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 6
|
Mansion 6 Chapter 6
Chapter Contents
• Describes An Effect
Which Proves The Prayer
Spoken Of In The Last Chapter
To Be Genuine And No Deception,
• Treats Of Another Favour
Our Lord Bestows On The Soul
To Make It Praise Him Fervently.
░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
1. The soul longs for death.
2. The soul cannot help
desiring these favours.
3. St. Teresa bewails her inability
to serve God.
4. Fervour resulting from ecstasies.
5. Excessive desires to see God
should be restrained.
6. They endanger health.
7. Tears often come from Physical causes.
8. St. Teresa's own experience.
9. Works, not tears, are asked by God.
10. Confide entirely in God.
11. The jubilee of the soul.
12. Impossibility of concealing this joy.
13. The world's judgment of this jubilee.
14. Which is often felt
by the nuns of St. Joseph's.
15. The Saint's delight in this jubilee.
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Mansion 6 Chapter 6
CHAPTER VI.
1. The soul longs for death.
1.
THESE sublime favours leave the soul
so desirous of fully enjoying Him
Who has bestowed them
that
- life becomes a painful
though delicious torture,
and
- death is ardently longed for.
Such a one often implores God with tears
to take her from this exile
where everything she sees wearies her. [306]
Solitude alone
brings great alleviation for a time,
but soon her grief returns
and yet she cannot bear to be without it.
In short,
this poor little butterfly
can find no lasting rest.
So tender is her love
that at the slightest provocation
it flames forth
and
the soul takes flight.
Thus, in this mansion,
raptures occur very frequently,
nor can they be resisted even in public.
Persecutions and slanders ensue; [ 307]
however she may try,
she cannot keep free from the fears
suggested to her
by so many people,
especially by her confessors.
2. The soul cannot help
desiring these favours.
2.
Although
in one way
she feels great confidence within her soul,
especially when alone with God,
yet on the other hand,
she is greatly troubled by misgivings
lest she is deceived by the devil
and so
should offend (God)
Whom she deeply loves.
She cares little for blame,
except when her confessor finds fault
with her
as if she could help what happens.
She asks every one to pray for her [308]
since she has been told to do so,
and
begs His Majesty to direct her
by some other way
than this which is so full of danger.
Nevertheless,
so great are the benefits
left by these favours
that she cannot but see
that they lead her on the way to heaven,
[309]
of which she has
read and heard and learnt
in the law of God.
As, strive how she may,
she cannot resist desiring
to receive these graces,
she resigns herself into God's hands.
Yet, she is grieved at finding herself
forced to wish for these favours
which appears to be disobedience
to her confessor,
for she believes that
in obedience,
and
in avoiding any offence against God,
lies her safeguard against deception.
Thus she feels she would prefer
to be cut in pieces
rather than willfully commit a venial sin,
yet is greatly grieved at seeing
that she cannot avoid unwittingly falling
into a great number.
God bestows on such people
so intense a desire
neither ever to displease Him
in however small a matter,
nor to commit
any avoidable imperfection,
that, were there no other reason,
they would try to avoid society
and
they greatly envy those
who live in deserts.
who live in deserts.
[310]
On the other hand,
they seek to live amidst men
in the hopes of helping
if but one soul to praise God better. [311]
In the case of a woman,
she
grieves over the impediment
offered by her sex [312]
and
envies those who are free to proclaim aloud
to all
Who this mighty God of hosts is. [313]
3. St. Teresa bewails her inability
to serve God.
3.
O poor little butterfly!
chained by so many fetters that stop thee
from flying where thou wouldst!
Have pity on her, O my God,
and
so dispose her ways
that she may be able
to accomplish some of her desires
for Thy honour and glory!
Take no account
of the poverty of her merits,
nor of the vileness of her nature, Lord,
Thou Who hast the power to compel
the vast ocean to retire, and
didst force the wide river Jordan
to draw back
so that the Children of Israel
might pass through! [314]
Yet spare her not,
for aided by Thy strength
she can endure many trials.
She is resolved to do so
--she desires to suffer them.
Stretch forth Thine arm, O Lord,
to help her
lest she waste her life on trifles!
Let Thy greatness appear
in this Thy creature,
womanish and weak as she is,
so that men,
seeing the good in her is not her own,
may praise Thee for it!
Let it cost her
what it may
and
as dear as she desires,
for she longs to lose a thousand lives
to lead one soul to praise Thee
but a little better.
If as many lives were hers to give,
she would count them well spent
in such a cause,
knowing as a truth most certain
that she is unworthy
to bear the lightest cross,
much less
to die for Thee.
4. Fervour resulting from ecstasies.
4.
I cannot tell
why I have said this, sisters,
nor what made me do so;
indeed I never intended it.
