The Interior Castle or The Mansions
S. Teresa of Jesus
of the Order of our Lady of Carmel
St. Teresa of Avila
Mansion 6 Chapter 1
|
Mansion 6 Chapter 1
Chapter Contents
This Chapter Shows
▪ How, When God Bestows
Greater Favours On The Soul,
It Suffers More Severe Afflictions.
▪ Some Of The Latter Are Described
▪ And Directions How To Bear Them
Given To The Dwellers
In This Mansion.
▪ This Chapter Is Useful
For Those Suffering Interior Trials.
░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
CHAPTER I.
1. Love kindled by divine favours.
2. Our Lord excites the soul's longings.
3. Courage needed
to reach the last mansions.
4. Trials accompanying divine favours.
5. Outcry raised against souls
striving for perfection.
6. St. Teresa's personal experience
of this.
7. Praise distasteful
to an enlightened soul.
8. This changes to indifference.
9. Humility of such souls.
10. Their zeal for God's glory.
11. Perfect and final indifference
to praise or blame.
12. Love of enemies.
13. Bodily sufferings.
14. St. Teresa's physical ills.
15. A timorous confessor.
16. Anxiety on account of past sins.
17. Fears and aridity.
18. Scruples and fears raised by the devil.
19. Bewilderment of the soul.
20. God alone relieves these troubles.
21. Human weakness.
22. Earthly consolations are of no avail.
23. Prayer gives no comfort
at such a time.
24. Remedies for these interior trials.
25. Trials caused by the devil.
26. Other afflictions.
27. Preparatory to entering
the seventh mansions.
|
Mansion 6 Chapter 1
THE SIXTH MANSIONS
1. Love kindled by divine favours.
1.
BY the aid of the Holy Ghost,
I am now about to treat
of the sixth mansions,
where the soul,
wounded with love for its Spouse,
- sighs more than ever for solitude,
- withdrawing as far as the duties of its state
permit from all that can interrupt it.
The sight
(that) it has enjoyed of Him
is so deeply imprinted on the spirit
that its only desire
is to behold Him again.
I have already said [209]
that, even by the imagination,
nothing is seen in this prayer
that can be called, ' sight'.
I speak of it as 'sight'
because of the comparison I used.
2. Our Lord excites the soul's longings.
2.
The soul is now determined
to take no other Bridegroom
than our Lord,
but He disregards its desires
for its speedy espousals,
wishing
- that these longings
should become still more vehement
and
- that this good,
which far excels all other benefits,
should be purchased
at some cost to itself.
And although for so great a gain,
all that we must endure
is but a poor price to pay,
I assure you, daughters,
that this pledge of what is in store for us
is needed to inspire us with courage
to bear our crosses.
3. Courage needed
to reach the last mansions.
3.
O My God,
how many troubles
both interior and exterior
must one suffer
before entering the seventh mansions!
Sometimes, while pondering over this,
I fear that,
were they known beforehand,
human infirmity
could scarcely bear the thought
nor resolve to encounter them,
however great might appear the gain.
If, however, the soul has already
reached the seventh mansions,
it fears nothing:
boldly undertaking to suffer
all things for God, [210]
it gathers strength
from its almost uninterrupted union
with Him.
4. Trials accompanying divine favours.
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.
5. Outcry raised against souls
striving for perfection.
5.
I shall not enumerate these trials
in their proper order,
but will describe them
- as they come to my memory,
- beginning with the least severe.
This is an outcry raised against such a person
by those amongst whom she lives,
and
even from others
she has nothing to do with
but who fancy that at some time in her life,
they recollect having seen her.
They say she wants to pass for a saint,
that she goes to extremes in piety
to deceive the world
and
to depreciate people
who are better Christians than herself
without making such a parade of it.
But notice that she does nothing
except endeavour to carry out
the duties of her state more perfectly.
Persons
she thought were her friends,
desert her,
making the most bitter remarks of all.
They take it much to heart
that her soul is ruined
--she is manifestly deluded--
it is all the devil's work
--she will share the fate of so-and-so
who was lost through him,
and
she is leading virtue astray.
They cry out
that she is deceiving her confessors,
and
tell them so, citing examples of others
who came to ruin in the same way
and
make a thousand scoffing remarks
of the same sort. [211]
6. St. Teresa's personal experience of this.
6.
I know some one who feared
she would be unable to find any priest
who would hear her confession,
to such a pass did things come;
but as it is a long story,
I will not stop to tell it now.
The worst of it is,
these troubles
do not blow over
but last all her life,
for one person warns the other
to have nothing to do
with people of her kind.
You will say that,
on the other hand,
some speak in her favour.
O my daughters,
how few think well of her
in comparison with the many
who hate her!
7. Praise distasteful to an enlightened soul.
7.
Besides this,
praise pains such a soul
more than blame
because it recognizes clearly
that any good it possesses
is the gift of God
and
in no wise its own,
seeing that but a short time ago
it was
weak in virtue
and
involved in grave sins. [212]
Therefore,
commendation causes it intolerable suffering,
at least at first,
although later on,
for many reasons,
the soul is comparatively indifferent to either.
