The Interior Castle

THE INTERIOR CASTLE

 Introduction
1. In the Way of Perfection, Teresa assures her readers that the prayer of
the Our Father leads to the fount of living waters. She then refers them to
her Life, the book she had written in which she describes what the soul
feels when it drinks this living water, how God satisfies and takes away
thirst for earthly things.
Some ten or so years later, after she had labored much and increased the
number of her new Carmels to twelve, she was speaking again, on May 28,
1577, for basically the same reasons, of what was contained in her Life.
But this time the result was the command to write another book since the
Life was then in the scrupulously cautious hands of the Inquisition. The
scene of the fateful incident took place at Toledo at the Carmel founded by
Teresa. Fr. Gracián, her confessor and also enthusiastic supporter as a
Carmelite friar in her reform, has left us his account of the event: "What
happened with regard to the book of the Dwelling Places is that while I
was superior and speaking with her once in Toledo of many things
concerning her spirit, she said to me: 'Oh, how well this point was
described in the book about my life which is in the Inquisition!' I
answered: 'Since we cannot have it, recall what you can and other things
and write another book, but put down the doctrine in a general way without
naming the one to whom the things you mentioned there happened.' And
thus I ordered her to write this book of the Dwelling Places."[1]
Now sixty-two years old, Teresa had for five years been aware of the
depth of spiritual life she describes as the ultimate stage of the mystical
journey. She had come, then, to an experiential grasp of so much more
than what she had written previously in her Life. In evidence of this,
toward the outset of her Interior Castle she admits: "And although in other
things I've written the Lord has given me some understanding, I know
there were certain things I had not understood as I have come to
understand them now, especially certain more difficult things."[2]

"Business Matters and Poor Health"

If from the viewpoint of her own more evolved experience and

understanding the command to undertake such a task again seemed well
advised, from the standpoint of her physical sufferings and the external
problems and trials that were being heaped upon her at this time the mere
thought of writing a new book was painful to her. The prologue begins in
complaint. Not many things that obedience had asked of her -- and
obedience had asked many difficult things -- were as difficult as the chore
of writing at this time yet another book. "I have been experiencing now for
three months," she wearily reports, "such great noise and weakness in my
head that I've found it a hardship even to write concerning necessary
business matters."[3]
In addition to this miserable health, the year was a troublesome and
discouraging one; what she had struggled for zealously over the previous
fifteen years could now be suppressed by the new authorities. Her work
had become the center of a conflict that raged between Madrid and Rome.
The jurisdictional complexities became so tangled and the
misunderstandings, rivalries, and calumnies so much a part of everyday
life that historians today find it difficult to judge objectively.[4]
In 1576 Fr. Jerónimo Tostado arrived in Spain with the faculties of
visitator, reformer, and commissary general of the Spanish provinces and
with the responsibility of carrying out the decrees of the order's chapter at
Piacenza which had directed that the houses opened in Andalusia against
the will of the general be abandoned. The "contemplative," or "primitive,"
fathers were forbidden to form a province or a congregation separate from
the province of Castile. Mother Teresa was not to leave her monastery. The
unpleasant rumor was that Tostado had come to quash Teresa's work; and
his presence was the cause of considerable disquiet. But the papal nuncio
in Spain, Nicolás Ormaneto, who favored Teresa and her foundation,
advised Tostado to postpone his visit of Andalusia (where Gracián, under
an assignment of the nuncio, was on a mission of reform among the
Carmelites there) and to pass instead on to Portugal. In a letter dated
September 7, 1576, Teresa thus wrote to María de San José: "But, as God
has delivered us from Tostado, I hope His Majesty will help us in
everything. You are not maligning him in describing how he has worked
against the discalced Fathers and against me, for he has given clear
indications of having done so."
In June of 1577, Ormaneto died, and without the nuncio's favor Teresa's
followers now felt lost. With the death of Ormaneto, the Mother foundress
thought it would be better to return to her monastery of St. Joseph in Avila
and to remain there, "as a kind of prisoner" in accordance with the order of
the general definitory. To make matters worse, Ormaneto's successor,
Felipe Sega, whose reference to Teresa as a "restless gadabout" at least
demonstrated a lack of firsthand information, immediately set out with his
new authority to discard the plans of reform sponsored by Ormaneto.
About this time, as well, there appeared a scurrilous pamphlet
denouncing Teresa and calumniating Gracián with a number of crimes,
some too foolish and lurid to be believed but yet sufficient to arouse at
least faint suspicions. Again in October of 1577 Teresa was once more
elected prioress of the Incarnation; she felt nothing but aversion toward
taking up again such a responsibility. When this election became known,
Tostado unwittingly came to Teresa's rescue and gave orders to annul the
valid election. The nuns persisting to vote for Teresa in a second election
were duly excommunicated. Though happy to be left in peace, Teresa
protested the injustice: "Learned men declare that they are not
excommunicated at all and that the friars are going against the Council in
declaring anyone elected prioress who has a minority of votes ... Everyone
is shocked to see something like this, so offensive to everyone."[5]
It was while she was in the midst of all these unpleasant and disturbing
events that Teresa was engaged in writing her sublime book on prayer. The
work was begun, appropriately, on the feast of the Holy Trinity, June 2,
1577. Within little more than a month, she had proceeded as far as the
fifth dwelling place. We may suppose this from the copy made in Toledo
and ending with chapter two of the fifth dwelling place when Teresa
departed for Avila in mid-July. Already in chapter two of the fourth
dwelling place she had alluded to the inconvenience of interruptions: "God
help me with what I have undertaken! I've already forgot what I was
dealing with, for business matters and poor health have forced me to set
this work aside just when I was at my best; and since I have a poor
memory everything will come out confused because I can't go back to read
it over."[6]
Nothing more was done on the work until the beginning of November,
as she asserts at the outset of chapter four of the fifth dwelling place:
"About five months have passed since I began, and because my head is in
no condition to read over what I've written, everything will have to
continue without order, and perhaps some things will be said twice."[7]
She completed the remaining large section, more than half the work, by
November 29, within less than a month. Thus the actual time spent on this
spiritual masterpiece was a mere two months.

Inspiration

Despite her trials and ill health, Teresa held firmly to her belief that
"obedience usually lessens the difficulty of things that seem impossible."
[8] She prayed when beginning: "May He, in whose mercy I trust and who
has helped me in other more difficult things so as to favor me, do this
work for me."[9] Her prayer was heard. By the time she had reached the
epilogue, her mood was entirely changed: "Although when I began writing
this book I am sending you I did so with the aversion I mentioned in the
beginning, now that I am finished I admit the work has brought me much
happiness, and I consider the labor, though I confess it was small, well
spent."[10]
At times she seemed to feel special inspiration, and that a work of such
brilliance was brought to a conclusion so quickly is itself extraordinary. In
one instance she wrote: "If what I have said up to now about this prayer is
worthwhile, I know clearly that I'm not the one who has said it."[11] When
she turns to the topic of mystical prayer she prays: "In order to speak of
the fourth dwelling places I really need to entrust myself, as I've already
done, to the Holy Spirit and beg Him to speak for me from here on that I
may say something about the remaining rooms in a way that you will
understand."[12] Among those who actually saw Teresa writing this book
was María del Nacimiento who gave the following testimony: "When the
said Mother Teresa of Jesus wrote the book called The Dwelling Places,
she was in Toledo, and this witness saw that it was after Communion that
she wrote this book, and when she wrote she did so very rapidly and with
such great beauty in her countenance that this witness was in admiration,
and she was so absorbed in what she was writing that even if some noise
was made there, it did not hinder her; wherefore this witness understood
that in all that which she wrote and during the time she was writing she
was in prayer."[13]
 The Image of a Castle

The Interior Castle has come to be regarded as Teresa's best synthesis.

In it the spiritual doctrine is presented through the unifying outline of
seven dwelling places among which there is a division into two sections.
The first three groups of dwelling places speak of what is achievable
through human efforts and the ordinary help of grace. The remaining four
groups deal with the passive, or mystical, elements of the spiritual life. By
the term "supernatural prayer" (contemplation), Teresa refers to the whole
series of forms and degrees of infused or mystical prayer. By the term
"perfect contemplation," she refers only to those pure forms of
contemplation found in the fifth, sixth, and seventh dwelling places.
The question has been raised, as one would expect in academics, as to
how Teresa conceived the notion of using the castle as a symbol for the
interior life. What she reveals leaves room for interpretation: "Today while
beseeching our Lord to speak for me because I wasn't able to think of
anything to say, nor did I know how to begin to carry out this obedience,
there came to my mind what I shall now speak about, that which will
provide us with a basis to begin with. It is that we consider our soul to be
like a castle made entirely out of a diamond or of very clear crystal, in
which there are many rooms, just as in heaven there are many dwelling
places."[14] Previously, in the Way of Perfection, with similar thoughts,
Teresa had advised: "Well, let us imagine that within us is an extremely
rich palace, built entirely of gold and precious stones; in sum, built for a
Lord such as this ... Imagine, also, that in this palace dwells this mighty
King."[15]
In an interesting account, one of her early biographers, Fr. Diego de
Yepes, testifies that Teresa told him that on the eve of Trinity Sunday,
1577, God showed her in a flash the whole book. There was "a most
beautiful crystal globe like a castle in which she saw seven dwelling
places, and in the seventh, which was in the center, the King of Glory
dwelt in the greatest splendor. From there He beautified and illumined all
those dwelling places to the outer wall. The inhabitants received more
light the nearer they were to the center. Outside of the castle all was
darkness, with toads, vipers, and other poisonous vermin. While she was
admiring this beauty which the grace of God communicates to souls, the
light suddenly disappeared and, although the King of Glory did not leave
the castle, the crystal was covered with darkness and was left as ugly as
coal and with an unbearable stench, and the poisonous creatures outside
the wall were able to get into the castle. Such was the state of a soul in
sin."[16] This was told to Yepes, a former confessor of Teresa's, when she
met him by chance one snowy day in an inn in Arévalo either in 1579 or
1580. Yepes also adds with a certain self-satisfaction that "although in the
Book of Her Life and the Dwelling Places she mentions this, she doesn't in
either of them communicate this vision as specifically as she did to me."
[17] But if this vision came to Teresa in 1577, we are left wondering both
how she could have referred to it in her Life, written in the 1560's, and
about the value of Diego de Yepes' testimony. Nonetheless, Teresa's vague
expression "there came to my mind" (se me ofreció) does not rule out the
possibility of a vision as a basis of her symbol.
As described in her Life, she once did receive a mystical vision of God's
presence and what it is for a soul to be in mortal sin: "Once while I was
reciting with all the Sisters the hours of the Divine Office, my soul
suddenly became recollected; and it seemed to me to be like a brightly
polished mirror, without any part on the back or sides or top or bottom that
wasn't totally clear. In its center Christ, our Lord, was shown to me ... I
was given understanding of what it is for a soul to be in mortal sin. It
amounts to clouding this mirror with mist and leaving it black; and thus
this Lord cannot be revealed or seen even though He is always present
giving us being."[18] Later in the same chapter it seems from her
reference that this experience influenced her thinking when she compares
the Divinity to a very clear diamond in which everything is visible
including sin with all its ugliness.[19]
Whatever the speculation on matters like the above, the point must be
made that the Interior Castle is principally the fruit of her own experience,
and though Teresa makes the effort to hide her identity by referring to this
other person she knows, her talents for concealing her identity were
abysmally poor.

