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 7
|
Mansion 6 Chapter 7
Chapter Contents
Describes
• The Grief Felt
On Account Of Their Sins By Souls
On Whom God Has Bestowed
The Before-Mentioned Favours.
Shows
• That However Spiritual
A Person May Be,
It Is A Great Error
Not To Keep Before Our Mind:
The Humanity Of Our Lord
And Saviour Jesus Christ
And His Sacred Passion
And Life,
As Also
The Glorious Mother Of God
And The Saints.
• The Benefits Gained
By Such A Meditation.
This Chapter Is Most Profitable.
░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
1. Sorrow for sin
felt by souls in the Sixth Mansion.
2. How this sorrow is felt.
3. St. Teresa's grief for her past sins.
4. Such souls, centered in God,
forget self-interest.
5. The remembrance of divine benefits
increases contrition.
6. Meditation on our Lord's Humanity.
7. Warning against discontinuing it.
8. Christ and the saints our models.
9. Meditation of contemplatives.
10. Meditation during aridity.
11. We must search for God
when we do not feel His presence.
12. Reasoning and mental prayer.
13. A form of meditation
on our Lord's Life and Passion.
14. Simplicity
of contemplatives' meditation.
15. Souls in every state of prayer
should think of the Passion.
16. Need of the example
of Christ and the saints.
17. Faith shows us our Lord
as both God and Man.
18. St. Teresa's experience of meditation
on the sacred Humanity.
19. Evil of giving up such meditation.
|
Mansion 6 Chapter 7
CHAPTER VII.
1. Sorrow for sin
felt by souls in the Sixth Mansion.
1.
IT may seem to you, sisters,
that souls
to whom God has communicated Himself
in such a special manner,
may feel so sure of enjoying Him forever
as no longer to require
to fear
or
to mourn over their past sins.
Those of you will be most apt
to hold this opinion
who have never received the like favours;
Souls
to whom God has granted these graces
will understand what I say.
This is a great mistake,
for sorrow for sin
increases in proportion
to the divine grace received
and I believe will never quit us
until we come to the land
where nothing can grieve us any more.
Doubtless we feel this pain more
at one time than at another
and it is of a different kind.
A soul so advanced
as that we speak of
does not think
■ of the punishment
threatening its offences
but ( rather, does think )
■ of its great ingratitude towards Him
to Whom it owes so much [329]
and
Who so justly deserves
that it should serve Him,
for the sublime mysteries revealed
have taught it much
about the greatness of God.
2. How this sorrow is felt.
2.
This soul
wonders at its former temerity
and
weeps over its irreverence;
Its foolishness in the past
seems a madness
which it never ceases to lament
as it remembers
for what vile things it forsook
so great a Sovereign.
The thoughts dwell on this
more than on the favours received,
which, like those I am about to describe,
are so powerful
that they seem to rush through the soul
at times like a strong, swift river.
Yet the sins
- remain like the mire
in the river bed
and
- dwell constantly in the memory,
making a heavy cross to bear.
3. St. Teresa's grief for her past sins.
3.
I know some one who,
though she had ceased to wish for death
in order to see God, [330]
yet desired it
that she might be freed
from her continual regret
for her past ingratitude towards Him
to Whom she owed,
and always would owe,
so much.
She thought
no one's guilt could be compared to her own,
for she felt there could be none
with whom God had borne so patiently
nor on whom
He had bestowed such graces.
4. Such souls, centered in God,
forget self-interest.
4.
Souls that have reached
the state I speak of,
have ceased to fear hell.
At times, though very rarely,
they grieve keenly over the possibility
of their losing God;
Their sole dread is
lest He should withdraw His hand,
allowing them to offend Him,
and so
they might return
to their former miserable condition.
They care nothing
for their own pain or glory;
If they are anxious
not to stay long in Purgatory,
it is more on account of its keeping them
from the Presence of God
than because of its torments.
Whatever favours
God may have shown a soul,
I think it is dangerous for it to forget
the unhappy state it was once in;
Painful as the remembrance may be,
it is most beneficial.
5. The remembrance of divine benefits
increases contrition.
5.
Perhaps I think so
because I have been so wicked
and that may be the reason
why I never forget my sins;
People who have led good lives
have no cause for grief;
Yet we always fall at times
whilst living in this mortal body.
This pain is not lessened by reflecting
that our Lord has already
forgiven and forgotten our faults;
Our grief is rather increased
at seeing such kindness and favours
bestowed on one
who deserves nothing but hell.
I think St. Paul and the Magdalen
must thus have suffered a cruel martyrdom;
[331]
their love was intense,
they had
received many mercies
and
realized the greatness and the majesty
of God
and so must have found it very hard
to bear the remembrance of their sins,
which they must have regretted
with a most tender sorrow.
6. Meditation on our Lord's Humanity.
6.
You may fancy
that one who has enjoyed
such high favours,
need not meditate on the mysteries
of the most sacred Humanity
of our Lord Jesus Christ
but will be wholly absorbed in love.
I have written fully about this elsewhere.
[332]
I have been contradicted and told
that I
was wrong
and
did not understand the matter;
that our Lord guides souls in such a way
that after having made progress
it is best
to exercise oneself
in matters concerning the Godhead
and
to avoid what is corporeal;
Yet nothing will make me admit
that this latter is a good way.
7. Warning against discontinuing it.
7.
I may be mistaken;
We may all really mean the same thing
but I found the devil was trying
to lead me astray in this manner.
