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 1 - Chapter 2 |
Discussion ▀ The Travesty of Mortal sin ■ The soul feels separated from God ■ Loss of merit of the soul's works ▪ The Need for prayers for ourselves and others ▀ Regarding the writing of this Book on Prayer ▀ The Castle ■ Central Throne surrounded by layers of rooms ■ The Soul should progress through the rooms ■ Self - knowledge through Humility ▪ Self-knowledge ▪ Humility ■ False Humility and "warped Self-knowledge" ▀ The First Mansion ■ The inhabitants of the 1st mansions ▀ Advice for entry into the 2nd Mansions ■ Dangers of relapse or of even just remaining in the 1st Mansions ■ Good Intentions But deceived by devil ▪ Temptation against Obedience ▪ Temptations against Charity |
▀ The Travesty of Mortal sin
Before St. Teresa continues
to describe the rooms or Mansions,
she first wants to warn
regarding the travesty of mortal sin.
It will prevent the soul's progress to the center.
■ The soul feels separated from God
Although God resides
"in the centre of the soul..in splendor and beauty",
in a soul which is in the state of mortal sin,
the light "is totally eclipsed".
"No night can be so dark,
no gloom nor blackness can compare
to its obscurity."
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #1 ]
The soul, separated from Him,
is no longer pleasing in His eyes"
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #2 ]
St. Teresa says
that the center of the soul
where God resides
"cannot be deprived of their lustre"
or "lose their splendour and beauty"
but
"The soul is like a crystal in the sunshine
over which a thick black cloth
has been thrown,
so that however brightly the sun may shine
the crystal can never reflect it.
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #3 ]
■ Loss of merit of the soul's works
"None of its good works merit
an eternal reward,
since they do not proceed from God
as their first principle,
and
by Him alone
is our virtue real virtue."
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #2 ]
"it would produce
neither leaves nor fruit...
...the soul by sinning
withdraws from this stream of life,
and...
can produce nothing
but disgusting and unwholesome fruit."
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #3 ]
"In short,
as the soil
in which the tree is now planted
is in the devil's domain,
how can its fruit be anything but evil?
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #4 ]
▪ The Need for prayers
for ourselves and for others
for ourselves and for others
"...therefore I beg you, my daughters,
to pray fervently to God for sinners,
who
live in blindness
and
do deeds of darkness."
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #2 ]
"If you realize your pitiable condition,
how can you refrain
from trying to remove the darkness
from the crystal of your souls?"
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #3 ]
Mortal son "is what we must
dread
and
pray God to deliver us from,
for we are weakness itself,
and
unless He guards the city,
in vain shall we labour to defend it."
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #5 ]
▪ Her vision taught 2 truths:
St. Teresa had learnt two things
from the vision granted her.
The first was, a great fear of offending God;
"Seeing how terrible were the consequences,
she constantly begged Him
to preserve her from falling into sin.
Secondly, it was a mirror
to teach her humility,
for she saw
that nothing good in us
springs from ourselves...
She realized this so vividly
that on seeing any good deed performed
by herself or
by other people,
she at once turned to God
as to its fountain head
--without whose help,
she knew well we can do nothing--
and broke out into songs of praise to Him.
Generally
she forgot all about herself
and
only thought of God
when she did any meritorious action.
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #5 ]
___________________
▀ A soul in the state of grace
"Its works are pleasing
both to God and man...
for the waters of grace
nourish it,
keep it from withering from drought,
and
cause it to bring forth good fruit.
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #3 ]
__________________
▀ Regarding the writing of this Book on Prayer
St. Teresa discusses
"how beneficial prayer is for our souls"
"our Constitutions oblige us to pray
so many hours a day,
yet tell us
- nothing of what part
we ourselves can take in it
and
- very little of the work
God does in the soul by its means.
( See Footnote #52 of the text's
Mansion 1: Ch. 2 ]
"It will be helpful...
to consider this heavenly edifice within us,
so little understood by men,
near as they often come to it.
Our Lord gave me grace
to understand something
of such matters
when I wrote on them before,
yet I think I have more light now,
especially on the more difficult questions.
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #7 ]
__________________
▀ The Castle
■ Central Throne
surrounded by layers of rooms
"...castle with its many mansions.
You must not think of a suite of rooms
placed in succession,
but fix your eyes on the keep,
the court inhabited by the King.
Like the kernel of the palmito,
from which several rinds
must be removed
before coming to the eatable part,
this principal chamber is surrounded
by many others."