The Synthesis
 Although the outer wall of the castle (the body) is ordinary, it
nonetheless may lure the soul's attention from the inner brilliant castle.
[20] Inside the castle are many dwelling places, above, below, and to the
sides. In other words, the spiritual life that goes on within the castle is a
complex matter involving the individual's capacities, the diversity of
ways, and differing spiritual depths. The seven stages represent only types
and allow for a wide range of variations. In speaking of the seven dwelling
places, we must keep in mind that "in each of these there are many others,
below and above and to the sides, with lovely gardens and fountains and
labyrinths, such delightful things that you would want to be dissolved in
praises of the great God who created the soul in His own image and
likeness."[21] At the center of the castle is God's dwelling place.
The gate of entry is prayer.[22] Prayer is a door that opens up into the
mystery of God and at the same time a means of communing with Him. It
actuates the personal relationship with the Lord present in the very depths
of the spirit.
The first dwelling places. Setting aside those souls outside the castle,
paralysed and crippled, in need of special healing from the Lord Himself if
they are to enter,[23] Teresa turns her attention to those who have entered
the first area. Little of the glowing light from the King's royal chamber
filters into these first dwelling places. Too many things entice and distract
souls here and thus prevent them from taking the time to search for the
true light. "So, I think, must be the condition of the soul. Even though it
may not be in a bad state, it is so involved in worldly things and so
absorbed with its possessions, honor, or business affairs, as I have said,
that even though as a matter of fact it would want to see and enjoy its
beauty these things do not allow it to; nor does it seem that it can slip free
from so many impediments."[24] Such people do have some good desires,
however; and they even pray on occasion. Their need, as is true of
everyone, is for self-knowledge and for knowledge of the beauty of a soul
in grace and of the ugliness of one in sin; in a word, for some insight into
the Christian mystery of sin and grace. Self-knowledge and humility grow
as the soul moves onward through the castle toward the center.
The second dwelling places. Here we have rooms set apart for those who
have taken some first steps in the practice of prayer, who are more
receptive to the promptings and invitations of Christ's grace which comes
especially through external means such as books, sermons, good
friendships, and through trials. The struggle with the forces of evil is now
more keenly felt, and the time is ripe for the characteristically Teresian
determination to persevere convinced that the spiritual life cannot be
grounded on consolations. Conformity with God's will must be the goal of
one's strivings.
The third dwelling places. To persevere in prayer and the struggle
involved is to go forward.[25] Those who have come to this stage begin to
long not to offend His Majesty; they guard against venial sin, are fond of
both ascetical practices and periods of recollection, seek to use their time
well, practice charity toward their neighbor, and maintain balance in the
use of speech and dress and in the management of their household. They
are good Christians, and the Lord will not deny these souls entrance into
the final dwelling place if they so desire.[26] Like the young man in the
Gospel, however, they could turn away upon hearing the requirements for
becoming perfect. Any threat to wealth or honor will quickly uncover their
attachments to these; and they are excessively discreet about their health -
- to the point of fearing everything.[27] In addition to their reluctance to
part with wealth and honor, they have a tendency to be too easily shocked
by the faults of others and quickly distraught by a little dryness.[28]
Though these persons find more consolation in the spiritual life than they
do in material comforts and distractions, they seldom receive the deeper,
more delectable peace and quiet of contemplation except occasionally as
an invitation to prepare better for what lies ahead.[29] They need someone
who is free of the world's illusions with whom they might speak.
Dealing less extensively with these first three dwelling places, Teresa
says little about prayer; nor does she give advice about methods. The
impression left on her reader is that she is anxious to advance quickly to
the part that deals more immediately with what God does; and she
complains that while we are admonished to pray, only what we can do
ourselves is explained and little said of what the Lord does, "I mean about
the supernatural."[30] It is in response to this need souls have of knowing
about passive prayer that Teresa felt she could contribute.
The question might be raised here: is it not useless for people to read
about mystical prayer and favors when they do not themselves, for
whatever reason, experience the same things? In answer to this, Teresa
replies that learning about God's work will lead a receptive person to the
prayer of praise. Characteristically, she reasons that if she who was so
wretched was led to this praise when she read of such things, how much
more will good and humble souls praise Him upon learning of them. Also,
she thinks that these favors superabound with love and fortitude enabling a
person to do more good and to journey with less toil. Knowledge of these
favors will make the readers aware of how much they may lose through
their own fault. Furthermore, the testimony she gives of her contemplative
experience, in which so many aspects of the Christian faith are illumined,
provides the theologian with a rich abundance of material for reflection.
[31]
The fourth dwelling places. The beginning of the supernatural or
mystical marks off this section and presents Teresa with the problem of
how to explain infused prayer.[32] She first seeks a solution through an
analysis of the difference between consolations (contentos) and spiritual
delight (gustos); she notes that the former have their beginning in our
human nature and end in God while the latter have their beginning in God
and overflow to human nature.[33] The consolations, then, result from our
own efforts accompanied by God's grace; the spiritual delight is received
not through human efforts but passively. In this dwelling place the first
degrees of infused prayer are discussed. Though there are no rules about
the length of time required to reach this point, "the important thing is not
to think much but to love much; and so do that which best stirs you to
love."[34] In Teresa's thinking, love "doesn't consist in great delight but in
desiring with strong determination to please God in everything, in striving,
insofar as possible, not to offend Him, and in asking Him for the
advancement of the honor and glory of His Son."[35]
This contemplative prayer begins with a passive experience of
recollection, a gentle drawing of the faculties inward; it is different from
recollection achieved at the cost of human effort.[36] This prayer of
infused recollection is a less intense form of initial contemplation or, as
called by Teresa, the prayer of quiet. While the will finds rest in the prayer
of quiet, in the peace of God's presence, the intellect (in Teresa's
terminology) continues to move about. One should let the intellect go and
surrender oneself into the arms of love,[37] for distractions, the wandering
mind, are a part of the human condition and can no more be avoided than
can eating and sleeping.
In a further effort to explain the difference between acquired and
infused prayer, she turns to another analogy: the different ways in which
two water troughs are filled. One trough is filled with water channelled
through aqueducts, by the exercise of a great deal of ingenuity while the
other is filled by a spring bubbling up from the very spot where the trough
is. However, the worth of one's prayer is not judged by its passive
character; rather, "it is in the effects and deeds following afterward that
one discerns the true value of prayer."[38]
Finally, in this dwelling place since the passive prayer is in its
beginning stages, the natural (active) and the supernatural (passive) are
joined. It is not unusual for souls to enter here.
The fifth dwelling places. The prayer of union characterizes these
rooms, an experience in which the faculties become completely silent, or,
in Teresa's words, are suspended, and which leaves a certitude that the soul
"was in God and God was in it."[39] Such certitude is not present when the
union is merely partial as in the previous dwelling place.[40]
Here Teresa, never wanting in her attempts to find the best explanation,
turns to another analogy. Leaving aside the castle and the troughs of water,
she finds an unusual comparison as an example for explaining what is in
her mind: the silkworm. Through the image of the silkworm she speaks
ingeniously of death and of new life in Christ. In this prayer of union, God
Himself becomes the dwelling place or cocoon in which a person dies.
Once a soul is indeed dead to itself and its attachments, it breaks forth
from the cocoon transformed as does a small white butterfly.[41]
Having made the point of the soul's death in Christ, Teresa introduces
her final analogy which serves to lead her readers through the remaining
dwelling places to the center of the castle: marriage and its preparatory
stages. In her day, before two people became engaged, they progressed
through certain stages by which they sought to know first if there was any
likeness between them and then whether there was any chance for love. If
these were affirmatively established, they shared in additional meetings so
as to deepen their knowledge of each other. In these experiences of union,
then, His Majesty is desirous that the soul may get to know Him better.
[42]
 Teresa makes a final plea that love be not idle. One so intimate with His
Majesty must walk with special care and attentiveness in the exercise of
virtue and with particular emphasis on love of neighbor, humility (the
desire to be considered the least), and the faithful performance of ordinary
tasks.[43]
The sixth dwelling places. The longest section of the Interior Castle is
devoted to this stage of the inward journey. Teresa deals here with many
extraordinary mystical phenomena. Though the spiritual betrothal takes
place in these rooms, the desires of the soul at a cost to itself must first
increase.[44] Through both vehement desires for God and the sufferings
these desires cause, the Lord enables the soul to have the courage to be
joined with Him and take Him as its Spouse.[45] Aware that readers will
wonder why all this courage is necessary for something that should be
looked upon as an attractive opportunity, Teresa asserts strongly: "I tell
you there is need for more courage than you think."[46] Without the
courage, which must be given by God, such a union would be impossible.
This fortitude comes through many trials both exterior and interior:
opposition from others; praise (itself becoming a trial); severe illnesses;
inner sufferings, fears, and misunderstanding on the part of the confessor
and the consequent anxiety that God will allow one to be deceived; and a
feeling of unbearable inner oppression and even of being rejected by God.
[47]
Other preparations for the betrothal come in the form of certain spiritual
awakenings and impulses deep within the soul. These are of many kinds
and include the woundings of love that can cause at one and the same time
both pain and delight.[48]
The betrothal itself takes place when His Majesty "gives the soul
raptures that draw it out of its senses. For if it were to see itself so near
this great majesty while in its senses, it would perhaps die."[49] Though
the soul in ecstasy is without consciousness in its outward life, it was
never before so awake to the things of God nor did it ever before have so
deep an enlightenment and knowledge of God.[50]
Besides locutions from God with their beneficial effects, the soul may
now also begin to receive through intellectual and imaginative visions
understanding about the divine mysteries.[51] The Lord shows it heavenly
secrets. Some are so sublime that it is incapable of explaining anything
about them; others can be explained to some extent. The supernatural
realities that became the objects of Teresa's mystical experience were so
varied and complex that the scholar is left disconcerted in his efforts to
categorize them. Accompanying the discussion of these diverse favors are
also many sharp analyses and keenly perceptive rules for discerning
authentic mystical experiences from pseudo-mystical phenomena. The
effects the authentic favors leave in the soul are like the jewels the Spouse
gives to the betrothed; they are knowledge of the grandeur of God, self-
knowledge together with humility, and rejection of earthly things except of
those that can be used in the Lord's service.[52] Finally, joy will reach
such an excess that the soul will want to be a herald to the entire world
that all might help it praise the Lord.[53]
When speaking of the intellectual and imaginative visions of Christ,
Teresa pauses to make some firm assertions about the human and divine
Christ present throughout one's spiritual pilgrimage. He is the one through
whom all blessings come. No state is so sublime that a person must always
be occupied with divinity and thus obliged to empty the mind of all
reference to the human Christ. "Life is long, and there are in it many trials,
and we need to look at Christ our model, how He suffered them, and also
at His apostles and saints, so as to bear these trials with perfection. Jesus
is too good a companion for us to turn away from Him."[54] And here
Teresa makes an important distinction between discursive meditation
about Christ and contemplative presence to Him. The inability of
contemplative souls to engage in discursive thought about the mysteries of
the Passion and life of Christ in their prayer is very common, she holds.
But contemplating these mysteries, "dwelling on them with a simple
gaze," in Teresa's words, "will not impede the most sublime prayer."[55]
On the contrary, an effort to forget Christ and live in continual absorption
in the Divinity will result in a failure to enter the last two dwelling places.
Teresa is most insistent on this. The purification of the person is realized
not merely through the sufferings inherent to the human condition but
especially through contact with the person of Christ in his humanity and
divinity.
Through these many favors and purifications, the desires of love are
always increasing and the flight of the butterfly ever more restless. These
desires reach a point of extreme spiritual torment causing the soul a final
purification of the spirit before entering the seventh dwelling place, "just
as those who will enter heaven must be cleansed in purgatory."[56] Not
only can this intense spiritual torment cause ecstasy, as can intense
spiritual joy, but also it can place one in danger of death.[57] Nonetheless,
the soul is aware that this spiritual suffering is a precious favor.
The seventh dwelling places. On account of these moments of great
illumination, Teresa is able to teach that there are no closed doors between
the sixth and the seventh dwelling places. If she divides them, it is
"because there are things in the last that are not revealed to those who have
not yet reached it."[58] In the prayer of union explained in the fifth
dwelling place and the raptures of the sixth, the Lord makes the soul blind
and deaf as was St. Paul in his conversion. When God joins the soul to
Himself, it doesn't understand anything of the nature and kind of favor
enjoyed.[59] But in the seventh dwelling place the union is wrought
differently: "Our good God now desires to remove the scales from the
soul's eyes and let it see and understand, although in a strange way,
something of the favor He grants it."[60] Now fortified, a person lifted up
to these exalted mysteries no longer loses equilibrium or falls into ecstasy,
but rather experiences them as a proper object, as connatural.
Entry into these last and most luminous dwelling places takes place
through an amazing intellectual vision of the Most Blessed Trinity. Teresa
places much emphasis on the depth at which this experience occurs, a
spiritual profundity previously unrevealed, in "the extreme interior, in
some place very deep within itself."[61] Though the presence of the
Trinity remains and is felt habitually, it is not revealed in the fullness of
light as at first or sometimes afterward when the Lord "desires that the
window of the intellect be opened."[62] What seems awesome is that the
habitual intellectual vision of the Trinity does not interfere with multiple
and diverse daily duties carried out as acts of service.
The grace of spiritual marriage, of perfect union, is bestowed also in
this center dwelling place and occurs through an imaginative vision of the
Lord's most sacred humanity "so that the soul will understand and not be
ignorant of receiving this sovereign gift."[63] The vision was so much at
variance with previous ones that it left Teresa "stupefied," for, as does the
vision of the Trinity, this takes place in that most interior depth of the
spirit. In successive experiences of this grace, which is repeatable, the
vision is an intellectual one. Suggesting the trait of inseparability, the term
"marriage" designates the union and the degree of His Majesty's love. It is
so great and reaches such a point that the spirit is made one with God "just
as those who are married cannot be separated"[64] With no allowance for
division, as there is in spiritual betrothal (likened to the joining and
separation of the two candles), the union of spiritual marriage makes
Teresa think of the rain that has fallen into a river, or of a stream that
enters the sea, or of the beams of light entering a room through different
windows and becoming one.[65]
At this point the butterfly dies with the greatest joy because its new life
is Christ. In St. Paul's words: "He that is joined or united to the Lord
becomes one spirit with Him," and "for me to live is Christ."[66] The
ultimate goal, then, of Teresa's journey, the spiritual marriage, is a union
with Christ, now no longer living as the divine Logos but as the Word
incarnate, risen and connotated by the attributes of His earthly adventure,
especially those of His resurrection. With the passing of time, the soul
understands more clearly that its life is Christ.
Having examined the effects of this union, Teresa in the final chapter
explains that the purpose of all these splendid favors is that one might live
like Christ and that the fruit of the spiritual marriage must be good works.
The interior calm fortifies these persons so that they may endure much
less calm in the exterior events of their lives, that they might have the
strength to serve.[67] The works of service may be outstanding ones, as in
Teresa's case, but they need not be. One must concentrate on serving those
who are in one's company. "The Lord doesn't look so much at the greatness
of our works as at the love with which they are done." His Majesty will
join our sacrifice with that which He offered for us. "Thus even though our
works are small they will have the value our love for Him would have
merited had they been great."[68]
In the prologue Teresa states her intention to write about prayer, and
anyone reading the Interior Castle would probably agree that it is indeed a
book about prayer and its stages. But in a letter dated December 7, 1577, a
week after completion of her manuscript, Teresa refers to her book and
speaks of its theme differently. She says the book is about God ("it treats
only of what He is"). This remark illustrates well how for Teresa the
journey in prayer through the interior castle to the center room is nothing
else than the magnificent work of God's love.[69]

The Autograph

The Interior Castle was not revised, although the manuscript does
contain the marks of censors. Between June 13 and July 6, 1580 at the
monastery of Carmelite nuns in Segovia, Fr. Gracián and the Dominican
Fr. Diego de Yanguas went over the work with Teresa pointing out their
difficulties, cancelling passages, and making corrections. Many of
Gracián's corrections annoyed Teresa's Jesuit biographer Ribera, leading
him to write on the opening page of the autograph a strong rebuke against
censors of the work.[70] José Vicente Rodríguez surmises that Gracián
was just killing time since he was in that part of Spain waiting for a Brief
to come from Rome.[71]
Teresa gave the new book to Gracián to guard, for her Life was still at
the Inquisition. Gracián brought the work to Seville in 1580 and entrusted
it for safekeeping to María de San José. Sometime between 1582 and
1585, while he was still provincial, Gracián gave the work as a gift to Don
Pedro Cerezo Pardo who was a generous benefactor of the Discalced
Carmelites. Between 1586 and 1588 the autograph was in the hands of
Fray Luis de León who was at the time preparing the first edition of
Teresa's works; and it was then returned to Don Pedro Cerezo. In 1618 Don
Pedro's daughter, Doña Constancia de Ayala made her profession of vows
in the monastery of the Discalced Carmelite nuns in Seville. She had
brought with her to the Carmel the autograph of the Interior Castle, and it
has remained with the nuns in Seville ever since, with one exception. In
1961 it was brought to Rome for repair, and in the following year,
beautifully restored, the spiritual masterpiece was returned to the
Carmelites in Seville. The red-bound book, referred to by its author as a
jewel, is now set like a ruby in a reliquary that has walls like those of
Avila and in the shape of a castle surrounding and protecting it.
K. K.
===================================
 [1] Antonio De San Joaquin, "Anotaciones al P. Ribera," Año Teresiano,
12 vols. (Madrid, 1733-1769), 8:149-150.
[2] I, ch. 2, no. 7; see also IV, ch. 1, no. 1; ch. 2, no. 7.
[3] Prologue, no. 1.
[4] For a detailed treatment of this whole question, cf. Efrén de La
Madre de Dios and Otger Steggink, Tiempo Y Vida De Santa Teresa
(Madrid: BAC, 1977), pp. 701-805; cf. also Ildefonso Moriones, El
Carmelo Teresiano (Vitoria: Ediciones El Carmen, 1978), pp. 97-180. For
a treatment of these questions from a different perspective, cf. Joachim
Smet, The Carmelites: The Post Tridentine Period, vol. 2 (Darien, Ill.:
Carmelite Spiritual Center, 1976), pp. 1-131.
[5] Letters, October 22, 1577.
[6] IV, ch. 2, no. 1.
[7] V, ch. 4, no. 1.
[8] Prologue, no. 1.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Epilogue, no. 1.
[11] VI, ch. 4, no. 9.
[12] IV, ch. 1, no. 1; see also V, ch. 4, no. 11.
[13] Biblioteca Mística Carmelitana, ed., Silverio de Santa Teresa, vol.
18 (Burgos: El Monte Carmelo 1934), p. 315.
[14] I, ch. 1, no. 1.
[15] Way of Perfection, ch. 28, no. 9.
[16] Biblioteca Mística, vol: 18, pp. 276-278.
[17] Ibid., vol. 2 (1915), p. 493.
[18] Life, ch. 40, no. 5.
[19] Cf. Life, ch. 40, no. 10.
[20] Cf. I, ch. 1, nos. 2-3.
[21] Epilogue, no. 3.
[22] Cf. I, ch. 1, no. 7.
[23] Cf. ibid., nos. 6, 8.
[24] I, ch. 2, no. 14.
[25] Cf. VII, ch. 4, no. 9.
[26] Cf. III, ch. 1, no. 5.
[27] Cf. III, ch. 2, nos. 4-5, 7, 8.
[28] Cf. III, ch. 2, no. 13; ch. 1, no. 7.
 [29] Cf. III, ch. 2, no. 9.
[30] I, ch. 2, no. 7.
[31] Cf. Tomás de la Cruz, "Santa Teresa de Jesús Contemplativa,"
Ephemerides Carmeliticae 13 (1962): 9-62.
[32] Cf. IV, ch. 1, no. 1.
[33] Cf. ibid., no. 4.
[34] Ibid., no. 7.
[35] Ibid.
[36] Cf. IV. ch. 3, nos. 1-3.
[37] Cf. ibid., no. 8.
[38] IV, ch. 2, nos. 3, 8, 9.
[39] Cf. V, ch. 1, nos. 3-5, 9-10.
[40] Cf. ibid., nos. 5, 11.
[41] Cf. V, ch. 2, nos. 2-5.
[42] Cf. V, ch. 4, no. 4.
[43] Cf. ibid., no. 9.
[44] Cf. VI, ch. 1, no. 1.
[45] Cf. VI, ch. 2, no. 1; ch. 4, no. 1.
[46] VI, ch. 4, no. 1.
[47] Cf. VI, ch. 1, nos. 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9.
[48] Cf. VI, ch. 2.
[49] VI, ch. 4, no. 2.
[50] Cf. ibid., nos. 3-4.
[51] Cf. ibid., nos. 5, 8.
[52] Cf. VI, ch. 5, no. 10.
[53] Cf. VI, ch. 6, nos. 10-13.
[54] VI, ch. 7, no. 13.
[55] Cf. ibid., nos. 6, 7, 11, 12.
[56] VI, ch. 11, nos. 1, 6.
[57] Cf. ibid., nos. 2, 4, 11.
[58] Cf. VI, ch. 4, no. 4.
[59] Cf. VII, ch. 1, no. 5.
[60] Ibid., no. 6.
[61] Ibid., no. 8.
[62] Ibid., nos. 8-9.
[63] VII, ch. 2, no. 1.
 [64] Ibid., no. 3.
[65] Cf. ibid., no. 4.
[66] Ibid., no. 5.
[67] Cf. VII, ch. 4, nos. 4, 6, 9, 12.
[68] Ibid., nos. 14-15.
[69] Cf. José Vicente Rodríguez, "Castillo Interior O Las Moradas,"
Introducción A La Lectura De Santa Teresa (Madrid: Espiritualidad,
1978): 368-371.
[70] See III, ch. 1, no. 1, note 2.
[71] See "Castillo Interior O Las Moradas," p. 318.