Having been warned by experience
in this respect,
I have decided to speak again about it here
although I have very often
done so elsewhere [333]
although I have very often
done so elsewhere [333]
Be most cautious on the subject;
Attend to what I venture to say about it
and
do not believe any one
who tells you the contrary.
I will endeavour to explain myself
more clearly than I did before.
If the person
who undertook to write on the matter ,
had treated it more explicitly,
he would have done well,
for it may do much harm to speak of it
in general terms to us women,
who have scanty wits.
8. Christ and the saints our models.
8.
Some souls imagine they cannot meditate
even on the Passion,
still less
on the most blessed Virgin
or
on the saints,
the memory of whose lives
greatly benefits and strengthens us.
[334]
I cannot think
what such persons are to meditate upon,
for to withdraw the thoughts
from all corporeal things
like the angelic spirits
who are always inflamed with love,
is not possible for us
is not possible for us
while in this mortal flesh;
We need
to study,
to meditate upon
and
to imitate those who,
mortals like ourselves,
performed such heroic deeds for God.
How much less should we wilfully endeavour
to abstain from thinking
of our only good and remedy,
the most sacred Humanity
of our Lord Jesus Christ?
I cannot believe that any one really does this;
They misunderstand their own minds
and so harm both themselves and others.
Of this at least I can assure them:
They will never thus enter
the last two mansions of the castle.
If they lose their Guide, our good Jesus,
they cannot find the way
and
it will be much if they have stayed safely
in the former mansions.
Our Lord, Himself, tells us
that He is 'the Way';
He also says
that He is 'the Light';
that no man cometh to the Father
but by Him; and
that He that seeth Me, seeth the Father also.'
[335]
9. Meditation of contemplatives.
9.
Such persons tell us
that these words have some other meaning;
I know of no other meaning but this,
which my soul has ever recognized
as the true one
and
which has always suited me right well.
Some people
(many of whom have spoken to me
on the subject)
after our Lord has once raised them
to perfect contemplation,
wish to enjoy it continually.
This is impossible;
Still, the grace of this state
remains in their souls in such a way
that they cannot reason as before
on the mysteries
of the Passion and the Life of Christ.
I cannot account for it
but it is very usual for the mind thus
to remain less apt for meditation.
I think it must be because,
as the one end of meditation
is to seek God,
after He has once been found
and the soul is accustomed to seek Him
again by means of the will,
it no longer wearies itself
by searching for Him with the intellect.
10. Meditation during aridity.
10.
It also appears to me
that as the will
is already inflamed with love,
this generous faculty would, if it could,
cease to make use of the reason.
This would be well,
were it not impossible,
especially before the soul
has reached the last two mansions.
[336]
Time spent in prayer would thus be lost
as the will often needs
the use of the understanding
to rekindle its love.
Notice this point, sisters,
which as it is important,
I will explain more fully.
Such a soul
desires to spend all its time in loving God
and
wishes to do nothing else;
but it cannot succeed,
for though the will is not dead
yet the flame which kindled it,
is dying out
and
the spark needs fanning into a glow.
Ought the soul
to remain quiescent in this aridity,
waiting like our father Elias
for fire to descend from heaven [337]
to consume the sacrifice
which it makes of itself to God?
Certainly not;
It is not right to expect miracles;
God will work them for this soul
when He chooses.
As I have told you already and shall do again,
His Majesty
wishes us to hold ourselves unworthy
of their being wrought on our account
and
desires us to help ourselves
to the best of our abilities.
11. We must search for God
when we do not feel His presence.
11.
In my opinion we ought
during our whole life,
to act in this manner,
however sublime our prayer may be.
True,
those whom our Lord admits
into the seventh mansion
rarely or never need thus to help their fervour
for the reason I will tell you of;
If I recollect it
when I come to write of this (7th) room
where, in a wonderful manner,
souls are constantly in the company
of Christ our Lord
both in His Humanity and His Divinity.
[338]
Thus,
when the fire in our hearts,
of which I spoke
does not burn in the will,
nor do we feel the presence of God,
we
■ must search for Him
as He would have us do,
like the Bride in the Canticles,
[339]
and
■ must ask all creatures
'Who it was that made them';
as St. Augustine
( either in his Soliloquies
or his Confessions)
tells us that he did. [340]
Thus we shall not stand like blockheads,
wasting our time in waiting
for what we before enjoyed.
At first, it may be
that our Lord will not renew His gift again
for a year or even for many years;
His Majesty knows the reason
which we should not try to discover
since there is no need for us to understand it.
12. Reasoning and mental prayer.
12.
As most certainly
the way to please God is
to keep the commandments and counsels,
let us do so diligently,
while meditating on
▪ His life and death
▪ His life and death
and
▪ all we owe Him;
▪ all we owe Him;
Then let the rest be as God chooses.
Some may answer
that their mind refuses to dwell
on these subjects;
And for the above causes,
this to a certain extent is true.
You know that it is
one thing to reason
and
another thing for the memory
to bring certain truths before the mind.
Perhaps you may not understand me;
Possibly I fail to express myself rightly
but I will do my best.
Using the understanding much in this manner
is what I call meditation.
13. A form of meditation
on our Lord's Life and Passion.
13.
Let us begin by considering
■ the mercy God showed us
by giving us His only Son;
Let us not stop here
but go on to reflect upon
■ all the mysteries
of His glorious life;
of His glorious life;
or let us first turn our thoughts to
■ His prayer in the garden,
then allow them
to continue the subject until they reach
■ the crucifixion.
