Interior Castle: Mansion 6 - Chapter 10 Discussion - The Mansions - St. Teresa of Avila - Teresa of Jesus

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  10

Discussion of  Mansion 6  Chapter  10  █ Summary  or Highlights  █ God's Operation of Love:       Intellectual Vision of  Sublime Mysteries  of God         ▀  God May Communicate such            Intellectual Visions and Spiritual Wisdom            in time of need  or of Espousal       ▀  Why St. Teresa explains these Favours             which God may bestow to souls  █ Descriptions of "Sublime Mysteries" of God       ▀  Vision: That All Things Dwell in God        ▀  Vision:  God is the Supreme Truth          ▀  Characteristics of these Intellectual Visions

█ God's Operation of Love:        Intellectual Vision of  Sublime Mysteries  of God  ▀ God May Communicate       these Intellectual Visions and Spiritual Wisdom           in time of need  or of Espousal      "OUR Lord communicates with the soul             by means of these apparitions...         sometimes             when it is afflicted...            when it is about to receive some heavy cross...                  and              for the sake of the mutual delight                    of  Himself and His beloved."                                        [  Interior Castle: Mansion 6:                                             Ch. 10: #1 ]      "Our Lord shows the soul these favours because            ▪ She is now indeed His bride,                  resolute to do His will in all things"           ▪ "He wishes to give her some idea                 how to accomplish..His will in all things."                                           ▪ "He wishes...to manifest to her                  some of His divine attributes."      "These favours should cause no fear         but lead us to praise God             for bestowing these graces."                                         [  Interior Castle: Mansion 6:                                             Ch. 10: #7 ]    ▀ Why St. Teresa explains these Favours         which God may bestow to souls      "I only wish to teach you...         What are the different favours           God shows a soul in this state        so that            ▪ you may understand their characteristics                       and            ▪ you may understand...the effects they produce"                           ▪ "you will not mistake every idle fancy                 for a vision"                       and...           ▪  ( you will know) "that such a thing is possible"                          ▪ "if you really see one,                         you will not be disturbed,  nor unhappy. "        "The devil, who gains greatly by it,                is delighted to see                       a soul troubled and distressed,                 knowing how this hinders it                      from employing itself wholly                 in loving and serving God."                                         [  Interior Castle: Mansion 6:                                             Ch. 10: #1 ]

   

