The Interior Castle or The Mansions
of S. Teresa of Jesus
of the Order of our Lady of Carmel
St. Teresa of Avila
Mansion 5 Chapter 2
|
Mansion 5 Chapter 2
Chapter Contents
• Continues The Same Subject:
• Explains The Prayer Of Union
By A Delicate Comparison
And
• Speaks Of The Effects It Leaves
Upon The Soul.
This Chapter Should Receive
Great Attention.
░░░░░░░░
1. The soul compared to a butterfly.
2. The grandeurs of creation.
3. Symbol of the soul and the silkworm.
4. Preparation of the soul
for God's indwelling.
5. Mystic death of the silkworm.
6. Effects of divine union.
7. Increase of fervour and detachment.
8. Trials succeeding the Prayer of Union.
9. Longing for death
and zeal for God's honour.
10. This zeal supernatural.
11. God alone works this grace.
12. The same zeal as that felt
by our Lord on earth.
13. Christ's keenest suffering.
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Mansion 5 Chapter 2
CHAPTER II.
1. The soul compared to a butterfly.
1.
You may imagine
that there is no more left to be described
of the contents of this mansion,
but a great deal remains to be told,
for as I said,
it contains favours of various degrees.
I think there is nothing to add
about the Prayer of Union,
but
when the soul
on which God bestows this grace
disposes itself for their reception,
I could tell you much
about the marvels our Lord works in it.
I will describe
some of them in my own way,
also
the state in which they leave the soul,
and
(I) will use a suitable comparison
to elucidate the matter,
explaining that
though we can take no active part
in this work of God within us, [173]
yet we may do much to prepare ourselves
to receive this grace.
You have heard
how wonderfully silk is made
--in a way such as God alone could plan--
how it all comes from an egg
resembling a tiny pepper-corn.
Not having seen it myself,
I only know of it by hearsay,
so if the facts are inaccurate,
the fault will not be mine.
When, in the warm weather,
the mulberry trees come into leaf,
the little egg
which was lifeless
before its food was ready,
begins to live.
The caterpillar nourishes itself
upon the mulberry leaves
until,
when it has grown large,
people place near it small twigs
upon which, of its own accord,
it spins silk from its tiny mouth
until it has made a narrow little cocoon
in which it buries itself.
Then this large and ugly worm
leaves the cocoon
as a lovely little white butterfly.
2. The grandeurs of creation.
2.
If we had not seen this
but had only heard of it as an old legend,
who could believe it?
Could we persuade ourselves
that insects
so utterly without the use of reason
as a silkworm or a bee
would work with such industry and skill
in our service
that the poor little silkworm loses its life
over the task?
This would suffice
for a short meditation, sisters,
without my adding more,
for you may learn from it
the wonders and the wisdom of God.
How if we knew the properties of all things?
It is most profitable
to ponder over the grandeurs of creation
and
to exult in being the brides
of such a wise and mighty King.
3. Symbol of the soul and the silkworm.
3.
Let us return to our subject.
The silkworm symbolizes the soul
which begins to live
when, kindled by the Holy Spirit,
it commences using the ordinary aids
given by God to all,
and
applies the remedies left by Him
in His Church,
such as
regular confession,
religious books, and sermons;
These are the cure for a soul
dead in its negligence and sins
and
liable to fall into temptation.
Then it comes to life and continues
nourishing itself
on this food and
on devout meditation
until it has attained full vigour,
which is the essential point,
for I attach no importance to the rest.
When the silkworm is full-grown
as I told you
in the first part of this chapter,
it begins
to spin silk and
to build the house wherein it must die.
By this 'house',
when speaking of the soul,
I mean 'Christ'.
I think I read or heard somewhere,
- either that our life is hid
in Christ,
or
in God
(which means the same thing)
- or that Christ is our life. [174]
It makes little difference to my meaning
which of these quotations is correct.
4. Preparation of the soul
for God's indwelling.
4.
This shows, my daughters,
how much,
by God's grace, we can do,
by preparing this home for ourselves,
towards making Him our dwelling-place
as He is in the Prayer of Union.