Or we may
● take some part of the Passion
such as
■ Christ's apprehension
■ Christ's apprehension
and
● dwell on this mystery,
● considering in detail the points
to be pondered and thought over,
such as
■ the treachery of Judas,
■ the flight of the Apostles,
and
■ all that followed.
This is an admirable and very meritorious
kind of prayer. [341]
14. Simplicity
of contemplatives' meditation.
14.
Souls
led by God in supernatural ways
and
raised to perfect contemplation
are right in declaring
they cannot practise this kind of meditation.
As I said, I know not why,
but as a rule,
they are unable to do so.
Yet they would be wrong in saying
that they
cannot dwell on these mysteries
nor frequently think about them,
especially when these events
are being celebrated by the Catholic Church.
Nor is it possible for the soul
which has received so much from God
to forget these precious proofs of His love
which are living sparks
to inflame the heart
with greater love for our Lord,
nor can the mind fail to understand them.
Such a soul comprehends these mysteries,
which are
brought before the mind
and
stamped on the memory
in a more perfect way
than with other people,
so that the mere sight of our Lord
prostrate in the garden,
covered with His terrible sweat,
suffices to engross the thoughts
not merely for an hour
but for several days.
The soul looks with a simple gaze upon
Who He is
and
how ungratefully we treat Him
in return for such terrible sufferings.
Then the will,
although perhaps
without sensible tenderness,
• desires to render Him some service
for such sublime mercies
and
• longs to suffer something for Him
Who bore so much for us,
employing itself in similar considerations
in which the memory and understanding
also take their part.
15. Souls in every state of prayer
should think of the Passion.
15.
I think this is
why such souls
• cannot reason connectedly
about the Passion
and
• fancy they are unable to mediate on it.
Those who do not meditate on this subject
had better begin to do so;
for I know
that it will not impede
the most sublime prayer
nor is it well
to omit praising this often.
If God then sees fit to enrapture them,
well and good;
even if they are reluctant,
He will make them cease to meditate.
I am certain that this way of acting is
- most helpful to the soul
and
- not the hindrance it would become,
were great efforts made
to use the intellect.
This, as I said,
I believe cannot be done
when a higher state of prayer is attained.
It may be otherwise in some cases,
for God leads souls in many different ways.
Let not those be blamed, however,
who are unable to discourse much in prayer,
nor should they be judged
incapable of enjoying the great graces
contained in the mysteries of Jesus Christ,
contained in the mysteries of Jesus Christ,
our only Good,
which no one,
however spiritual he may be,
can persuade me
it is well to omit contemplating.
16. Need of the example
of Christ and the saints.
16.
There are souls
who, having
made a beginning,
or
advanced half-way,
when they begin
to experience the prayer of quiet
and
to taste the sweetness and consolations
God gives,
think it is a great thing to enjoy
these spiritual pleasures continually.
Let them, as I advised elsewhere,
cease to give themselves up so much
to this absorption.
Life is long and full of crosses
and
we have need to look on Christ our pattern,
to see how He bore His trials,
and even
to take example by His Apostles and saints
if we would bear our own trials perfectly.
Our good Jesus and His most blessed Mother
are too good company to be left
and
He is well pleased
if we grieve at His pains,
even though sometimes at the cost
of our own consolations and joys. [342]
Besides, daughters,
consolations are not so frequent in prayer
that we have no time for this as well.
If any one should tell me
(that) she continually enjoys them,
and
that she is one of those
who can never meditate
on the divine mysteries,
I should feel very doubtful about her state.
Be convinced of this;
Keep free from this deception
and
to the utmost of your power
stop yourselves
from being constantly immersed
in this intoxication.
If you cannot do so, tell the Prioress
so that she may employ you too busily
or you to think of the matter;
thus you will be free from this danger
which, if it does no more,
when it lasts long,
greatly injures the health and brain.
I have said enough to prove to those
who require it
that, however spiritual their state,
it is an error to avoid thinking
of corporeal things
as to imagine that meditation
on the most sacred Humanity
can injure the soul.
17. Faith shows us our Lord
as both God and Man.
17.
People allege, in defence,
that our Lord told His disciples
that it was expedient for them
that He should go from them. [343]
This I cannot admit.
He did not say so
to His blessed Mother,
for her faith was firm.
She knew He was both God and man;
and although she loved Him
more dearly than did His disciples,
it was in so perfect a way
that His bodily presence was a help to her.
The faith of the Apostles
must have been weaker
than it was later on,
and
than ours has reason to be.
I assure you, daughters,
that I consider this a most dangerous idea
whereby the devil might end
by robbing us of our devotion
to the most blessed Sacrament.
18. St. Teresa's experience of meditation
on the sacred Humanity.
18.
The mistake I formerly made [344]
did not lead me as far as this,
but I did not care so much
about meditating on our Lord Jesus Christ,
preferring to remain absorbed,
awaiting spiritual consolations.
I recognized clearly
that I was going wrong,
for as I could not always keep in this state,
my thoughts wandered hither and thither
and
my soul seemed like a bird,
ever flying about
and
finding no place for rest.
Thus I
lost much time and
did not advance in virtue
nor make progress in prayer.
19. Evil of giving up such meditation.
19.
I did not understand the reason,
and as I believed that I was acting wisely,
I think I should never have learnt it
but for the advice of a servant of God
whom I consulted about my mode of prayer.
