The Interior Castle or The Mansions
of S. Teresa of Jesus
of the Order of our Lady of Carmel
St. Teresa of Avila
THE THIRD MANSIONS
CHAPTER II
• Continues The Same Subject
And
• Speaks
- Of Aridities In Prayer
And Their Results:
- Of The Necessity Of Trying Ourselves
And
How Our Lord Proves Those
Who Are In These Mansions.
|
THE THIRD MANSIONS
CHAPTER II
Chapter Contents
1. Imperfections of dwellers
in the first three mansions.
2. Our trials show us our weakness.
3. Humility learnt by our faults.
4. Love of money.
5. Liberty of spirit.
6. On bearing contempt.
7. Detachment proved by trials.
8. Virtue and humility are the essentials.
9. Perfection requires detachment.
10. We should try to make rapid progress.
11. Leave our cares in God's hands.
12. Humility more necessary
than corporal penances.
13. Consolations rarely received
until the fourth mansions.
14. Advantages of hearing of them.
15. Perfection consists in love,
not in reward.
16. St. Teresa's joy
at seeing other souls favoured.
17. These graces should be striven for.
18. Obedience and direction,
19. Misguided zeal for others.
|
THE THIRD MANSIONS
CHAPTER II
1. Imperfections of dwellers
in the first three mansions.
1.
I HAVE known some, in fact,
I may say numerous souls,
who
have reached this state,
and for many years lived,
apparently,
a regular and well-ordered life,
both of body and mind.
It would seem
that they must have gained
the mastery over this world,
or at least be
extremely detached from it,
yet if His Majesty sends
very moderate trials
they become
so disturbed and disheartened
so disturbed and disheartened
as not only to astonish
but to make me anxious about them.
Advice is useless;
having practised virtue
for so long
they think themselves
capable of teaching it,
and
and
believe that they have abundant reason
to feel miserable.
2. Our trials show us our weakness.
2.
The only way to help them
is to compassionate their troubles; [97]
indeed, one cannot but feel sorry
at seeing people
in such an unhappy state.
They must not be argued with,
for they
- are convinced they suffer
only for God's sake,
and
- cannot be made to understand
they are acting imperfectly,
which is a further error in persons
so far advanced.
No wonder that they should feel
these trials for a time,
but I think they ought speedily
to overcome their concern
about such matters.
God,
wishing His elect to realize
their own misery,
often temporarily withdraws His favours:
no more is needed
to prove to us in a very short time
what we really are. [98]
3. Humility learnt by our faults.
3.
Souls soon learn in this way;
- they perceive their faults very clearly,
and
- sometimes the discovery of
how quickly they are overcome
by but slight earthly trials
is more painful
than the subtraction
of God's sensible favours.
I consider
that God thus shows them great mercy,
for though their behaviour may be faulty,
yet they gain greatly in humility.
Not so with the people
of whom I first spoke;
they believe their conduct is saintly,
and wish others to agree with them.
I will give you some examples
which will help us
to understand
and
to try ourselves,
without waiting for God to try us,
since it would be far better
to have prepared
and examined ourselves beforehand.
4. Love of money.
4.
A rich man, without son or heir,
loses part of his property, [99]
but still has more than enough
to keep himself and his household.
If this misfortune grieves and disquiets him
as though he were left to beg his bread,
how can our Lord ask him
to give up all things for His sake?
This man will tell you
he regrets losing his money
because he wished to bestow it on the poor.
5. Liberty of spirit.
5.
I believe His Majesty would prefer me
to conform to His will,
and
keep peace of soul
while attending to my interests,
(rather than)
to such charity as this.
If this person cannot resign himself
because God has not raised him
so high in virtue,
well and good:
let him know that he is
wanting in liberty of spirit;
let him
beg our Lord to grant it him,
and
be rightly disposed to receive it.
Another person has more than sufficient
means to live on,
when an opportunity occurs
for acquiring more property:
if it is offered him,
by all means let him accept it;
but if he must go out of his way
to obtain it
and
then continues working
to gain more and more
--however good his intention may be
(and it must be good,
for I am speaking of people
who lead prayerful and good lives),
he cannot possibly enter the mansions
near the King.
6. On bearing contempt.
6.
Something of the same sort happens
if such people meet with
contempt or want of due respect.
God often gives them grace to bear it well,
as He
- loves to see virtue upheld in public,
and
- will not have it condemned
in those who practise it,
or else because
- these persons have served Him
faithfully,
and
He, our supreme Good,
is exceedingly good to us all;
nevertheless,
these persons
are disturbed,
and
cannot overcome or get rid
of the feeling for some time. [100]
Alas!
Have they not long meditated
- on the pains our Lord endured
and
- (on) how well it is for us to suffer,
and
have even longed to do so?
