to have a desire to please Him, though our works be poor. [ Life, ch. xii. 4 ] "that which our Lord has not taught me, I seek not to know it, unless it be a matter that touches my conscience." [ Life: Ch 12: #11 ] "we can no more control this prayer than we can make the day break, or stop night from falling; it is supernatural and something we cannot acquire. ... but, being most unworthy and undeserving of it, can only receive it with thanksgiving. [ Way of Perfection: Ch. 31 : # 6,7 ] "It is best for a soul which God has not raised to a higher state than this not to try to rise of itself. Let this be well considered, because all the soul will gain in that way will be a loss. [ Life: Ch 12: # 2 ] ■ Solitude; Silence; Make room for the Lord "It is well to seek greater solitude so as to - make room for the Lord and - allow His Majesty to do His own work in us. [ Way of Perfection: Ch. 31 : # 6,7] |
▀ Regarding Distractions "troubled by this turmoil of thoughts" [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #8 ] ■ The Faculties St. Teresa teaches the importance of knowing: ▪ how the faculties function both autonomously and voluntarily during prayer time ▪ how distractions arise during prayer times "we suffer ...through our ignorance... on account of not understanding: ▪ our own nature and ...that we have within ourselves, an interior world... [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #9 ] "As a rule, all our anxieties and troubles come from misunderstanding our own nature." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #9 ] ▪ Thoughts or ...our imagination, are not the same thing as the understanding." ▲ "...The understanding is one of the powers of the soul, ....so sluggish at times, ▲ ...the imagination takes flight at once... ▲ The Memory "All this commotion takes place now, and - the understanding comes forward, and - the memory is restless, and certainly to me these powers bring much weariness at times; for, though my memory is not strong, I cannot control it." [ Life: Ch. 15: #9 ] ■ St. Teresa's Advice regarding Distractions ▪ Self Knowledge "His Majesty wishes us to learn by ordinary means to understand ourselves and to recognize the share taken in these troubles by - our wandering imagination, - our nature, and - the devil's temptations, instead of laying all the blame on our souls. [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #13 ] ▪ Consultation and Instruction needed "nor are we aware that there is anything for us to learn." "This causes the sufferings felt... particularly by the unlearned, who practise prayer. [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #9 ] "We do not understand that we should consult those better instructed than ourselves" [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #9 ] ▪ Errors in dealing with Distractions: ◦ Error: Thinking That distraction are always our fault and That our prayer time was wasted "We suffer ...through our ignorance... on account of not understanding and take what is not merely harmless, but good, for a grave fault" [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #9 ] "When (the thoughts or imagination) wanders - we at once imagine that all the powers of the soul follow it; - we think everything is lost, and that the time spent in God's presence is wasted. [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #9 ] ► St. Teresa's Reassurance: "Meanwhile, the soul is perhaps entirely united to Him in the innermost mansions, while the imagination is in the precincts of the castle, - struggling with a thousand wild and venomous creatures and - gaining merit by its warfare. Therefore we need not let ourselves be disturbed... [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #9 ] "...to all appearance the powers of the soul were occupied with God and recollected in Him, (while) the imagination was wandering elsewhere. [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #8 ] "They (distractions) do not destroy divine union." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #9 ]. ◦ Error: Thinking we shouldn't allow ourselves to be distracted "We err in thinking... that we must keep our thoughts fixed on Thee. [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #9 ] "Do not imagine that (Love) consists in never thinking of anything but God, and that if your thoughts wander a little all is lost. [117] [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #7 ] ◦ Error: Thinking we can control distractions "We cannot stop the revolution of the heavens as they rush...upon their course, neither can we control our imagination. [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #9 ] "For thoughts will come and go" wanders off after the most ridiculous things in the world [ Way of Perfection: Ch31 : # 12 ] "...the imagination...wandering elsewhere. [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #8 ] ► St. Teresa's Reassurance: "God alone can control it" In the later mansions, "God alone can control it by so uniting us to Himself [118] that we seem, in a manner, detached from our bodies. [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #8 ] Regarding the 4th mansions, 'The Prayer of Quiet', she wrote, "for it will often happen that the will is in union and at rest, while the understanding is in extreme disorder." [ Life: Ch. 15: # 10 ] ________________ ▀ St. Teresa's Recommendations regarding How to deal with Distractions: ■ If one is able to meditate - "persevere in meditation on His works... It is right to make an effort to do so" [Bk of Foundations: Ch. 5: #2 ] "using their understanding and reason in making meditations. This is good for them, for they have not been given grace for more" - "...Praising God, rejoicing in His goodness... They must do this as best they can, for it greatly inflames the will. [ Interior castle: Mansion 4: Ch. 1: #7 ] ■ If recollected and distractions come: ▪ Do not let distractions disturb you "We should not be distressed by reason of our thoughts, nor allow ourselves to be worried by them: If they come from the devil, he will let us alone if we take no notice of them; and if they are, as often happens, one of the many frailties entailed by Adam's sin, let us be patient and suffer them for the love of God." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #11 ]. "The thing is inevitable... do not let it disturb or grieve you, but let the mill clack on while we grind our wheat; that is, let us continue to work with our will and intellect." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #13 ]. ▪ Ignore Distraction; Don't force the attention When "the understanding (or...the thought) wanders off after the most ridiculous things in the world... - laugh at it and - treat it as the silly thing it is, and - remain in her state of quiet. For thoughts will come and go, but the will is mistress and all-powerful, and will recall them without your having to trouble about it. But if you try to drag the understanding back by force, you lose your power over it... neither will nor understanding will gain, but both will be losers…" [ Way of Perfection: Ch31 : # 12 ] ▪ Gently offer a single word of prayer "The most we should do is occasionally, and quite gently, to utter a single word, like a person giving a little puff to a candle, when he sees it has almost gone out, so as to make it burn again; Though, if it were fully alight... the only result of blowing it would be to put it out. I think the puff should be a gentle one because, if we begin to tax our brains by making up long speeches, the will may become active again." [ Way of Perfection: Ch. 31 : # 6,7 ] _________________________ ■ Physical Distractions experienced and described by St. Teresa "Noise" and "tumult" ♦ Location: "Upper part of my head: the superior part of the soul" "the superior part of the soul... resides in the upper part of the brain..." ◘ Head ▪ "loud noise in my head ◦ ... mentioned in the (Prologue) and ◦ made it almost impossible to obey the command...to write this." ◘ Brain ◦ ...sounds of rushing waterfalls within my brain" ◘ "in other parts" "while in other parts, drowned by the sound of the waters, are ◦ the voices of birds singing and whistling" "This tumult is not in my ears, but in the upper part of my head, where...is placed the superior part of the soul" "Please God I may recollect to explain the cause when writing of the latter mansions, this not being the proper place for it." ♦ "...this tumult in my brain does not interfere with my prayer, nor with my speaking to you, but the great calm and love and desires in my soul remain undisturbed and my mind is clear." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #10 ] But soon after, she says: "How, then, can the superior part of the soul remain undisturbed if it resides in the upper part of the brain? ... This noise disturbs my prayer when unaccompanied with ecstasy, but when it is ecstatic I do not feel any pain, however great. I should suffer keenly were I forced to cease praying on account of these infirmities." [ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch 1: #11 ] |
█ Addendum:
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End of the Discussion of Mansion 4 Chapter 1 of The Interior Castle or The Mansions of S. Teresa of Jesus of the Order of our Lady of Carmel |
