HOW SWEETNESS AND TENDERNESS IN PRAYER DIFFER FROM CONSOLATIONS. EXPLAINS
HOW ADVANTAGEOUS IT WAS FOR ST. TERESA TO COMPREHEND THAT THE IMAGINATION
AND THE UNDERSTANDING ARE NOT THE SAME THING. THIS CHAPTER IS USEFUL FOR
THOSE WHOSE THOUGHTS WANDER MUCH DURING PRAYER.
1. Graces received in this mansion. 2. favours. 3. Temptations bring
humility and merit. 4. Sensible devotion and natural joys. 5. Sweetness in
devotion. 6. St. Teresa's experience of it. 7. Love of God, and how to
foster it. 8. Distractions. 9. They do not destroy divine union. 10. St.
Teresa's physical distractions. 11. How to treat distractions. 12. They
should be disregarded. 13. Self-knowledge necessary.
1. Now that I commence writing about the fourth mansions, it is requisite,
as I said, [107] to commend myself to the Holy Ghost and to beg Him
henceforth to speak for me, that I may be enabled to treat these matters
intelligibly. Henceforth they begin to be supernatural and it will be most
difficult to speak clearly about them, [108] unless His Majesty undertakes
it for me, as He did when I explained the subject (as far as I understood
it) somewhat about fourteen years ago. [109] I believe I now possess more
light about the favours God grants some souls, but that is different from
being able to elucidate them. [110] May His Majesty enable me to do so if
it would be useful, but not otherwise.
2. As these mansions are nearer the King's dwelling they are very beautiful,
and so subtle are the things seen and heard in them, that, as those tell us
who have tried to do so, the mind cannot give a lucid idea of them to those
inexperienced in the matter. People who have enjoyed these favours,
especially if it was to any great extent, will easily comprehend me.
3. Apparently a person must have dwelt for a long time in the former
mansions before entering these; although in ordinary cases the soul must
have been in the last one spoken of, yet, as you must often have heard,
there is no fixed rule, for God gives when, how, and to whom He wills [111]
--the goods are His own, and His choice wrongs no one. [112] The poisonous
reptiles rarely come into these rooms, and, if they enter, do more good than
harm. I think it is far better for them to get in and make war on the soul
in this state of prayer; were it not tempted, the devil might sometimes
deceive it about divine consolations, thus injuring it far more. Besides,
the soul would benefit less, because all occasions of gaining merit would be
withdrawn, were it left continually absorbed in God. I am not confident that
this absorption is genuine when it always remains in the same state, nor
does it appear to me possible for the Holy Ghost to dwell constantly within
us, to the same extent, during our earthly exile.
4. I will now describe, as I promised, the difference between sweetness in
prayer and spiritual consolations. It appears to me that what we acquire for
ourselves in meditation and petitions to our Lord may be termed 'sweetness
in devotion.' [113] It is natural, although ultimately aided by the grace
of God. I must be understood to imply this in all I say, for we can do
nothing without Him. This sweetness arises principally from the good work we
perform, and appears to result from our labours: well may we feel happy at
having thus spent our time. We shall find, on consideration, that many
temporal matters give us the same pleasure--such as unexpectedly coming into
a large fortune, suddenly meeting with a dearly-loved friend, or succeeding
in any important or influential affair which makes a sensation in the world.
Again, it would be felt by one who had been told her husband, brother, or
son was dead, and who saw him return to her alive. I have seen people weep
from such happiness, as I have done myself. I consider both these joys and
those we feel in religious matters to be natural ones. Although there is
nothing wrong about the former, yet those produced by devotion spring from a
more noble source--in short, they begin in ourselves and end in God.
Spiritual consolations, on the contrary, arise from God, and our nature
feels them and rejoices as keenly in them, and indeed far more keenly, than
in the others I described.
5. O Jesus! how I wish I could elucidate this point! It seems to me that I
can perfectly distinguish the difference between the two joys, yet I have
not the skill to make myself understood; may God give it me! I remember a
verse we say at Prime at the end of the final Psalm; the last words are:
'Cum dilatasti cor meum'--'When Thou didst dilate my heart: [114] To those
with much experience, this suffices to show the difference between sweetness
in prayer and spiritual consolations; other people will require more
explanation. The sensible devotion I mentioned does not dilate the heart,
but generally appears to narrow it slightly; although joyful at seeing
herself work for God, yet such a person sheds tears of sorrow which seem
partly produced by the passions. I know little about the passions of the
soul, or I could write of them more clearly and could better define what
comes from the sensitive disposition and what is natural, having passed
through this state myself, but I am very stupid. Knowledge and learning are
a great advantage to every one.