8. This changes to indifference.
8.
The first is that
experience has shown the mind
that men are as ready
to speak well as ill of others,
so it attaches no more importance
to the one than to the other.
Secondly,
our Lord having granted it greater light,
it
- perceives that no good thing in it,
is its own
but is His gift,
and
- becomes oblivious of self,
praising God for His graces
as if they were found in a third person.
9. Humility of such souls.
9.
The third reason is that,
realizing the benefit reaped by others
from witnessing graces given it by God,
such a one thinks
that it is for their profit,
(that) He causes them
to discover in her
virtues that do not exist.
10. Their zeal for God's glory.
10.
Fourthly,
souls
seeking God's honour and glory
more than their own
are cured of the temptation
(which usually besets beginners)
of thinking
that human praise will cause them
the injury they have seen it do to others.
Nor do these souls care much
for men's contempt
if only, by their means,
any one should praise God at least once
--come what may afterwards.
11. Perfect and final indifference
to praise or blame.
11.
These and other reasons
to a certain extent
allay the great distress
formerly given by human praise
which, however, still causes some discomfort
unless the soul has become
utterly regardless of men's tongues.
It is infinitely more grieved
at being undeservedly esteemed
by the world
than by any calumny;
and when at last
it becomes almost indifferent to praise,
it cares still less for censure,
which even pleases it
and
sounds like harmonious music to the ears.
12. Love of enemies.
12.
This is perfectly true;
the soul is rather strengthened
than depressed by its trials,
experience having taught it
the great advantages derived from them.
It does not think (that) men offend God
by persecuting it,
but that He permits them to do so
for its greater gain. [213]
So strong is this belief
that such a person
bears a special affection
for these people,
holding them as truer friends
and greater benefactors
than those who speak well of her. [214]
13. Bodily sufferings.
13.
Our Lord now usually sends
severe bodily infirmity.
This is a far heavier cross,
especially if acute pain is felt:
if this is violent,
I think it is the hardest of earthly trials.
I speak of exterior trials;
but corporal pains of the worst kind
enter the interior of our being also,
affecting both spirit and body,
so that the soul,
in its anguish,
knows not what to do with itself
and
would far rather meet death at once
by some quick martyrdom
than suffer thus.
However,
these paroxysms do not last long,
for God
never sends us more
than we can bear
and
always gives us patience first.
14. St. Teresa's physical ills.
14.
Now to speak of other trials and illnesses
of many kinds which generally occur
to people in this state.
I knew some one
who, from the time
when, forty years ago, [215]
our Lord began to bestow on her
the favour described,
could not affirm with any truth
that she had been a single day
without pain and other kinds of suffering:
I am speaking of physical infirmities
besides heavy crosses sent her. [216]
True,
she had led a wicked life
and therefore held these troubles
very light in comparison with the hell
she had deserved. [217]
Our Lord leads those
who have offended Him less
by some other way,
but I should always choose
the way of suffering,
if only for the sake
of imitating our Lord Jesus Christ;
though, in fact,
it profits us in many other manners.
Yet, oh!
the rest would seem trifling in comparison
could I relate the interior torments
met with here,
but they are impossible to describe.
15. A timorous confessor.
15.
Let us first speak of the trial of meeting
with so timorous and inexperienced
a confessor
that nothing seems safe to him;
he dreads and suspects everything
but the commonplace,
especially in a soul
in which he (detects) any imperfection,
for he thinks people
on whom God bestows such favours
must be angels,
which is impossible
while we live in our bodies. [218]
He, at once, ascribes everything
to the devil or melancholy.
As to the latter,
I am not surprised;
there is so much of it in the world
and
the evil one works such harm in this way
that confessors have the strongest reasons
for anxiety and watchfulness about it.
16. Anxiety on account of past sins.
16.
The poor soul,
beset by the same fears,
seeks its confessor as judge,
and
feels a torture and dismay
at his condemnation
that can only be realized by those
who have experienced it themselves. [219]
For one of the severe trials of these souls,
especially if they have lived wicked lives,
is their belief
that God permits them to be deceived
in punishment for their sins.
While actually receiving these graces,
they
feel secure
and
cannot but suppose
that these favours proceed
from the Spirit of God;
but this state lasts a very short time,
while the remembrance of their misdeeds
is ever before them,
so that when, as is sure to happen,
they discover any faults in themselves,
these torturing thoughts return. [220]
17. Fears and aridity.
17.
The soul is quieted for a time
when the confessor reassures it
although it returns later on
to its former apprehensions,
but when he augments its fears,
they become almost unbearable
Especially is this the case
when such spiritual dryness ensues
that the mind feels
as if it
never had thought of God
nor ever will be able to do so.
When men speak of Him,
they seem to be talking
of some person heard of long ago.
18. Scruples and fears raised by the devil.
18.