Then I perceived plainly
how mistaken I had been
and
I have never ceased regretting
that there was a time when I did not realize
how difficult it would be
to gain by so great a loss.
Even if I could,
I would seek for nothing save by Him
through Whom comes
all the good we possess.
May He be for ever praised!
Amen.
_________________
Foot Notes:
[329]
Life, ch. vi. 7.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #1's
Footnote reference #329
"A soul so advanced...
does not think
- of the punishment
threatening its offences
but
- of its great ingratitude towards Him
to Whom it owes so much [329]"
Life, ch. vi. 7.
"All these tokens of the fear of God
came to me through prayer; and the greatest of them was this, that fear was swallowed up of love for I never thought of chastisement. [ Life: Ch. 6: # 7
Translation: David Lewis ]
_____________________
[330]
Excl. vi. 4, 5.
Supra, M. v. ch. ii, 5.
Poems 2, 3, 4. Minor Works.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #3's
Footnote reference #330
"though she had ceased to wish for death
in order to see God, [330]"
Excl. vi. 4, 5
4. Ah, death, death, I know not
why men dread thee,
since life is found in thee !
Yet who that has not always loved God
in the past would fear thee not ?
Since I am such a one,
what do I desire and ask ?
Will death but bring the punishment
my sins so justly merit ?
Permit it not, my sovereign Good,
for it cost Thee dear to ransom me !
5.O my soul, submit to the will of thy God:
This is best for thee:
Serve Him and trust to His mercy
to ease thy pain,
when by penance thou hast won some little
claim to pardon for thy sins:
Seek not to rejoice until thou hast suffered!
[Exclamations Or Meditation of the Soul
On Its God: Exclamation 6: # 4, 5:
Minor Works Of St. Teresa
Translation:Benedictines Of Stanbrook ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Supra, M. v. ch. ii, 5
"Discontent with this world
gives such a painful longing to quit it
that, if the heart finds comfort,
it is solely from the thought
that God wishes it to remain here
in banishment.
[ Interior Castle: Mansion 5: Ch. 2: #9 ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Poems 2, 3, 4. Minor Works.
"...No life so bitter, none so sad as mine
While exiled from my Lord
my days are spent,
For though to love be sweet,
yet hope deferred Is wearisome...
...Apart from Thee, my God,
my one Desire I long for,
what is life disconsolate
Save lengthened agony of life prolonged ?
Can any death with mine in pain compare,
Or rival this most grievous life I bear
Wherein I die because I do not die... "
[ Poem 2: The Soul's Desire:
Vivo sin vivir en mi.
Minor Works Of St. Teresa
Translation:Benedictines Of Stanbrook ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
"...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.
...Alas ! how wearisome a waste is life !
How hard a fate to bear my exile here..."
[ Poem 3: The Soul's Desire: 2nd Version
Vivo sin vivir en mi.
Minor Works Of St. Teresa
Translation:Benedictines Of Stanbrook ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
"...While kept apart from Thee !
O Thou my sweet and only Good,
In misery I sigh !
Craving the grace
to see Thy face,
[ Poem 4: The Soul's Exile.
Cuan triste es, Dios mio !
Sadly I pine, O God of mine !
Minor Works Of St. Teresa
Translation:Benedictines Of Stanbrook ]
_____________________
[331]
Life, ch. xxi, 9.
All editions have Peter'.
St. Teresa only wrote 'Po'
but the parallel passage proves
she meant Pablo,
and not Pedro.
See also M. i. ch. i. 5.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #5's
Footnote reference #331
"Our grief is rather increased
at seeing such kindness and favours
bestowed on one
who deserves nothing but hell.
I think St. Paul and the Magdalen
must thus have suffered a cruel martyrdom;
[331]
their love was intense,
they had received many mercies...
and so must have found it very hard
to bear the remembrance of their sins,
which they must have regretted
with a most tender sorrow."
Life, ch. xxi, 9.
"...if a person like myself
because our Lord has given this light to me,
whose love is so cold,
for I have not deserved it
by my works
frequently feels her banishment so much,
(then imagine) what the feelings
of the Saints must have been.
What must St. Paul and the Magdalene...
have suffered,
in whom the fire of the love of God
has grown so strong?
Their life must have been
a continual martyrdom."
[ Life: Ch. 21: # 9 ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
M. i. ch. i. 5.
"God does not bestow these favours
on certain souls
because they are more holy
than others who do not receive them,
but
- to manifest His greatness,
as in the case
of St. Paul and St. Mary Magdalen,
and
- that we may glorify Him
in His creatures."
[ Interior Castle: Mansion 1: Ch. 1: # 5]
_____________________
[332]
Life, ch. xxii. 9-11.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #6's
Footnote reference #332
"Meditation on our Lord's Humanity...
...I have written fully about this elsewhere.
[332]"
Life, ch. xxii. 9-11.
"if we are to please God, and
if He is to give us His great graces,
everything must pass through the hands
of His most Sacred Humanity,
in whom His Majesty said
that He is well pleased.
...this is the door
by which we are to enter,
if we would have His supreme Majesty
reveal to us His great secrets."
[ Life: Ch. 22: # 9 ]
"...seek no other way,
even if you were arrived
at the highest contemplation.
This way is safe.
Our Lord is He
by whom all good things come to us;
He will teach you.
Consider His life;
that is the best example.
What more can we want
than so good a Friend at our side,
who will not forsake us
when we are in trouble and distress...
