Course Objectives: In this session, we discuss the particular insights of St Teresa of Avila, and how her Seven Mansions shed light on the traditional Three Ages of the Interior Life. Discussing the Ages of the Beginners, the Proficients and the Perfect (with the two Dark Nights which set them apart), we look to practical indicators of the growth through these three Ages. What are some of the key differences in the dispositions of the soul in each of these Ages of the Interior Life? And what is prayer like for these three classes of individuals?
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Carmelite
Spirituality
Adult
Faith Formation Series, October/November 2021
Session 3:
St Teresa’s Insights, the Seven Mansions of the Interior Castle
Class Schedule, Tuesdays from 7
to 8pm
October 12th –
Introduction to Christian Prayer and Carmelite Spirituality
October 19th –
Historical Notes on the Carmelites; Introduction to the Three Ages of the
Interior Life
October 26th – St
Teresa’s Insights, The Seven Mansions of the Interior Castle
November 2nd – No
Class, Catholics For Life Meeting
November 9th – The
Dark Nights of St John of the Cross; Appreciating St John’s Poetry
November 16th – The
Little Way of St Therese of Lisieux
November 23rd –
Carmelite Saints and other Resources (Divine Intimacy)
November 30th –
Carmelite Devotions, especially those suited to Advent (The Infant of Prague)
I. Review
and Catch-up:
A. A
note on the Mystical Theology of St Teresa of Avila and St John of the Cross
Neither
had extensive knowledge of the writings of the Fathers of the Church or much of
the academic study of the spiritual life. Though St John of the Cross had
studied Thomas and St Teresa had educated confessors – their spiritual insights
come entirely from their own experiences. Of Teresa, “She is intensely
personal, her system going exactly as far as her experiences, but not a step
further.”
And of
St John, “In the absence of any conscious or unconscious influence of earlier
mystical schools, his own system, like that of St. Teresa, whose influence is
obvious throughout, might be termed empirical mysticism. They both start from
their own experience, St. Teresa avowedly so, while St. John, who hardly ever
speaks of himself, "invents nothing" (to quote Cardinal Wiseman),
"borrows nothing from others, but gives us clearly the results of his own
experience in himself and others. He presents you with a portrait, not with a
fancy picture. He represents the ideal of one who has passed, as he had done,
through the career of the spiritual life, through its struggles and its
victories".”
B. The
Three Ages of the Interior Life
Active or Purgative way of
Beginners – Illuminative way of Proficients – Unitive Way of the Perfect.
Comparisons of attitudes in each
age: Desire for death, fear of praise/blame.
See last week’s handout for more
on growth in holiness in the Three Ages.
II. The Interior Castle of St
Teresa of Avila
A. How did she write Interior
Castle, and for whom?
Written by a divine inspiration,
Interior Castle is primarily directed for religious sisters. Still, there is a
basic blueprint of the spiritual life that applies to all.
St Francis de Sales is more
practical, but St Teresa is helpful both in showing the highest perfection to
which God calls us and also the means by which we grow. Further, as she says,
even though many will not receive the extraordinary graces and visions etc that
she received, we can still give thanks to God that he has lead souls in such a
way.
B. What is the “Interior Castle”?
The movement inward
-compare with commentary on the
Our Father in “Way of Perfection”, “Who art in heaven” the heaven of my soul
The great insight of St Teresa is
that God is already closer to us than we are to ourselves. As St Augustine said
over 1,000 years earlier, we are far too often living on the outside but God is
deep within.
This will be extremely important
with how she discusses distractions. Also, to realize that God is already
closer than we are to ourselves – thus it is not our human efforts to be united
to him, but his desire to be close to us that is the foundation.
C. Overview of the 7 mansions,
compared with the 3 Ages
Mansions 1-3, Purgative Way. Mansions 4-5/6, Illuminative Way. Mansion 6-7, Unitive Way. If we judge a book by it’s ending, this is
one of the great books!
D. The
Interior Castle – The soul in God
In the
opening pages of “The Interior Castle”, St. Teresa describes how she came to
the metaphor of the castle and it’s meaning:
“WHILE I was beseeching
Our Lord to-day that He would speak through me, since I could find nothing to
say and had no idea how to begin to carry out the obligation laid upon me by
obedience, a thought occurred to me which I will now set down, in order to have
some foundation on which to build. I began to think of the soul as if it were a
castle made of a single diamond or of very clear crystal, in which there are
many rooms, just as in Heaven there are many mansions.
“Let us now imagine that
this castle, as I have said, contains many mansions, some above, others below,
others at each side; and in the centre and midst of them all is the chiefest
mansion where the most secret things pass between God and the soul. You must
think over this comparison very carefully; perhaps God will be pleased to use
it to show you something of the favours which He is pleased to grant to souls,
and of the differences between them.