All this is nothing
without the further pain of thinking
we
cannot make our confessors
understand the case
and
are deceiving them. [221]
Although such a person
may examine her conscience
with the greatest care,
and
may know that she reveals
even the first movement of her mind
to her director,
it does not help her.
Her understanding,
being too obscure to discern the truth,
she believes all that the imagination,
which now has the upper hand,
puts before her mind,
besides crediting the falsehoods
suggested to her by the devil,
whom doubtless our Lord gives leave
to tempt her.
The evil spirit even tries
to make her think
(that) God has rejected her.
Many are the trials
which assault this soul,
causing an internal anguish
so painful and so intolerable
that I can compare it to nothing
save that suffered by the lost in hell,
for no comfort can be found
in this tempest of trouble. [222]
19. Bewilderment of the soul.
19.
If the soul seeks for consolation
from its confessor,
all the demons appear to help him
to torment it more.
A confessor who dealt
with a person suffering in this manner
thought that her state must be
very dangerous
as so many things were troubling her;
therefore,
after she had recovered from her trials,
he bade her tell him
whenever they recurred:
however,
he found this made matters worse than ever.
She lost all control over herself:
although she had learnt to read,
yet she could no more understand a book
in the vulgar tongue
than if she had not known the alphabet,
for her mind was incapable of acting. [223]
20. God alone relieves these troubles.
20.
In short,
there is no other remedy
in such a tempest
except to wait for the mercy of God
Who, unexpectedly,
by some casual word
or unforeseen circumstance,
suddenly dispels all these sorrows;
then every cloud of trouble disappears
and
the mind is left
full of light
and
far happier than before. [224]
It praises our Lord God
like one who has come out victorious
from a dangerous battle,
for it was He Who won the victory.
The soul is fully conscious
that the conquest was not its own
as all weapons of self-defence
appeared to be in the enemies' hands.
Thus it realizes
its weakness
and
how little man can help himself
if God forsake him.
21. Human weakness.
21.
This truth now needs no demonstration,
for past experience has taught the soul
its utter incapacity;
It realizes
the nothingness of human nature
and
what miserable creatures we are.
Although, in a state of grace,
from which it has not fallen
--for, in spite of these torments,
it has not offended God,
nor would it do so
for any earthly thing -- [225]
yet so hidden is this grace,
that the sufferer believes
that
neither now,
nor in the past,
has she ever possessed the faintest spark
of love for God. [226]
If at any time she has done good,
or
if His Majesty ever bestowed
any favours on her,
they seem to have been
but a dream or a fancy,
while her sins stand clearly before her.
22. Earthly consolations are of no avail.
22.
O Jesus!
How sad it is
to see a soul thus forsaken,
and
how little, as I said,
can any earthly comfort avail!
Do not imagine, sisters,
if you are ever brought to such a state,
that rich and independent people
have more resources than yourselves
in these troubles.
No, no!
To offer such consolations
would be like setting
all the joys of the world
before people condemned to death:
Far from mitigating,
it would increase their torture.
So with the souls I spoke of:
Their comfort must come from above
--Nothing earthly can help them.
This great God wishes us
to acknowledge
His sovereignty
and
our own misery
--an important point for those
who are to advance still farther.
23. Prayer gives no comfort
at such a time.
23.
What can the poor soul do
if such a trial lasts for many days?
Prayer makes no difference
as far as comforting the heart,
which no consolation can enter;
Nor can the mind even grasp
the meaning of the words of vocal prayer:
Mental prayer is out of the question
at such a time,
since the faculties are unequal to it.
Solitude harms the soul;
Yet society or conversation
is a fresh torment.
Strive as the sufferer may to hide it,
she is so wearied and out of sorts
with all around
that she cannot but manifest her condition.
24. Remedies for these interior trials.
24.
How can the soul possibly tell what ails it?
Its pains are indescribable;
It is wrung with nameless anguish
and spiritual suffering.
The best remedy for these crosses
(I do not mean for gaining deliverance
from them,
for I know of nothing
that will do that,
but for enabling one to bear them)
is
- to perform external works of charity
and
- to trust in the mercy of God,
which never fails those
who hope in Him. [227]
May He be for ever blessed! Amen
25. Trials caused by the devil.
25.
The devils also bring about exterior trials,
which being more unusual,
need not be mentioned.
They are far less painful,
for whatever the demons may do,
I believe
they never succeed in
paralysing the faculties
or
disturbing the soul in the former manner.
In fact,
the reason is able to discern
that the evil spirits can do
no more harm than God permits;
and while the mind has not lost its powers,
all sufferings are comparatively insignificant.
26. Other afflictions.
26.
I shall treat of other internal afflictions
met with in this mansion
when describing the different kinds
of prayer and favours
bestowed here by our Lord.
Although some of these latter pains
are harder to endure,
as appears by their bodily effects,
yet they do not deserve
the name of 'crosses',
nor have we the right
to call them so.
Indeed, they are great graces from God
as the soul recognizes amidst its pangs,
realizing how far it is
from meriting such graces.
