Carmelite Book Studies ~ The Interior Castle or The Mansions: The Interior Castle: Mansion 6 - Chapter 6 Discussion - The Mansions - St. Teresa of Avila

The Interior Castle or The Mansions

S. Teresa of Jesus

of the Order of our Lady of Carmel

St. Teresa of Avila

Discussion of Mansion 6 - Chapter 6

Discussion of Mansion 6 Chapter 6

█ Summary or Highlights

▀ The Bridegroom's Love and Communications

▀ The Soul's Intense Longing for God

▪ The Search

▪ The Remembrance of His Communications

▪ Pleading for His Return

▀ The Soul Longs for Death

▀ Yet, The Soul Longs to Live

To Suffer for God

To Praise God and Lead Others to Praise God

■ But, often, the Soul lacks Courage

▪ Too timorous undertake any work for God

▪ Fear of Displeasing God

▪ Yet, these Fears Engender

Humility and Trust in God

▀ The Soul's Deliberation over these Favors

■ Confident that one is being led by God

■ Yet, the Soul Fears Deception

■ Misunderstood and Suspected by Others

■ Prays To Be Led By Some Other Way

■ Yet, She Can't Resist Desiring these Favors

█ St. Teresa Teaches:

▀ When Ardent Desires Need Restraint

■ When they incur distress

■ When they are a Deception

■ St. Teresa's Recommendations

▪ These favors are a grace and gift of God

▪ These favors can not

be deserved or acquired

▀ Regarding True Ardent Desires

▀ Works, Not Tears, Are Asked By God.

▀ Prayer

░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░

█ God's Operation of Love:

'The Jubilee of the Soul'

■ To Praise God Is Its One Desire.

■ The Soul Desires that Others Praise God, too

■ This Grace is a Supernatural Gift of God

One can not acquire it by its own efforts.

■ Confident that one is being Led by God

■ The Faculties and The Senses

■ Duration

▀ The Bridegroom's Love and Communications

"...During this exile

God can communicate Himself

to us loathsome worms;

it will rather make us love Him

for such immense goodness and infinite mercy."

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 1

Chapter 1: #4

"When these joys are from God,

they come laden with love and strength,

which aid the soul on its way and

increase its good works and virtues.

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 3:

Chapter 2: #17 ]

"I have come to set fire to the earth,

and

How I wish it were already kindled!"

[ Luke 12: 49 ]

▀ The Soul's Intense Longing for God

▪ The Search

"I sought him whom my soul loveth:

I sought him, and found him not"

[ Canticle of Canticles: 3:1 ]

"I opened the bolt of my door to my beloved:

but he had turned aside, and was gone.

My soul melted when he spoke:

I sought him, and found him not:

I called, and he did not answer me."

[ Canticle of Canticles: 5:6 ]

"Show me, O thou whom my soul loveth,

where thou (art)

[ Canticle of Canticles: 1:7 ]

"Whither is thy beloved gone...

whither is thy beloved turned aside,

and we will seek Him with thee"

[ Canticle of Canticles: 6:1 ]

▪ The Remembrance of His Communications

"Thou hast ravished my heart"

"Thou hast wounded my heart...my spouse,

thou hast wounded my heart

[ Canticle of canticles: 4:9]

"I adjure you... if you find my beloved,

that you tell him

that I languish with love

[ Canticle of canticles: 5:8 ]

"A fountain of gardens,

a well of living waters"

[ Canticle of canticles: 4:15]

"He brought me into the cellar of wine,

he set in order charity in me. "

"He brought me to the banqueting house,

and his banner over me was love."

[ Canticle of Canticles: 2:4 ]

▪ Pleading for His Return

Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples:

for I am sick of love"

[ Canticle of Canticles: 2: 5 ]

"Let my beloved come into his garden"

[ Canticle of Canticles: 5:1 ]

"Put me as a seal upon thy heart,

as a seal upon thy arm,

for love is strong as death"

[ Canticle of Canticles: 8:6 ]

"... make me hear thy voice"

[ Canticle of Canticles: 8:13 ]

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"These sublime favours leave the soul

so desirous of fully enjoying Him

Who has bestowed them."