THE INTERIOR CASTLE

 [Prologue]
Teresa of Jesus, a nun of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, wrote this treatise called the Interior
Castle for her Sisters and daughters, the Discalced Carmelite nuns.

JHS

1. Not many things that I have been ordered to do under obedience have
been as difficult for me as is this present task of writing about prayer.
First, it doesn’t seem the Lord is giving me either the spirit or the desire to
undertake the work. Second, I have been experiencing now for three
months such great noise and weakness in my head that I’ve found it a
hardship even to write concerning necessary business matters. But
knowing that the strength given by obedience usually lessens the difficulty
of things that seem impossible, I resolved to carry out the task very
willingly, even though my human nature seems greatly distressed. For the
Lord hasn’t given me so much virtue that my nature in the midst of its
struggle with continual sickness and duties of so many kinds doesn’t feel
strong aversion toward such a task. May He, in whose mercy I trust and
who has helped me in other more difficult things so as to favor me, do this
work for me.
2. Indeed, I don't think I have much more to say than what I've said in
other things they have ordered me to write;[1] rather, I fear that the things
I write about will be nearly all alike. I’m, literally, just like the parrots that
are taught to speak; they know no more than what they hear or are shown,
and they often repeat it. If the Lord wants me to say something new, His
Majesty will provide. Or, He will be pleased to make me remember what I
have said at other times, for I would be happy even with this. My memory
is so poor that I would be glad if I could repeat, in case they've been lost,
some of the things which I was told were well said.[2] If the Lord doesn't
make me remember, I will gain just by tiring myself and getting a worse
headache for the sake of obedience -- even if no one draws any benefit
from what I say.
3. And so I'm beginning to comply today, the feast of the most Blessed
Trinity, in the year 1577, in this Carmelite monastery of St. Joseph in
Toledo where I am at present.[3] In all that I say I submit to the opinion of
the ones who ordered me to write, for they are persons of great learning.
[4] If I should say something that isn't in conformity with what the holy
Roman Catholic Church holds, it will be through ignorance and not
through malice. This can be held as certain, and also that through the
goodness of God I always am, and will be, and have been subject to her.
May He be always blessed and glorified, amen.
4. The one who ordered me to write told me that the nuns in these
monasteries of our Lady of Mt. Carmel need someone to answer their
questions about prayer and that he thought they would better understand
the language used between women, and that because of the love they bore
me they would pay more attention to what I would tell them. I thus
understood that it was important for me to manage to say something. So, I
shall be speaking to them while I write; it's nonsense to think that what I
say could matter to other persons. Our Lord will be granting me favor
enough if some of these nuns benefit by praising Him a little more. His
Majesty well knows that I don't aim after anything else. And it should be
very clear that if I manage to say something well the Sisters will
understand that this does not come from me since there would be no
foundation for it, unless the Lord gave it to me; otherwise they would have
as little intelligence as I little ability for such things.
===================================

[1] An allusion to her Life and The Way of Perfection.

[2] This is a veiled reference to her Life. The autograph of this work was
requested by the Inquisition in 1576 and kept in its archives until 1588.
[3] It was June 2, 1577. She completed the work in Avila on November
29 of the same year.
[4] These were Fr. Jerónimo Gracián and her confessor Dr. Alonso
Velázquez, future Bishop of Osma and later Archbishop of Santiago de
Compostela.
 THE FIRST DWELLING PLACES
Contains Two Chapters
Chapter 1
Discusses the beauty and dignity of our souls. Draws a comparison in
order to explain, and speaks of the benefit that comes from understanding
this truth and knowing about the favors we receive from God and how the
door to this castle is prayer.

1. Today while beseeching our Lord to speak for me because I wasn't

able to think of anything to say nor did I know how to begin to carry out
this obedience, there came to my mind what I shall now speak about, that
which will provide us with a basis to begin with. It is that we consider our
soul to be like a castle made entirely out of a diamond or of very clear
crystal, in which there are many rooms, just as in heaven there are many
dwelling places.[1] For in reflecting upon it carefully, Sisters, we realize
that the soul of the just person is nothing else but a paradise where the
Lord says He finds His delight.[2] So then, what do you think that abode
will be like where a King so powerful, so wise, so pure, so full of all good
things takes His delight? I don't find anything comparable to the
magnificent beauty of a soul and its marvelous capacity. Indeed, our
intellects, however keen, can hardly comprehend it, just as they cannot
comprehend God; but He Himself says that He created us in His own
image and likeness.[3]
Well if this is true, as it is, there is no reason to tire ourselves in trying
to comprehend the beauty of this castle. Since this castle is a creature and
the difference, therefore, between it and God is the same as that between
the Creator and His creature, His Majesty in saying that the soul is made
in His own image makes it almost impossible for us to understand the
sublime dignity and beauty of the soul.
2. It is a shame and unfortunate that through our own fault we don't
understand ourselves or know who we are. Wouldn't it show great
ignorance, my daughters, if someone when asked who he was didn't know,
and didn't know his father or mother or from what country he came? Well
now, if this would be so extremely stupid, we are incomparably more so
when we do not strive to know who we are, but limit ourselves to
considering only roughly these bodies. Because we have heard and because
faith tells us so, we know we have souls. But we seldom consider the
precious things that can be found in this soul, or who dwells within it, or
its high value. Consequently, little effort is made to preserve its beauty. All
our attention is taken up with the plainness of the diamond's setting or the
outer wall of the castle; that is, with these bodies of ours.
3. Well, let us consider that this castle has, as I said,[4] many dwelling
places: some up above, others down below, others to the sides; and in the
center and middle is the main dwelling place where the very secret
exchanges between God and the soul take place.
It's necessary that you keep this comparison in mind. Perhaps God will
be pleased to let me use it to explain something to you about the favors He
is happy to grant souls and the differences between these favors. I shall
explain them according to what I have understood as possible. For it is
impossible that anyone understand them all since there are many; how
much more so for someone as wretched as I. It will be a great consolation
when the Lord grants them to you if you know that they are possible; and
for anyone to whom He doesn't, it will be a great consolation to praise His
wonderful goodness. Just as it doesn't do us any harm to reflect upon the
things there are in heaven and what the blessed enjoy -- but rather we
rejoice and strive to attain what they enjoy -- it doesn't do us any harm to
see that it is possible in this exile for so great a God to commune with
such foul-smelling worms; and, upon seeing this, come to love a goodness
so perfect and a mercy so immeasurable. I hold as certain that anyone who
might be harmed by knowing that God can grant this favor in this exile
would be very much lacking in humility and love of neighbor. Otherwise,
how could we fail to be happy that God grants these favors to our brother?
His doing so is no impediment toward His granting them to us, and His
Majesty can reveal His grandeurs to whomever He wants. Sometimes He
does so merely to show forth His glory, as He said of the blind man whose
sight He restored when His apostles asked Him if the blindness resulted
from the man's sins or those of his parents.[5] Hence, He doesn't grant
them because the sanctity of the recipients is greater than that of those
who don't receive them but so that His glory may be known, as we see in
St. Paul and the Magdalene, and that we might praise Him for His work in
creatures.
4. One could say that these favors seem to be impossible and that it is
good not to scandalize the weak. Less is lost when the weak do not believe
in them than when the favors fail to benefit those to whom God grants
them; and these latter will be delighted and awakened through these favors
to a greater love of Him who grants so many gifts and and whose power
and majesty is so great. Moreover, I know I am speaking to those for
whom this danger does not exist, for they know and believe that God
grants even greater signs of His love. I know that whoever does not believe
in these favors will have no experience of them, for God doesn't like us to
put a limit on His works. And so, Sisters, those of you whom the Lord
doesn't lead by this path should never doubt His generosity.
5. Well getting back to our beautiful and delightful castle we must see
how we can enter it. It seems I'm saying something foolish. For if this
castle is the soul, clearly one doesn't have to enter it since it is within
oneself. How foolish it would seem were we to tell someone to enter a
room he is already in. But you must understand that there is a great
difference in the ways one may be inside the castle. For there are many
souls who are in the outer courtyard -- which is where the guards stay --
and don't care at all about entering the castle, nor do they know what lies
within that most precious place, nor who is within, nor even how many
rooms it has. You have already heard in some books on prayer that the soul
is advised to enter within itself;[6] well that's the very thing I'm advising.
6. Not long ago a very learned man told me that souls who do not
practice prayer are like people with paralysed or crippled bodies; even
though they have hands and feet they cannot give orders to these hands and
feet.[7] Thus there are souls so ill and so accustomed to being involved in
external matters that there is no remedy, nor does it seem they can enter
within themselves. They are now so used to dealing always with the
insects and vermin that are in the wall surrounding the castle that they
have become almost like them. And though they have so rich a nature and
the power to converse with none other than God, there is no remedy. If
these souls do not strive to understand and cure their great misery, they
will be changed into statues of salt, unable to turn their heads to look at
themselves, just as Lot's wife was changed for having turned her head.[8]
 7. Insofar as I can understand the door of entry to this castle is prayer
and reflection. I don't mean to refer to mental more than vocal prayer, for
since vocal prayer is prayer it must be accompanied by reflection. A
prayer in which a person is not aware of whom he is speaking to, what he
is asking, who it is who is asking and of whom, I do not call prayer
however much the lips move. Sometimes it will be so without this
reflection, provided that the soul has these reflections at other times.
Nonetheless, anyone who has the habit of speaking before God's majesty
as though he were speaking to a slave, without being careful to see how he
is speaking, but saying whatever comes to his head and whatever he has
learned from saying at other times, in my opinion is not praying. Please
God, may no Christian pray in this way. Among yourselves, Sisters, I hope
in His Majesty that you will not do so, for the custom you have of being
occupied with interior things is quite a good safeguard against falling and
carrying on in this way like brute beasts.
8. Well now, we are not speaking to these crippled souls, for if the Lord
Himself doesn't come to order them to get up -- as He did the man who
waited at the side of the pool for thirty years[9] -- they are quite
unfortunate and in serious danger. But we are speaking to other souls that,
in the end, enter the castle. For even though they are very involved in the
world, they have good desires and sometimes, though only once in a while,
they entrust themselves to our Lord and reflect on who they are, although
in a rather hurried fashion. During the period of a month they will
sometimes pray, but their minds are then filled with business matters
which ordinarily occupy them. They are so attached to these things that
where their treasure lies their heart goes also.[10] Sometimes they do put
all these things aside, and the self-knowledge and awareness that they are
not proceeding correctly in order to get to the door is important. Finally,
they enter the first, lower rooms. But so many reptiles get in with them
that they are prevented from seeing the beauty of the castle and from
calming down; they have done quite a bit just by having entered.
9. You may have been thinking, daughters, that this is irrelevant to you
since by the Lord's goodness you are not among these people. You'll have
to have patience, for I wouldn't know how to explain my understanding of
some interior things about prayer if not in this way. And may it even
please the Lord that I succeed in saying something, for what I want to
explain to you is very difficult to understand without experience. If you
have experience you will see that one cannot avoid touching upon things
that -- please God, through His mercy -- do not pertain to us.
===================================