6. My own experience of this delight and sweetness in meditation was that
when I began to weep over the Passion I could not stop until I had a severe
headache; [115] the same thing occurred when I grieved over my sins: this
was a great grace from our Lord. I do not intend to inquire now which of
these states of prayer is the better, but I wish I knew how to explain the
difference between the two. In that of which I speak, the tears and good
desires are often partly caused by the natural disposition, but although
this may be the case, yet, as I said, these feelings terminate in God.
Sensible devotion is very desirable if the soul is humble enough to
understand that it is not more holy on account of these sentiments, which
cannot always with certainty be ascribed to charity, and even then are still
the gift of God.
7. These feelings of devotion are most common with souls in the first three
mansions, who are nearly always using their understanding and reason in
making meditations. This is good for them, for they have not been given
grace for more; they should, however, try occasionally to elicit some acts
such as praising God, rejoicing in His goodness and that He is what He is:
let them desire that He may be honoured and glorified. They must do this as
best they can, for it greatly inflames the will. Let them be very careful,
when God gives these sentiments, not to set them aside in order to finish
their accustomed meditation. But, having spoken fully on this subject
elsewhere, [116] I will say no more now. I only wish to warn you that to
make rapid progress and to reach the mansions we wish to enter, it is not so
essential to think much as to love much: therefore you must practise
whatever most excites you to this. Perhaps we do not know what love is, nor
does this greatly surprise me. Love does not consist in great sweetness of
devotion, but in a fervent determination to strive to please God in all
things, in avoiding, as far as possible, all that would offend Him, and in
praying for the increase of the glory and honour of His Son and for the
growth of the Catholic Church. These are the signs of love; do not imagine
that it consists in never thinking of anything but God, and that if your
thoughts wander a little all is lost. [117]
8. I, myself, have sometimes been troubled by this turmoil of thoughts. I
learnt by experience, but little more than four years ago, that our
thoughts, or it is clearer to call it our imagination, are not the same
thing as the understanding. I questioned a theologian on the subject; he
told me it was the fact, which consoled me not a little. As the
understanding is one of the powers of the soul, it puzzled me to see it so
sluggish at times, while, as a rule, the imagination takes flight at once,
so that God alone can control it by so uniting us to Himself [118] that we
seem, in a manner, detached from our bodies. It puzzled me to see that while
to all appearance the powers of the soul were occupied with God and
recollected in Him, the imagination was wandering elsewhere.
9. Do Thou, O Lord, take into account all that we suffer in this way through
our ignorance. We err in thinking that we need only know that we must keep
our thoughts fixed on Thee. We do not understand that we should consult
those better instructed than ourselves, nor are we aware that there is
anything for us to learn. We pass through terrible trials, on account of not
understanding our own nature and take what is not merely harmless, but good,
for a grave fault. This causes the sufferings felt by many people,
particularly by the unlearned, who practise prayer. They complain of
interior trials, become melancholy, lose their health, and even give up
prayer altogether for want of recognizing that we have within ourselves as
it were, an interior world. We cannot stop the revolution of the heavens as
they rush with velocity upon their course, neither can we control our
imagination. When this wanders we at once imagine that all the powers of the
soul follow it; we think everything is lost, and that the time spent in
God's presence is wasted. Meanwhile, the soul is perhaps entirely united to
Him in the innermost mansions, while the imagination is in the precincts of
the castle, struggling with a thousand wild and venomous creatures and
gaining merit by its warfare. Therefore we need not let ourselves be
disturbed, nor give up prayer, as the devil is striving to persuade us. As a
rule, all our anxieties and troubles come from misunderstanding our own
nature.
10. Whilst writing this I am thinking of the loud noise in my head which I
mentioned in the Introduction, and which has made it almost impossible to
obey the command given me to write this. It sounds as if there were a number
of rushing waterfalls within my brain, while in other parts, drowned by the
sound of the waters, are the voices of birds singing and whistling. This
tumult is not in my ears, but in the upper part of my head, where, they say,
is placed the superior part of the soul. I have long thought that this must
be so because the flight of the spirit seems to take place from this part
with great velocity. [119] Please God I may recollect to explain the cause
when writing of the latter mansions, this not being the proper place for it.
It may be that God has sent this suffering in my head to help me to
understand the matter, for all this tumult in my brain does not interfere
with my prayer, nor with my speaking to you, but the great calm and love and
desires in my soul remain undisturbed and my mind is clear.
11. How, then, can the superior part of the soul remain undisturbed if it
resides in the upper part of the brain? I cannot account for it, but am sure
that I am speaking the truth. This noise disturbs my prayer when
unaccompanied with ecstasy, but when it is ecstatic I do not feel any pain,
however great. I should suffer keenly were I forced to cease praying on
account of these infirmities. We should not be distressed by reason of our
thoughts, nor allow ourselves to be worried by them: if they come from the
devil, he will let us alone if we take no notice of them; and if they are,
as often happens, one of the many frailties entailed by Adam's sin, let us
be patient and suffer them for the love of God. Likewise, since we must eat
and sleep without being able to avoid it, much to our grief, let us
acknowledge that we are human, and long to be where no one may despise us.