Let us consider the glorious St. Paul,
who seems
as if Jesus was never absent from his lips,
as if he had Him deep down in his heart..."
[ Life: Ch. 22: #10 ]
"What I would say is,
that the most Sacred Humanity of Christ
is not to be counted among the objects
from which we have to withdraw."
[ Life: Ch. 22: # 11 ]
_____________________
[333]
Ibid. ch. xxii. i;
xxiii. 18;
xxiv. 2.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #7's
Footnote reference #333
"Warning against discontinuing"
( meditation on the sacred humanity
of Christ )
"I have decided to speak again about it here
although I have very often done so elsewhere.
[333]"
Ibid. ch. xxii. i;
"They say that
the contemplative should regard...
-God everywhere around, and
- himself absorbed in Him.
This is what we should aim at.
[ Life: Ch. 22: # 1 ]
"...to withdraw altogether from Christ...
is what I cannot endure...
I hold it to be a delusion"
[ Life: Ch. 22: # 2 ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ibid. ch. xxiii. 18;
"I communicated
the whole state of my soul
to that servant of God,
( Father Juan de Padranos )
He told me
- to make my prayer every day
on some mystery of the Passion,
and that I should profit by it, and
- to fix my thoughts
on the Sacred Humanity only,
[ Life: Ch. 23: # 18 ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ibid. ch. xxiv. 2.
"I began with a renewed love
of the most Sacred Humanity;
My prayer began to be solid,
like a house,
the foundations of which are strong; and
I was inclined to practise greater penance,
having been negligent in this matter
hitherto because of my great infirmities.
The holy man who heard my confession
(*The Peers translation also
indicates Fr Juan de Padrano
by foot note. )
[ Life: Ch. 24: # 2 ]
_____________________
[334]
'Deliberate forgetfulness and rejection
of all knowledge and
of form must never be extended
to Christ and His sacred Humanity.
Sometimes, indeed, in the height
of contemplation and pure intuition
of the Divinity,
the soul does not remember
the Sacred Humanity,
because God raises the mind to this,
as it were, confused
and most supernatural knowledge;
but for all this,
studiously to forget it,
is by no means right,
for the contemplation
of the sacred Humanity
and loving meditation upon it,
will help us up to all good,
and it is by it,
we shall ascend most easily
to the highest state of union.
It is evident at once
that,
while all visible and bodily things
ought to be forgotten,
for they are a hindrance in our way,
He, Who for our salvation, became man,
is not to be accounted among them,
for He is
the truth, the door,
and
the way,
and
our guide to all good.'
[ St. John of the Cross
Ascent of Mount Carmel,
bk. iii. ch. i. 12-14.]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #8's
Footnote reference #334
"Some souls imagine they cannot meditate
even on the Passion... [334]"
_____________________
[335]
St. John viii. 12;
xiv. 6, 9.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #8's
Footnote reference #335
"If they lose their Guide, our good Jesus,
they cannot find the way...
Our Lord, Himself, tells us
that He is 'the Way';
He also says
that He is 'the Light';
that no man cometh to the Father
but by Him; and
that He that seeth Me,
seeth the Father also.' [335] "
St. John viii. 12;
Jesus spoke to them, saying:
I am the light of the world:
he that followeth me,
walketh not in darkness,
but shall have the light of life
St. John xiv. 6, 9.
6 Jesus saith to him:
I am the way, and the truth, and the life.
No man cometh to the Father, but by me.
7 If you had known me,
you would without doubt
have known my Father also:
and from henceforth you shall know him,
and you have seen him.
9 ... he that seeth me seeth the Father also.
10 ... that I am in the Father,
and the Father in me...
The words that I speak to you,
I speak not of myself.
But the Father who abideth in me,
he doth the works.
_____________________
[336]
Life, ch. xv. 20.
St. John of the Cross
treats the subject most carefully.
He shows how and when
meditation becomes impossible:
Ascent of Mount Carmel,
bk. ii. ch. xii. (circa finem)
ch. xiii. (per totum).
Living Flame of Love, stanza iii. 35.
Obscure Night, bk. i. ch. x. 8,
and bk. ii. ch. viii.
That it should be procured
whenever possible:
Ibid. bk. i. ch. x. (in fine);
that it should be resumed;
Ascent of Mount Carmel;
bk. ii, ch. xv.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #10's
Footnote reference #336
"that they cannot reason
as before on the mysteries
of the Passion and the Life of Christ.
...
after He has once been found
and the soul is accustomed to seek Him
again by means of the will,
it no longer wearies itself
by searching for Him with the intellect.
10. It also appears to me
that as the will
is already inflamed with love,
this generous faculty would, if it could,
cease to make use of the reason.
This would be well,
were it not impossible,
especially before the soul
has reached the last two mansions.
[336] "
Life, ch. xv. 20.
In a word, mental prayer
is not to be abandoned altogether now, nor even vocal prayer, if at any time we wish, or can, to make use of either of them;
[ Life: Ch. 15: #14 ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
shows how and when
meditation becomes impossible:
Ascent of Mount Carmel,
bk. ii. ch. xii. (circa finem)
St. John of the Cross
"the farther the soul progresses in
spirituality, the more it ceases from the
operation of the faculties in particular acts,
since it becomes more and more occupied
in one act that is general and pure.."