[1] Allusion to Jn. 14:2. Teresa uses the Spanish words moradas,
aposentos, and piezas in approximately the same sense; they refer to
rooms or dwelling places within the castle. The fundamental text of Jn.
14:2 has led previous translators to speak of these rooms as mansions.
Most people today think of a mansion as a large stately house, not what
Teresa had in mind with the term moradas. New versions of Scripture
render Jn. 14:2 as "in my Father's house there are many dwelling places."
"Dwelling places" turns out to be a more precise translation of Teresa's
moradas than is the classic "mansions," and more biblical and theological
in tone.
[2] Allusion to Pr. 8:31.
[3] Gn. 1:26-27.
[4] In no. 1.
[5] Jn. 9:2-3.
[6] She is probably alluding to Osuna's Third Spiritual Alphabet and
Laredo's Ascent of Mount Sion, favorite books of hers. See Life, ch. 4, no.
7 ; ch. 23, no. 12.
[7] She also received in an intellectual vision mystical understanding of
this truth. See Spir. Test., 20.
[8] Gn. 19:26.
[9] Fr. Gracián added "and eight" after "thirty years," in accordance with
Jn. 5:5.
[10] Allusion to Mt. 6:21.
Chapter 2
Treats of how ugly a soul is when in mortal sin and how God wanted to
let a certain person know something about this. Discusses, also, some
matters on the theme of self-knowledge. This chapter is beneficial for there
are noteworthy points. Explains what is meant by these dwelling places.
 1. Before going on I want to say that you should consider what it would
mean to this so brilliantly shining and beautiful castle, this pearl from the
Orient, this tree of life planted in the very living waters of life[1] -- that is,
in God -- to fall into mortal sin; there's no darker darkness nor anything
more obscure and black. You shouldn't want to know anything else than
the fact that, although the very sun that gave the soul so much brilliance
and beauty is still in the center, the soul is as though it were not there to
share in these things. Yet, it is as capable of enjoying His Majesty as is
crystal capable of reflecting the sun's brilliance. Nothing helps such a
soul; and as a result all the good works it might do while in mortal sin are
fruitless for the attainment of glory. Since these works do not proceed
from that principle, which is God, who is the cause of our virtue being
really virtue, and are separated from Him, they cannot be pleasing in His
sight. Since, after all, the intention of anyone who commits a mortal sin is
to please the devil, who is darkness itself, not God, the poor soul becomes
darkness itself.
2. I know a person to whom our Lord wanted to show what a soul in
mortal sin was like.[2] That person says that in her opinion if this were
understood it would be impossible to sin, even though a soul would have
to undergo the greatest trials imaginable in order to flee the occasions. So
the Lord gave her a strong desire that all might understand this. May He
give you, daughters, the desire to beseech Him earnestly for those who are
in this state, who have become total darkness, and whose works have
become darkness also. For just as all the streams that flow from a crystal-
clear fount are also clear, the works a soul in grace, because they proceed
from this fount of life, in which the soul is planted like a tree, are most
pleasing in the eyes of both God and man. There would be no freshness, no
fruit, if it were not for this fount sustaining the tree, preventing it from
drying up, and causing it to produce good fruit. Thus in the case of a soul
that through its own fault withdraws from this fount and plants itself in a
place where the water is black and foul-smelling, everything that flows
from it is equally wretched and filthy.
3. It should be kept in mind here that the fount, the shining sun that is in
the center of the soul, does not lose its beauty and splendor; it is always
present in the soul, and nothing can take away its loveliness. But if a black
cloth is placed over a crystal that is in the sun, obviously the sun's
brilliance will have no effect on the crystal even though the sun is shining
on it.[3]
4. O souls redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ! Understand and take
pity on yourselves. How is it possible that in realizing these things you
don't strive to remove the pitch from this crystal? See that if your life
comes to an end you will never again enjoy this light. O Jesus, how sad a
thing it is to see a soul separated from this light! How miserable is the
state of those poor rooms within the castle! How disturbed the senses are,
that is, the people who live in these rooms! And in the faculties, that is,
among the custodians, the stewards, and the chief waiters, what blindness,
what bad management! In sum, since the tree is planted where the devil is,
what fruit can it bear?
5. I once heard of a spiritual man who was not surprised at things done
by a person in mortal sin, but at what was not done. May God in His mercy
deliver us from so great an evil. There is nothing, while we are living, that
deserves this name "evil," except mortal sin, for such sin carries in its
wake everlasting evils. This, daughters, is what we must go about in fear
of and what we must ask God in our prayers to protect us against. For if He
doesn't guard the city, our labor will be in vain[4] since we are vanity
itself.
That person I mentioned[5] said she received two blessings from the
favor God granted her: the first, an intense fear of offending Him, and so
in seeing such terrible dangers she always went about begging Him not to
let her fall; the second, a mirror for humility, in which she saw how none
of our good deeds has its principle from ourselves but from this fount in
which the tree, symbolizing our souls, is planted and from this sun that
gives warmth to our works. She says that this truth was represented to her
so clearly that in doing something good, or seeing it done, she gave heed
to the source and understood how without this help we could do nothing.
As a result she would begin immediately to praise God and usually not
think of herself in any good thing that she did.
6. The time you spend in reading this, or I in writing it, Sisters, would
not be lost if we were left with these two blessings. Learned and wise men
know about these things very well, but everything is necessary for our
womanly dullness of mind; and so perhaps the Lord wills that we get to
know comparisons like these. May it please His Goodness to give us grace
to profit by them.
7. These interior matters are so obscure for our minds that anyone who
knows as little as I will be forced to say many superfluous and even
foolish things in order to say something that's right. Whoever reads this
must have patience, for I have to have it in order to write about what I
don't know. Indeed, sometimes I take up the paper like a simpleton, for I
don't know what to say or how to begin. I understand well that it's
important for you that I explain some things about the interior life as best
I can. We always hear about what a good thing prayer is, and our
constitutions oblige us to spend so many hours in prayer.[6] Yet only what
we ourselves can do in prayer is explained to us; little is explained about
what the Lord does in a soul, I mean about the supernatural.[7] By
speaking about this heavenly interior building and explaining and
considering it in many ways we shall find great comfort. It is so little
understood by mortals, even though many walk through it. And although
in other things I've written the Lord has given me some understanding,[8]
I know there were certain things I had not understood as I have come to
understand them now, especially certain more difficult things. The trouble
is that before discussing them, as I have said,[9] I will have to repeat
matters that are well known; on account of my stupidity things can't be
otherwise.
8. Well now let's get back to our castle with its many dwelling places.
You mustn't think of these dwelling places in such a way that each one
would follow in file after the other; but turn your eyes toward the center,
which is the room or royal chamber where the King stays, and think of
how a palmetto[10] has many leaves surrounding and covering the tasty
part that can be eaten. So here, surrounding this center room are many
other rooms; and the same holds true for those above. The things of the
soul must always be considered as plentiful, spacious, and large; to do so
is not an exaggeration. The soul is capable of much more than we can
imagine, and the sun that is in this royal chamber shines in all parts. It is
very important for any soul that practices prayer, whether little or much,
not to hold itself back and stay in one corner. Let it walk through these
dwelling places which are up above, down below, and to the sides, since
God has given it such great dignity. Don't force it to stay a long time in
one room alone. Oh, but if it is in the room of self-knowledge! How
necessary this room is -- see that you understand me -- even for those
whom the Lord has brought into the very dwelling place where He abides.
For never, however exalted the soul may be, is anything else fitting for it;
nor could it be even were the soul to so desire. For humility, like the bee
making honey in the beehive, is always at work. Without it, everything
goes wrong. But let's remember that the bee doesn't fail to leave the
beehive and fly about gathering nectar from the flowers. So it is with the
soul in the room of self-knowledge; let it believe me and fly sometimes to
ponder the grandeur and majesty of its God. Here it will discover its
lowliness better than by thinking of itself, and be freer from the vermin
that enter the first rooms, those of self-knowledge. For even though, as I
say, it is by the mercy of God that a person practices self-knowledge, that
which applies in lesser matters applies so much more in greater ones, as
they say. And believe me, we shall practice much better virtue through
God's help than by being tied down to our own misery.
9. I don't know if this has been explained well. Knowing ourselves is
something so important that I wouldn't want any relaxation ever in this
regard, however high you may have climbed into the heavens. While we
are on this earth nothing is more important to us than humility. So I repeat
that it is good, indeed very good, to try to enter first into the room where
self-knowledge is dealt with rather than fly off to other rooms. This is the
right road, and if we can journey along a safe and level path, why should
we want wings to fly? Rather, let's strive to make more progress in self-
knowledge. In my opinion we shall never completely know ourselves if we
don't strive to know God. By gazing at His grandeur, we get in touch with
our own lowliness; by looking at His purity, we shall see our own filth; by
pondering His humility, we shall see how far we are from being humble.
10. Two advantages come from such activity. First, it's clear that
something white seems much whiter when next to something black, and
vice versa with the black next to the white. The second is that our
intellects and wills, dealing in turn now with self now with God, become
nobler and better prepared for every good. And it would be
disadvantageous for us never to get out of the mire of our miseries. As we
said of those who are in mortal sin, that their streams are black and foul-
smelling, so it is here; although not entirely -- God deliver us -- for we are
just making a comparison. If we are always fixed on our earthly misery,
the stream will never flow free from the mud of fears, faintheartedness,
and cowardice. I would be looking to see if I'm being watched or not; if by
taking this path things will turn out badly for me; whether it might be
pride to dare begin a certain work; whether it would be good for a person
so miserable to engage in something as lofty as prayer; whether I might be
judged better than others if I don't follow the path they all do. I'd be
thinking that extremes are not good, even in the practice of virtue; that,
since I am such a sinner, I might have a greater fall; that perhaps I would
not advance and would do harm to good people; that someone like myself
has no need of anything special.
11. Oh, God help me, daughters, how many souls must have been made
to suffer great loss in this way by the devil! These souls think that all such
fears stem from humility. And there are many others I could mention. The
fears come from our not understanding ourselves completely. They distort
self-knowledge; and I'm not surprised if we never get free from ourselves,
for this lack of freedom from ourselves, and even more, is what can be
feared. So I say, daughters, that we should set our eyes on Christ, our
Good, and on His saints. There we shall learn true humility, the intellect
will be enhanced,[11] as I have said, and self-knowledge will not make
one base and cowardly. Even though this is the first dwelling place, it is
very rich and so precious that if the soul slips away from the vermin
within it, nothing will be left to do but advance. Terrible are the wiles and
deceits used by the devil so that souls may not know themselves or
understand their own paths.
12. I could give some very good proofs from experience of the wiles the
devil uses in these first dwelling places. Thus I say that you should think
not in terms of just a few rooms but in terms of a million;[12] for souls,
all with good intentions, enter here in many ways. But since the devil
always has such a bad intention, he must have in each room many legions
of devils to fight off souls when they try to go from one room to the other.
Since the poor soul doesn't know this, the devil plays tricks on it in a
thousand ways. He's not so successful with those who have advanced
closer to where the King dwells. But since in the first rooms souls are still
absorbed in the world and engulfed in their pleasures and vanities, with
their honors and pretenses, their vassals (which are these senses and
faculties) don't have the strength God gave human nature in the beginning.
And these souls are easily conquered, even though they may go about with
desires not to offend God and though they do perform good works. Those
who see themselves in this state must approach His Majesty as often as
possible. They must take His Blessed Mother and His saints as
intercessors so that these intercessors may fight for them, for the soul's
vassals have little strength to defend themselves. Truly, in all states it's
necessary that strength come to us from God. May His Majesty through
His mercy give it to us, amen.
13. How miserable the life in which we live! Because elsewhere I have
said a great deal about the harm done to us by our failure to understand
well this humility and self-knowledge,[13] I'll tell you no more about it
here, even though this self-knowledge is the most important thing for us.
Please God, I may have now said something beneficial for you.
14. You must note that hardly any of the light coming from the King's
royal chamber reaches these first dwelling places. Even though they are
not dark and black, as when the soul is in sin, they nevertheless are in
some way darkened so that the soul cannot see the light. The darkness is
not caused by a flaw in the room -- for I don't know how to explain myself
-- but by so many bad things like snakes and vipers and poisonous
creatures that enter with the soul and don't allow it to be aware of the light.
It's as if a person were to enter a place where the sun is shining but be
hardly able to open his eyes because of the mud in them. The room is
bright but he doesn't enjoy it because of the impediment of things like
these wild animals or beasts that make him close his eyes to everything
but them. So, I think, must be the condition of the soul. Even though it
may not be in a bad state, it is so involved in worldly things and so
absorbed with its possessions, honor, or business affairs, as I have said,
[14] that even though as a matter of fact it would want to see and enjoy its
beauty these things do not allow it to; nor does it seem that it can slip free
from so many impediments. If a person is to enter the second dwelling
places, it is important that he strive to give up unnecessary things and
business affairs. Each one should do this in conformity with his state in
life. It is something so important in order for him to reach the main
dwelling place that if he doesn't begin doing this I hold that it will be
impossible for him to get there. And it will be even impossible for him to
stay where he is without danger even though he has entered the castle, for
in the midst of such poisonous creatures one cannot help but be bitten at
one time or another.
15. Now then, what would happen, daughters, if we who are already free
from these snares, as we are, and have entered much further into the castle
to other secret dwelling places should turn back through our own fault and
go out to this tumult? There are, because of our sins, many persons to
whom God has granted favors who through their own fault have fallen
back into this misery. In the monastery we are free with respect to exterior
matters; in interior matters may it please the Lord that we also be free, and
may He free us. Guard yourselves, my daughters, from extraneous cares.
Remember that there are few dwelling places in this castle in which the
devils do not wage battle. True, in some rooms the guards (which I believe
I have said are the faculties)[15] have the strength to fight; but it is very
necessary that we don't grow careless in recognizing the wiles of the devil,
and that he not deceive us by changing himself into an angel of light.[16]
There's a host of things he can do to cause us harm; he enters little by
little, and until he's done the harm we don't recognize him.
16. I've already told you elsewhere[17] that he's like a noiseless file,
that we need to recognize him at the outset. Let me say something that will
explain this better for you.
He gives a Sister various impulses toward penance, for it seems to her
she has no rest except when she is tormenting herself. This may be a good
beginning; but if the prioress has ordered that no penance be done without
permission, and the devil makes the Sister think that in a practice that's so
good one can be rightly daring, and she secretly gives herself up to such a
penitential life that she loses her health and doesn't even observe what the
rule commands, you can see clearly where all this good will end up.
He imbues another with a very great zeal for perfection. Such zeal is in
itself good. But it could follow that every little fault the Sisters commit
will seem to her a serious breach; and she is careful to observe whether
they commit them, and then informs the prioress. It could even happen at
times that she doesn't see her own faults because of her intense zeal for the
religious observance. Since the other Sisters don't understand what's going
on within her and see all this concern, they might not accept her zeal so
well.
 17. What the devil is hereby aiming after is no small thing: the cooling
of the charity and love the Sisters have for one another. This would cause
serious harm. Let us understand my daughters, that true perfection consists
in love of God and neighbor; the more perfectly we keep these two
commandments the more perfect we will be. All that is in our rule and
constitutions serves for nothing else than to be a means toward keeping
these commandments with greater perfection. Let's forget about indiscreet
zeal; it can do us a lot of harm. Let each one look to herself. Because I
have said enough about this elsewhere,[18] I'll not enlarge on the matter.
18. This mutual love is so important that I would never want it to be
forgotten. The soul could lose its peace and even disturb the peace of
others by going about looking at trifling things in people that at times are
not even imperfections, but since we know little we see these things in the
worst light; look how costly this kind of perfection would be. Likewise,
the devil could tempt the prioress in this way; and such a thing would be
more dangerous. As a result much discretion is necessary. If things are
done against the rule and constitutions, the matter need not always be seen
in a good light. The prioress should be cautioned, and if she doesn't
amend, the superior informed. This is charity. And the same with the
Sisters if there is something serious. And to fail to do these things for fear
of a temptation would itself be a temptation. But it should be carefully
noted -- so that the devil doesn't deceive us -- that we must not talk about
these things to one another. The devil could thereby gain greatly and
manage to get the custom of gossiping started. The matter should be
discussed with the one who will benefit, as I have said. In this house, glory
to God, there's not much occasion for gossip since such continual silence
is kept; but it is good that we be on guard.
===================================

[1] Allusion to Ps. 1:3.

[2] The person is Teresa herself. See Spir. Test., 20.
[3] For similar comparisons see Life, ch. 40. no. 5; Spir. Test., 52.
[4] Allusion to Ps. 127:1.
[5] In no. 2.
[6] See her Constitutions nos. 2, 7.
 [7] Teresa laments the fact there are few books that explain mystical
(supernatural) prayer in depth. In no. 1 of the following chapter she asserts
that there are many books dealing with ascetical matters. Thus her
orientation in this book is toward the mystical.
[8] She is referring to the Life and the Way of Perfection, and alludes to
a divine influence in the composition of her mystical writings. See Life,
ch. 39, no. 8: "... many of the things I write about here do not come from
my own head, but my heavenly Master told them to me."
[9] In no. 7.
[10] A plant about a foot in height, which grows in Andalusia and
Valencia, resembling the palm tree. Only the center or heart, the tender
part, is eaten.
[11] In no. 10.
[12] See no. 8. Teresa avoids any arrangement of these dwelling places
into neatly structured rows with set numbers. She thereby in her allegory
makes it easy for us to imagine a marvelous depth and abundance of inner
riches.
[13] In the Way of Perfection, ch. 39, no. 5. See also Life, ch. 13, no. 15.
[14] In ch. 1, no. 8.
[15] In nos. 4, 12.
[16] Allusion to 2 Co. 11:14.
[17] In the Way of Perfection, ch. 38, no. 2; ch. 39 passim.
[18] See Life, ch. 13, nos. 8, 10; Way of Perfection, ch. 4; Method for the
Visitation of Monasteries, nos. 17, 20, 21.
 THE SECOND DWELLING PLACE
This Section Has Only One Chapter
Chapter 1
Discusses the importance of perseverance if one is to reach the final
dwelling places; the great war the devil wages; and the importance of
taking the right road from the beginning. Offers a remedy that has proved
very efficacious.