They wish every one were as virtuous
as they are;
and
God grant they
- do not consider other people
to blame for their troubles
and
- attribute merit to themselves!
7. Detachment proved by trials.
7.
You may think, my daughters,
that I have wandered from the subject,
for all this does not concern you:
Nothing of the sort occurs to us here,
where we
neither own nor wish for any property,
nor endeavour to gain it,
and
no one does us any wrong.
The instances I have mentioned
do not coincide exactly,
yet conclusions applicable to us
may be drawn from them,
which it would be neither well nor necessary
to state.
These will teach you
whether you are really detached
from all you have left;
Trifling occasions often occur,
although perhaps not quite
of the same kind,
by which you can prove to yourselves
whether you have obtained
the mastery over your passions.
8. Virtue and humility are the essentials.
8.
Believe me, the question is not
whether we wear the religious habit
or not,
but whether we
- practise the virtues
and
- submit our will in all things
to the will of God.
The object of our life must be
to do what He requires of us:
Let us not ask that our will may be done,
but His.
If we have not yet attained to this,
let us be humble,
as I said above.
Humility is
the ointment for our wounds;
if we have it,
although perhaps
He may defer His coming for a time,
God, Who is our Physician,
will come and heal us.
9. Perfection requires detachment.
9.
The penances performed by the persons,
I spoke of ,
are as well regulated
as their life,
which they value very highly
because they wish to serve our Lord
with it
--in which there is nothing to blame--
so they are very discreet
in their mortifications
lest they should injure their health.
Never fear they will kill themselves:
They are far too sensible!
Their love is not strong enough
to overcome their reason;
I wish it were--
that they might not be content
to creep on their way to God:
a pace that will never bring them
to their journey's end!
10. We should try to make rapid progress.
10.
We seem to ourselves
to be making progress,
yet we become weary,
for, believe me,
we are walking through a mist;
it will be fortunate
if we do not lose ourselves.
Do you think, my daughters,
if we could travel
from one country to another
in eight days,
that it would be well to spend
a year
on the journey,
through wind, snow, and inundations
and over bad roads? [101]
Would it not be better
to get it over at once,
for it is full of dangers and serpents?
Oh, how many striking instances
could I give you of this!
God grant
that I have passed beyond this state myself:
often I think that I have not.
11. Leave our cares in God's hands.
11.
All things obstruct us
while prudence rules our actions;
We are afraid of everything
and
therefore fear to make progress--
as if we could reach the inner chambers
while others make the journey for us!
As this is impossible, sisters,
for the love of God
let us
- exert ourselves,
and
- leave our reason and our fears
in His hands,
- paying no attention to the weaknesses
of nature
which might retard us.
Let our Superiors,
to whom the charge belongs,
look after our bodies;
Let our only care be
to hasten to our Lord's presence--
for though there are
few or no indulgences to be obtained here,
yet, regard for health might mislead us
and
it would be none the better for our care,
as I know well.
12. Humility more necessary
than corporal penances.
12.
I know, too,
that our bodies are not the chief factors
in the work we have before us;
They are accessory:
Extreme humility is the principal point.
It is the want of this, I believe,
that stops people's progress.
It may seem that we have made
but little way:
we should believe
- that is the case,
and
- that our sisters are advancing
much more rapidly than we are.
Not only should we wish others
to consider us the worst of all;
we should endeavour to make them think so.
If we act in this manner,
our soul will do well;
otherwise we
- shall make no progress
and
- shall always remain the prey
to a thousand troubles and miseries.
The way will be difficult and wearisome
without self-renunciation,
weighed down as we are
by the burden and frailties
of human nature,
which are no longer felt
in the more interior mansions.
13. Consolations rarely received
until the fourth mansions.
13.
In these third mansions
the Lord never fails to repay our services,
both as a just and even as a merciful God,
Who always bestows on us
far more than we deserve,
giving us greater happiness
than could be obtained from
any earthly pleasures and amusements.
I think He grants few consolations here,
except, perhaps, occasionally to entice us
except, perhaps, occasionally to entice us
to prepare ourselves
to enter the last mansions
by showing us their contents.
There may appear to you
to be no difference
except in name
except in name
between
sensible devotion and consolations
sensible devotion and consolations
and
you may ask why I distinguish them.
I think there is a very great difference,
but I may be mistaken.
14. Advantages of hearing of them.
14.
This will be best explained
while writing of the fourth mansion,
which comes next,
when I must speak of the consolations
received there from our Lord.
The subject may appear futile,
yet may prove useful
- by urging souls
who know what each mansion contains
to strive to enter the best.
- It will solace those
whom God has advanced so far;
- others, who thought
they had reached the summit,
will be abashed,
yet if they are humble,
they will be led to thank God.
15. Perfection consists in love,
not in reward.
15.