"So tender is her love

that at the slightest provocation

it flames forth

and

the soul takes flight."

[ Interior castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #1 ]

▀ The Soul Longs for Death

"this poor little butterfly

can find no lasting rest"

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #1 ]

"O all ye that pass by the way,

attend, and see

if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow"

[ Lamentations: 1: 12 ]

• "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

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #1 ]

"O poor little butterfly!

chained by so many fetters that stop thee

from flying where thou wouldst!

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #3 ]

"Oh miserable times and wretched life

spent in the world!

How blest are those

whose happy lot it is to be freed from them!"

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #14 ]

"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'
'Sadly I pine, O God of Mine'

Translation:

Benedictines Of Stanbrook]

▀ Yet, The Soul Longs to Live

To Suffer for God

To Praise God and Lead Others to Praise God

"they seek to live...

in the hopes of helping

if but one soul to praise God better."

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #2]

"...her desires for Thy honour and glory!"

"...aided by Thy strength

she can endure many trials.

She is resolved to do so

--she desires to suffer them."

"...so that men,

seeing the good in her is not her own,

may praise ( God ) for it!"

"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.

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #4 ]

"for it is not satisfied with serving our Lord

in the common way,--

it must do so forthwith

in the highest way it can.

[ Life: Ch. 20: #31 ]

These desires to endure life for God

while detached from life

"are not transient,

but permanent desires;

(and)

when opportunity occurs of acting on them,

they prove genuine.

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #4 ]

■ But, often, the soul lacks courage

▪ Too timorous undertake any work for God

"How can I say

that ...These desires to endure life for God...

are permanent,

when at times the soul feels

cowardly in the most trivial matters

and

too timorous to undertake any work

for God?

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #4 ]

But, not only fearful

of undertaking valiant works of suffering,

St. Teresa writes that often these souls

are fearful regarding its sins and faults

▪ Fear of Displeasing God

"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,

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #2 ]

▪ Yet, these Fears Engender

Humility and Trust in God

"...Our Lord,

for its greater good, ...

leaves the soul to its natural weakness..."

This self-knowledge of its weakness

"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.

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #5 ]

▀ The Soul's Deliberation over these Favors

"in this mansion,

raptures occur very frequently,

nor can they be resisted even in public."

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #1 ]

■ Confident that one is being led by God

"she feels great confidence within her soul,

especially when alone with God"

"so great are the benefits

left by these favours

that she cannot but see

that they lead her on the way to heaven,"

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #2 ]

■ Yet, The Soul Fears Deception

"However she may try,

she cannot keep free

from the fears

suggested to her by so many people,

especially by her confessors."

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #1 ]

"she is greatly troubled by misgivings

lest she is deceived by the devil

and so

should offend (God)

Whom she deeply loves."

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #2]

"She asks every one to pray for her"

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #2]

■ Misunderstood and Suspected by Others

"Persecutions and slanders ensue"

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #1 ]

"She cares little for blame,

except when her confessor finds fault

with her"

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #2]

■ Prays To Be Led By Some Other Way

"She...begs His Majesty to direct her

by some other way

than this which is so full of danger."

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #2]

■ Yet, She Can't Resist Desiring these Favors

"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."

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #2 ]

█ St. Teresa Teaches:

▀ When Ardent Desires Need Restraint

■ When they incur distress

rather than "the calm and peace

given by this pain to the soul"

[ Paragraph #6]

"as I see danger in everything.

...I am afraid of delusions

in so good a thing as tears,

[Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #8]

"Beware...

these ardent desires to behold our Lord

are sometimes so distressing

as to need rather to be checked

than to be encouraged

[Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #5]

▪ If the Intellect is capable

"--that is, if feasible"

[Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #5]

"these longings can sometimes be arrested,

for the reason (intellect /understanding)

is at liberty to conform to the will of God"

"Should these desires become

very oppressive,

the thoughts may be turned

to some other matter.

[Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #6]

■ When they are a Deception

□ From the devil

"As such longings are generally found

in persons far advanced in perfection,

the devil may excite them.