27. Preparatory to entering
the seventh mansions.
27.
This severe torture felt by souls
just at the entrance
of the seventh mansion
is accompanied by many other sufferings;
Some of which I will mention:
To speak of them all
would be impossible;
Nor could I portray them
because they come
from another and far higher source
than the rest.
If I have succeeded so ill
in writing of trials of a lower kind,
much less could I treat of the others.
May God assist me in all things,
through the merits of His Son!
Amen.
_____________________
Foot Notes:
[209]
Castle, M. v. ch. i. 9.
Life, ch. xxviii. 5.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #1's
Footnote reference #209
"the sixth mansions,
where the soul,
wounded with love for its Spouse,...
The sight
(that) it has enjoyed of Him
is so deeply imprinted on the spirit
that its only desire
is to behold Him again.
I have already said [209]
that, even by the imagination,
nothing is seen in this prayer
that can be called, ' sight'. "
Castle, M. v. ch. i. 9.
" 'How can a person
who is incapable of sight and hearing,
see or know these things?'
I do not say
that she saw it at the time,
but that she perceives it clearly afterwards,
not by any vision
but by a certitude
which remains in the heart
which God alone could give."
[ Interior Castle: Mansion 5: Ch. 1: #9 ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .
Life, ch. xxviii. 5.
"This vision, though imaginary,
I never saw with my bodily eyes,
nor, indeed, any other,
but only with the eyes of the soul.
...this, the imaginary vision,
much more perfect than those visions
which are seen by the bodily eyes."
[ Life: Ch. 28: #5
Translation: D. Lewis ]
___________________________
[210]
Life, ch. xl. 28. sqq.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #3's
Footnote reference #210
"If, however, the soul has already
reached the seventh mansions,
it fears nothing:
boldly undertaking to suffer
all things for God, [210]
it gathers strength
from its almost uninterrupted union
with Him."
Life, ch. xl. 28. sqq.
"...I must do this for His love,
and bear it...
And so, I believe,
I have never known real pain
since I resolved
to serve my Lord and my Consoler
with all my strength;
for though he would leave me
to suffer a little,
yet He would console me in such a way
that I am doing nothing
when I long for troubles.
And it seems to me
there is nothing worth living for
but this,
and suffering is
what I most heartily pray to God for.
I say to Him sometimes,
with my whole heart:
'O Lord, either to die or to suffer!' "
[ Life: Ch. 40: #27
Translation: D. Lewis]
___________________________
[211]
The Saint went through all this herself;
Every detail is taken
from her own experience.
See Life, ch. xxv. 20;
xxviii. 20-24;
xxx. 6;
xxiii. 2.
Anton. a Sp. S.
l.c. tract, ii. n. 268.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #5's
Footnote reference #211
"4. I think it would be well to tell you
of some of the trials
certain to occur in this state.
5...
They cry out
that she is deceiving her confessors,
and
tell them so, citing examples of others
who came to ruin in the same way
and
make a thousand scoffing remarks
of the same sort." [211]
Anton. a Sp. S.
l.c. tract, ii. n. 268.
Probably refers to
Antonii a Spirtu Sancto's
"Directorium Mysticum"
(approx 1677)
by Antony of the Holy Spirit, OCD,
a Discalced Carmelite Friar,
which includes: prayer, active and passive
purification, contemplation, etc
It is said to be an abridgement of the
"Summa Theologiae Mysticae"
of Philip of the Holy Trinity,
the French Carmelite Friar.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Life, ch. xxv. 20;
"I had no one to speak to,
for every one was against me.
Some, I thought, made a mock of me
when I spoke to them of my prayer,
as if I were a person
under delusions of the imagination;
others warned my confessor
to be on his guard against me..."
[ Life: Ch. 25: #20
Translation: D. Lewis ]
___________________________
[212]
Life, ch. xxviii. 19.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #7's
Footnote reference #212
7. Besides this,
praise pains such a soul
more than blame
because it recognizes clearly
that any good it possesses
is the gift of God
and
in no wise its own,
seeing that but a short time ago
it was
weak in virtue
and
involved in grave sins. [212]
Life, ch. xxviii. 19.
"for all who knew me saw clearly
that my soul was changed,
and so my confessor said;
for the difference
was very great in every way...
As I was formerly so wicked...
for I saw clearly
that I had become at once
another person
through the instrumentality
of these visions."
[ Life: Ch. 28: # 19
Translation: D. Lewis ]
___________________________
[213]
Rel. ii. 4.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #12's
Footnote reference #213
"12...the soul is rather strengthened
than depressed by its trials...
experience having taught it
the great advantages derived from them.
It does not think (that) men offend God
by persecuting it,
but that He permits them to do so
for its greater gain. [213]"
Rel. ii. 4.
"4. As to the evil speaking
directed against me...
I find myself herein
also very much the better.
...I think at times, and nearly always,
that it is just.
I feel it so little
that I see nothing in it
that I might offer to God,
as I learn by experience
that my soul gains greatly thereby;
on the contrary,
the evil speaking seems to be a favour...