You must know
that these effects are bound to follow
from such trances or ecstasies:
they are not transient,
but permanent desires;
when opportunity occurs of acting on them,
they prove genuine.
How can I say that they are permanent,
when at times the soul feels
cowardly in the most trivial matters
and
too timorous to undertake any work
for God?
5. Excessive desires to see God
should be restrained.
5.
I believe
it is because our Lord,
for its greater good,
then leaves the soul to its natural weakness,
which at once convinces it so thoroughly
that any strength it possessed
came from His Majesty
as to destroy its self-love,
enduing it with a greater knowledge
of the mercy and greatness of God
which He deigned to show forth
in one so vile.
However,
the soul is usually in the former state.
Beware of one thing, sisters;
these ardent desires to behold our Lord
are sometimes so distressing
as to need rather to be checked
than to be encouraged
--that is, if feasible,
for in another kind of prayer
of which I shall speak later,
it is not possible as you will see.
6. They endanger health.
6.
In the state, I speak of,
these longings can sometimes be arrested,
for the reason (intellect /understanding)
is at liberty to conform to the will of God
and
can quote the words of St. Martin; [315]
Should these desires become very oppressive,
the thoughts may be turned
to some other matter.
As such longings are generally found
in persons far advanced in perfection,
the devil may excite them
in order to make us think
we are of their number
--in any case it is well to be cautious.
For my part,
I do not believe
he (the devil) could cause
the calm and peace
given by this pain to the soul,
but would disturb it by such uneasiness
as we feel when afflicted
concerning any worldly matter.
A person,
inexperienced in both kinds of sorrow,
cannot understand the difference,
but thinking such grief an excellent thing,
will excite it as much as possible
which greatly injures the health,
as these longings are incessant
or at least very frequent.
7. Tears often come from Physical causes.
7.
You must also notice
that bodily weakness may cause such pain,
especially with people
of sensitive characters
who cry over every trifling trouble. [316]
Times without number
do they imagine
they are mourning for God's sake
when they are doing no such thing.
If for a considerable space of time,
whenever such a person
hears the least mention of God
or
thinks of Him at all,
these fits of uncontrollable weeping occur,
[317]
the cause may be an accumulation
of humour round the heart,
which has a great deal more to do
with such tears
than has the love of God.
Such persons seem
as if they would never stop crying:
Believing that tears are beneficial, they
do not try
to check them
nor
to distract their minds
from the subject,
but encourage them as much as possible.
The devil seizes this opportunity
of weakening nuns
so that they become unable
to pray
or
to keep their Rule.
8. St. Teresa's own experience.
8.
I think you
must be puzzling over this
and
would like to ask
what I would have you do,
as I see danger in everything.
If I am afraid of delusions
in so good a thing as tears,
perhaps I myself am deluded,
and may be I am!
But believe me,
I do not say this
without having witnessed it in other people
although not in my own case,
for there is nothing tender about me
and
my heart is so hard as often to grieve me.
[318]
However,
when the fire burns fiercely within,
stony as my heart may be,
it distills like an alembic. [319]
It is easy to know
when tears come from this source,
for they
- are soothing and gentle
rather than stormy
and
- rarely do any harm.
This delusion,
when it is one,
has the advantage, with a humble person,
of only injuring the body and
not the soul.
But if one is not humble,
it is well to be ever on one's guard.
9. Works, not tears, are asked by God.
9.
Let us not fancy
that if we cry a great deal
we have done all that is needed-
- rather we must
work hard
and
practise the virtues:
that is the essential
-- leaving tears to fall
when God sends them,
without trying to force ourselves
to shed them.
Then,
if we do not take too much notice of them,
they will
leave the parched soil of our souls
well watered,
making it fertile in good fruit;
For this is the water
which falls from heaven. [320]
However,
we may tire ourselves in digging to reach it,
we shall never get any water like this;
indeed,
we may often work and search
until we are exhausted without finding
as much as a pool,
much less a springing well!
10. Confide entirely in God.
10.
Therefore, sisters,
I think it best for us to
- place ourselves in the presence of God,
- contemplate
His mercy and grandeur
and
our own vileness
and
- leave Him to give us what He will,
whether water or drought,
for He knows best
what is good for us;
thus,
we enjoy peace
and
the devil will have less chance to deceive us.
11. The jubilee of the soul.
11.
Amongst these favours,
at once painful and pleasant,
Our Lord sometimes causes in the soul
a certain jubilation [321]
and
a strange and mysterious kind of prayer.
If He bestows this grace on you,
praise Him fervently for it;
I describe it
so that you may know
that it is something real.
I believe
that the faculties of the soul
are closely united to God
but that He leaves them at liberty
to rejoice in their happiness together
with the senses,
although they do not know
what they are enjoying
nor how they do so.
This may sound nonsense
but it really happens.