You will suppose
that I mean we can
take away from or add something to God
when I say
that He is our home,
and
that we can
make this home and
dwell in it by our own power.
Indeed we can:
though we can
neither deprive God of anything
nor add aught to Him,
yet we can
take away from
and
add to ourselves,
like the silkworms.
The little we can do
will hardly have been accomplished
when this insignificant work of ours,
which amounts to nothing at all,
will be united by God to His greatness
and
thus enhanced with such immense value
that our Lord, Himself, will be the reward
of our toil.
Although He has had the greatest share in it,
He will
He will
join our trifling pains
to the bitter sufferings
He endured for us
and
make them one.
5. Mystic death of the silkworm.
5.
Forward then, my daughters!
Hasten over your work
and
build the little cocoon.
Let us
▪ renounce self-love and self-will, [175]
▪ care for nothing earthly,
▪ do penance,
▪ pray,
▪ mortify ourselves,
▪ be obedient,
and
▪ perform all the other good works
of which you know.
Act up to your light;
you have been taught your duties.
Die!
Die as the silkworm does
when it has fulfilled the office
of its creation,
and
you will see God
and
be immersed in His greatness,
as the little silkworm is enveloped
in its cocoon.
Understand that when I say
'you will see God,'
I mean in the manner described,
in which He manifests Himself
in this kind of union.
6. Effects of divine union.
6.
Now let us see
'what becomes of the silkworm,'
for all I have been saying leads to this.
As soon as,
by means of this prayer,
the soul has become
entirely dead to the world,
it comes forth
like a lovely little white butterfly! [176]
Oh, how great God is!
How beautiful is the soul
after having been
immersed in God's grandeur
and
united closely to Him
for but a short time!
Indeed, I do not think it is ever
as long as half an hour. [177]
Truly, the spirit does not recognize itself,
being as different
from what it was
as is the white butterfly
as is the white butterfly
from the repulsive caterpillar.
It does not know
- how it can have merited so
great a good,
or rather,
- whence this grace came [178]
which it well knows it merits not.
The soul
▪ desires to praise our Lord God
and
▪ longs to
▫ sacrifice itself
and
▫ die a thousand deaths for Him.
It feels an unconquerable desire
for great crosses
and
would like to perform
the most severe penances;
It sighs for solitude and
would have all men know God,
while it is bitterly grieved
at seeing them offend Him.
These matters will be described more fully
in the next mansion;
There they are of the same nature,
yet in a more advanced state,
the effects are far stronger,
because, as I told you,
if; after the soul has received these favours,
it strives to make still farther progress,
it will experience great things.
Oh, to see the restlessness
of this charming little butterfly,
although never in its life
has it been more tranquil and at peace!
May God be praised!
It knows not
where to stay
nor take its rest;
Everything on earth disgusts it
after what it has experienced,
particularly when God has often given it
this wine
which leaves fresh graces behind it
at every draught.
7. Increase of fervour and detachment.
7.
It despises the work it did
while yet a caterpillar
--the slow weaving of its cocoon
thread by thread--
its wings have grown and
it can fly;
Could it be content to crawl?
All that it can do for God
seems nothing to the soul
compared with its desire.
It no longer wonders
at what the saints bore for Him,
knowing by experience
how our Lord aids and transforms the soul
until it no longer seems the same
in character and appearance.
Formerly
it feared penance,
now it is strong:
It wanted courage to forsake
relations, friends, or possessions:
Neither its actions, its resolutions,
nor separation from those it loved
could detach the soul,
but rather seemed to increase its fondness.
Now
it finds even their rightful claims
(to be) a burden, [179]
fearing contact with them
lest it should offend God.
It wearies of everything,
realizing
that no true rest can be found in creatures.
8. Trials succeeding the Prayer of Union.
8.
I seem to have enlarged on this subject,
yet far more might be said about it;
Those
who have received this favour
will think I have treated it too briefly.
No wonder this pretty butterfly,
estranged from earthly things,
seeks repose elsewhere.
Where can the poor little creature go?
It cannot return to whence it came,
for as I told you,
that is not in the soul's power,
do what it will,
but depends upon God's pleasure.
Alas,
what fresh trials begin to afflict the mind!