I have no ill-feeling against them;
...it neither disturbs nor moves me;
[ Relations 2: #4
Translation: D. Lewis ]
___________________________
[214]
Anton. a Sp. S.
l.c. ii. n. 272.
Way of Perf. ch. xv. i;
xvii. 4.
Found. ch. xxvii. 19, 20.
Life, ch. xix. 12;
xxxi. 13-17, 25.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #12's
Footnote reference #214
The soul
"bears a special affection
for these people,
holding them as truer friends
and greater benefactors
than those who speak well of her. [214]"
Way of Perf. ch. xv. i;
"... it requires great humility
to see oneself blamed without cause,
and to be silent;
We thus imitate our Lord,
Who freed us from our sins.
...it does us great good,
...unless...when we might cause offence
or scandal by not telling the truth.
...
Whoever is really humble,
ought to wish sincerely to be despised...
If you seek to follow our Lord,
in what better way can you do so?"
[ Way of Perfection: Ch. 15: #1
Translation: Benedictines of Stanbrook ]
. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Found. ch. xxvii. 19, 20.
"...His Majesty ceases not
to defend those who desire to serve Him,
that this
not only did not distress me,
but gave me such unexpected joy
...in the other slanders and contradictions
nothing of the kind happened;
...they thought they were causing me
the greatest affliction in the world;
they had probably other good intentions.
[ Bk of Foundations: Ch. 27: #19 ]
...I had a joy
in the contradictions and reproaches
I met with...
...some persons were against me
with good intentions,
...at any other time
any one of the three trials
that came upon me all at once
would have been trial enough for me.
I believe
that my chief source of joy lay in this
— I thought
that, as creatures thus repaid me,
I must have pleased my Creator,
for I know
that he
who will take his pleasure
in the things of earth
or
in the praise of men
will be greatly deceived,
to say nothing of the little
he may gain by it ;
men are
of one opinion today,
of another tomorrow;
that of which
they once speak well
they soon revile.
Blessed be Thou, my God and my Lord,
Who never changest, never !"
[ Bk of Foundations: Ch. 27: #20
Translation: D. Lewis ]
___________________________
[215]
'Forty years ago.'
The Saint seems to refer
to her first experience in the mystical life,
which took place during her illness
in the winter of 1537-38.
See Life, ch. iv. 9.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #14's
Footnote reference #215
"14.
Now to speak of other trials and illnesses
of many kinds which generally occur
to people in this state.
I knew some one
who, from the time
when, forty years ago, [215]
our Lord began to bestow on her
the favour described,
could not affirm with any truth
that she had been a single day
without pain and other kinds of suffering"
Complete Works St. Teresa of Avila
Volume 1
'An outline of the Life of St. Teresa'
Transated by Edgar Allison Peers
"1536 (November 2).
Enters Carmelite Convent
of the Incarnation, Avila,
as a novice
(..."It is forty years
since this nun took the habit,"
wrote St. Teresa in 1576...).
1537 (November 3).
Professed at Convent
of the Incarnation.
1538 (Autumn...) :
Health gives way.
("when the winter began")
Goes to stay with her half-sister,
Dona Maria...
On the way there, stays...
with her uncle,
Don Pedro de Cepeda,
who gives her a copy of Osuna's
Third Spiritual Alphabet."
1539 (April-July). Undergoes treatment...
1539 (August 15). Attack of catalepsy,
which leaves her helpless
"for more than eight months"...
1540 (about Easter).
Returns to Incarnation.
An invalid till late in 1541:
"...suffered for three years"...
The effects of the paralysis
remain till the summer of 1542
...and recur intermittently...
till about 1554.
c. 1555-6. ... interior voices
...visions... and revelations"
c. 1556-7. Final "conversion"
1558... her first rapture and
perhaps...an imaginary vision of Christ
(usually dated... 1558.
But a likelier date is 1560...
1559. ..Transverberation of her heart..."
. ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Life, ch. iv. 9.
"6. The fainting-fits
began to be more frequent;
and my heart was so seriously affected... And thus, it was I spent the first year, having very bad health... [ Life: Ch. 4: #6
Translation: D. Lewis ]
8...The uncle...gave me a book
called Tercer Abecedario,
[ Third Spiritual Alphabet By Fray Francisco de Osuna, of the Order of St. Francis ] which treats of the prayer of recollection. ... I...resolved to follow the way of prayer it described with all my might. ...our Lord had already bestowed upon me
the gift of tears...