So excessive is its jubilee
that the soul will not enjoy it alone
but speaks of it
to all around
so that they may help it to praise God,
which is its one desire. [322]
12. Impossibility of concealing this joy.
12.
Oh,
what rejoicings would this person utter
and
what demonstrations would she make,
if possible,
so that all might know her happiness!
She seems to have found herself again
and
wishes,
like the father of the prodigal son,
- to invite all her friends to feast with her
[323]
and
- to see her soul in its rightful place,
because (at least for the time being)
she cannot doubt its security.
I believe she is right,
for the devil could not possibly
infuse a joy and peace
into the very centre of her being
which make her whole delight
consist in urging others to praise God.
It requires a painful effort
to keep silent
and
to dissemble such impulsive happiness.
St. Francis must have experienced this
when,
as the robbers met him
rushing through the fields crying aloud,
he told them in answer to their questions
that he was 'the herald of the great King.'
[324]
So felt other saints
who retired into the deserts
so that, like St. Francis,
they might proclaim
the praises of their God.
13. The world's judgment of this jubilee.
13.
I knew Fray Peter of Alcantara
who used to do this.
I believe he was a saint
on account of the life he led,
yet people often took him for a fool
when they heard him. [325]
Oh happy folly, sisters!
Would that God might let us all share it!
What mercy He has shown you
in placing you where,
if He gave you this grace
and
(if) it were perceived by others,
it would
rather turn to your advantage
than bring on you contempt
as it would do in the world,
where men so rarely hear God praised
that it is no wonder
they take scandal at it.
14. Which is often felt
by the nuns of St. Joseph's.
14.
Oh miserable times and wretched life
spent in the world!
How blest are those
whose happy lot it is to be freed from them!
[326]
It often delights me,
when in my sisters' company
to see
how the joy of their hearts is so great
that they vie with one another
in praising our Lord
for placing them in this convent:
It is evident that their praises
come from the very depths of their souls.
I should like you to do this often, sisters,
for when one begins
she incites the rest to imitate her.
How can your tongues be better employed
when you are together
than in praising God,
Who has given us so much cause for it?
15. The Saint's delight in this jubilee.
15.
May His Majesty often grant us
this kind of prayer
which is most safe and beneficial;
We cannot acquire it for ourselves
as it is quite supernatural.
Sometimes it lasts for a whole day
and
the soul is
like one inebriated,
although not deprived of the senses;
[327]
nor like a person afflicted
with melancholia, [328]
in which, though
the reason
is not entirely lost,
the imagination continually dwells
on some subject which possesses it
and from which it cannot be freed.
These are coarse comparisons
to make in connection
with such a precious gift,
yet nothing else occurs to my mind.
In this state of prayer,
a person is rendered by this jubilee
so forgetful of self and everything else
that she can
neither think
nor speak of anything
but praising God,
to which her joy prompts her.
Let us all of us join her, my daughters,
for why should we wish to be wiser than she?
What can make us happier?
And
may all creatures unite their praises with ours
for ever and ever.
Amen, amen, amen!
________________
Foot Notes:
[306]
Excl. ii.
See poem 4,
Cuan triste es, Dios mio';
and
the two versions of
Vivir sin vivir en mi.'
(Poems 3 and 4. Minor Works.)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #1's
Footnote reference #306
"THESE sublime favours leave the soul
so desirous of fully enjoying Him
that
- life becomes a painful
though delicious torture,
and
- death is ardently longed for.
"Such a one often implores God with tears
to take her from this exile
where everything she sees wearies her.
[306]"
Excl. ii.
1. Often do I think, O my Lord,
that if aught can soothe a life
apart from Thee
it is solitude...
Yet...being forced to deal with creatures,
2...O sovereign love of God,
how different are thine effects
from those of earthly love,
Love for my God increases
on learning that others love Him,
and its joys diminish at seeing
that all men do not share its happiness.
3..Thus my soul seeks company,
gladly leaving its own delight,
moved by the hope
that it may incite souls to strive to attain it.
[ Exclamation of the Soul: 2: 1,2,3 ]
Translation:
Benedictines Of Stanbrook
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
See poem 4,
Cuan triste es, Dios mio';
Poem 4.
THE SOUL'S EXILE.
I Cuan triste es, Dios mio !
Sadly I pine, O God of mine !
Afar from Thee I sigh !
With yearning heart, from Thee apart,
I long to die !
Weary the day and long the way
That on this earth we wend :
A sojourn drear man passes here,
In exile doomed to spend.
...
Craving the grace to see Thy face,
I long to die ! ...
[ Poems of St. Teresa
Minor Works Of St. Teresa.
Poem 4,
THE SOUL'S EXILE
Cuan triste es, Dios mio';
Translation:
Benedictines Of Stanbrook ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. . . . .
The two versions of
Vivir sin vivir en mi.'
(Poems 3 and 4. Minor Works.)