Who would expect this
after such a sublime grace? [180]
In fact, in one way or another
we must carry the cross all our lives.
If people told me that
ever since attaining to the Prayer of Union,
they had enjoyed constant
peace and consolation,
I should reply
that they could never
have reached that state,
but that, at the most,
if they had arrived as far
as the last mansion,
their emotion must have been
some spiritual satisfaction
joined to physical debility.
It might even have been a false sweetness
caused by the devil,
who gives peace for a time only
to wage far fiercer war later on.
I do not mean
that those who reach this stage
possess no peace;
They do so in a very high degree,
for their sorrows,
though extremely severe,
are so beneficial and proceed
from so good a source
as to procure both peace and happiness.
9. Longing for death
and zeal for God's honour.
9.
Discontent with this world
gives such a painful longing to quit it
that, if the heart finds comfort,
it is solely from the thought
that God wishes it to remain here
in banishment.
Even this is not enough
to reconcile it to fate,
for after all the gifts received,
it is not yet so entirely surrendered
to the will of God
as it afterwards becomes.
Here, although conformed to His will,
the soul feels
an unconquerable reluctance to submit,
for our Lord has not given it higher grace.
During prayer this grief breaks forth
in floods of tears,
probably from the great pain felt
at seeing God offended
and
at thinking how many souls,
both heretics and heathens,
are lost eternally,
and keenest grief of all,
Christians also!
The soul
realizes the greatness of God's mercy
and
knows that however wicked men are,
they may still repent and be saved;
yet it fears
that many precipitate themselves into hell.
10. This zeal supernatural.
10.
Oh, infinite greatness of God!
A few years ago
--indeed, perhaps but a few days--
this soul thought of nothing
but itself.
Who has made it feel such tormenting cares?
If we tried for many years
to obtain such sorrow
by means of meditation,
we could not succeed.
11. God alone works this grace.
11.
God help me!
If for long days and years I considered
how great a wrong it is
that God should be offended,
and
that lost souls are His children
and my brethren;
if I pondered
over the dangers of this world
and
how blessed it would be
to leave this wretched life,
would not that suffice?
No, daughters,
the pain would not be the same.
For this,
by the help of God,
we can obtain by such meditation;
but it does not seem to penetrate
the very depths of our being
like the other
which appears to
cut the soul to pieces
and
grind it to powder
through no action
--even sometimes with no wish--
of its own.
What is this sorrow, then?
Whence does it come?
I will tell you.
Have you not heard
( I quoted the words to you just now,
but did not apply
to them this meaning) [181]
how the Bride says that God
brought her 'into the cellar of wine
and
set in order, charity in her' ? [182]
This is what happens here.
The soul
has so entirely yielded itself
into His hands
and
is so subdued by love for Him
that it knows or cares for nothing
but that God should dispose of it
according to His will.
I believe that
He only bestows this grace on those
He takes entirely for His own.
He desires that,
without knowing how,
the spirit should come forth
stamped with His seal
for indeed it does no more
than does the wax
when impressed with the signet.
It does not mould itself
but need only be in a fit condition
--soft and pliable;
even then
it does not soften itself
but must merely
remain still
and
submit to the impression.
12. The same zeal as that felt
by our Lord on earth.
12.
How good Thou art, O God!
All is done for us by Thee,
Who dost but ask us
to give our wills to Thee
that we may be plastic as wax
in Thy hands.
You see, sisters,
what God does to this soul
so that it may know
that it is His.
He gives it something of His own
-- that which His Son possessed
when living on earth --
He could bestow on greater gift on us.
Who could ever have longed more eagerly
to leave this life than did Christ?
As He said at the Last Supper:
'With desire have I desired' this. [183]
'O Lord!
Does not that bitter death
(which) Thou art to undergo
present itself before Thine eyes
in all its pain and horror? '
'No,
for My ardent love
and
My desire to save souls
are immeasurably stronger
than the torments.
This deeper sorrow
I have suffered and still suffer
while living here on earth,
makes other pain seem
as nothing in comparison.'
13. Christ's keenest suffering.
13.
I have often meditated on this
and
I know that the torture [184]
a friend of mine has felt, and still feels,
at seeing our Lord sinned against
is so unbearable
that she would far rather die
than continue in such anguish.