Those
who do not receive these consolations
may feel a despondency
that is uncalled for,
since perfection does not consist
in consolation
but in greater love;
Our reward will be in proportion
to this (Love),
and
to the justice and sincerity
of our actions.
Perhaps you wonder, then,
why I treat of
these interior favours and
their nature.
I do not know;
Ask him who bade me write this.
I must
obey Superiors,
not argue with them,
which I have no right to do.
16. St. Teresa's joy
at seeing other souls favoured.
16.
I assure you that
when I had
neither received these favours, [102]
nor understood them by experience,
or ever expected to
( and rightly so,
for I should have felt reassured
if I had known or even conjectured
that I was pleasing to God
in any way),
yet when I read
of the mercies and consolations
that our Lord grants to His servants,
I was delighted and praised Him fervently.
If such as myself acted thus,
how much more
would the humble and good glorify Him!
I think it is worth while to
- explain these subjects
and
- show what consolations and delights
we lose through our own fault,
if only for the sake of moving a single soul
to praise God once.
17. These graces should be striven for.
17.
When these joys are from God,
they come laden
with love and strength,
which
- aid the soul on its way
and
- increase its good works and virtues.
Do not imagine
that it is unimportant
whether you try to obtain these graces or no;
if you are not to blame,
the Lord is just:
what He refuses in one way,
His Majesty will give you in another,
as He knows how;
His secret ways are very mysterious,
and
doubtless He will do what is best for you.
18. Obedience and direction,
18.
Souls
who by God's mercy
are brought so far
(which, as I said,
is no small mercy,
for they are likely to ascend
still higher)
will be greatly benefited
by practising prompt obedience.
Even if they are not in the religious state,
it would be well
if they, like certain other people,
were to take a director, [103]
so as never to follow their own will,
which is the cause of most of our ills.
They should not choose one
of their own turn of mind [104]
(as the saying goes),
who is over prudent in his actions,
but should select one thoroughly detached
from worldly things;
It is very helpful to consult a person
who has learnt and can teach this.
It is encouraging to see that trials
which seemed to us
impossible to submit to
- are possible to others,
and
- that they bear them sweetly.
Their flight makes us try to soar,
like nestlings taught by the elder birds,
who, though they cannot fly far at first,
little by little imitate their parents:
I know the great benefit of this.
However determined such persons may be
not to offend our Lord,
they must not expose themselves
to temptation:
they are still near the first mansions
to which they might easily return.
Their strength is not yet established
on a solid foundation
like that of souls exercised in sufferings,
who
- know how little cause there is to fear
the tempests of this world
and
- care nothing for its pleasures:
Beginners might succumb
before any severe trial.
Some great persecution,
such as the devil knows
how to raise to injure us,
might make beginners turn back;
While zealously trying
to withdraw others from sin,
they might succumb to the attacks
made upon them.
19. Misguided zeal for others.
19.
Let us look
at our own faults,
and
not at other persons'.
People
who are extremely correct themselves
are often shocked at everything they see;
[105]
However,
we might often learn a great deal
that is essential
from the very persons whom we censure.
Our exterior comportment and manners
may be better--
this is well enough,
but not of the first importance.
We ought
- not to insist on every one
following in our footsteps,
- nor to take upon ourselves
to give instructions in spirituality
when, perhaps, we do not even know
what it is.
Zeal for the good of souls,
though given us by God,
may often lead us astray, sisters;
It is best to keep our rule,
which bids us ever to live
in silence
and
in hope. [106]
Our Lord will care for the souls
belonging to Him;
and
if we beg His Majesty to do so,
by His grace
we shall be able
we shall be able
to aid them greatly.
May He be for ever blessed!
Foot Notes
[97]
See letter concerning Francisco de Salcedo.
Nov. 1576. Vol. II.
__________________
[98]
Way of Perf.
ch, xxxviii. 7.
__________________
[99]
Way of Perf. ch, xxxviii, 10.
Concep. ch. ii. 11, 12.
Life, xi. 3.
__________________
[100]
Way of Perf.
ch. xxxviii. 12.
__________________
[101]
St. Teresa very probably had
in her mind her journey,
to make a foundation at Seville,
when the boat,
which was crossing the Guadalquivir,
narrowly escaped being carried
down the river by the current.
Found. ch. xxiv, 6
__________________
[102]
Life, ch. xii. 2.
Rel. vii. 3.
__________________
[103]
Life. ch. xiii. 29.
__________________
[104]
Rel. vii. 18.
__________________
[105]
Way of Perf. ch. vii. 6.
Castle, M. I. ch. ii. 20, 21.
__________________
[106]
Isa. xxx. 15:
In silentio et in spe erit fortitudo vestra.'
Rule # 13.
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End of
Mansion 3 Chapter 2
The Interior Castle
or
The Mansions
of S. Teresa of Jesus
of the Order of our Lady of Carmel
|