[ Ascent of Mount Carmel,
bk. ii. ch. xii. # 6 ]
"And, as such souls know not the mystery
of this new experience,
the idea comes to them that they are being
idle and doing nothing;
and thus they allow not themselves to be
quiet, but endeavor to meditate and
reason. Hence they are filled with aridity
and affliction, because they seek to find
sweetness where it is no longer to be found"
[ Ascent of Mount Carmel,
bk. ii. ch. xii. # 7 ]
8. To such as these the advice must be
given to learn to abide attentively and wait
lovingly upon God in that state of quiet,
and to pay no heed either to imagination or
to its working; for here, the faculties are at
rest, and are working, not actively, but
passively, by receiving that which God
works in them...
[ Ascent of Mount Carmel,
bk. ii. ch. xii. # 8 ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ascent of Mount Carmel,
bk. ii. ch. xiii. (per totum).
St. John of the Cross
"certain signs and examples which the
spiritual person will find in himself,
whereby he may know whether or not
it will be meet for him to lay them aside
at this season.
2. The first sign is his realization
that he can no longer meditate or reason
with his imagination...
But, for as long as he finds sweetness in
meditation, and is able to reason, he should
not abandon this, save when his soul is led
into the peace and quietness…
3. The second sign is a realization
that he has no desire to fix his meditation
...upon other particular objects, exterior or
interior...
that the soul has no pleasure in fixing it
of set purpose upon other objects.
4. The third and surest sign is that the soul
takes pleasure in being alone, and waits
with loving attentiveness upon God…
5. These three signs, at least, the spiritual
person must observe in himself,
all together, before he can venture safely to
abandon the state of meditation...and
to enter that of contemplation and spirit.
[ Ascent of Mount Carmel,
Bk. 2: Ch 13: # 1,2,3,4,5
Translation: E. A. Peers ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Living Flame of Love,
stanza iii. 35.
St. John of the Cross
35. At this time, then, the direction of the
soul must be wholly different
from what it was at first.
If formerly it was supplied with matter for
meditation and it did meditate,
now that matter must be withheld and
meditation must cease because,
it can not meditate, do what it will,
and distractions are the result... but it will
meet with aridity, because it turns away
from the peaceful and tranquil good
secretly bestowed upon it...
36. Souls in this state are not to be forced
to meditate or to apply themselves to
discursive reflections laboriously effected,
neither are they to strive after...fervour,
for if they did so, they would be thereby
hindering the principal agent, Who is God
Himself, for He is now secretly and quietly
infusing wisdom into the soul...
The soul then must be lovingly intent upon
God ...so the soul also, on its part, must deal
with Him in the way of receiving by
simple and loving knowledge,
so that knowledge may be joined to
knowledge, and love to love;
because it is necessary here that the
recipient should be adapted to the gift,
and not otherwise, and that the gift may be
accepted and preserved as it is given.
[ Living Flame of Love
Stanza 3: #35, 36
St. John of the Cross
Translation: David Lewis ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Obscure Night, bk. i. ch. x. 8,
1 During the time, then, of the aridities of
this night of sense
(wherein God effects the change ...
drawing forth the soul
from the life of sense
into that of the spirit
-that is, from meditation to contemplation-
wherein it no longer has any power to work
or to reason with its faculties
concerning the things of God...,
spiritual persons suffer great trials,
by reason not so much of the aridities
which they suffer,
as of the fear which they have of being
lost on the road,
thinking... that God has abandoned them
since they find no help or pleasure
in good things.
2 "...for God is now leading them by another road,
which is that of contemplation, and is very different from the first; for the one is of meditation and reasoning, and the other belongs neither to imagination nor yet to reasoning.
[ Dark Night of the Soul
Bk 1: Ch. 8: #1, 2
St. John of the Cross
Translation: E.A. Peers ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Obscure Night
bk. ii. ch. viii.
St. John of the Cross
BUT there is another thing here that afflicts
...the soul greatly, which is that, as
this dark night has hindered its faculties and
affections in this way,
it is unable to raise its affection or its mind
to God, neither can it pray to Him,
thinking, ...with such lack
of strength and of sweetness...
that God neither hears it nor pays heed to it.
In truth this is no time for the soul to speak
with God; it should rather ... endure its
purgation with patience.
It is God Who is passively working here in
the soul; wherefore the soul can do nothing.
2... not only is the understanding here
purged of its light, and the will of its
affections, but the memory is also purged of
meditation and knowledge, it is well that it
be likewise annihilated with respect to all
these things, so that...this purgation may be
fulfilled...
[ Dark Night of the Soul
Bk 2: Ch. 8: # 1, 2
St. John of the Cross
Translation: E.A. Peers ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .
That it should be procured
whenever possible:
Ibid. bk. i. ch. x. (in fine);
St. John of the Cross
6...it behoves such a soul to pay no heed
if the operations of its faculties become lost
to it;
it is rather to desire
that this should happen quickly.
For, by not hindering the operation of
infused contemplation
that God is bestowing upon it, it can receive this with more
peaceful abundance, and cause its spirit
to be enkindled and to burn with the love
which this dark and secret contemplation
brings with it and sets firmly in the soul.
For contemplation is naught else than a
secret, peaceful and loving infusion from
God, which, if it be permitted, enkindles the
soul with the spirit of love...
[ Dark Night of the Soul
Bk 1: Ch. 10: # 6
St. John of the Cross
Translation: E.A. Peers ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
that it should be resumed;
Ascent of Mount Carmel;
bk. ii, ch. xv.