Then I thought that
if a soul,
whose charity is so weak
compared to that of Christ
--indeed, in comparison with His,
this charity might be said
not to exist--,
experiences this insufferable grief,
What must have been the feelings
of our Lord Jesus Christ
and
What must His life have been?
For all things were present before His eyes
and
He was the constant witness
of the great offences committed
against His Father.
I believe without doubt
that this pained Him
far more than His most sacred Passion.
There, at least,
He found the end of all His trials,
while His agony was allayed
by the consolation
of gaining our salvation through His death
and
of proving how He loved His Father
by suffering for Him.
Thus,
people urged by fervent love,
people urged by fervent love,
who perform great penances,
hardly feel them
but
want to do still more
and
count even that as little.
What, then,
must His Majesty have felt
at thus publicly manifesting
His perfect obedience to His Father
and
His love for His brethren?
What joy to suffer in doing God's will!
Yet I think
(that) the constant sight
of the many sins committed against God
and
of the numberless souls
on their way to hell
must have caused Him such anguish
that, had He not been more than man,
one day of such torment
would have destroyed
not only His life
but many more lives,
had they been His.
Foot Notes:
[173]
Way of Perf. ch. xxv. 3.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
In the contemplation which
I have just described we can do nothing.
It is His Majesty Who does everything;
the work is His alone
and far transcends human nature.
[ Way of Perf. ch. xxv. 3. ]
___________________________
[174]
Col. iii. 3:
'Vita vestra est abscondita
cum Christo in Deo.'
Gal. ii. w:
'Vivo autem, jam on ego;
vivit vero in me Christus.'
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Col. 3: 3: '
'Vita vestra est abscondita
cum Christo in Deo.'
'For you are dead: and
your life is hid
with Christ in God.'
Gal. 2: 20:
'Vivo autem, iam on ego;
vivit vero in me Christus.'
'And I live, now not I:
but Christ liveth in me'
___________________________
[175]
Way of Perf. ch. xxxi. i 1.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Way of Perf. ch. xxxi. i 1.
I should like all such persons
to know what they lack and
to humble themselves
and
not
to make so great a petition
as though they were asking for nothing,
and,
if the Lord gives them what they ask for,
to throw it back in His face.
They must try to become more and more
detached from everything,
[ Way of Perfection: Ch. 31: # 11 ]
___________________________
[176]
St. Teresa must have been thinking
of this simile
when she chose butterflies'
as the pseudonym for her nuns
in her letters at the time
when she was obliged to be cautious
on account of the troubles
of the Reform.
___________________________
[177]
Life, ch. xviii. 16.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Life, ch. xviii. 16.
16. The truth is,
it passes away so quickly
in the beginning--
at least, so it was with me--that
neither by the outward signs,
nor by the failure of the senses,
can it be perceived
when it passes so quickly away.
But it is plain,
from the overflowing abundance of grace,
that the brightness of the sun
which had shone there
must have been great,
seeing that it has thus made the soul
to melt away.
And this is to be considered;
for, as it seems to me,
the period of time,
however long it may have been,
during which the faculties of the soul
were entranced,
is very short;
if half an hour,
that would be a long time.
I do not think
that I have ever been so long.
The truth of the matter is this:
It is extremely difficult
to know how long,
because the senses are in suspense;
But I think that at any time
it cannot be very long
before some one of the faculties recovers itself.
[ Life: Ch. 18: #16 ]
___________________________
[178]
Life, ch. xviii. 5-7.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Life, ch. xviii. 5-7.
I saw afterwards
- my own foolishness and
- want of humility;
for
- our Lord knoweth well
what is expedient, and that
- there is no strength in my soul
to be saved,
if His Majesty did not give it
with graces so great.
[ Life: Ch. 18: #7 ]
___________________________
[179]
Rel. ix, 11.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Rel. ix, 11.
I remained in conversation with him
concerning his soul and his affairs,
which wearied and distressed me;
and as I was
offering this up to our Lord, and
thinking that I did it all
because I was under obligations to him,
....