Poem 2.
THE SOUL'S DESIRE.
Vivo sin vivir en mi.
I live, but yet I live not in myself,
For since aspiring to a life more high
I ever die because I do not die.
This mystic union of Love divine,
The bond whereby alone my soul doth live,
Hath made of God my Captive — but to me
True liberty of heart the while doth give.
And yet my spirit is so sorely pained
At gazing on my Lord by me enchained,
That still I die because I do not die.
Alas, how wearisome a waste is life !
...
No life so bitter, none so sad as mine
While exiled from my Lord
...
From life's long banishment,
God, relieve me !
from this mournful freight
Which crushes with a more
than leaden weight
So that I die because I do not die.
Behold, how strong to master us is love !
Molest me, Life, no more ! ...
Come, gentle Death, sweet Death,
do thou delay
...
For life to me is but a death forlorn
Wherein I die because I do not die !
Say, Life,
what is there I can do for Him,
My God,
Who in my heart His home doth make,
Except supremer joy in Him attain
By forfeiture of thee for His dear sake ?
Longed-for Death, that maketh all mine own
Him Whom my heart aspireth for alone,
The while I die because I do not die !
...
Anon my heart begins to find relief
While gazing on Thee in the Sacred Host,
Yet seeing that I still enjoy Thee not
Tis then I feel my exile from Thee most.
Thus all I see doth but increase my pain,
While still I languish for Thy sight in vain
And ever die because I do not die.
...
I wait and hope : slow pass the weary years
...
I die with longing to behold Thee near
And gain true life !
Without Thy presence dear,
Behold, I die because I do not die
[ Poems of St. Teresa
Minor Works Of St. Teresa.
Poem 2,
THE SOUL'S DESIRE
'Vivir sin vivir en mi.';
Translation:
Benedictines Of Stanbrook ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Poem 3.
THE SOUL'S DESIRE.
second vers;
Vivo sin vivir en mi.
A life apart, estranged from myself,
Is now my lot because I die of love;
And since our Lord has sought me
for His own.
In Him, not in myself, I live and move.
For when my heart to Christ I wholly gave
Therein this epigraph did He engrave —
That I should die because I do not die !
This mystic union of love divine,
This bond whereby alone my soul doth live,
Hath made my God my Captive — yet to me
True liberty of heart the while doth give.
And yet my spirit is so sorely pained
When I behold my Lord by me enchained,
That still I die because I do not die.
Alas ! how wearisome a waste is life !
How hard a fate to bear my exile here
...
[ Poems of St. Teresa
Minor Works Of St. Teresa.
Poem 3,
THE SOUL'S DESIRE
'Vivir sin vivir en mi.';
Translation:
Benedictines Of Stanbrook ]
_____________________
[307]
Life, ch. xxv. 18.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #1's
Footnote reference #307
"Thus, in this mansion,
raptures occur very frequently,
nor can they be resisted even in public.
Persecutions and slanders ensue; [ 307]"
Life, ch. xxv. 18
"My confessor told me
they were all of opinion
that I was deceived by Satan;
that I must
communicate less frequently, and
contrive to distract myself
in such a way as to be less alone."
_____________________
[308]
Ibid. ch. xxv. 20.
Rel. vii. 7.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #2's
Footnote reference #308
"She cares little for blame,
except when her confessor finds fault
with her
as if she could help what happens.
She asks every one to pray for her [308]
since she has been told to do so,
and
begs His Majesty to direct her
by some other way
than this which is so full of danger. "
Ibid. ch. xxv. 20.
"My confessor,
... told me that,
if I did not offend God,
my prayer,
even if it was the work of Satan,
-- could do me no harm;
-- that I should be delivered from it.
He bade me pray much to God:
he himself...and many others
did so earnestly;
I, too, with all my might...
prayed that His Majesty
would be pleased to lead me
by another way.
...this was the subject
of my continual prayer to our Lord.
[ Life: Ch. 25: #20 ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Rel. vii. 7.
"Many prayers were made, and
many Masses were said,
that our Lord would lead her
by another way,
for her fear was very great
when she was not in prayer;
though in everything
relating to the state of her soul
she was very much better,
and a great difference was visible"
[ Relation 7: # 7 ]
_____________________
[309]
Ibid. ch. xxvii. 1, 2.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #2's
Footnote reference #309
"Nevertheless,
so great are the benefits
left by these favours
that she cannot but see
that they lead her on the way to heaven,
[309]"
Ibid. ch. xxvii. 1, 2
"many prayers...
were made on my behalf,
that our Lord would lead me
by another and
a safer way;
for this, they told me, was so suspicious.
The truth is, that
though I was
praying to God for this, and
wished I had a desire for another way,
yet, when I saw the progress
I was making,
I was unable really to desire a change,
though I always prayed for it...