...it is well to be cautious.

he...would disturb (the soul)

by such uneasiness

as we feel when afflicted

concerning any worldly matter. "

[Interior Castle: Mansion 6: Chapter 6:#6]

The devil seizes this opportunity

of weakening nuns

so that they become unable

to pray or keep their Rule"

[Interior Castle: Mansion 6: Chapter 6: #7]

□ Self-deception

▫ Valuing grief in itself

"A person,

...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."

[Interior Castle: Mansion 6: Chapter 6:#6]

"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.

[Interior Castle: Mansion 6: Chapter 6: #7]

▫ Bodily Weakness and /or

Sensitive Temperament

"...bodily weakness may cause such pain,

especially with people

of sensitive characters

who cry over every trifling trouble.

"they imagine

they are mourning for God's sake

when they are doing no such thing."

"hear(ing) the least mention of God...

these fits of uncontrollable weeping occur"

"the cause may be ( a bodily condition)

which has a great deal more to do

with such tears

than has the love of God.

[Interior Castle: Mansion 6: Chapter 6: #7]

■ St. Teresa's Recommendations

▪ These favors are a grace and gift of God

"leaving tears to fall

when God sends them,

without trying to force ourselves

to shed them."

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #9]

"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."

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #10]

▪ These favors can not

be deserved or acquired

"However,

we may tire ourselves

in digging to reach (the living water)

we shall never get any water like this;

we may often work and search

until we are exhausted without finding

as much as a pool,

much less a springing well!"

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #9 ]

▀ Regarding True Ardent Desires

"when the fire burns fiercely within,

stony as my heart may be,

it distills" (and purifies)

"...when tears come from this source,

...they

- are soothing and gentle

rather than stormy

and

- rarely do any harm.

[Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #8]

"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.

[Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #9 ]

▀ "Works, not tears, are asked by God."

"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

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #9 ]

▀ Prayer

"...it best for us to

- place ourselves in the presence of God,

- contemplate

His mercy and grandeur

and

our own vileness

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #10 ]

█ God's Operation of Love:

'The Jubilee of the Soul'

"Our Lord sometimes causes in the soul

a certain jubilation

and

a strange and mysterious kind of prayer

...at once painful and pleasant"

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #11 ]

■ "To praise God..is its one desire."

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #11 ]

"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.

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #15 ]

■ The Soul Desires that Others Praise God, too

"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.

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #11 ]

"She...wishes...

to invite all her friends to feast with her

(that)... they might proclaim

the praises of their God.

It requires a painful effort

to keep silent

and

to dissemble such impulsive happiness."

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #12 ]

"St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi ( a Carmelite Nun)...said

'Do you not know, my dear Sisters,

that Jesus Christ is nothing but Love.

He is even mad with love'…

And she added that she wished…
that all the people in the world...

should come to love Jesus"

[ The Passion and Death of Jesus Christ:

Reflections and Affections on the Passion...

Chapter 2: # VIII: Page 39
St. Alphonsus de Liguori ]

■ This Grace is a Supernatural Gift of God

One can not acquire it by its own efforts.

"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.

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #15 ]

"If He bestows this grace on you,

praise Him fervently for it"

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #11 ]

■ Confident that one is being Led by God

"she cannot doubt its security...

(at least for the time being)...

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.

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #12 ]

■ The Faculties and The Senses

"the faculties of the soul

are closely united to God

but...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."

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #11 ]

"the soul is

like one inebriated,

although not deprived of the senses"

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #15 ]

▪ Not melancholia, hysteria, or such

nor like a person afflicted with melancholia,

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.

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #15 ]

■ Duration

"Sometimes it lasts for a whole day."

[ Interior Castle: Mansion 6:

Chapter 6: #15 ]

End of the Discussion of

Mansion 6 Chapter 6

The Interior Castle

The Mansions

S. Teresa of Jesus

of the Order of our Lady of Carmel

St. Teresa of Avila

Carmelite Book Studies ~ The Interior Castle or The Mansions

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

The Interior Castle: Mansion 6 - Chapter 6 Discussion - The Mansions - St. Teresa of Avila - Teresa of Jesus

The Interior Castle or The Mansions

Discussion of Mansion 6 Chapter 6

█ Summary or Highlights