The truth is,
that the end of the Constitutions is,
that we are not to be attached
to our kindred;
and to converse with them,
as it seems to me,
is rather wearisome, and
it is painful to have anything
to do with them.
[ Relations; Ch. 9: #11 ]
___________________________
[180]
Way of Perf. ch. xviii. 1-4.
Castle, M. vi ch. i. 3, sqq.
Castle M. vii. ch. iv. 7.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Way of Perf. ch. xviii. 1-4.
how much greater are
the trials of contemplatives
than those of actives.
...you would be amazed
at all the ways and manners
in which God sends them crosses.
...the trials given by God to contemplatives
are intolerable;
and they are of such a kind that,
were He not to feed them with consolations,
they could not be borne.
It is clear
that, since God leads those
whom He most loves
by the way of trials,
the more He loves them,
the greater will be their trials...
...God gives them much greater trials;
and that He leads them
by a hard and rugged road
...The point is
that the Lord
knows everyone as he really is
and
gives each his work to do
--according to
what He sees to be most fitting
for his soul, and
for His own Self, and
for the good of his neighbour.
[ Way of Perfection: Ch. 18: # 1-4]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . ..
Castle, M. vi ch. i. 3, sqq.
4. I think it would be well to tell you
of some of the trials
certain to occur in this state.
Possibly all souls may not be led
in this way,
but I think that those
who sometimes enjoy such
truly heavenly favours
cannot be altogether free
from some sort of earthly troubles.
Therefore, although at first I did not intend
to speak on this subject,
yet afterwards I thought
that it might greatly comfort a soul
in this condition
if it knew what usually happens to those
on whom God bestows graces of this kind,
for at the time they really seem
to have lost everything.
[ Interior Caste:Mansion 6: Ch. 1: #4 ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Castle, M. vii. ch. iv. 7.
We always find
that those nearest to Christ our Lord
bear the heaviest cross:
Think of what His glorious Mother
and the Apostles bore.
How do you think St. Paul went through
such immense labours?
We learn from his conduct,
the fruits of genuine visions
and contemplation
which come
from our Lord and
not from our own imagination,
or the devil's fraud.
Do you suppose that St. Paul hid himself
to enjoy these spiritual consolations at leisure
and did nothing else?
You know that he never took a day's rest
so far as we can learn,
nor could he have slept much
since he worked all night to get his living.
[ Interior Caste:Mansion 7: Ch. 4: #7 ]
___________________________
[181]
Fifth Mansions, ch. i. 10.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Fifth Mansions, ch. i. 10.
Concerning my words:
We can do nothing on our own part,'
I was struck by the words of the Bride
in the Canticles,
which you will remember to have heard:
'The King brought me
into the cellar of wine,'
(or placed me' I think she says):
She does not say
(that) she went of her own accord,
although telling us
how she wandered up and down
seeking her Beloved.
I think the Prayer of Union
is the 'cellar'
in which our Lord places us
when and how He chooses,
but we cannot enter it
through any effort of our own.
His Majesty alone
- can bring us there
and
- come into the centre of our souls.
In order to declare His wondrous works
more clearly,
He will leave us no share in them
except
- complete conformity
of our wills to His
and
- abandonment of all things:
[ Interior Castle: Mansion 5: Ch. 1: # 10 ]
___________________________
[182]
Cant. ii. 4.
Introduxit me in cellam vinariam,
ordinavit in me caritatem.
___________________________
[183]
St. Luke xxii. 15:
Desiderio desideravi
hoc pascha manducare vobiscum,
antequam patiar.'
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
St. Luke xxii. 15:
Desiderio desideravi hoc pascha manducare
vobiscum, antequam patiar.'
"With desire I have desired
to eat this pasch with you, before I suffer."
___________________________
[184]
This friend is, of course, St. Teresa herself.
See
Life, ch. xiii. 14;
Life, ch. xxxii. 9.
Way of Perf. ch. i. 3.
Castle, M. vii. ch. i. 5, 6.
Excl. x. 9.
|
End of
Mansion 5 Chapter 2
The Interior Castle
or
The Mansions
of S. Teresa of Jesus
of the Order of our Lady of Carmel
St. Teresa of Avila
|