[ Life: Ch. 27: # 1 ]
I felt that I was wholly changed;
I could do nothing
but put myself in the hands of God...
let Him do with me
according to His will in all things.
I saw that by this way
I was directed heavenwards, and
that formerly I was going down to hell.
[ Life: Ch. 27: # 2 ]
_____________________
[310]
Rel. i. 6.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #2's
Footnote reference #310
"God bestows on such people
so intense a desire
neither ever to displease Him
in however small a matter,
nor to commit
any avoidable imperfection,
that, were there no other reason,
they would try to avoid society
and
they greatly envy those who live in deserts.
[310]"
Rel. i. 6.
"Sometimes, if I have to speak to any one,
...I suffer so much...
for my whole desire is to be alone, and
solitude comforts me...
and conversation
-- particularly of kindred and connections
seems oppressive,
...but go where I might be alone:
[ Relation 1: # 6 ]
...I have not enough for my prayer,
for I should never be tired of being alone. "
[ Relation 1: # 7 ]
_____________________
[311]
Life, ch. xxxii. 14;
xxxv. 13.
Castle, M. vii. ch. iv. 21 .
Found. ch. i. 6, 7.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #2's
Footnote reference #311
"On the other hand,
they seek to live amidst men
in the hopes of helping
if but one soul to praise God better.
[311]"
Life, ch. xxxii. 14;
9. It was that vision that
filled me with the very great distress
which I feel at the sight
of so many lost souls,
...
gave me the most vehement desires
for the salvation of souls;
for certainly I believe that,
to save even one
from those overwhelming torments,
I would most willingly
endure many deaths.
...What, then, must it be
to see a soul in danger of pain...
...
It is a thought no heart can bear
without great anguish.
... how we can be calm,
when we see Satan carry
so many souls daily away.
[ Life: Ch. 32: # 9 ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Life, ch. xxxv. 13.
15. May our Lord of His mercy
make us see
- what a poor security we have
in the midst of dangers so manifest,
when we live
like the rest of the world
People are not afraid of living
in the midst of lions,
I am speaking
of honours, pleasures, and the like joys,
would I relieve myself by
weeping, and
proclaim aloud
my own great blindness and wickedness,
if, perchance, it might help
in some measure to open their eyes.
May He, who is almighty, of His goodness
open their eyes, and
never suffer mine to be blind again!
[ Life: Ch. 35: # 13 ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Castle, M. vii. ch. iv. 21 .
...you may say that you have
neither the power nor the means
to lead souls to God;
though you would willingly do so,
you do not know how,
as you can neither teach nor preach
as did the Apostles.
...the devil frequently fills our thoughts
with great schemes,
so that instead of putting our hands
to what work we can do to serve our Lord,
we may rest satisfied with wishing
to perform impossibilities.
[ Interior Castle: Mansion 7: Ch. 4: # 21 ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Found. ch. i. 6, 7.
Found. ch. i. 6
After four years...
there came to see me
...Father Maldonado,
a great servant of God,
having the same desires
that I had for the good of souls.
He was able to carry his into effect,
for which I envied him enough.
He had just returned from the Indies.
He began by telling me
of the many millions of souls there
perishing through the want of instruction,
and preached us a sermon
encouraging us to do penance,
and then went his way.
I was so distressed
because so many souls were perishing
that I could not contain myself.
I went to one of the hermitages,
weeping much,
and cried unto our Lord,
beseeching Him to show me,
when the devil was carrying
so many away,
- how I might do something
to gain a soul for His service, and
- how I might do something by prayer
now that I could do nothing else,
I envied very much those
who for the love of our Lord
could employ themselves
in this work for souls,
though they might suffer a thousand deaths.
Thus, when I am reading
in the lives of the saints
how they converted souls,
I have
more devotion,
more tenderness and envy,
than when I read all the pains
of martyrdom they underwent;
for this is an attraction
which our Lord has given me;
and I think He prizes one soul
which of His mercy
we have gained for Him
by our prayer and labour
more than all the service
we may render Him.
[ Bk of the Foundations: Ch.1: # 6]
Translation: David Lewis ]
_____________________
[312]
Way of Perf. ch. i.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #2's
Footnote reference #312
"In the case of a woman,
she grieves over the impediment
offered by her sex [312]"
Way of Perf. ch. i.
"I felt that I would have laid down
a thousand lives to save
one of the many souls perishing there.
Yet, as I am but a woman,
feeble and faulty,
it was impossible for me to serve God
in the way I wished...
Therefore I determined to do
what little was in my power,
which was to follow
the Evangelical counsels
as perfectly as I could...
[ Way of Perfection: Ch. 1: #2 ]
Translation: Benedictines of Stanbrook ]
_____________________
[313]
III Reg. xix. 10.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #2's
Footnote reference #313
"envies those
who are free to proclaim aloud to all
Who this mighty God of hosts is. [313]"
III Reg. xix. 10.