I began..to... make a beginning
of that way of prayer,
with this book for my guide [ Life: Ch. 4: #8 ] 9...I spent nearly nine months in the practice of solitude our Lord began to comfort me so much in this way of prayer, as in His mercy to raise me to the prayer of quiet, and now and then to that of union, though I understood not what either the one or the other was... It is true that the prayer of union lasted but a short time: I know not if it continued for the space of an Ave Maria; but the fruits of it remained... I seemed to despise the world utterly; [ Life: Ch. 4: #9 Translation: D. Lewis ] 10. I used to labour with all my might to imagine Jesus Christ,
our Good and our Lord,
present within me. And this was the way I prayed. If I meditated on any mystery of His life, I represented it to myself as within me..." [ Life: Ch. 4: #10 Translation: D. Lewis ]
___________________________
[216]
Life, ch. iv. 6;
v;
vi;
vii. 18;
xi. 23;
xxx. 9.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #14's
Footnote reference #216
"14.
Now to speak of other trials and illnesses
of many kinds which generally occur
to people in this state.
...
I am speaking of physical infirmities
besides heavy crosses sent her. [216]"
Life, ch. iv. 6;
See Footnote #215 above
___________________________
[217]
Ibid. ch. iii. 6, 7.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #14's
Footnote reference #217
"14.
Now to speak of other trials and illnesses
of many kinds which generally occur
to people in this state.
...
True,
she had led a wicked life
and therefore held these troubles
very light in comparison with the hell
she had deserved. [217]
Ibid. ch. iii. 6, 7. (The Life)
"6. Though I remained here but a few days,
yet, through the impression
made on my heart
by the words of God both heard and read,
and
by the good conversation of my uncle,
I came to understand the truth...
that all things are as nothing,
...vanity, and passing rapidly away.
I also began to be afraid
that, if I were then to die,
I should go down to hell.
...I saw that the religious state was
the best and the safest.
...I resolved to force myself into it.
[ Life: Ch. 3: # 6 ]
7.... The trials and sufferings of living
as a nun
cannot be greater
than those of purgatory, and
I have well deserved to be in hell.
It is not much to spend the rest of my life
as if I were in purgatory,
and then go straight to Heaven
which was what I desired.
I was more influenced by servile fear...
than by love, to enter religion.
[ Life: Ch. 3: # 7
Translation: D. Lewis ]
___________________________
[218]
Life, ch. xiii. 21-27.
Way of Perf. ch. v. 1, 2.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #15's
Footnote reference #218
"15.
Let us first speak of the trial of meeting
with so timorous and inexperienced
a confessor
that nothing seems safe to him;
he dreads and suspects everything
but the commonplace,
especially in a soul
in which he (detects) any imperfection,
for he thinks people
on whom God bestows such favours
must be angels,
which is impossible
while we live in our bodies. [218]
He, at once, ascribes everything
to the devil or melancholy."
Life, ch. xiii. 21-27.
"21. He who begins
is in need of instruction,
whereby he may ascertain
what profits him most.
For this end it is very necessary
he should have a director,
who ought to be a person of experience;
for if he be not,
- he will make many mistakes, and
- direct a soul
without understanding its ways...
I have met with souls cramped
and tormented,
because he who directed them
had no experience...
...for directors who do not understand
the spirit of their penitents,
afflict them soul and body,
and hinder their progress.
22. One person... had been kept
by her director for eight years,
as it were, in prison;
He would not allow her to quit
the subject of self-knowledge;
and yet our Lord had already raised her
to the prayer of quiet;
so she had much to suffer.
23. Although this matter
of self-knowledge
must never be put aside--
for among all the states of prayer,
however high they may be,
there is not one
in which it is not often necessary
to go back to the beginning...
The knowledge
- of our sins, and
- of our own selves...
When a soul
- beholds itself resigned, and
- clearly understands
that there is no goodness in it
- when it feels itself abashed
in the presence of so great a King,
and
- sees how little it pays
of the great debt it owes Him--
why should it be necessary for it
to waste its time on this subject?
Why should it not rather proceed
to other matters
which our Lord places before it...?
His Majesty surely knows
better than we do
what kind of food is proper for us.
24. So, then, it is of great consequence
that the director should be
- prudent, ...of sound understanding
- a man of experience.
- ...a learned man
But if these three qualities
cannot be had together,
the first two are the most important,
because learned men may be found
with whom we can communicate
when it is necessary.
Learning is a great thing,
- for it teaches us who know so little, and
- enlightens us;
so when we have come to the knowledge
of the truths contained
in the holy writings,
we do what we ought to do.
25. (if) he has no light himself,
and can therefore give none to others,
however much he may wish to do so.
26...that every Christian should continue
to be guided by a learned director
if he can, and the more learned the better.
They who walk in the way of prayer
have the greater need of learning; and
the more spiritual they are
the greater is that need...
27...It will help us much if we consult those
who are learned, provided they be virtuous;
even if they be not spiritual...
- God will enable them to understand
what they should teach...
28...His director may be deficient
in the three requisites I speak of
and that will be no slight cross,
without voluntarily subjecting
the understanding to one
whose understanding is none of the best.
[ Life: Ch. 13: #21- 28
Translation: D. Lewis ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Way of Perf. ch. v. 1, 2.
"For the love of our Lord, I beg
...for the nuns to have,
besides their ordinary confessors,
learned priests to whom they may all
speak and open their souls, e
specially if their own confessors,
though holy,
are not great scholars.