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #8 ]
"...you must not imagine
there are only a few,
but a number of rooms,
for souls enter them
by many different ways,
and
always with a good intention".
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #13 ]
■ The Soul should progress
through the rooms
through the rooms
"Let us rather try to learn
How to advance quickly."
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #10 ]
.
"A soul which gives itself to prayer,
(is permitted by God)
to wander at will
through the rooms of the castle,
from the lowest to the highest.
Let it not force itself
to remain for very long
in the same mansion,
even that of self-knowledge."
"...the first room
where self-knowledge is acquired".
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #9 ]
"Self-knowledge is of such consequence
that I would not have you careless of it,
(but) nothing is more needful than humility.
though you may be lifted
to heaven in prayer,
because while on earth
nothing is more needful than humility.
...the best of all ways,
is to endeavour
to enter first by the room
where humility is practised,
which is far better
than at once rushing on to the others.
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #10 ]
■ Self - knowledge through Humility
"I believe we shall never learn
to know ourselves
except
▪ by endeavouring
to know God,
for, beholding His greatness
we are struck by our own baseness,
His purity shows our foulness,
and
▪ by meditating on His humility
we find how very far we are
from being humble.
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #10 ]
"...our Understanding and Will become
more noble and capable of good
in every way
when we turn
from ourselves
to God:
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #11 ]
"...we should fix our eyes
on Christ, our only Good,
and
on His saints;
there we shall learn true humility,
and
our minds will be ennobled,
so that self-knowledge
will not make us base and cowardly.
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #12 ]
▪ Self-knowledge
"Self-knowledge is indispensable,
even for those
whom God takes to dwell
in the same mansion with Himself.
Nothing else, however elevated,
perfects the soul"
(But)
"Although it is a great grace from God
to practise self-examination,
yet 'too much is as bad as too little' "
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #9 ]
"it is very injurious
never to raise our minds
above the mire of our own faults.
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #11 ]
▪ Humility
"the soul...must never seek to forget
its own nothingness.
Let humility be always at work,
the soul should sometimes
◦ cease thinking of itself
◦ to rise in meditation
on the grandeur and majesty of its God."
Through Humility:
"It will learn its own baseness
better thus
than by self-contemplation"
It will be freer from the reptiles
which enter the first room
where self-knowledge is acquired."
"...By God's help, we shall advance
more by contemplating
the Divinity
than by keeping our eyes fixed
on ourselves,
poor creatures of earth that we are."
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #9 ]
"This is the right road"
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #10 ]
■ False Humility and "warped Self-knowledge"
"while we are continually absorbed
in contemplating the weakness
of our earthly nature,
( we won't be able to )
flow free from the mire
of timid, weak, and cowardly thoughts"
such as...
- If I follow this course,
will harm come to me?
- Dare I begin this work?
- Would it not be presumptuous?
- Is it right for any one
as faulty as myself..."
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #11 ]
"What loss the devil must have caused
to many a soul
by such thoughts as these!"
"It thinks such ideas...
arise from humility.
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #12 ]
"always with a good intention."
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #13 ]
This comes from
not understanding our own nature;
Self-knowledge becomes so warped
that, unless we take our thoughts
off ourselves..
these and many worse fears
should threaten us. "
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #12 ]
____________________
▀ The First Mansion
"Although only the first,
this mansion contains
great riches and such treasures
that if the soul
only manages to elude
the reptiles dwelling here,
it cannot fail to advance farther.
Terrible are the wiles and stratagems,
the devil uses to hinder people
from
realizing their weakness
and
detecting his snares.
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #12 ]
"in these first mansions...
The devil is so angry...
that he keeps legions of evil spirits
hidden in each room
to stop the progress of Christians,
whom, being ignorant of this,
he entraps in a thousand ways."
"The devil entraps beginners"
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #13 ]
"...the light
which comes from the King's palace
hardly shines at all
in these first mansions;
(Not that) "this is the fault
of the mansions themselves,
but
that the number of snakes, vipers...
from outside the castle
prevent souls entering them
from seeing the light.
...Though the room itself is light,
he cannot see
because of his self-imposed impediment.
...these fierce and wild beasts blind the eyes
of the beginner,
so that he sees nothing but them.
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #15 ]
■ The inhabitants of the 1st mansions
"beginners
◦ still absorbed in the world,
◦ immersed in its pleasures,
and
◦ eager for its honours and distinctions.