With zeal have I been zealous
for the Lord God of hosts
[ 1 Kings: 19: 14 ]
_____________________
[314]
Ps. cxiii. 3;
Exod. xiv. and
Jos. iii.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #3's
Footnote reference #314
"Have pity on her, O my God,
and
so dispose her ways
that she may be able
to accomplish some of her desires
for Thy honour and glory!
...
Thou Who hast the power to compel
the vast ocean to retire, and
didst force the wide river Jordan
to draw back
so that the Children of Israel
might pass through! [314]
Yet spare her not,
for aided by Thy strength
she can endure many trials.
She is resolved to do so
--she desires to suffer them.
Stretch forth Thine arm, O Lord,
to help her
lest she waste her life on trifles!"
Psalm 114
1 When Israel went out of Egypt...
3 The sea saw and fled:
Jordan was turned back.
5 What ailed thee, O thou sea,
that thou didst flee:
and thou, O Jordan,
that thou wast turned back?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Exod. xiv.
26 And the Lord said to Moses:
Stretch forth they hand over the sea,
that the waters may come again upon the
pursuers, upon their chariots and horsemen.
27 ... the waters came upon them...
28 And the waters returned,
and covered the chariots
and the horsemen of all the army...
who had come into the sea after them,
29 But the children of Israel marched
through the midst of the sea upon dry land,
and the waters were to them as a wall
on the right hand and on the left:
[ Exodus 14 ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Jos. iii.
5 And Josue said to the people:
Be ye sanctified:
for to morrow the Lord will do wonders
among you.
7 And the Lord said to Josue:
8 And do thou command the priests
...say to them:
When you shall have entered into part
of the water of the Jordan, stand in it....
13 And when the priests, that carry the ark
of the Lord the God of the whole earth,
shall set the soles of their feet in the waters
of the Jordan,
the waters that are beneath shall run down
and go off:
and those that come from above,
shall stand together upon a heap.
16 The waters that came down from above
stood in one place, and swelling up like a
mountain, were seen afar off from the city...
[ Josua 3 ]
_____________________
[315]
'When St. Martin was dying,
his brethren said to him:
Why, dear Father, will you leave us?
Or to whom can you commit us
in our desolation?
We know, indeed,
that you desire to be with Christ,
but your reward above is safe and
will not be diminished by delay;
rather have pity on us
whom you are leaving desolate.'
Then Martin, always pitiful,
moved by these lamentations,
is said to have burst into tears.
Turning to God,
he replied to the mourners around him
only by crying:
O Lord, if I am still necessary
to Thy people,
I do not shrink from toil;
Thy will be done.'
(Sulpitius Severus,
Life of St. Martin, letter 3.)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #6's
Footnote reference #315
"these longings can sometimes be arrested,
for the reason (intellect /understanding)
is at liberty to conform to the will of God
and
can quote the words of St. Martin; [315]"
_____________________
[316]
Way of Perf.. ch. xvii. 4;
xix. 6.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #7's
Footnote reference #316
"You must also notice
that bodily weakness may cause such pain,
especially with people
of sensitive characters
who cry over every trifling trouble. [316]
Times without number
do they imagine
they are mourning for God's sake
when they are doing no such thing."
Way of Perf.. ch. xvii. 4;
"...tears, though a good sign,
do not always indicate perfection.
Humility, mortification, detachment,
and other virtues are the safest..."
[ Way of Perfection: Ch.17: # 4 ]
Translation: Benedictines of Stanbrook ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Way of Perf.. ch. xix. 6.
"...The water of genuine tears,
shed during real prayer,
is a gift from the King of heaven:
it feeds the flames and keeps them alight..."
[ Way of Perfection: Ch.19: # 6 ]
Translation: Benedictines of Stanbrook ]
_____________________
[317]
Life, ch. xxix. 12.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #7's
Footnote reference #317
"If for a considerable space of time,
whenever such a person
hears the least mention of God
or
thinks of Him at all,
these fits of uncontrollable weeping occur,
[317]
the cause may be an accumulation
of humour round the heart,
which has a great deal more to do
with such tears
than has the love of God."
Life, ch. xxix. 12
That prayer is of a much lower order;
and those agitations should be avoided
by gently endeavouring to be recollected;
and the soul should be kept in quiet.
This prayer is like the sobbing
of little children...
So here reason should draw in the reins,
because nature itself
may be contributing to it
and we should consider with fear
that all this may not be perfect, and
that much sensuality may be involved in it.
...too much fuel
has been applied to it, and
out of which everything is lost.
The source of the fire
must be kept under control, and
the flame must be quenched
in sweet tears, and
not with those painful tears
which come out of these emotions, and
which do so much harm.
[ Life: Ch. 29: #11 ]
In the beginning,
I had tears of this kind.