God forbid that the religious
should be directed entirely by one priest
if he is ill-instructed,
however saintly his spirit may appear...
The greater favours our Lord shows you
in prayer,
the more need is there
that you should be well informed
about your devotions, prayer,
and all your other duties.
2... the foundation of all
must be a good conscience;
you ought to make every effort
to free yourselves even from venial sin
and to do what is most perfect.
...I had to consult one (Confessor)
on matters of conscience
who had gone through
a whole course of theology,
and he did me much harm
by telling me certain matters
were of no consequence.
...he knew no better...
Everything depends on our having light
to keep the law of God perfectly;
on this basis prayer rests solidly...
There is need, then,...to consult men
who are both spiritual and learned.
...Nothing, however, must be done
against obedience.
[ Way of Perfection: Ch. 5: #1,2
Translation: Benedictines of Stanbrook ]
___________________________
[219]
Ibid, ch. xxx. 15. (The Life)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #16's
Footnote reference #219
16. The poor soul,
beset by the same fears,
seeks its confessor as judge,
and
feels a torture and dismay
at his condemnation
that can only be realized by those
who have experienced it themselves. [219]
For one of the severe trials of these souls,
especially if they have lived wicked lives,
is their belief
that God permits them to be deceived
in punishment for their sins.
While actually receiving these graces,
they
feel secure
and
cannot but suppose
that these favours proceed
from the Spirit of God"
Ibid, ch. xxx. 15. (The Life)
14..."Vocal prayer or solitude is only
a greater affliction,
because the interior suffering...
is unendurable...
if it seeks relief from the fire
by spiritual reading,
it cannot find any...
15...
Then, as to going to our confessor,
... spoke to me and reproved me
with such harshness,
... had scruples on the subject,
because of my grievous trials
of soul and body,--
I used to think, too,
that I deceived them;
so I went to them, and
cautioned them very earnestly
to be on their guard against me,
for it might be that I deceived them.
I saw well enough
that I would
not do so advisedly,
nor tell them an untruth;
but everything made me afraid.
One of them, on one occasion,
when he had heard me speak
of this temptation,
told me not to distress myself;
for, even if I wished to deceive him,
he had sense enough
not to be deceived.
This gave me great comfort.
[ Life:: Ch. 30: #15
Translation: D. Lewis ]
___________________________
[220]
Ibid, ch. xxxviii. 21.
Rel. ii. 15.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #16's
Footnote reference #220
"While actually receiving these graces,
they
feel secure
and
cannot but suppose
that these favours proceed
from the Spirit of God;
but this state lasts a very short time,
while the remembrance of their misdeeds
is ever before them,
so that when, as is sure to happen,
they discover any faults in themselves,
these torturing thoughts return. [220]"
Ibid, ch. xxxviii. 21 (The Life)
"...When our Lord made me
remember my wicked life,
I wept;
for as I considered
that I had then never done any good,
I thought He might be about to bestow
upon me some special grace;
because most frequently,
when I receive any particular mercy
from our Lord,
it is when I have been
previously greatly humiliated,
in order that I may the more clearly see
how far I am from deserving it.
I think our Lord must do it for that end."
[ Life: Ch. 38: #21
Translation: D. Lewis ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Rel. ii. 15.
"I do not see
how I could imagine
any one of my virtues to be mine,
for it is not long since I was
for many years
without any at all; and
now so far as I am concerned,
I do nothing but receive graces,
without rendering
any service in return,
being the most worthless creature
in the world...
I am good for nothing in myself.
This is not humility only,
but the simple truth;
and the knowledge
of my being so worthless
makes me sometimes think with fear
that I must be under some delusion...
I place myself in the hands of God,
and trust my desires;
for I know for certain
that my desires are
to die for Him, and
to lose all ease, and
that whatever may happen.
[ Relations: 2: #15
Translation: D. Lewis ]
__________________________
[221]
Life, ch. xxviii. 20 sqq.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #18's
Footnote reference #221
"All this is nothing
without the further pain of thinking
we cannot make our confessors
understand the case
and
are deceiving them. [221]"
Life, ch. xxviii. 20 sqq.
"20. My confessor,
...a most discreet man,
and of great humility;
much given to prayer, and
(much) learned,
he never trusted his own judgment,
He had, therefore, much to suffer
on my account, in many ways.
I knew they used to say to him
that he must be
on his guard against me,
lest Satan should delude him
through a belief
in anything I might say to him...
21...He bade me never to conceal
anything from him;
and I never did.
He used to say that,
so long as I did this,
the devil, if it were the devil,
could not hurt me;
23. Those servants of God...
As I spoke to them carelessly,
so they misunderstood my meaning
in many things.
...they looked upon me
as deficient in humility;
and when they detected
any of my faults...
they condemned me at once.
[ Life: Ch. 28: #20 sqq
Translation: D. Lewis ]
___________________________
[222]
Anton. a Sp. S.
l.c. tr. ii. n. 313.