1. Now let us speak about the type of soul that enters the second
dwelling places and what such a soul does in them. I'd like to say only a
little, for I have spoken at length on this subject elsewhere.[1] And it
would be impossible to avoid repeating much of it, for I don't remember a
thing of what I said. If I could present the matter for you in a variety of
ways I know well that you wouldn't be annoyed since we never tire of
books -- as many as there are -- that deal with it.
2. This stage pertains to those who have already begun to practice
prayer and have understood how important it is not to stay in the first
dwelling places. But they still don't have the determination to remain in
this second stage without turning back, for they don't avoid the occasion of
sin. This failure to avoid these occasions is quite dangerous. But these
persons have received a good deal of mercy in that they sometimes do
strive to escape from snakes and poisonous creatures, and they understand
that it is good to avoid them.
These rooms, in part, involve much more effort then do the first, even
though there is not as much danger, for it now seems that souls in them
recognize the dangers, and there is great hope they will enter further into
the castle. I say that these rooms involve more effort because those who
are in the first dwelling places are like deaf-mutes and thus the difficulty
of not speaking is more easily endured by them than it is by those who
hear but cannot speak. Yet, not for this reason does one have greater desire
to be deaf, for after all it is a wonderful thing to hear what is being said to
us. So these persons are able to hear the Lord when He calls. Since they
are getting closer to where His Majesty dwells, He is a very good neighbor.
His mercy and goodness are so bountiful; whereas we are occupied in our
pastimes, business affairs, pleasures, and worldly buying and selling, and
still falling into sin and rising again. These beasts are so poisonous and
their presence so dangerous and noisy that it would be a wonder if we kept
from stumbling and falling over them. Yet this Lord desires intensely that
we love Him and seek His company, so much so that from time to time He
calls us to draw near Him. And His voice is so sweet the poor soul
dissolves at not doing immediately what He commands. Thus, as I say,
hearing His voice is a greater trial than not hearing it.
3. I don't mean that these appeals and calls are like the ones I shall
speak of later on.[2] But they come through words spoken by other good
people, or through sermons, or through what is read in good books, or
through the many things that are heard and by which God calls, or through
illnesses and trials, or also through a truth that He teaches during the brief
moments we spend in prayer; however lukewarm these moments may be,
God esteems them highly. And you, Sisters, don't under-estimate this first
favor, nor should you become disconsolate if you don't respond at once to
the Lord. His Majesty knows well how to wait many days and years,
especially when He sees perseverance and good desires. This perseverance
is most necessary here. One always gains much through perseverance. But
the attacks made by devils in a thousand ways afflict the soul more in
these rooms than in the previous ones. In the previous ones the soul was
deaf and dumb -- at least it heard very little and resisted less, as one who
has partly lost hope of conquering. Here the intellect is more alive and the
faculties more skilled. The blows from the artillery strike in such a way
that the soul cannot fail to hear. It is in this stage that the devils represent
these snakes (worldly things) and the temporal pleasures of the present as
though almost eternal. They bring to mind the esteem one has in the world,
one's friends and relatives, one's health (when there's thought of
penitential practices, for the soul that enters this dwelling place always
begins wanting to practice some penance) and a thousand other obstacles.
4. O Jesus, what an uproar the devils instigate here! And the afflictions
of the poor soul: it doesn't know whether to continue or to return to the
first room. Reason, for its part, shows the soul that it is mistaken in
thinking that these things of the world are not worth anything when
compared to what it is aiming after. Faith, however, teaches it about where
it will find fulfillment. The memory shows it where all these things end,
holding before it the death of those who found great joy in them. Through
the memory it sees how some have suffered sudden death, how quickly
they are forgotten by all. Some whom it had known in great prosperity are
under the ground, and their graves are walked upon. This soul itself has
often passed by these graves. It reflects that many worms are swarming
over the corpses, and thinks about numerous other things. The will is
inclined to love after seeing such countless signs of love; it would want to
repay something; it especially keeps in mind how this true Lover never
leaves it, accompanying it and giving it life and being. Then the intellect
helps it realize that it couldn't find a better friend, even were it to live for
many years, that the whole world is filled with falsehood, and that so too
these joys the devil gives it are filled with trials, cares, and contradictions.
The intellect tells the soul of its certainty that outside this castle neither
security nor peace will be found, that it should avoid going about to
strange houses since its own is so filled with blessings to be enjoyed if it
wants. The intellect will ask who it is that finds everything he needs in his
own house and, especially, has a guest who will make him lord over all
goods provided that he wills to avoid going astray like the prodigal son
and eating the husks of swine.[3]
5. These are reasons for conquering the devils. But, oh, my Lord and my
God, how the whole world's habit of getting involved in vanities vitiates
everything! Our faith is so dead that we desire what we see more than what
faith tells us. And, indeed, we see only a lot of misfortune in those who go
after these visible vanities. But these poisonous things we are dealing with
are the cause of this misfortune, for just as all is poisoned if a viper bites
someone and the wound swells, so we will be poisoned if we do not watch
ourselves. Clearly many remedies are necessary to cure us, and God is
favoring us a good deal if we do not die from the wound. Certainly the
soul undergoes great trials here. If the devil, especially, realizes that it has
all it needs in its temperament and habits to advance far, he will gather all
hell together to make the soul go back outside.
6. Ah, my Lord! Your help is necessary here; without it one can do
nothing.[4] In Your mercy do not consent to allow this soul to suffer
deception and give up what was begun. Enlighten it that it may see how all
its good is within this castle and that it may turn away from bad
companions. It's a wonderful thing for a person to talk to those who speak
about this interior castle, to draw near not only to those seen to be in these
rooms where he is but to those known to have entered the ones closer to
the center. Conversation with these latter will be a great help to him, and
he can converse so much with them that they will bring him to where they
are. Let the soul always heed the warning not to be conquered. If the devil
sees that it has the strong determination to lose its life and repose and all
that he offers it rather than return to the first room, he will abandon it
much more quickly. Let the soul be manly and not like those soldiers who
knelt down to drink before going into battle (I don't remember with
whom),[5] but be determined to fight with all the devils and realize that
there are no better weapons than those of the cross.
7. Even though I've said this at other times,[6] it's so important that I
repeat it here: it is that souls shouldn't be thinking about consolations at
this beginning stage. It would be a very poor way to start building so
precious and great an edifice. If the foundation is on sand, the whole
building will fall to the ground. They'll never finish being dissatisfied and
tempted. These are not the dwelling places where it rains manna; those lie
further ahead, where a soul finds in the manna every taste it desires;[7] for
it wants only what God wants. It's an amusing thing that even though we
still have a thousand impediments and imperfections and our virtues have
hardly begun to grow -- and please God they may have begun -- we are yet
not ashamed to seek spiritual delights in prayer or to complain about
dryness. May this never happen to you, Sisters. Embrace the cross your
Spouse has carried and understand that this must be your task. Let the one
who can do so, suffer more for Him; and she will be rewarded that much
more. As for other favors, if the Lord should grant you one, thank Him for
it as you would for something freely added on.
8. It will seem to you that you are truly determined to undergo exterior
trials, provided that God favors you interiorly. His Majesty knows best
what is suitable for us. There's no need for us to be advising Him about
what He should give us, for He can rightly tell us that we don't know what
we're asking for.[8] The whole aim of any person who is beginning prayer
-- and don't forget this, because it's very very important -- should be that
he work and prepare himself with determination and every possible effort
to bring his will into conformity with God's will. Be certain that, as I shall
say later,[9] the greatest perfection attainable along the spiritual path lies
in this conformity. It is the person who lives in more perfect conformity
who will receive more from the Lord and be more advanced on this road.
Don't think that in what concerns perfection there is some mystery or
things unknown or still to be understood, for in perfect conformity to
God's will lies all our good. Now then, if we err in the beginning, desiring
that the Lord do our will at once and lead us according to what we
imagine, what kind of stability will this edifice have? Let us strive to do
what lies in our power and guard ourselves against these poisonous little
reptiles, for the Lord often desires that dryness and bad thoughts afflict
and pursue us without our being able to get rid of them. Sometimes He
even permits these reptiles to bite us so that afterward we may know how
to guard ourselves better and that He may prove whether we are greatly
grieved by having offended Him.
9. Thus, if you should at times fall don't become discouraged and stop
striving to advance. For even from this fall God will draw out good, as
does the seller of an antidote who drinks some poison in order to test
whether his antidote is effective. Even if we didn't see our misery -- or the
great harm that a dissipated life does to us -- through any other means than
through this assault that we endure for the sake of being brought back to
recollection, that would be enough. Can there be an evil greater than that
of being ill at ease in our own house? What hope can we have of finding
rest outside of ourselves if we cannot be at rest within. We have so many
great and true friends and relatives (which are our faculties) with whom
we must always live, even though we may not want to. But from what we
feel, these seem to be warring against us because of what our vices have
done to them. Peace, peace, the Lord said, my Sisters; and He urged His
apostle so many times.[10] Well, believe me, if we don't obtain and have
peace in our own house we'll not find it outside. Let this war be ended.
Through the blood He shed for us I ask those who have not begun to enter
within themselves to do so; and those who have begun, not to let the war
make them turn back. Let these latter reflect that a relapse is worse than a
fall; they already see their loss. Let them trust in the mercy of God and not
at all in themselves, and they will see how His Majesty brings them from
the dwelling places of one stage to those of another and settles them in a
land where these wild animals cannot touch or tire them, but where they
themselves will bring all these animals into subjection and scoff at them.
And they shall enjoy many more blessings than one can desire -- blessings
even in this life, I mean.
10. Since, as I've said in the beginning,[11] I've written to you about
how you should conduct yourselves in these disturbances set up here by
the devil and how you cannot begin to recollect yourselves by force but
only by gentleness, if your recollection is going to be continual, I will not
say anything else here than that in my opinion it is very important to
consult persons with experience; for you will be thinking that you are
seriously failing to do some necessary thing. Provided that we don't give
up, the Lord will guide everything for our benefit, even though we may not
find someone to teach us. There is no other remedy for this evil of giving
up prayer than to begin again; otherwise the soul will gradually lose more
each day -- and please God that it will understand this fact.
11. Someone could think that if turning back is so bad it would be better
never to begin but to remain outside the castle. I have already told you at
the beginning -- and the Lord Himself tells you -- that anyone who walks
in danger perishes in it[12] and that the door of entry to this castle is
prayer. Well now, it is foolish to think that we will enter heaven without
entering into ourselves, coming to know ourselves, reflecting on our
misery and what we owe God, and begging Him often for mercy. The Lord
Himself says: No one will ascend to My Father but through Me[13] (I
don't know if He says it this way -- I think He does) and whoever sees Me
sees My Father.[14] Well, if we never look at Him or reflect on what we
owe Him and the death He suffered for us, I don't know how we'll be able
to know Him or do works in His service. And what value can faith have
without works and without joining them to the merits of Jesus Christ, our
Good? Or who will awaken us to love this Lord?
May it please His Majesty to give us understanding of how much we
cost Him, of how the servant is no greater than his master,[15] and that we
must work in order to enjoy His glory. And we need to pray for this
understanding so that we aren't always entering into temptation.[16]
===================================

[1] See Life, chs. 11-13; Way of Perfection, passim.

[2] In VI, ch. 3.
 [3] Lk. 15:16.
[4] Allusion to Jn. 15:5.
[5] Allusion to Jgs. 7:5.
[6] See Life, ch. 4, no. 2; ch. 11, 10-15; Way of Perfection, ch. 20, no. 2;
ch. 21, no. 2; chs. 23, 36, 41.
[7] Allusion to Wis. 16:20.
[8] Allusion to Mt. 20:22.
[9] In V, ch. 3, nos. 3-12.
[10] Jn. 20:19-21.
[11] In no. 1.
[12] Allusion to Sir. 3:25 {Ecclesiasticus 3:27}.
[13] Jn. 14:6.
[14] Jn. 14:9.
[15] Allusion to Mt. 10:24.
[16] Allusion to Mt. 26:41.
 THE THIRD DWELLING PLACES
Contains Two Chapters
Chapter 1
Treats of what little security we can have while living in this exile, even
though we may have reached a high state, and of how we should walk with
fear. This chapter has some good points.

1. What shall we say to those who through perseverance and the mercy
of God have won these battles and have entered the rooms of the third
stage, if not: Blessed is the man who fears the Lord? [1] His Majesty has
done no small thing in giving me understanding right now of what this
verse means in the vernacular, for I am ignorant in matters like this.
Certainly we are right in calling such a man blessed, since if he doesn't
turn back he is, from what we can understand, on the secure path to his
salvation.[2] Here you will see, Sisters, how important it was to win the
previous battles. I am certain the Lord never fails to give a person like this
security of conscience, which is no small blessing. I said "security" and I
was wrong, for there is no security in this life; so always understand that I
mean "if he doesn't abandon the path he began on."
2. It is a great misery to have to live a life in which we must always
walk like those whose enemies are at their doorstep; they can neither sleep
nor eat without weapons and without being always frightened lest
somewhere these enemies might be able to break through this fortress. O
my Lord and my Good, how is it that You want us to desire so miserable a
life, for it isn't possible to stop wanting and asking You to take us out of it
unless there is hope of losing it for You or of spending it very earnestly in
Your service or, above all, of understanding what Your will is? If it is Your
will, my God, may we die with You, as St. Thomas said;[3] for living
without You and with these fears of the possibility of losing You forever is
nothing else than dying often. That's why, daughters, I say that the
blessedness we must ask for is that of being already secure with the
blessed. For with these fears, what happiness can anyone have whose
whole happiness is to please God? Consider that this happiness was had --
and in much greater degree -- by some saints who fell into serious sins and
that we are not sure that God will help us to get free from these sins and to
do penance for them.
3. Certainly, my daughters, I am so fearful as I write this that I don't
know how I'm writing it or how I live when I think about it, which is very
often. Pray, my daughters, that His Majesty may live in me always. If He
doesn't, what security can a life as badly spent as mine have? And do not
become sad in knowing that this life has been badly spent, as I have
sometimes observed you become when I tell this to you; you continue to
desire that I might have lived a very holy life -- and you are right. I too
would want to have so lived, but what can I do if I have lost holiness
through my own fault! I will not complain about God who gave me enough
help to carry out your desires. I cannot say this without tears and being
very ashamed that I am writing something for those who can teach me.
Doing so has been a hard command to obey! May it please the Lord that
since it is being done for Him it may be of some benefit to you so that You
may ask Him to pardon this miserable and bold creature. But His Majesty
well knows that I can boast only of His mercy, and since I cannot cease
being what I have been, I have no other remedy than to approach His
mercy and to trust in the merits of His Son and of the Virgin, His Mother,
whose habit I wear so unworthily, and you wear. Praise Him, my daughters,
for you truly belong to our Lady. Thus you have no reason to be ashamed
of my misery since you have such a good Mother. Imitate her and reflect
that the grandeur of our Lady and the good of having her for your
patroness must be indeed great since my sins and being what I am have not
been enough to tarnish in any way this sacred order.
4. But one thing I advise you: not because you have such a Mother or
Patroness should you feel secure, for David was very holy, and you already
know who Solomon was. Don't pay any attention to the enclosure and the
penance in which you live or feel safe in the fact that you are always
conversing with God and practicing such continual prayer and being so
withdrawn from the world of things and, in your opinion, holding them in
abhorrence. These practices are all good, but not a sufficient reason, as I
have said,[4] for us to stop fearing. So, continue to say this verse and often
bear it in mind: Beatus vir qui timet Dominum[5].
 5. I don't remember what I was speaking about, for I have digressed a
great deal and in thinking of myself I feel helpless, as a bird with broken
wings, when it comes to saying anything good. So I want to leave this
matter aside for now. Let me get back to what I began telling you[6]
concerning souls that have entered the third dwelling places, for the Lord
has done them no small favor, but a very great one, in letting them get
through the first difficulties. I believe that through the goodness of God
there are many of these souls in the world. They long not to offend His
Majesty, even guarding themselves against venial sins; they are fond of
doing penance and setting aside periods for recollection; they spend their
time well, practicing works of charity toward their neighbors; and are very
balanced in their use of speech and dress and in the governing of their
households -- those who have them. Certainly, this is a state to be desired.
And, in my opinion, there is no reason why entrance even into the final
dwelling place should be denied these souls, nor will the Lord deny them
this entrance if they desire it; for such a desire is an excellent way to
prepare oneself; so that every favor may be granted.
6. O Jesus, and who will say that he doesn't want a good so wonderful,
especially after having passed through the most difficult trial? No, nobody
will. We all say that we want this good. But since there is need of still
more in order that the soul possess the Lord completely, it is not enough to
say we want it; just as this was not enough for the young man whom the
Lord told what one must do in order to be perfect.[7] From the time I
began to speak of these dwelling places I have had this young man in
mind. For we are literally like him; and ordinarily the great dryness in
prayer comes from this, although it also has other causes. And I'm leaving
aside mention of some interior trials that many good souls undergo
(unbearable trials and not at all due to their own fault), from which the
Lord always frees them to their own great benefit, and mention of those
who suffer from melancholy and other illnesses. Briefly, in all things we
have to let God be the judge. What I've said, I believe, is what usually
happens; for since these souls realize that they wouldn't commit a sin for
anything -- many wouldn't even advertently commit a venial sin -- and that
they conduct their lives and households well, they cannot accept patiently
that the door of entry to the place where our King dwells be closed to them
who consider themselves His vassals. But even though a king here on earth
has many vassals, not all enter his chamber. Enter, enter, my daughters,
into the interior rooms; pass on from your little works. By the mere fact
that you are Christians you must do all these things and much more. It is
enough for you to be God's vassals; don't let your desire be for so much
that as a result you will be left with nothing. Behold the saints who entered
this King's chamber, and you will see the difference between them and us.
Don't ask for what you have not deserved, nor should it enter our minds
that we have merited this favor however much we may have served -- we
who have offended God.
7. Oh, humility, humility! I don't know what kind of temptation I'm
undergoing in this matter that I cannot help but think that anyone who
makes such an issue of this dryness is a little lacking in humility. I said
that I've omitted mention of those great interior trials I've referred to,[8]
for those involve much more than just a lack of devotion. Let us prove
ourselves, my sisters, or let the Lord prove us, for He knows well how to
do this even though we often don't want to understand it. Let us speak now
of those souls whose lives are so well ordered; let us recognize what they
do for God, and we shall at once see how we have no reason for
complaining of His Majesty. If, like the young man in the Gospel, we turn
our backs and go away sad[9] when the Lord tells us what we must do to
be perfect, what do you want His Majesty to do? For He must give the
reward in conformity with the love we have for Him. And this love,
daughters, must not be fabricated in our imaginations but proved by deeds.
And don't think He needs our works; He needs the determination of our
wills.
8. We seem to think that everything is done when we willingly take and
wear the religious habit and abandon all worldly things and possession for
Him -- even though these possessions may amount to no more than the
nets St. Peter possessed,[10] for he who gives what he has thinks he gives
enough. This renunciation is a good enough preparation if one perseveres
in it and doesn't turn back and become involved with the vermin in the
first rooms, even if it be only in desire. There is no doubt that if a person
perseveres in this nakedness and detachment from all worldly things he
will reach his goal. But this perseverance includes the condition -- and
note that I am advising you of this -- that you consider yourselves useless
servants, as St. Paul, or Christ, says;[11] and believe that you have not put
our Lord under any obligation to grant you these kinds of favors. Rather,
as one who has received more, you are more indebted.[12] What can we do
for a God so generous that He died for us, created us, and gives us being?
Shouldn't we consider ourselves lucky to be able to repay something of
what we owe Him for His service toward us? I say these words "His
service toward us" unwillingly; but the fact is that He did nothing else but
serve us all the time He lived in this world. And yet we ask Him again for
favors and gifts.
9. Reflect a great deal, daughters, on some of the things that are here
pointed out, even though in a jumbled way, for I don't know how to explain
them further. The Lord will give you understanding of them so that out of
dryness you may draw humility -- and not disquiet, which is what the devil
aims after. Be convinced that where humility is truly present God will give
a peace and conformity -- even though He may never give consolations --
by which one will walk with greater contentment than will others with
their consolations. For often, as you have read,[13] the divine Majesty
gives these consolations to the weaker souls; although I think we would
not exchange these consolations for the fortitude of those who walk in
dryness. We are fonder of consolations than we are of the cross. Test us,
Lord -- for You know the truth -- so that we may know ourselves.
===================================