St. John of the Cross
1 it is not to be understood that such
as are beginning to experience this loving
knowledge must, as a general rule, never
again try to return to meditation;
for, when they are first making progress in
proficiency, the habit of contemplation is
not yet so perfect that they can give
themselves to the act thereof whensoever
they wish,
nor...have they reached a point so far
beyond meditation
that they cannot
occasionally meditate and reason...
as they were wont…
Rather, in these early stages, when...the
soul is not occupied in that repose and
knowledge, they will need to make use of
meditation until by means of it they come
to acquire in some degree of perfection the
habit which we have described.
This will happen when, as soon as they
seek to meditate, they experience this
knowledge and peace, and find themselves
unable to meditate and no longer desirous
of doing so...
For until they reach this stage...
they use sometimes the one
( active meditation)
and sometimes the other ( passive ),
at different times.
[ Ascent of Mount Carmel,
Bk. 2: Ch 15: #
Translation: E. A. Peers ]
_____________________
[337]
III Reg. xviii. 30-39.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #10's
Footnote reference #337
"Ought the soul
to remain quiescent in this aridity,
waiting like our father Elias
for fire to descend from heaven [337]
to consume the sacrifice
which it makes of itself to God?
Certainly not;
It is not right to expect miracles;
God will work them for this soul
when He chooses."
III Reg. xviii. 30-39.
37 "O Lord, hear me: that this people may
learn, that thou art the Lord God, and that
thou hast turned their heart again.
38 Then the fire of the Lord fell, and
consumed the holocaust"
[ 1 Kings: 18: 37-38 ]
_____________________
[338]
Continual sense of the presence of God:
Life, ch. xxvii. 6.
Rel. xi. 3:
The intellectual vision
of the Three Persons and
of the Sacred Humanity
seems ever present.'
Castle, M. vii. ch. iv. 15.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #10's
Footnote reference #338
"If I recollect it
when I come to write of this (7th) room
where, in a wonderful manner,
souls are constantly in the company
of Christ our Lord
both in His Humanity and His Divinity.
[338]"
Life, ch. xxvii. 6.
"but here...
it is seen clearly
that Jesus Christ is present,
the Son of the Virgin.
In the prayer of union and of quiet,
certain inflowings of the Godhead
are present;
but in the vision,
the Sacred Humanity also,
together with them,
is pleased to be our visible companion,
and to do us good.
[ Life: Ch. 27: # 6 ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Rel. xi. 3:
3. The imaginary visions have ceased,
but the intellectual vision
of the Three Persons and
of the Sacred Humanity
seems ever present,
and that, I believe,
is a vision of a much higher kind;
and I understand now...
that the visions I had came from God,
because
- they prepared my soul
for its present state;
- they were given only
because I was
so wretched and
so weak:
[ Relation 11: # 3]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Castle, M. vii. ch. iv. 15.
5...the company it enjoys gives it far greater
strength than ever before.
If, as David says:
'With the holy thou shalt be holy,' doubtless by its becoming one
with the Almighty,
by this sovereign union of spirit with spirit, the soul must gather strength…
The vigour the soul derives
from the wine' drunk in the cellar' (into which the Bridegroom brought her …) overflows into the feeble body, just as the food we eat nourishes both the head and the whole frame.
[Interior Castle: Mansion 7: Ch.4: #15 ]
_____________________
[339]
Cant, iii. 3;
Num quem diligit anima mea, vidistis?'
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #11's
Footnote reference #339
"Thus, when the fire in our hearts,
of which I spoke
does not burn in the will,
nor do we feel the presence of God,
we must search for Him
as He would have us do,
like the Bride in the Canticles,
[339]"
Cant, iii. 3;
2 "I will rise, and will go about the city:
in the streets and the broad ways
I will seek him whom my soul loveth:
I sought him, and I found him not.
3 The watchmen who keep the city, found me
Have you seen him, whom my soul loveth?
Num quem diligit anima mea, vidistis?'
Have you seen him, whom my soul loveth?
_____________________
[340]
'I asked the earth,
and it answered me:
I am not He';
and whatsoever it contains
confessed the same.
I asked the sea and the depths,
and the living, creeping things,
and they answered:
We are not thy God, seek above us.'
I asked the heavens,
I asked the moving air;
and the whole air
with its inhabitants answered:
'Anaximenes was deceived,
I am not God.'
I asked the heavens, sun, moon, stars.
'Nor,' say they, are we the God
Whom thou seekest.'
And I replied unto all things
which encompass the door of my flesh:
Ye have told me of my God,
that ye are not He;
tell me something of Him.'
And they cried out with a loud voice:
'He made us.'
By my thought of them,
I questioned them,
and their beauty gave their answer.'
(St. Augustine's Confessions,
bk. x. ch. 6.)
St. Teresa may have read this
in St. Augustine's Confessions,
(see above, p. 78),
or
in the Soliloquies,
a collection of extracts from
St. Augustine, St. Bernard,
St. Anselm, etc.,
which was printed in Latin at Venice
in 1512,
translated into Spanish
and
brought out at Valladolid in 1515, and
again at Medina del Campo in 1553,
and at Toledo in 1565.
The words quoted by St. Teresa
occur in chapter xxxi.
See Life, ch. xl. 10.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #11's
Footnote reference #340
"Thus, when the fire in our hearts...
does not burn in the will,
nor do we feel the presence of God,
we...must ask all creatures
who it was that made them;'
as St. Augustine
( either in his Soliloquies
or his Confessions)
tells us that he did. [340]"
Life, ch. xl. 10.
"...teach them to look upon our Lord as
being in the innermost part of their soul.