On this subject which is commonly called
the passive purgation of the intellect,
it would be advisable
to consult some good author
such as Philippus a SS. Trinitate,
l.c. part. i. tr. iii. disc. iii.-v.,
especially disc. iv. art. 5, 6.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #18's
Footnote reference #222
"Many are the trials
which assault this soul,
causing an internal anguish
so painful and so intolerable
that I can compare it to nothing
save that suffered by the lost in hell,
for no comfort can be found
in this tempest of trouble. [222]"
Anton. a Sp. S.
l.c. tr. ii. n. 313.
Probably refers to
Antonii a Spirtu Sancto's
"Directorium Mysticum"
(approx 1677)
by Antony of the Holy Spirit, OCD,
a Discalced Carmelite Friar,
which includes: prayer, active and passive
purification, contemplation, etc
It is said to be an abridgement of the
"Summa Theologiae Mysticae"
of Philip of the Holy Trinity,
the French Carmelite Friar.
Refers to "Summa Theologiae Mysticae"
of the Carmelite, Philip of the Holy Trinity
___________________________
[223]
Life, ch. xxv. 21.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #19's
Footnote reference #223
"19. If the soul seeks for consolation
from its confessor,
all the demons appear to help him
to torment it more...
She lost all control over herself...
she could no more understand a book...
for her mind was incapable of acting. [223]
Life, ch. xxv. 21
"21..
I was by myself,
- having no one
in whom I could find any comfort;
- unable to pray or read,
like a person stunned
by heavy trials, and
by the dread that the evil one
had deluded me;
- utterly disquieted and wearied,
- not knowing what would become
of me.
[ Life: Ch. 25: #21
Translation: D. Lewis ]
___________________________
[224]
Ibid. ch. xxv. 23.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #20's
Footnote reference #224
"20.
there is no other remedy...
except to wait for the mercy of God
Who, unexpectedly,...
suddenly dispels all these sorrows;
then every cloud of trouble disappears
and
the mind is left
full of light
and
far happier than before. [224]"
Ibid. ch. xxv. 23. (Life)
23...in the state I was in then,
many hours would have been necessary
to calm me
Yet I found myself...
tranquil and strong,
courageous and confident,
at rest and enlightened;
in a moment,
- my soul seemed changed, and
- I felt I could maintain
against all the world
that my prayer was the work of God.
Oh, how good is God!...
He gives
not counsel only,
but relief as well...
As He strengthens our faith,
love grows.
So it is, in truth;
for I used frequently to recollect
how our Lord,
when the tempest arose,
commanded the winds to be still
over the sea.
[ Life: Ch. 25: #23 ]
Translation: D. Lewis ]
___________________________
[225]
Ibid. ch. xxiv. 3.
Way of Perf. ch. xli. 5.
Castle, M. vii. ch. iv. 1.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #21's
Footnote reference #225
"21...past experience has taught the soul
its utter incapacity;
It realizes
the nothingness of human nature
and
what miserable creatures we are.
Although, in a state of grace,
from which it has not fallen
--for, in spite of these torments,
it has not offended God,
nor would it do so
for any earthly thing -- [225]"
Ibid. ch. xxiv. 3.
"3. My soul was now sensitive
to every offence
I committed against God,
however slight it might be...
I prayed earnestly
that our Lord
- would hold me by the hand, and
- not suffer me to fall again...
[ Life: Ch. 24: #3
Translation: D. Lewis ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Way of Perf. ch. xli. 5.
"5. Great pains are required
in order to root this holy fear
deeply in the soul,
although, when a genuine love
is felt for God,
He soon gives it
on seeing her firm determination
not to commit even a venial sin...
The firmer are our resolutions
the less ought we to confide
in our own strength,
for all our confidence must rest on God"
[ Way of Perfection: Ch. 41: #5
Translation: Benedictines of Stanbrook ]
___________________________
[226]
Excl. xvi. 4.
___________________________
[227]
Life, ch. xxxi. 27.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #24's
Footnote reference #227
"24.
How can the soul possibly tell what ails it?
Its pains are indescribable;
It is wrung with nameless anguish
and spiritual suffering.
The best remedy for these crosses... is
- to perform external works of charity
and
- to trust in the mercy of God,
which never fails those
who hope in Him. [227]"
Life, ch. xxxi. 27.
"27...
by such slight performances,
--they become of worth
because done for God,--
His Majesty helps us on
towards greater things;
and so it happened to me
in the matter of humility.
[ Life: Ch. 31: #27
Translation: D. Lewis ]
|
End of
Mansion 6 Chapter 1
The Interior Castle
or
The Mansions
S. Teresa of Jesus
of the Order of our Lady of Carmel
St. Teresa of Avila
|
Note:
Attempt was made to display the quotes
of the other books being cited
by the editor's foot notes.
But, they may not be the actual intended passages
that were cited by the editor
since the editions/translations used by the editor
may have different paragraph numbering than those
available to this blog.
|
Posted: 2/27/12