[1] Ps. 112:1.

[2] Teresa commissioned Fr. Jerónimo Gracián to review her work.
Gracián did so scrupulously and made corrections here and there
throughout the manuscript. For example, in this passage he crossed out the
word "secure" and substituted "right." In fact this whole chapter has a
number of corrections by Gracián who was fearful lest the Saint affirm
any certitude about the state of grace, or security about one's own
salvation, that would have gone contrary to the teaching of the Council of
Trent or have been similar to certain theories of the Alumbrados.
Fortunately, Gracián made the deletion marks so as to leave the original
completely legible. The Jesuit Ribera, in turn, corrected Gracián's
corrections with marginal comments such as the following: "One doesn't
have to cross out any of the holy Mother's words." A further example of
the skirmish that went on in the margins of Teresa's manuscript can be
found in no.8 of this chapter. In that delicate passage Teresa wrote:
"Shouldn't we consider ourselves lucky to be able to repay something of
what we owe Him for His service toward us? I say these words 'His service
toward us' unwillingly; but the fact is that He did nothing else but serve us
all the time He lived in this world." Gracián changed "His service toward
us" to "having died for us" and crossed out what followed. Ribera again
noted: "Nothing should be deleted; what the Saint said has been very well
said." All of this led to Ribera's written admonition on the first page of the
autograph of The Interior Castle: "What the holy Mother wrote in this
book is frequently crossed out, and other words are added or a gloss is
made in the margin. Usually the cancellation is poorly conceived and the
text is better the way it was first written ... And since I have read and
looked over this work with a certain amount of care, I think I should
advise anyone reading it to read it as the holy Mother wrote it, for she
understood and said things better, and to pay no attention to what was
added or changed unless the correction was made by the Saint herself in
her own hand, which is seldom. And I ask out of charity anyone who reads
this book to reverence the words and letters formed by so holy a hand and
try to understand her correctly; and you will see that there is nothing to
correct. Even if you do not understand, believe that she who wrote it knew
better and that the words cannot be corrected well unless their meaning is
fully understood. If their meaning is not grasped, what is very
appropriately said will seem inappropriate. Such is the way books are
ruined and lost."
[3] Jn. 11:16.
[4] In no. 2.
[5] Ps. 112:1.
[6] In no. 1.
[7] Mt. 19:16-22.
[8] In no. 6.
[9] Mt. 19:22.
[10] Mt. 19:27.
[11] Teresa first wrote "as St. Paul says" then added between the lines
"or Christ." Gracián crossed out both and wrote: "St. Luke says it in
chapter 17." See Lk. 17:10.
[12] Allusion to Lk. 12:48.
 [13] This is a vague reference, perhaps to The Way of Perfection, ch. 17,
nos. 2, 7.

Chapter 2
Continues on the same topic; deals with dryness in prayer; with what, in
her opinion, might take place at this stage; how it is necessary to test
ourselves; and with the fact that the Lord does try those who are in these
dwelling places.

1. I have known some souls and even many -- I believe I can say -- who
have reached this state and have lived many years in this upright and well-
ordered way both in body and soul, insofar as can be known. After these
years, when it seems they have become lords of the world, at least clearly
disillusioned in its regard, His Majesty will try them in some minor
matters, and they will go about so disturbed and afflicted that it puzzles
me and even makes me fearful. It's useless to give them advice, for since
they have engaged so long in the practice of virtue they think they can
teach others and that they are more than justified in feeling disturbed.
2. In sum, I have found neither a way of consoling nor a cure for such
persons other than to show them compassion in their affliction -- and,
indeed, compassion is felt on seeing them subject to so much misery --
and not contradict their reasoning. For everything in their minds leads
them to think they are suffering these things for God, and so, they don't
come to realize that their disturbance is an imperfection. This is another
mistake of persons so advanced. There is no reason for us to be surprised
at what they experience; although I do think the feeling stirred by such
things should pass quickly. For God often desires that His chosen ones feel
their wretchedness, and He withdraws His favor a little. No more is
necessary, for I would wager that we'd then soon get to know ourselves.
The nature of this trial is immediately understood, for they recognize their
fault very clearly. Sometimes seeing their fault distresses them more than
the thing that disturbs them, for unable to help themselves they are
affected by earthly happenings even though these may not be very
burdensome. This distress, I think, is a great mercy from God; and
although it is a defect, it is very beneficial for humility.
3. As for the persons I am speaking about, this is not so. But, as I have
said, they canonize these feelings in their minds and would like others to
do so. I want to mention some of these feelings so that we may understand
and test ourselves before the Lord test us. It is very important to be
prepared and to have understood ourselves beforehand.
4. A rich person without children or anyone to whom he might want to
leave his possessions happens to lose his wealth, but not to such an extent
that he lacks necessities for himself and for the management of his
household; he even has a surplus. If he should go about as worried and
disturbed as he would be if not even a piece of bread were left, how can
our Lord ask him to leave all for Him?[1] Here the person makes the
excuse that he feels the way he does because he wants these things for the
poor. But I believe that God has a greater desire that such a person
conform to the divine will and that, though this person may try to procure
such wealth, he keep his soul at rest rather than worry about charity of
such a kind. And if the person doesn't do this, because the Lord has not
brought him so far, well and good; but he should understand that he lacks
this freedom of spirit. And because the Lord will ask him for it, he should
prepare himself so that the Lord may give it to him; he will be asking His
Majesty for it.
A person has plenty to eat and even a surplus; the opportunity presents
itself for him to acquire more wealth; all right, let him do so if it is offered
to him. But if he strives for wealth and after possessing it strives for more
and more, however good the intention may be (for he should have a good
intention because, as I have said,[2] these are virtuous persons of prayer),
he need have no fear of ascending to the dwelling places closest to the
King.
5. There is a similar occurrence when an opportunity presents itself for
these persons to be despised or to lose a little honor. God often grants them
the favor of enduring such a thing; for He is very fond of favoring virtue
publicly so that virtue itself will not undergo a loss of esteem. Or He will
also do so because they have served Him, for this Beloved of ours is very
good. But now they are left in such disquiet they cannot help themselves,
nor can they quickly get rid of this disturbance. God help me! Aren't these
the ones who for a long while now have considered how the Lord suffered
and how good suffering is, and who have desired it? They would like
everyone to live a life as well ordered as they do; and please God they will
not think their grief is for the faults of others and in their minds turn it
into something meritorious.
6. It must seem to you, Sisters, that I'm not staying on the subject or not
speaking to you, for these things don't take place here. Neither do we have
wealth nor do we desire or strive for it, nor does anyone do injury to us. As
a result the examples are not relevant to us. But from these examples
many lessons can be learned about things which it would not be good to
single out, nor would there be reason to do so. Through the above
examples you will understand whether or not you are truly stripped of
what you have left behind. For little things happen even though not of this
kind, in which you can very well test and know whether or not you are the
rulers of your passions. And believe me the whole affair doesn't lie in
whether or not we wear the religious habit but in striving to practice the
virtues, in surrendering our will to God in everything, in bringing our life
into accordance with what His Majesty ordains for it, and in desiring that
His will not ours be done.[3] Since we may not have reached this stage --
humility, as I have said![4] Humility is the ointment for our wounds
because if we indeed have humility, even though there may be a time of
delay, the surgeon who is our Lord, will come to heal us.
7. The penance these souls do is well balanced, like their lives. They
desire penance a great deal so as to serve our Lord by it. Nothing of this is
wrong, and thus they are very discreet in doing it in a way so as not to
harm their health. Have no fear that they will kill themselves, for their
reason is still very much in control. Love has not yet reached the point of
overwhelming reason. But I should like us to use our reason to make
ourselves dissatisfied with this way of serving God, always going step by
step, for we'll never finish this journey. And since, in our opinion, we are
continually walking and are tired (for, believe me, it is a wearisome
journey), we will be doing quite well if we don't go astray. But does it
seem to you, daughters, that if we could go from one land to another in
eight days, it would be good to take a year through wind, snow, rain, and
bad roads? Wouldn't it be better to make the journey all at once? For all
these obstacles are present, as well as danger from snakes. Oh what good
proofs I could give of these things. And please God I may have passed
beyond this stage, for often enough it seems to me I haven't.
8. Since we are so circumspect, everything offends us because we fear
everything; so we don't dare go further -- as if we could reach these
dwelling places while leaving to other persons the trouble of treading the
path for us. Since this is not possible, let us exert ourselves, my Sisters,
for the love of the Lord; let's abandon our reason and our fears into His
hands; let's forget this natural weakness that can take up our attention so
much. Let the prelates take care of our bodily needs; that's their business.
As for ourselves, we should care only about moving quickly so as to see
this Lord. Even though the comfort you have is little or none at all, we
could be deceived by worry about our health. This I know. And I also know
that the whole affair doesn't lie in what pertains to the body, for this is
what is the least important. The journey I am speaking of must be taken
with great humility. For if you have understood, it is in regard to humility,
I believe, that there is an obstacle for those who do not go forward. It
should seem to us that we have gone but a few steps, and we should
believe this to be so, and that those our Sisters have taken are rapid ones;
and not only should we desire but we should strive that they consider us
the most miserable of all.
9. With humility present, this stage is a most excellent one. If humility
is lacking, we will remain here our whole life -- and with a thousand
afflictions and miseries. For since we will not have abandoned ourselves,
this state will be very laborious and burdensome. We shall be walking
while weighed down with this mud of our human misery, which is not so
with those who ascend to the remaining rooms. But in these rooms of
which we're speaking, the Lord, as one who is just or even merciful, does
not fail to pay; for He always gives much more than we deserve by giving
us consolations far greater than those we find in the comforts and
distractions of life. But I don't think He gives much spiritual delight unless
sometimes in order to invite souls by the sight of what takes place in the
remaining dwelling places and so that they will prepare themselves to
enter them.
10. It will seem to you that consolations and spiritual delights are the
same, so why should I make this distinction? To me it seems there is a
very great difference between the two. Now I can be wrong. I'll say what I
understand about this when I speak of the fourth dwelling places which
come after these. For since something will have to be explained about the
spiritual delights the Lord gives there, the discussion will be more
appropriate at that time. And although the explanation may seem to be
useless it might help somewhat so that in understanding the nature of each
thing you will be able to strive for what is best. Great solace comes to
souls God brings there, and confusion to those who think they have
everything. If souls are humble they will be moved to give thanks. If there
is some lack in humility, they will feel an inner distaste for which they
will find no reason. For perfection as well as its reward does not consist in
spiritual delights but in greater love and in deeds done with greater justice
and truth.
11. You will wonder, if this is true -- as it is -- what use it serves to
explain and treat of these interior favors. I don't know. Ask him who
ordered me to write, for I am not obliged to dispute with superiors but to
obey -- nor would disputing with them be right. What I can truthfully say
to you is that at one time I didn't have or even know about these favors
through experience or think that I would ever in my life know about them
in this way -- and rightly so, for it was happiness enough for me to know,
or by conjecture understand, that I was pleasing God in something. But
when I read in books about these delights and favors the Lord grants souls
that serve Him, I was very much consoled and moved to give great praise
to God. Well, if my soul which was so wretched did this, those souls that
are good and humble will praise Him much more. And if one alone is led
to praise Him even once, it is in my opinion very good that the subject be
mentioned so that we know about the happiness and delight we lose
through our own fault. Moreover, if these favors are from God they come
brimming over with love and fortitude by which you can journey with less
labor and grow in the practice of works and virtues. Don't think that it
matters little to lose such favors through our own fault; when it isn't our
fault, the Lord is just.[5] His Majesty will give you through other paths
what He keeps from you on this one because of what He knows, for His
secrets are very hidden; at least what He does will without any doubt be
what is most suitable for us.
12. What it seems to me would be highly beneficial for those who
through the goodness of the Lord are in this state (for, as I have said,[6]
He grants them no small mercy because they are very close to ascending
higher) is that they study diligently how to be prompt in obedience. And
even if they are not members of a religious order, it would be a great thing
for them to have -- as do many persons -- someone whom they could
consult so as not to do their own will in anything. Doing our own will is
usually what harms us. And they shouldn't seek another of their own
making, as they say -- one who is so circumspect about everything; but
seek out someone who is very free from illusion about the things of the
world. For in order to know ourselves, it helps a great deal to speak with
someone who already knows the world for what it is. And it helps also
because when we see some things done by others that seem so impossible
for us and the ease with which they are done, we become very encouraged.
And it seems that through the flight of these others we also will make bold
to fly, as do the bird's fledglings when they are taught; for even though
they do not begin to soar immediately, little by little they imitate the
parent. Receiving this help is most beneficial; I know. However
determined they are to keep from offending the Lord, these persons will be
right not to place themselves in the occasion of offending Him. Since they
are close to the first dwelling places, they could easily return to them.
Their fortitude is not founded on solid ground, as is the case with those
who are tried in suffering, for these latter know about the storms of the
world and what little reason there is to fear them or desire the world's
consolations. But it would be possible for the former in a great persecution
to return to these consolations. The devil knows well how to stir up
tempests so as to do us harm, and these persons would be unable to bear
the trials that would come from their zeal to prevent others from
committing sin.
13. Let us look at our own faults and leave aside those of others, for it is
very characteristic of persons with such well-ordered lives to be shocked
by everything. Perhaps we could truly learn from the one who shocks us
what is most important even though we may surpass him in external
composure and our way of dealing with others. Although good, these latter
things are not what is most important; nor is there any reason to desire that
everyone follow at once our own path, or to set about teaching the way of
the spirit to someone who perhaps doesn't know what such a thing is. For
with these desires that God gives us, Sisters, about the good of souls, we
can make many mistakes. So it is better to carry out what our rule says, to
strive to live always in silence and hope,[7] for the Lord will take care of
these souls. If we ourselves are not negligent in beseeching His Majesty to
do so, we shall, with His favor, do much good. May He be blessed forever.
===================================