“Now let us return to our
beautiful and delightful castle and see how we can enter it. […] You will have
read certain books on prayer which advise the soul to enter within itself: and
that is exactly what this means. […] As far as I can understand, the door of
entry into this castle is prayer and meditation: I do not say mental prayer
rather than vocal, for, if it is prayer at all, it must be accompanied by meditation.”
St.
Teresa sees the soul as a castle of many rooms or mansions – we say, by way of
addition, that the soul is a spiritual universe, far greater and more beautiful
than the material universe (and how much more valuable!).
The
interior castle is the soul herself, and in the heart of this castle dwells the
Lord – so long, at least, as the soul is in the state of grace. Indeed, even if
a man should fall from grace, God still dwells in his soul insofar as the
Almighty keeps the soul in existence. If the Lord is present to the soul in
mortal sin, how much more does he dwell within that soul which is united to him
through supernatural charity!
And,
lest we should fall into Pelgianism – thinking that we have the ability, from
our own natural powers, to enter into the mansions through our own effort as
though it were not entirely a grace from God – St. Teresa reminds us at the
very end of here treatise:
“It is true that, however
strong you may think yourselves, you cannot enter all the Mansions by your own
efforts: the Lord of the Castle Himself must admit you to them. So, if you meet
with any resistance, I advise you not to make any effort to get in, for if you
do you will displease Him so much that He will never admit you. He is a great
Lover of humility. If you consider yourselves unworthy of entering even the
third Mansions, He will more quickly give you the will to reach the fifth, and
thenceforward you may serve Him by going to these Mansions again and again,
till He brings you into the Mansion which He reserves as His own.”
III.
The Purgative Way of Beginners – Mansions 1 through 3.
A.
Here, St Teresa especially emphasizes humility. In the second mansions she
tells us that our littleness is most visible when we look to the majesty of
God.
B. In
these mansions, Teresa focuses mostly on the active side of meditation and
mental prayer. Now also is the time when mortifications and penances will be
most helpful – though they are certainly needed always.
IV. The
Illuminative Way of Proficients – Mansions 4 and 5.
A. St
Teresa states that everything from the Fourth Mansions on will be “entirely
supernatural.” Not that the earlier prayer was not the work of God’s grace, but
the soul will be rendered more and more passive in the higher prayer. St John of the Cross will call this infused
contemplation – and St Teresa uses the analogy of water brought to a city
through an aqueduct (meditation and active prayer) compared to water brought
through a natural spring (infused contemplation).
B. Here
also, Teresa gives the analogy of a silk-worm to illustrated this period of
transition from active to passive purification. The worm works diligently to
build the little cocoon. This work symbolizes the active purifications and also
the active work of meditative prayer. In this stage the soul should build its
home through spiritual reading and devout consideration of the mysteries of the
faith. Through fasting and penances, together with works of charity, the soul
merits and increase in grace. However, once the cocoon is built, Teresa tells
us that the worm must die so as to then become a butterfly. Indeed, the worm,
after all that work, becomes entirely passive (at least, so it appears) and God
himself works this marvelous transformation by which an ugly worm becomes a
beautiful butterfly. So it is in the spiritual life, we must work! We must work
hard and pray well! And then, when God himself chooses, he will plunge us into
a death to self, a dark night from which we will arise as a new creation, all
lovely in his sight.
C. It
is also here that St Teresa gives her advice about distractions – not to be
discouraged but simply to press on in our meditation, knowing that God alone
can quiet the soul.
V. The
Unitive Way of the Perfect – Mansion 6 and 7.
A.
These final two mansions are over half the total length of the book! The sixth mansions in particular are very
involved and quite challenging. Here,
Teresa discusses all sorts of visions and locutions – but what is most
important to remember is that we ought not to desire or ask for these, but
rather should simply praise God that he works such wonders in others (and,
perhaps, if he so choses, also for us). However, holiness is not in ecstasies
or visions, but in charity/love. These are extraordinary gifts which are not
necessary (and in some ways, not even particularly helpful) for holiness.
B.
Imaginative vs Intellectual: St Teresa makes many distinctions about
imaginative visions compared to intellectual ones. Imaginative means involving
the imagination and images. But intellectual means less images or even words,
but a very high and pure knowledge of God’s presence or of the presence of some
saint, or a deep understanding of some truth of the faith.
C. Note
that, in the Seventh Mansions, the soul is in peaceful union with God. Here
there are very few ecstasies or visions, but the soul is habitually in the
presence of God. Now, heaven is truly in the soul.
D.
Concluding: St Teresa advises humility and patience – again, we will not make
progress if we try to force our way in.
She offers this book for the conversion of the Lutherans and the end of
Protestantism.