[120] Sometimes I recall these words, spoken by the Spouse in the
Canticle; [121] truly never in our lives have we better reason to say
them, for I think no earthly scorn or suffering can try us so severely as
these struggles within our souls. All uneasiness or conflict can be borne
while we have peace in ourselves, as I said; but if, while seeking for rest
amidst the thousand trials of the world--knowing that God has prepared this
rest for us--the obstacle is found in ourselves, the trial must needs prove
painful and almost insufferable.
12. Take us therefore, O Lord, to where these miseries can no longer cause
us to be despised, for sometimes it seems as if they mocked our souls. Even
in this life God delivers us from them when we reach the last mansion, as by
His grace I will show you. Everybody is not so violently distressed and
assaulted by these weaknesses as I have been for many years, [122] on
account of my wickedness, so that it seems as if I strove to take vengeance
on myself. [123] Since I suffer so much in this way, perhaps you may do
the same, so I shall continue to explain the subject to you in different
ways, in order to find some means of making it clear. The thing is
inevitable, therefore do not let it disturb or grieve you, but let the mill
clack on while we grind our wheat; that is, let us continue to work with our
will and intellect.
13. These troubles annoy us more or less according to the state of our
health or in different circumstances. The poor soul suffers; although not
now to blame, it has sinned at other times, and must be patient. We are so
ignorant that what we have read and been told has not sufficed to teach us
to disregard wandering thoughts, therefore I shall not be wasting time in
instructing and consoling you about these trials. However, this will help
you but little until God chooses to enlighten you, and additional measures
are needed: His Majesty wishes us to learn by ordinary means to understand
ourselves and to recognize the share taken in these troubles by our
wandering imagination, our nature, and the devil's temptations, instead of
laying all the blame on our souls.
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[107] First Mansions, ch. i. 1.
[108] There are two kinds of contemplation: acquired or natural, and infused
or supernatural. In their widest sense, including many remarkable phenomena
of Natural religion, and, of course, the most wonderful manifestations
recorded in the Old Testament, they form the system called ism and are
the proper object of mystical theology. Natural or acquired contemplation is
based upon an idealistic turn of mind which enables the soul to gaze upon
the Godhead (simple gaze, as St. Teresa calls it) without approaching Him by
the laborious process of reasoning, and in so doing embraces Him with its
affective powers; like a person who, devoid of technical skill, takes in and
is enamoured by, the beauty of a painting. Infused contemplation is the
highest act of the Gifts of the Holy Ghost of Knowledge and Wisdom. It is
often impossible, nor is it always essential, to determine where acquired
contemplation ends and infused contemplation begins. But it should be borne
in mind that both the one and the other are operations and not merely a
passive state or mere fruition. Even the highest form of contemplation, the
Beatific Vision, is a supernatural act of the soul, an operation of unending
duration. A ship moved by a gentle breeze is rightly said to be actually
sailing though the rowers are at rest.
[109] Life, ch. xii. 11.
[110] Life, ch. xvii. 7.
[111] Philippus a SS. Trinitate, Summa Tleologi+ª Mystic+ª, pars iii. tract.
i. disc. iii. art. 2. Life, ch. xv. 11, xxii. 22, 23. Way of Perf. ch. xvi.
4, xli. 2. Concep. ch. v. 3.
[112] S. Matt. xx. 15: 'Aut non licet mihi quod volo facere?'
[113] Way of Perf., ch. xix. 8. Castle, M. iv. ch. ii. 4. The first three
mansions of the Interior Castle correspond with the 'first water,' or the
prayer of Meditation, explained in ch. xi-xiii. of the Life; the fourth
mansion, or the prayer of Quiet, with the 'second water,' Life, ch. xiv. and
xv.; the fifth mansion, or the prayer of Union, with the 'third water,'
Life, ch. xvi. and xvii.; and the sixth mansion, ecstasy, etc., with the
'fourth water,' Life, ch. xviii.-xxi.
[114] Ps. cxviii. 32. Way of Perf. ch. xxviii. 11.
[115] Life, ch. iii. 1.
[116] Life, ch. xii. 2-4..
[117] Found. ch. v. 2. Way of Perf. ch. i. 6, 12. Life, ch. xv, 16, ch.
. 19.
[118] Life, ch. xv. 9, 10.
[119] Second Relation addressed to Fr. Rodrigo Alvarez.
[120] Way of Perf. ch. iii. 8. Life, ch. xxi. S. Rel. ii. 12.
[121] According to Fr. Gracian the Saint here refers to Cant. viii. 1: 'Et
jam me nemo despiciat.'
[122] Way of Perf. ch. xvii. 2.
[123] Way of Perf. ch, xxxi. 9.
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