[1] Allusion to the young man in the Gospel. See III, ch. 1, no. 6.
[2] In no. 1. See III, ch. 1, no. 5.
[3] Allusion to Lk. 22:42.
[4] In no. 4. See III, ch. 1, no. 7.
[5] Allusion to Ps. 119:137 . For a similar use of this text see Life, ch.
19, no. 9. On the following theme about God's different ways with souls,
see Way of Perfection, chs. 16-18, especially ch. 17, no. 7.
[6] In III, ch. 1, nos. 1, 5, 8.
[7] Words from the Carmelite Rule (The Rule of St. Albert) and taken
from Is. 30:15.
 THE FOURTH DWELLING PLACES
Contains Three Chapters
Chapter 1
Discusses the difference between consolations (or feelings of
tenderness) in prayer and spiritual delights.[1] Tells of her happiness on
learning the difference between the mind and the intellect. This knowledge
is very beneficial for anyone who is greatly distracted in prayer.

1. In order to begin to speak of the fourth dwelling places I really need

to entrust myself, as I've already done, to the Holy Spirit and beg Him to
speak for me from here on that I may say something about the remaining
rooms in a way that you will understand. For supernatural experiences
begin here. These are something most difficult to explain, if His Majesty
doesn't do so, as was said in another book I wrote fourteen years ago, more
or less, in which I dealt with these experiences to the extent of my
knowledge of them at that time. Although I think I now have a little more
light about these favors the Lord grants to some souls, knowing how to
explain them is a different matter.[2] May His Majesty help me to do so if
it will be of some benefit; and if not, then no.
2. Since these dwelling places now are closer to where the King is, their
beauty is great. There are things to see and understand so delicate that the
intellect is incapable of finding words to explain them, although
something might turn out to be well put and not at all obscure to the
unexperienced; and anyone who has experience, especially when there is a
lot of it, will understand very well.
It will seem that to reach these dwelling places one will have had to live
in the others a long while. Although it is usual that a person will have to
have stayed in those already spoken about, there is no certain rule, as you
will have often heard. For the Lord gives when He desires, as He desires,
and to whom He desires. Since these blessings belong to Him, He does no
injustice to anyone.[3]
3. Poisonous creatures rarely enter these dwelling places. If they enter
they do no harm; rather, they are the occasion of gain. I hold that the
situation is much better in this stage of prayer when these creatures do
enter and wage war, for the devil could deceive one with respect to the
spiritual delights given by God if there were no temptations, and do much
more harm than when temptations are felt. The soul would not gain so
much; at least all the things contributing to its merit would be removed,
and it would be left in a habitual absorption. For when a soul is in one
continual state, I don't consider it safe, nor do I think it is possible for the
spirit of the Lord to be in one fixed state during this exile.
4. Well now, in speaking about what I said I'd mention here[4]
concerning the difference in prayer between consolations and spiritual
delights, the term "consolations," I think, can be given to those
experiences we ourselves acquire through our own meditation and
petitions to the Lord, those that proceed from our own nature -- although
God in the end does have a hand in them; for it must be understood, in
whatever I say, that without Him we can do nothing.[5] But the
consolations arise from the virtuous work itself that we perform, and it
seems that we have earned them through our own effort and are rightly
consoled for having engaged in such deeds. But if we reflect upon this, we
see that we experience the same joyful consolations in many of the things
that can happen to us on earth; for example: when someone suddenly
inherits a great fortune; when we suddenly see a person we love very
much; when we succeed in a large and important business matter and of
which everyone speaks well; when you see your husband or brother or son
alive after someone has told you he is dead. I have seen the flow of tears
from great consolations, and this has even happened to me at times. I think
that just as these joyful consolations are natural so are those afforded us
by the things of God, but these latter are of a nobler kind, although the
others are not bad. In sum, joyful consolations in prayer have their
beginning in our own human nature and end in God.
The spiritual delights begin in God, but human nature feels and enjoys
them as much as it does those I mentioned -- and much more. O Jesus,
how I long to know how to explain this! For I discern, I think, a very
recognizable difference, but I don't have the knowledge to be able to
explain myself. May the Lord do so.
5. Now I remember a line that we say at Prime, in the latter part of the
verse at the end of the last psalm: Cum dilatasti cor meum.[6] For anyone
who has had much experience these words are sufficient to see the
difference between consolations and spiritual delights; for anyone who has
not, more words are needed. The consolations that were mentioned do not
expand the heart; rather, they usually seem to constrain it a little --
although there is the greatest consolation at seeing what is done for God.
But some anxious tears come that in a way, it seems, are brought on by the
passions. I don't know much about these passions of the soul -- knowledge
of them might perhaps have enabled me to explain -- and what proceeds
from sensuality and from our human nature, for I am very dull. If only I
knew how to explain myself, for since I have undergone this I understand
it. Knowledge and learning are a great help in everything.
6. My experience of this state (I mean of this joy and consolation that
comes during meditation) is that if I began to weep over the Passion I
didn't know how to stop until I got a severe headache; if I did so over my
sins, the same thing happened. Our Lord granted me quite a favor. Yet I
don't want to examine now whether the one or the other is better, but I
would like to know how to explain the difference there is between the one
and the other. It is for these reasons sometimes that these tears flow and
desires come, and they are furthered by human nature and one's
temperament; but finally, as I have said,[7] they end in God regardless of
their nature. They are to be esteemed if there is the humility to understand
that one is no better because of experiencing them, for it cannot be known
whether they are all effects of love. When they are, the gift is God's.
For the most part, the souls in the previous dwelling places are the ones
who have these devout feelings, for these souls work almost continually
with the intellect, engaging in discursive thought and meditation. And they
do well because nothing further has been given them; although they would
be right if they engaged for a while in making acts of love, praising God,
rejoicing in His goodness, that He is who He is, and in desiring His honor
and glory. These acts should be made insofar as possible, for they are great
awakeners of the will. Such souls would be well advised when the Lord
gives them these acts not to abandon them for the sake of finishing the
usual meditation.
7. Because I have spoken at length on this subject elsewhere,[8] I will
say nothing about it here. I only wish to inform you that in order to profit
by this path and ascend to the dwelling places we desire, the important
thing is not to think much but to love much;[9] and so do that which best
stirs you to love. Perhaps we don't know what love is. I wouldn't be very
surprised, because it doesn't consist in great delight but in desiring with
strong determination to please God in everything, in striving, insofar as
possible, not to offend Him, and in asking Him for the advancement of the
honor and glory of His Son and the increase of the Catholic Church. These
are the signs of love. Don't think the matter lies in thinking of nothing
else, and that if you become a little distracted all is lost.
8. I have been very afflicted at times in the midst of this turmoil of
mind. A little more than four years ago I came to understand through
experience that the mind (or imagination, to put it more clearly) is not the
intellect. I asked a learned man and he told me that this was so; which
brought me no small consolation.[10] For since the intellect is one of the
soul's faculties, it was an arduous thing for me that it should be so restless
at times. Ordinarily the mind flies about quickly, for only God can hold it
fast in such a way as to make it seem that we are somehow loosed from
this body. I have seen, I think, that the faculties of my soul were occupied
and recollected in God while my mind on the other hand was distracted.
This distraction puzzled me.[11]
9. O Lord, take into account the many things we suffer on this path for
lack of knowledge! The trouble is that since we do not think there is
anything to know other than that we must think of You, we do not even
know how to ask those who know nor do we understand what there is to
ask. Terrible trials are suffered because we don't understand ourselves, and
that which isn't bad at all but good we think is a serious fault. This lack of
knowledge causes the afflictions of many people who engage in prayer;
complaints about interior trials, at least to a great extent, by people who
have no learning; melancholy and loss of health; and even the complete
abandonment of prayer. For such persons don't reflect that there is an
interior world here within us. Just as we cannot stop the movement of the
heavens, but they proceed in rapid motion, so neither can we stop our
mind; and then the faculties of the soul go with it, and we think we are lost
and have wasted the time spent before God. But the soul is perhaps
completely joined with Him in the dwelling places very close to the center
while the mind is on the outskirts of the castle suffering from a thousand
wild and poisonous beasts, and meriting by this suffering. As a result we
should not be disturbed; nor should we abandon prayer, which is what the
devil wants us to do. For the most part all the trials and disturbance come
from our not understanding ourselves.
10. While writing this, I'm thinking about what's going on in my head
with the great noise there that I mentioned in the beginning.[12] It makes
it almost impossible for me to write what I was ordered to. It seems as if
there are in my head many rushing rivers and that these waters are hurtling
downward, and many little birds and whistling sounds, not in the ears but
in the upper part of the head where, they say, the higher part of the soul is.
And I was in that superior part for a long time, for it seems this powerful
movement of the spirit is a swift upward one. Please God I'll remember to
mention the cause of this in discussing the dwelling places that come
further on, for this is not a fitting place to do so, and I wouldn't be
surprised if the Lord gave me this headache so that I could understand
these things better. For all this turmoil in my head doesn't hinder prayer or
what I am saying, but the soul is completely taken up in its quiet, love,
desires, and clear knowledge.
11. Now then if the superior part of the soul is in the superior part of the
head, why isn't the soul disturbed? This I don't know. But I do know that
what I say is true. The pain is felt when suspension does not accompany
the prayer. When suspension does accompany prayer, no pain is felt until
the suspension passes. But it would be very bad if I were to abandon
everything on account of this obstacle. And so it isn't good for us to be
disturbed by our thoughts, nor should we be concerned. If the devil causes
them, they will cease with this suspension. If they come, as they do, from
one of the many miseries inherited through the sin of Adam, let us be
patient and endure them for the love of God since we are likewise subject
to eating and sleeping without being able to avoid it, which is quite a trial.
12. Let us recognize our misery and desire to go where no one will taunt
us, for sometimes I recall having heard these words the bride says in the
Song of Songs.[13] And indeed I don't find in all of life anything about
which they can be more rightly said. It seems to me that all the contempt
and trials one can endure in life cannot be compared to these interior
battles. And disquiet and war can be suffered if we find peace where we
live, as I have already said.[14] But that we desire to rest from the
thousand trials there are in the world and that the Lord wants to prepare us
for tranquility and that within ourselves lies the obstacle to such rest and
tranquility cannot fail to be very painful and almost unbearable. So, Lord,
bring us to the place where these miseries will not taunt us, for they seem
sometimes to be making fun of the soul. Even in this life, the Lord frees
the soul from these miseries when it reaches the last dwelling place, as we
shall say if God wills.[15]
13. These miseries will not afflict or assail everyone as much as they
did me for many years because of my wretchedness. It seems that I myself
wanted to take vengeance on myself. And since the experience was
something so painful for me, I think perhaps that it will be so for you too.
And I so often speak of it here and there that I might sometime succeed in
explaining to you that it is an unavoidable thing and should not be a
disturbance or affliction for you but that we must let the millclapper go
clacking on, and must continue grinding our flour and not fail to work with
the will and the intellect.
14. There is a more and a less to this obstacle in accordance with one's
health and age. Let the poor soul suffer even though it has no fault in this;
we have other faults, which makes it right for us to practice patience. And
since our reading and the counsels we receive (that is, to pay no attention
to these thoughts) don't suffice, I don't think that the time spent in
explaining these things for those of you with little knowledge and
consoling you in this matter is time lost. But until the Lord wants to
enlighten us, these counsels will be of little help. Yet, it is necessary and
His Majesty wishes us to take the means and understand ourselves; and
let's not blame the soul for what a weak imagination, human nature, and
the devil cause.
===================================

[1] Teresa uses the Spanish word contentos (here rendered in English as
consolations) to denote experiences (such as joy, peace, satisfaction) that
are not infused; that is, experiences perceived as a result of prayer and
virtue but similar to those derived from everyday events. On the other
hand, she uses the Spanish word gustos (here rendered in English as
spiritual delights) to denote infused experiences. Infused, "supernatural,"
or mystical prayer begins in these fourth dwelling places with the prayer
of infused recollection (ch. 3) and quiet, or spiritual delight (ch. 2).
Actually Teresa presents the fourth dwelling places as a stage of transition
in which the natural and the supernatural (or the acquired and the infused)
are intermingled.
[2] In her Life. She is alluding to the many chapters there that deal with
mystical experiences. See chs. 14-32 and 37-40. When Teresa wrote the
Life she had not yet come to the stage she describes in the seventh
dwelling places. What she explains in her Life under the symbol of the
fourth water corresponds to the sixth dwelling places. As a result, she
points out that she has a better understanding of some matters concerning
the spiritual life than she did in that book. See I, ch. 2, no. 7; IV, ch. 2, no.
5.
[3] Allusion to Mt. 20:13. The absolute divine freedom in the granting
or denying of mystical favors is frequently insisted upon in Teresa's
writings. In this work see IV, ch. 2, no. 9; V, ch. 1, no. 12; VI, ch. 4, no. 12;
ch. 7, no. 9; ch. 8, no. 5.
[4] In III, ch. 2, no. 10.
[5] Allusion to Jn. 15:5.
[6] Ps. 119:32.
[7] In no. 4.
[8] In Life, ch. 12; Way of Perfection, chs. 16-20.
[9] One of Teresa's cherished maxims. See the Foundations, ch. 5, no. 2.
[10] We do not know who the learned man was. Some suggest that it
may have been St. John of the Cross who was Teresa's director and
confessor from 1572-1575. But Teresa's ignorance of the difference
between the imagination (pensamiento, or mind, as she often refers to it)
and the intellect was not total ignorance. See Life, ch. 17, no. 5.
[11] For many years this wandering of the mind deeply troubled the
Saint. See Life, ch. 17, no. 7; Way of Perfection, ch. 31, no. 8. In this work
she has come to a definite doctrinal position on the matter. The instability
and rebellion of the imagination is a consequence of the disorder produced
in us through original sin. See no. 11 of this chapter.
[12] In the prologue, no. 1.
[13] Sg. 8:1.
[14] In II, no. 9.
[15] See VII, ch. 2, no. 11.
 Chapter 2
Continues on the same subject and explains through a comparison the
nature of spiritual delight and how this is attained by not seeking it.