It is a method
of looking upon Him
- which penetrates us more thoroughly, and
- is much more fruitful,
than that of looking upon Him
as external to us
...
The glorious St. Augustin...says so,
when he says that
neither in the streets of the city,
nor in pleasures,
nor in any place whatever
where he sought Him,
did he find Him
as he found Him within himself.
...
we need not go up to heaven,
nor any further than our own selves,
for that would only
distress the spirit and
distract the soul, and
bring but little fruit.
[Life: Ch. 40: #10 ]
____________________
[341]
Life, ch. xiii. 17-23.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #13's
Footnote reference #341
"...Let us begin by considering
the mercy God showed us
by giving us His only Son;
...go on to reflect upon
all the mysteries of His glorious life
...or... some part of the Passion
This is an admirable and very meritorious
kind of prayer. [341]"
Life, ch. xiii. 17-23.
19...We set ourselves to meditate
upon some mystery of the Passion: out of which came the great dolours and the bitter anguish which His Majesty endured
in that desolation.
This is a method of prayer
...a most excellent and safe way,
until our Lord shall guide them to other supernatural ways. 20...there are many souls who make greater progress by meditation on other subjects than on the Sacred Passion; for as there are many mansions in heaven, so there are also many roads leading thither ...some persons, if tender-hearted, are greatly fatigued by continual meditations on the Passion; but are consoled and make progress when they meditate -- on the power and greatness of God in His creatures, and -- on His love visible in all things. This is an admirable method- not omitting, however, from time to time, the Passion and Life of Christ, the Source of all good that ever came, and that ever shall come. [ Life: Ch. 13: # 19, 20 ]
_____________________
[342]
Way of Perf. ch. xxv. 7.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #16's
Footnote reference #342
"He is well pleased
if we grieve at His pains,
even though sometimes at the cost
of our own consolations and joys. [342]"
Way of Perf. ch. xxv. 7.
"... if your heart has been so melted at
seeing Him in this state that not
only do you look at Him, but you feel
delight in speaking to Him...out of your
compassion, which greatly touches Him:...
If it be Thy will to suffer thus for me,
what do I suffer for Thee in return?
Of what have I to complain?
Shame at seeing Thee in such plight shall
make me endure all the trials that may
come to me: I will count them gain
that I may imitate Thee in something.
[ Way of Perfection: Ch. 26: #5 ]
_____________________
[343]
St. John xvi. 7:
Expedit vobis ut ego vadam;
si enim non abiero,
Paraclitus non veniet ad vos.'
Life, ch. xxii. 1, 2 and note.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #17's
Footnote reference #343
"People allege, in defence,
that our Lord told His disciples
that it was expedient for them
that He should go from them. [343]"
St. John xvi. 7:
Expedit vobis ut ego vadam;
si enim non abiero,
Paraclitus non veniet ad vos.'
But I tell you the truth:
it is expedient to you that I go:
for if I go not,
the Paraclete will not come to you;
but if I go, I will send him to you.
[ John: 16: 7 ]
Life, ch. xxii. 1, 2 and note.
1... for in some books on prayer,
the writers say that
the soul, though it cannot
in its own strength attain to this state,
because it is altogether a supernatural
work wrought in it by our Lord,
may nevertheless succeed, by
lifting up the spirit
above all created things, and
raising it upwards in humility,
And they advise us much to
withdraw from all bodily imagination, and
draw near to the contemplation
of the Divinity;
They defend their opinion
by bringing forward the words
of our Lord to the Apostles,
concerning the coming of the Holy Ghost;
2... but
to withdraw altogether from Christ, and
to compare His divine Body
with our miseries or
with any created thing whatever,
is what I cannot endure....
I hold it to be a delusion:
[ Life: Ch. 22: # 1,2 ]
_____________________
[344]
Life, ch. xxii. 11.
Although the Saint defends herself
against the charge of self-contradiction,
there can be no doubt from this avowal
that she too was at one time
mistaken on this point.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blog Addition:
Regarding Paragraph #18's
Footnote reference #344
The mistake I formerly made [344]
did not lead me as far as this,
but I did not care so much
about meditating on our Lord Jesus Christ,
preferring to remain absorbed,
awaiting spiritual consolations.
Her previous mistake
“As I had no director,
I used to read these books...
I found out afterwards that,
if our Lord had not shown me the way,
I should have learned but little from books;
for I understood really nothing
till His Majesty made me learn by experience:
neither did I know what I was doing.
...I laboured to remove from myself
every thought of bodily objects;
but I did not dare to lift up my soul,
for that I saw would be presumption in me...
...I contrived to be in a state of recollection
before (God).
...no one could have brought me back
to the contemplation of the Sacred Humanity;
for that seemed to me
to be a real hindrance to prayer.
4 O Lord of my soul, and my Good!...
I never think of this opinion, which I then held,
without pain;
I believe it was an act of high treason,
though done in ignorance.
5... Is it possible, O my Lord,
that I could have had the thought...
that Thou couldst be a hindrance
to my greatest good?
Whence are all my blessings?
Are they not from Thee?
I will not think that I was blamable,
for I was very sorry for it,
and it was certainly done in ignorance.
[ Life: Ch 22: # 3, 4, 5 ]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Life, ch. xxii. 11.
"that the most Sacred Humanity of Christ
is not to be counted among the objects
from which we have to withdraw.
[ Life: Ch. 22: # 11 ]
|
End of
Mansion 6 Chapter 7
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.
|
