Carmelite Book Studies ~ The Interior Castle or The Mansions: Discussion: Mansion 4 - Ch 2 "The Interior Castle" or "The Mansions" - St. Teresa of Avila

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 4 - Chapter 2

Discussion of Mansion 4 Chapter II

▀ The Difference between

'Sensible Devotion'

and

'Divine Consolations'

■ Sensible Devotion,

■ Divine Consolations,

▀ "To learn how to obtain...this state of prayer"

■ How to prepare for and dispose oneself

to these graces:

• Humility

■ How to know if one possesses Humility

▀ But "make no efforts to acquire them"

■ Why one shouldn't try

to obtain Divine Consolation

▀ St. Teresa's Lack of Time for Writing

▀ The Difference between

'Sensible Devotion'

and

'Divine Consolations'

"Such is the difference

between the two kinds of prayer:"

■ Sensible Devotion,

• "...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"

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch. 2: #4 ]

• "occasionally connected with the passions"

Continuing from Mansion 4 Chapter 1,

"I think I said

that spiritual consolations

( 'sweetness in prayer' or

'sweetness in devotion')

are occasionally connected with the passions."

While discussing the involvement of the passions,
St. Teresa provided a more exaggerated example
of sensible devotion

than the joy, "tears and good desires...

partly caused by the natural disposition"

described in Mansion 4: Ch. 1: #6.

The foot note # 124 tells that she described,
"A clear description of an attack of hysteria...

(though) she herself had never experienced

anything of the kind":

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch. 2: #1

Foot Note # 124 ]

"These feelings of devotion produce

fits of sobbing;

...sometimes

- a compression of the chest,

and

- uncontrollable exterior motions,

violent enough to cause bleeding

at the nose

and

- other painful effects.

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch. 2: #2 ]

But even this, she says, can be beneficial

when it incites the love of God:

"but there appears some cause

for comfort in it,

because, as I said,

all ends in the desire

- to please God

and

- to enjoy His presence.

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch. 2: #2 ]

■ Divine Consolations

• "receive(d) from the source itself...God"

• peace, calm, and sweetness

"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;

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch. 2: #4 ]

"I...have termed elsewhere

the 'prayer of quiet,' "

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch. 2: #2 ]

• "arises from God

and

ends in ourselves"

"This joy is not...

at once felt by the heart;

after gradually filling it to the brim,

the delight overflows

throughout all the mansions and faculties,

until at last it reaches the body.

...the whole physical part of our nature,

shares in this delight and sweetness...

This joy does

not appear to me to originate

in the heart,

but

in some more interior part

and...

in the depths of our being.

I think this must be the centre of the soul,

as I have since learnt

and will explain later on."

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch. 2: #5 ]

• It is not merited or acquired

"It is not a thing we can fancy or gain

by anything we can do;

...it does not arise

from the base coin

of human nature,

but from the most pure gold

of Divine Wisdom.

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch. 2: #6 ]

• Faculties are absorbed in God

"I believe that in this case

(that) the powers of the soul

are not united to God,

but are absorbed and astounded

at the marvel before them.

Further on, she wrote:

"I believe that in this case

the will must in some way

be united with that of God.

• The Fruits of this Supernatural Prayer

is the Growth of the Virtues in the soul

◦ "The after effects on the soul,

and

the subsequent behaviour of the person,

show

whether this prayer was genuine or no:

this is the best crucible

by which to test it.

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch. 2: #6 ]

◦ "The heart is dilated."

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch. 2: #5 ]

"...the dilation begun by the celestial waters

in the depths of our being.

They appear to

- dilate and enlarge us internally,

and

- benefit us in an inexplicable manner"

"nor does even the soul itself

understand what it receives."

"...the soul does not feel

any real heat or scent,

but something far more subtle"

"the soul

is conscious of it and

feels it more distinctly

than can be expressed."

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch. 2: #6 ]

◦ "Graces received in this prayer"

"Our Lord bestows

- a signal grace on the soul

if it realizes how great is this favour,

and

- another greater still

if it does not turn back on the right road"

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch. 2: #7 ]

__________________________

▀ "To learn how to obtain... this state of prayer"

St. Teresa urges one to dispose oneself

for the receiving of this grace
through Humility, Love, and Detachment

along with prayer and good works

And she warns against

desire/attachment for spiritual rewards;

or an expectation/presumption of rewards

■ How to prepare for and dispose oneself

to these graces:

• Humility

"Practice...humility!"

"For God

- lets Himself be vanquished by this

and

- grants us all we ask."

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch. 2: #8 ]

"The whole foundation of prayer

must be laid in humility,

and...

the more a soul humbles itself in prayer,

the more God lifts it up."

[ Life: Ch. 22: # 16 ]

"Humility brought Him down from Heaven

into the Virgin's womb

and

with humility, we can draw Him

into our souls
[ Way of Perf : Ch. 16: # 2 ]

• Humility, Love, and Detachment

...