█ Descriptions of  "Sublime Mysteries" of God    ▀ Vision:  That All Things Dwell in God         ■ "God is sometimes pleased,                      to discover sublime mysteries to her               which she appears                     to see within God Himself."                                          [ Interior Castle: Mansion 6:                                             Ch. 10: #2 ]        ■ "Within God Himself",               all actions of all persons are performed,                    both good and bad.                                   [  Interior Castle: Mansion 6:                                             Ch. 10: #3 ]               ▪ "Let us suppose                     ◦ the Godhead to be                           a most brilliant diamond...                          a mirror...                                and                     ◦ that all our actions are seen                           in that diamond..."                                   [ Life: Ch 40: # 14 ]               ▪ God as a                   "magnificent mansion or palace                    ...this edifice is God Himself."                              ...within this very palace,                        that is, within God Himself,                    are perpetrated                        all the...impurities and evil deeds                    that sinners commit."                                         [  Interior Castle: Mansion 6:                                             Ch. 10: #3 ]                      "A highly intellectual (vision)                       wherein is manifested                 ▪   How all things are beheld in God"                                 ▪ "How He contains them within Himself."                                           [  Interior Castle: Mansion 6:                                             Ch. 10: #2 ]             ▪ "How all things are seen in God"                                        ▪ "How all things are comprehended in Him."                                          [ Life: Ch 40: # 14 ]                     ▪ "we dwell within Him."                                         [  Interior Castle: Mansion 6:                                             Ch. 10: #2 ]       ■ Effect on the Soul           ▪ "producing a feeling of great shame                  in the mind"            ▪ The mind "perceives more clearly                  the malice of offenses against God,               since these most heinous sins                  are committed within His very being               since we dwell within Him.                                         [  Interior Castle: Mansion 6:                                             Ch. 10: #2 ]       ■ St. Teresa Advises:           ▪ Prayer           ▪ Acknowledgement                   of His Mercy and Patience          ▪ Gratitude             "Let us...meditate                 on the infinite mercy and patience of God               in not casting us down to hell at once"              "Let us render Him hearty thanks."                                         [  Interior Castle: Mansion 6:                                             Ch. 10: #3 ]             "I assure you...                 that though this vision passes very quickly,              our Lord has bestowed signal grace                    on her to whom He grants it,               if she seeks to profit                     by keeping it constantly in mind.                                       [  Interior Castle: Mansion 6:                                             Ch. 10: #4 ]          ▪ Forgiveness           ▪ Humility             "when we see                what outrages are offered to God our Creator                   within His very being,                by us,  His creatures;               Surely we should be ashamed                     of resenting anything               done or said  against us              Yet we are wounded                whenever we hear of an unkind word..."                                           [  Interior Castle: Mansion 6:                                             Ch. 10: #3 ]         ▪ Love              "Let us love our enemies,                since this great God                     has not ceased to love us               in spite of our many sins!                            This is indeed the chief reason               that all should forgive any harm done them.                                       [  Interior Castle: Mansion 6:                                             Ch. 10: #4 ]             Advising against making a virtue of necessity,             St. Teresa urged a cheerful promptness                    in forgiving:             "Oh, let us not think                          we are doing great things               if we suffer injuries patiently:                Rather let us bear them with alacrity"                                       [  Interior Castle: Mansion 6:                                             Ch. 10: #4 ]  ▀ Vision:  God is the Supreme Truth      ■ "God also manifests               that in Him there is a verity            which makes all truth in creatures               seem obscure.       ■ "He convinces the soul                that He alone is that Truth             which cannot lie"               "which could never be thus realized                 by any other means,              however often we might hear                 that God is truth infallible.                                          [  Interior Castle: Mansion 6:                                             Ch. 10: #5 ]           ▪ "God, the supreme Truth"                                           [  Interior Castle: Mansion 6:                                             Ch. 10: #6 ]                             ▪ "...that sublime veracity"                                         [  Interior Castle: Mansion 6:                                             Ch. 10: #5 ]                ■ St. Teresa Advises:           "Let us learn from it...              that if we would bear any resemblance            to our God and our Spouse,               we must strive to walk ever in the truth."            "Not merely mean                  ◦  that we should not tell falsehoods               But "as far as possible,                 ◦  that...we should act with perfect truth                      before God and man...                 ◦ that we should seek for verity in all things                                       [  Interior Castle: Mansion 6:                                             Ch. 10: #6 ]          ▪ Praise and Honor to God           ▪ Humility            ▪ Self-Knowledge                    ◦  "that we should not wish                      to be thought better than we are"                ◦  "that in all our deeds,                      we should                          ascribe to God what is His                                  and                          attribute what is ours to ourselves"                   "our Lord so dearly loves                          the virtue of humility...                     because                          - God is the supreme Truth                                   and                          - Humility is the truth"                    "For it is most true                     that we have nothing good of ourselves                          but only misery and nothingness"                    "God grant...                      that we may have the grace                          never to lose this self-knowledge! "                                         [  Interior Castle: Mansion 6:                                             Ch. 10: #6 ]                          ▪ Detachment                 "Thus we shall care little for this world,                       which is but deception and falsehood,                              and                    therefore cannot last."                                         [  Interior Castle: Mansion 6:                                             Ch. 10: #6 ]

▀ Characteristics of these Intellectual Visions     ■ Sublime Communication         ▪ "far higher ways                 of communicating Himself to the soul"                                   [  Interior Castle: Mansion 6:                                             Ch. 10: #2 ]    ■ "Highly Intellectual: Abstruse Concept         ▪ "They are more difficult to explain,                 being more abstruse"                                         [  Interior Castle: Mansion 6:                                             Ch. 10: #2 ]    ■ Less Risk of Deception         ▪ "They are less dangerous              for I do not think                 the evil spirit can imitate them."                                    [  Interior Castle: Mansion 6:                                             Ch. 10: #2 ]           "neither the devil,             nor our own imaginations                  can have much to do with them,              therefore, the soul may rest in perfect peace.                                         [  Interior Castle: Mansion 6:                                             Ch. 10: #7 ]    ■ Suspension of the Senses          ▪ "God is sometimes pleased,                 while a person is                        engaged in prayer                                 and                        in perfect possession of her senses,              to suspend them                   and              to discover sublime mysteries to her              which she appears to see within God Himself.                                       [  Interior Castle: Mansion 6:                                          Ch. 10: #2 ]    ■ Duration           ▪ "passing in an instant"                                     [  Interior Castle: Mansion 6:                                             Ch. 10: #2 ]         "Short as the time lasts"                                      [  Interior Castle: Mansion 6:                                             Ch. 10: #2 ]         ▪ "it remains deeply engraved in the memory"                                      [  Interior Castle: Mansion 6:                                             Ch. 10: #2 ]

  

End of the Discussion of                Mansion 6 Chapter  10                               of                                                            The Interior Castle                             or                    The Mansions                 S. Teresa of Jesus    of the Order of our Lady of Carmel                    St. Teresa of Avila