As...the senses and powers,
bestowed on them by God,
are weak,
such people are easily vanquished,
although desirous not to offend God."
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #13 ]
◦ "though not in a state of mortal sin,
◦ is so worldly and preoccupied
with earthly riches, honours, and affairs..
◦ prevented by these distractions...
even if it sincerely wishes to
enter into itself
and
enjoy the beauties of the castle,
◦ seems unable to overcome
so many obstacles.
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #16 ]
__________________
▀ Advice for entry into the 2nd Mansions
"Those conscious of being in this state
must as often as possible
▪ have recourse to His Majesty,
taking His Blessed Mother and the saints
for their advocates
to do battle for them,
because we creatures possess little strength
for self-defence.
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #14 ]
▪ It is most important to withdraw
from all unnecessary cares and business,
as far as compatible with the duties
of one's state of life,
in order to enter the second mansion.
■ Dangers of relapse or
even just remaining in the 1st Mansions
Detachment from worldliness
"is so essential,
that unless done immediately
I think it impossible for any one
- ever to reach the principal room,
or
- even to remain where he is
without great risk of losing
what is already gained;
▪ Risk of Remaining in the 1st Mansions:
"although he is inside the castle,
he will find it impossible
to avoid being bitten
some time or other
by some of the very venomous creatures
surrounding him"
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #16 ]
"(the devil)
creeps in gradually, in numberless ways,
and
does us much harm,
though we do not discover it
until too late."
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #18 ]
"he works like a file,
secretly and silently
wearing its way"
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #19 ]
▪ Risk of relapse
" - having escaped
from all these impediments,
and
- having entered much farther
into the more secret mansion,
....by her own fault,
return to all this turmoil?
"Through her sins,
many other people
on whom God had bestowed great graces
would culpably relapse
into their wretched state.
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #17 ]
■ These risks and temptation continue
throughout all the mansions.
"You must notice
that the struggle with the demons
continues through nearly
all the mansions of this castle.
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #18 ]
"Indeed,
in every state of life
all our help must come from God"
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #14 ]
"He cannot
so easily deceive souls
which dwell nearer to the King"
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #13 ]
■ Good Intentions But deceived by devil:
St. Teresa gives "some examples
to show how he begins his wiles"
"...the mistakes
which I have seen people make,
in reliance
which I have seen people make,
in reliance
on their own good intentions"
[Life: Ch 13: #11-15 ]
▪ Temptation against Obedience
St. Teresa provided an example
of a nun
◦ forbidden by her Prioress to practice
mortifications
◦ yet she "has such a longing for penance"
◦ that she disobeys ...secretly...
because she thinks penance is "meritorious"
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #19 ]
Regarding her own desire
to perform more penances,
she relates this inspiration:
"Our Lord said to me:
to perform more penances,
she relates this inspiration:
"Our Lord said to me:
'No, My daughter;
thou art on the sound and safe road.
Seest thou all her penance?
I think more of thy obedience.' "
[ Relations: Ch 3: #12
Translated - D. Lewis ]
▪ Temptations against Charity
▫ indiscreet zeal
"Another nun is very zealous
about religious perfection;
...but may cause her
- to think every small fault
(which) she sees in her sisters
(is) a serious crime,
and
- to watch constantly
whether they do anything wrong,
that she may run to the Prioress
to accuse them of it.
At the same time,
maybe she never notices
her own shortcomings..."
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #19 ]
"The devil's chief aim here is to
cool the charity
and
lessen the mutual affection of the nuns,
which would injure them seriously."
"true perfection consists
in the love of God and our neighbour,
and
the better we keep
both these commandments,
the more perfect
we shall be.
The sole object
of our Rule and Constitutions
is to help us to observe these two laws.
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #20 ]
"Indiscreet zeal about others
must not be indulged in...
Let each one look to herself."
▫ Fear to act to help another
"It is true charity
to speak in this case,
as it would be
if we saw our sisters commit a grave fault;
To keep silence for fear
that speech would be
a temptation against charity,
would be
that very temptation itself.
IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #21]
▫ Detraction
"I must warn you seriously
not to talk to each other
about such things,
lest the devil deceive you.
Only "state the matter to those
whose duty it is to remedy it."
[ IC: Mansion 1: Ch 2: #22 ]
End of the Discussion of Mansion 1 Chapter 2 The Interior Castle or The Mansions of S. Teresa of Jesus of the Order of our Lady of Carmel |
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