They left me with
a disordered head and
a wearied spirit,
and for a day or two afterwards
unable to resume my prayer.
Great discretion, therefore,
is necessary at first,
in order
that everything may proceed gently, and
that the operations of the spirit
may be within;
all outward manifestations should
be carefully avoided.
[ Life: Ch. 29: #12 ]
_____________________
[318]
Compare with this
what we have said
in note 1 to the second chapter
of the Fourth Mansions.
Rel. ii. 12.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #8's
Footnote reference #318
"although not in my own case,
for there is nothing tender about me
and
my heart is so hard as often to grieve me.
[318]"
Fourth Mansions: Second Chapter
Note 1
These feelings of devotion produce
fits of sobbing;
I have even heard that sometimes
they cause
- a compression of the chest,
and
- uncontrollable exterior motions,
violent enough to cause bleeding
at the nose
and
- other painful effects. [124]
Foot Note [124]
'A clear description of an attack of hysteria
with the significant remark
that she herself had never experienced
anything of the kind'.
(Dr. Goix, quoted by P. Gregoire,
La Pretendue Hysterie de Sainte Therese,
Lyons, Vitte, 1895, p. 53.)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Rel. ii. 12
11. The vehement longings
to do penance
which come, and have come, upon me
are great;
...however, I do but little,
because of my great weakness.
[ Relation 2: # 11 ]
12 ...It must be very great,
for it makes me
weep much, and
speak the language of affliction,
almost without being aware of it,
and that is what
I am not in the habit of doing,
for I do not remember
that I ever did so
in the very heaviest trials of my life:
I am not a woman in these things,
for I have a hard heart.
[ Relation 2: # 12 ]
_____________________
[319]
Life, ch. xix. 1-3.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #8's
Footnote reference #319
"However,
when the fire burns fiercely within,
stony as my heart may be,
it distils like an alembic. [319]"
(alembic- device that was used
to distill, purify )
Life, ch. xix. 1-3.
1. There remains in the soul,
when the prayer of union is over,
an exceedingly great tenderness;
so much so, that it would undo itself
not from pain,
but through tears of joy
...
But to behold the violence of the fire
subdued by the water,
which yet makes it burn the more,
gives it great delight.
[ Life: Ch. 19: # 1]
2. It has happened to me occasionally,
when this prayer was over,
... on finding myself in a flood of tears
which had painlessly flowed,
with such violence and rapidity
that it seemed as if a cloud from heaven
had shed them to perceive
that it was no dream... .
[ Life: Ch. 19: # 2]
3. Blessed be Thou, O my Lord,
who, out of a pool so filthy as I am,
bringest forth water so clean
as to be meet for Thy table!
[ Life: Ch. 19: # 3]
_____________________
[320]
Way of Perf. ch. xix. 6.
Life, ch. xviii. 12 sqq.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #9's
Footnote reference #320
"For this is the water
which falls from heaven. [320] "
Way of Perf. ch. xix. 6.
4. ...the living fountain of water
of which our Lord spoke
to the Samaritan woman,
promising that whoever drank of it
should never thirst again.
...For the soul thirsts no more
for the things of this world,
although its craving for the next life
exceeds any natural thirst
that can be imagined.
Yet how the heart pines for this thirst,
realising its priceless value!
When it has been satiated by God,
one of the greatest graces
He can bestow on the spirit
is to leave it with this thirst,
which, after drinking,
increases the longing to partake
again and again of this water.
[ Way of Perfection: Ch. 19: # 6 ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Life, ch. xviii. 12 sqq.
I am now speaking of the water which cometh down from heaven ...
[ Life: Ch. 18: #12 ]
_____________________
[321]
Philippus a SS. Trinit.
l.c. p. iii. tr. i. disc. iv. art. 5.
Antonius a Sp. S. l.c. tr. iv. n.156.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #11's
Footnote reference #321
"Our Lord sometimes causes in the soul
a certain jubilation [321]
and
a strange and mysterious kind of prayer.
Philippus a SS. Trinitate,
Probably refers to
"Summa Theologiae Mysticae"
of Philip of the Holy Trinity,
the French Carmelite Friar.
which includes: prayer, active and passive
purification, contemplation, etc
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Antonius a Sp. S.
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.
_____________________
[322]
Rel. ii. 12.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #11's
Footnote reference #322
"So excessive is its jubilee
that the soul will not enjoy it alone
but speaks of it
to all around
so that they may help it to praise God,
which is its one desire. [322]"
Rel. ii. 12
13. I feel in myself
a very earnest desire...
that God may find those
who will serve Him..
in all detachment, and
who will not cleave
to anything of this world..
...
I do nothing
but pray to God for such men,
because I see that one person,
who is wholly perfect in the true fervour
of the love of God,
will do more good
than many who are lukewarm.