I cannot understand

how humility...can exist without love,

love without humility,

and

it is impossible for

these two virtues to exist

save where there is great detachment"

[ Way of Perf : Ch. 16: # 2 ]

If we

- are really humble

and

- annihilate ourselves,

not only in our imagination

(which often deceives us),

but if we truly detach ourselves

from all things,

our Lord will

not only grant us these favours

but many others

that we do not know even

how to desire.

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch. 2: #8 ]

■ How to know if one possesses Humility

"The first proof

that you possess humility

is that you

- neither think you now deserve

these graces and consolations from God,

- nor that you ever will as long as you live.

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch. 2: #8 ]

______________________

▀ But "make no efforts to acquire them"

"You are longing, my daughters,

to enter into this state of prayer at once,

and

you are right…

We should certainly desire

to learn how to obtain this favour.

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch. 2: #7 ]

But, "Such favours not to be sought after"

"You ask me:

'How shall we receive them,

if we do not try to gain them?'

I answer,

that there is no surer way

to obtain them

than the one I have told you, (Humility)

therefore make no efforts to acquire them"

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch. 2: #8 ]

_____________________

■ Why one shouldn't try

to obtain Divine Consolation:

"Make no efforts to acquire them,

for the following reasons:

• The first is,

that the chief means of obtaining them

is to love God without self-interest.

• The second,

that it is a slight lack of humility to think

that our wretched services can win

so great a reward.

• The third,

that the real preparation for them is

to desire

to suffer and imitate our Lord,

rather than

to receive consolations,

for indeed we have all offended Him.

St. Teresa gives an example:

"...some, who walk by the way of love

( and therefore only seek

to serve Jesus Christ crucified),

that not only they

neither ask for nor desire consolation,

but they even beg Him not to give it

(to) them during this life"

• The fourth reason is,

that His Majesty has not promised

to give us these favours

in the same way as

He has bound Himself

to bestow eternal glory on us

if we keep His commandments.

We can be saved

without these special graces;

◦ He sees better than we do

- what is best for us

and

- which of us love Him sincerely.

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch. 2: #8 ]

There are "certain cases

in which God bestows these graces

for no other reason than His own choice,

into which we have no right to enquire."

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch. 2: #7 ]

• Fifthly,

we should but labour in vain:

This water does not flow

through aqueducts,

like that we first spoke of,

and

if the spring does not afford it,

in vain shall we toil to obtain it.

I mean, that

though we

- may meditate

and

- try our hardest,

and

though we shed tears to gain it,

we cannot make this water flow.

God alone gives it

to whom He chooses,

and

often when the soul is least thinking of it.

We are His...

let Him

- do what He will with us,

and

- lead us where He will.

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch. 2: #8 ]

▀ St. Teresa's Lack of Time for Writing

While writing "The Interior Castle",

St. Teresa was extremely busy:

not only following the primitive (traditional) rule

which entailed daily activities

of prayer and service

but she had also returned

from the foundation at Toledo

to the Monastery of St. Joseph at Avila

to address administrative matters there.

She also suffered from illnesses during this time.

"1577 2nd June.

She begins to write 'The Interior Castle' "

"About the end of November

the book of 'The Interior Castle' is finished."

[ Foundations: Introduction

'Annals of the Saint's Life' ]

"July (1577)

Goes from Toledo to Avila to arrange

for the transference of St. Joseph's

from the jurisdiction of the Ordinary

to that of the Carmelite Order."

[ Complete Works St. Teresa of Avila

Volume 1: Life: Introduction:

'An outline of the Life of St. Teresa'

Transl by Edgar Allison Peers ]

St. Teresa tells us herself in this chapter

and in her other writings

that since her time is so limited,

- she must write in haste

whenever she finds a minute available.

- She has not time to reread

what she has already written

where she left off from the last pages.

"How I have wandered from my subject!

I forget what I was speaking about,

for my occupations and ill-health

often force me to cease writing

until some more suitable time.

The sense will be very disconnected;

◦ as my memory is extremely bad and

◦ I have no time to read over

what is written,

◦ even what I really understand

is expressed very vaguely..."

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch. 2: #1 ]

Regarding her earlier works, she wrote,

"I may possibly be contradicting

what I wrote elsewhere;

nor would this be surprising,

for it was done about fifteen years ago,

and

perhaps God has given me since then

a clearer insight into the matter.

....I speak of the matter as I understand it."

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch. 2: #6 ]

"when I explained the subject

(as far as I understood it) somewhat

about fourteen years ago.

I believe I now possess more light

about the favours God grants some souls"

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 4: Ch. 1: #1 ]

"1565 (December)

Greater part of the second and final version

of 'The Life' written.

Completes 'The Life'...

At about this time,

begins 'The Way of Perfection'.

[ The Life Of Teresa Of Jesus

Translated & Edited By E. Allison Peers

Introduction:

An Outline Of The Life Of St. Teresa ]

End of the Discussion

of Mansion 4 Chapter 2

The Interior Castle

The Mansions

of S. Teresa of Jesus

of the Order of our Lady of Carmel

St. Teresa of Avila

Carmelite Book Studies ~ The Interior Castle or The Mansions

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Discussion: Mansion 4 - Ch 2 "The Interior Castle" or "The Mansions" - St. Teresa of Avila - Teresa of Jesus