[ Relation 2: # 13 ]
_____________________
[323]
St. Luke xv. 23.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #12's
Footnote reference #323
"what rejoicings would this person utter
...
She seems to have found herself again
and
wishes,
like the father of the prodigal son,
- to invite all her friends to feast with her
[323] "
St. Luke xv. 23
23 And ....let us eat and make merry:
24 Because this my son was dead,
and is come to life again:
was lost, and is found.
And they began to be merry.
[ Luke: 15: 23 ]
_____________________
[324]
'He plunged into a large forest,
and there in a loud voice and in French,
he made the echoes resound
with the praises of God.
Some robbers, attracted by his singing,
rushed out upon him.
But the sight of so poor a man
destroyed their hopes of booty.
They questioned him,
and Francis gave them no answer
beyond saying in allegorical language:
I am the herald of the great King!'
The robbers considered themselves
insulted by these words.
They threw themselves upon him,
beat him severely, and went off
after having thrown him into a ditch
full of snow.
This treatment only added fire
to the zeal of Francis.
He sang his holy canticles
with greater love than before.'
(Rev. Father Leon,
Lives of the Saints
of the Order of St. Francis,
vol. 1, ch, i,)
. .
_____________________
[325]
'St. Peter of Alcantara,
in the jubilation of his soul
through the impetuosity of divine love,
was occasionally unable to refrain
from singing the divine praises aloud
in a wonderful manner.
To do this more freely,
he sometimes went into the woods
where the peasants who heard him sing,
took him for one
who was beside himself.'
(Rev. Alban Butler,
Lives of the Saints.)
_____________________
[326]
Way of Perf. ch. ii. 8;
iii. i;
viii. 1.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #14's
Footnote reference #326
"Oh miserable times and wretched life
spent in the world!
How blest are those
whose happy lot it is to be freed from them!
[326]"
Way of Perf. ch. ii. 8;
6. For love of our Lord,
since our badge is holy poverty...
now that it is no longer observed
so perfectly in exteriors,
strive to practise it interiorly.
by following the counsels of our Lord
the very imitating His Majesty
in any way would be an ample recompense.
[ Way of Perfection: Ch. 2: # 6 ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Way of Perf. ch. iii. i;
2. Do you think, my daughters,
that it is easy to keep friends
with the world, to live in it,
to transact worldly business,
to conform to its usages,
and yet, in one s heart, to remain
a stranger and enemy of this same world,
like an exile?
...unless they be forearmed by
knowing the need of spurning all things
earthly beneath their feet,
detached from all things transitory,
and wholly devoted to what is eternal...
[ Way of Perfection: Ch. 3: # 2 ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Way of Perf. ch. viii. 1.
"...detachment...
if this be perfect it,
will include everything else.
...because, if we cling to our Creator alone
and care nothing for created things,
His Majesty will infuse the virtues into us...
Do you think that it is a small gain
to give ourselves entirely to Him,
keeping nothing for ourselves,
since in His goodness all is contained...
It is clear that our lives are cut off
from all outward things here:
our Lord seems to wish to deprive us of all
that would hold us captive to this world,
so that He may...draw us to Himself.
[ Way of Perfection: Ch. 8: # 1 ]
_____________________
[327]
Compare with this
what has been said
in the fourth chapter of this Mansion,
# 17, note 17.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #15's
Footnote reference #327
( regarding a certain jubilation
and
a strange and mysterious
kind of prayer"
and Desire to praise God
as described in Paragraph 11)
"We cannot acquire it for ourselves
as it is quite supernatural.
Sometimes it lasts for a whole day
and
the soul is like one inebriated,
although not deprived of the senses;
[327] "
Fourth chapter of this Mansion,
# 17, note 17.
"...when He intends ravishing the soul,
He takes away the power of speech,
and
although occasionally
the other faculties
are retained rather longer,
no word can be uttered.
Sometimes the person is
at once deprived of all the senses,
the hands and body becoming as cold
as if the soul had fled;
occasionally no breathing can be detected.
This condition lasts but a short while...
[ Interior Castle: Mansion 6: Ch. 4: #17 ]
This supreme state of ecstasy
never lasts long,
but although it ceases,
it leaves
the will so inebriated, [282]
and
the mind so transported out of itself
that for a day,
or sometimes for several days,
such a person is incapable
of attending to anything
but what excites the will
to the love of God;
Although wide awake enough to this,
she seems asleep
as regards all earthly matters.
[ Interior Castle: Mansion 6: Ch. 4: #18 ]
_____________________
[328]
Melancholia here as elsewhere
means hysteria.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #15's
Footnote reference #328
"nor like a person afflicted
with melancholia, [328]
in which, though
the reason
is not entirely lost,
the imagination continually dwells
on some subject which possesses it
and from which it cannot be freed."
|
End of
Mansion 6 Chapter 6
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.
|