1. God help me with what I have undertaken! I've already forgot what I
was dealing with, for business matters and poor health have forced me to
set this work aside just when I was at my best; and since I have a poor
memory everything will come out confused because I can't go back to read
it over. And perhaps even everything else I say is confused; at least that's
what I feel it is.
It seems to me I have explained the nature of consolations in the
spiritual life.[1] Since they are sometimes mixed with our own passions,
they are the occasion of loud sobbing; and I have heard some persons say
they experience a tightening in the chest and even external bodily
movements that they cannot restrain. The force of these passions can cause
nosebleeds and other things just as painful. I don't know how to explain
anything about these experiences because I haven't had any. But they must
nonetheless be consoling, for, as I'm saying,[2] the whole experience ends
in the desire to please God and enjoy His Majesty's company.
2. The experiences that I call spiritual delight in God, that I termed
elsewhere the prayer of quiet,[3] are of a very different kind, as those of
you who by the mercy of God have experience them will know. Let's
consider, for a better understanding, that we see two founts with two water
troughs. (For I don't find anything more appropriate to explain some
spiritual experiences than water; and this is because I know little and have
no helpful cleverness of mind and am so fond of this element that I have
observed it more attentively than other things. In all the things that so
great and wise a God has created there must be many beneficial secrets,
and those who understand them do benefit, although I believe that in each
little thing created by God there is more than what is understood, even if it
is a little ant.)
3. These two troughs are filled with water in different ways; with one
the water comes from far away through many aqueducts and the use of
much ingenuity; with the other the source of the water is right there, and
the trough fills without any noise. If the spring is abundant, as is this one
we are speaking about, the water overflows once the trough is filled,
forming a large stream. There is no need of any skill, nor does the building
of aqueducts have to continue; but water is always flowing from the
spring.
The water coming from the aqueducts is comparable, in my opinion, to
the consolations I mentioned[4] that are drawn from meditation. For we
obtain them through thoughts, assisting ourselves, using creatures to help
our meditation, and tiring the intellect. Since, in the end, the consolation
comes through our own efforts, noise is made when there has to be some
replenishing of the benefits the consolation causes in the soul, as has been
said.[5]
4. With this other fount, the water comes from its own source which is
God. And since His Majesty desires to do so -- when He is pleased to grant
some supernatural favor -- He produces this delight with the greatest peace
and quiet and sweetness in the very interior part of ourselves. I don't know
from where or how, nor is that happiness and delight experienced, as are
earthly consolations, in the heart. I mean there is no similarity at the
beginning, for afterward the delight fills everything; this water overflows
through all the dwelling places and faculties until reaching the body. This
is why I said[6] that it begins in God and ends in ourselves. For, certainly,
as anyone who may have experienced it will see, the whole exterior man
enjoys this spiritual delight and sweetness.
5. I was now thinking, while writing this, that the verse mentioned
above, Dilatasti cor meum,[7] says the heart was expanded. I don't think
the experience is something, as I say, that rises from the heart, but from
another part still more interior, as from something deep. I think this must
be the center of the soul, as I later came to understand and will mention at
the end.[8] For certainly I see secrets within ourselves that have often
caused me to marvel. And how many more there must be! Oh, my Lord
and my God, how great are Your grandeurs! We go about here below like
foolish little shepherds, for while it seems that we are getting some
knowledge of You it must amount to no more than nothing; for even in our
own selves there are great secrets that we don't understand. I say "no more
than nothing" because I'm comparing it to the many, many secrets that are
in You, not because the grandeurs we see in You are not extraordinary; and
that includes those we can attain knowledge of through Your works.
6. To return to the verse, what I think is helpful in it for explaining this
matter is the idea of expansion. It seems that since that heavenly water
begins to rise from this spring I'm mentioning that is deep within us, it
swells and expands our whole interior being, producing ineffable
blessings; nor does the soul even understand what is given to it there. It
perceives a fragrance, let us say for now, as though there were in that
interior depth a brazier giving off sweet-smelling perfumes. No light is
seen, nor is the place seen where the brazier is; but the warmth and the
fragrant fumes spread through the entire soul and even often enough, as I
have said,[9] the body shares in them. See now that you understand me; no
heat is felt, nor is there the scent of any perfume, for the experience is
more delicate than an experience of these things; but I use the examples
only so as to explain it to you. And let persons who have not experienced
these things understand that truthfully they do happen and are felt in this
way, and the soul understands them in a manner clearer than is my
explanation right now. This spiritual delight is not something that can be
imagined, because however diligent our efforts we cannot acquire it. The
very experience of it makes us realize that it is not of the same metal as
we ourselves but fashioned from the purest gold of the divine wisdom.
Here, in my opinion, the faculties are not united but absorbed and looking
as though in wonder at what they see.
7. It's possible that in dealing with these interior matters I might
contradict something of what I said elsewhere. That's no surprise, because
in the almost fifteen years[10] since I wrote it the Lord may perhaps have
given me clearer understanding in these matters than I had before. Now, as
then, I could be completely mistaken -- but I would not lie, because by
God's mercy I'd rather suffer a thousand deaths. I speak of what I
understand.
8. It seems clear to me the will must in some way be united with God's
will. But it is in the effects and deeds following afterward that one
discerns the true value of prayer; there is no better crucible for testing
prayer. It is quite a great favor from our Lord if the person receiving the
favor recognizes it, and a very great one if he doesn't turn back.
 You will at once desire, my daughters, to obtain this prayer; and you are
right, for, as I have said,[11] the soul will never understand the favors the
Lord is granting there or the love with which He is drawing it nearer to
Himself. It is good to try to understand how we can obtain such a favor; so
I am going to tell you what I have understood about this.
9. Let's leave aside the times when our Lord is pleased to grant it
because He wants to and for no other reason. He knows why; we don't have
to meddle in this. After you have done what should be done by those in the
previous dwelling places; humility! humility! By this means the Lord
allows Himself to be conquered with regard to anything we want from
Him. The first sign for seeing whether or not you have humility is that you
do not think you deserve these favors and spiritual delights from the Lord
or that you will receive them in your lifetime.
You will ask me how then one can obtain them without seeking them. I
answer that for the following reasons there is no better way than the one I
mentioned, of not striving for them. First, because the initial thing
necessary for such favors is to love God without self-interest. Second,
because there is a slight lack of humility in thinking that for our miserable
services something so great can be obtained. Third, because the authentic
preparation for these favors on the part of those of us who, after all, have
offended Him is the desire to suffer and imitate the Lord rather than to
have spiritual delights. Fourth, because His Majesty is not obliged to give
them to us as He is to give us glory if we keep His commandments.
(Without these favors we can be saved, and He knows better than we
ourselves what is fitting for us and who of us truly loves Him. This is
certain, I know. And I know persons who walk by the path of love as they
ought to walk, that is, only so as to serve their Christ crucified; not only do
these persons refuse to seek spiritual delights from Him or to desire them
but they beseech Him not to give them these favors during their lifetime.
This is true.) The fifth reason is that we would be laboring in vain; for
since this water must not be drawn through aqueducts as was the previous
water, we are little helped by tiring ourselves if the spring doesn't want to
produce it. I mean that no matter how much we meditate or how much we
try to squeeze something out and have tears, this water doesn't come in
such a way. It is given only to whom God wills to give it and often when
the soul is least thinking of it.
 10. We belong to Him, daughters. Let Him do whatever He likes with us,
bring us wherever He pleases. I really believe that whoever humbles
himself and is detached (I mean in fact because the detachment and
humility must not be just in our thoughts -- for they often deceive us -- but
complete) will receive the favor of this water from the Lord and many
other favors that we don't know how to desire. May He be forever praised
and blessed, amen.
===================================

[1] In ch. 1, nos. 4-6.

[2] See ch. 1, no. 5.
[3] See Life, chs. 14-15.
[4] In III, ch. 2, nos. 9-10; IV, ch. 1, nos. 4-6.
[5] In ch. 1, nos. 5, 6, 10.
[6] In ch. 1, no. 4.
[7] Ps. 119:32. See ch. 1, no. 5.
[8] In VII, ch. 1, nos. 3, 7, 10; ch. 2, nos. 3, 9.
[9] In no. 4.
[10] In ch. 1, no. 1, she says fourteen years. She finished the first
redaction of her Life in 1562 and is writing these pages in the latter part of
1577.
[11] In no. 5.

Chapter 3
Deals with the prayer of recollection which for the most part the Lord
gives before the prayer just mentioned. Tells about its effects and about
those that come from that spiritual delight, given by the Lord, that was
discussed in the previous chapter.

1. The effects of this prayer are many. I shall mention some. But first, I
want to mention another kind of prayer that almost always begins before
this one. Since I have spoken of such a prayer elsewhere,[1] I shall say
little. It is a recollection that also seems to me to be supernatural because
it doesn't involve being in the dark or closing the eyes, nor does it consist
in any exterior thing, since without first wanting to do so, one does close
one's eyes and desire solitude. It seems that without any contrivance the
edifice is being built, by means of this recollection, for the prayer that was
mentioned. The senses and exterior things seem to be losing their hold
because the souls is recovering what it had lost.
2. They say that the soul enters within itself and, at other times, that it
rises above itself.[2] With such terminology I wouldn't know how to
clarify anything. This is what's wrong with me: that I think you will
understand by my way of explaining, while perhaps I'm the only one who
will understand myself. Let us suppose that these senses and faculties (for
I have already mentioned that these powers are the people of this castle,[3]
which is the image I have taken for my explanation) have gone outside and
have walked for days and years with strangers -- enemies of the well-being
of the castle. Having seen their perdition they've already begun to
approach the castle even though they may not manage to remain inside
because the habit of doing so is difficult to acquire. But still they are not
traitors, and they walk in the environs of the castle. Once the great King,
who is in the center dwelling place of this castle, sees their good will, He
desires in His wonderful mercy to bring them back to Him. Like a good
shepherd, with a whistle so gentle that even they themselves almost fail to
hear it, He makes them recognize His voice and stops them from going so
far astray so that they will return to their dwelling place. And this
shepherd's whistle has such power that they abandon the exterior things in
which they were estranged from Him and enter the castle.
3. I don't think I've ever explained it as clearly as I have now. When God
grants the favor it is a great help to seek Him within where He is found
more easily and in a way more beneficial to us than when sought in
creatures, as St. Augustine says after having looked for Him in many
places.[4] Don't think this recollection is acquired by the intellect striving
to think about God within itself, or by the imagination imagining Him
within itself. Such efforts are good and an excellent kind of meditation
because they are founded on a truth, which is that God is within us. But
this isn't the prayer of recollection because it is something each one can do
-- with the help of God, as should be understood of everything. But what
I'm speaking of comes in a different way. Sometimes before one begins to
think of God, these people are already inside the castle. I don't know in
what way or how they heard their shepherd's whistle. It wasn't through the
ears, because nothing is heard. But one noticeably senses a gentle drawing
inward, as anyone who goes through this will observe, for I don't know
how to make it clearer. It seems to me I have read where it was compared
to a hedgehog curling up or a turtle drawing into a shell.[5] (The one who
wrote this example must have understood the experience well.) But these
creatures draw inward whenever they want. In the case of this recollection,
it doesn't come when we want it but when God wants to grant us the favor.
I for myself hold that when His Majesty grants it, He does so to persons
who are already beginning to despise the things of the world. I don't say
that those in the married state do so in deed, for they cannot, but in desire;
for He calls such persons especially so that they might be attentive to
interior matters. So I believe that if we desire to make room for His
Majesty, He will give not only this but more, and give it to those whom He
begins to call to advance further.
4. May whoever experiences this within himself praise God greatly
because it is indeed right to recognize the favor and give thanks, for doing
so will dispose one for other greater favors. And this recollection is a
preparation for being able to listen, as is counselled in some books,[6] so
that the soul instead of striving to engage in discourse strives to remain
attentive and aware of what the Lord is working in it. If His Majesty has
not begun to absorb us, I cannot understand how the mind can be stopped.
There's no way of doing so without bringing about more harm than good,
although there has been a lengthy controversy on this matter among some
spiritual persons. For my part I must confess my lack of humility, but
those in favor of stopping the mind have never given me a reason for
submitting to what they say. One of them tried to convince me with a
certain book by the saintly Friar Peter of Alcántara[7] -- for I believe he is
a saint -- to whom I would submit because I know that he knew. And we
read it together, and he says the same thing I do; although not in my
words. But it is clear in what he says that love must be already awakened.
It could be that I'm mistaken, but I have the following reasons.
5. First, in this work of the spirit the one who thinks less and has less
desire to act does more. What we must do is beg like the needy poor
before a rich and great emperor, and then lower our eyes and wait with
humility. When through His secret paths it seems we understand that He
hears us, then it is good to be silent since He has allowed us to remain near
Him; and it will not be wrong to avoid working with the intellect -- if we
can work with it, I mean. But if we don't yet know whether this King has
heard or seen us, we mustn't become fools. The soul does become quite a
fool when it tries to induce this prayer, and it is left much drier; and the
imagination perhaps becomes more restless through the effort made not to
think of anything. But the Lord desires that we beseech Him and call to
mind that we are in His presence; He knows what is suitable for us. I
cannot persuade myself to use human diligence in a matter in which it
seems His Majesty has placed a limit, and I want to leave the diligence to
Him. What He did not reserve to Himself are many other efforts we can
make with His help, such as: penance, good deeds, and prayer -- insofar as
our wretchedness can do these things.
6. The second reason is that these interior works are all gentle and
peaceful; doing something arduous would cause more harm than good. I
call any force that we might want to use "something arduous;" for
example, it would be arduous to hold one's breath. Leave the soul in God's
hands, let Him do whatever He wants with it, with the greatest resignation
to the will of God.
The third reason is that the very care used not to think of anything will
perhaps rouse the mind to think very much.
The fourth reason is that what is most essential and pleasing to God is
that we be mindful of His honor and glory and forget ourselves and our
own profit and comfort and delight. How is a person forgetful of self if he
is so careful not to stir or even to allow his intellect or desires to be stirred
to a longing for the greater glory of God, or if he rests in what he already
has? When His Majesty desires the intellect to stop, He occupies it in
another way and gives it a light so far above what we can attain that it
remains absorbed. Then, without knowing how, the intellect is much better
instructed than it was through all the soul's efforts not to make use of it.
Since God gave us our faculties that we might work with them and in this
work they find their reward, there is no reason to charm them; we should
let them perform their task until God appoints them to another greater one.
7. What I understand to be most fitting for the soul the Lord has desired
to put in this dwelling place is that which has been said.[8] And without
any effort or noise the soul should strive to cut down the rambling of the
intellect -- but not suspend either it or the mind; it is good to be aware that
one is in God's presence and of who God is. If what it feels within itself
absorbs it, well and good. But let it not strive to understand the nature of
this recollection, for it is given to the will. Let the soul enjoy it without
any endeavors other than some loving words, for even though we may not
try in this prayer to go without thinking of anything, I know that often the
intellect will be suspended, even though for only a very brief moment.
8. But as I said elsewhere[9] the reason why in this kind of prayer -- that
is, the kind that is like the flowing spring in which the water does not
come through aqueducts -- the soul restrains itself or is restrained is its
realization that it doesn't understand what it desires; and so the mind
wanders from one extreme to the other, like a fool unable to rest in
anything. (I am referring to the kind of prayer this dwelling place began
with, for I have joined the prayer of recollection, which I should have
mentioned first, with this one. The prayer of recollection is much less
intense than the prayer of spiritual delight from God that I mentioned. But
it is the beginning through which one goes to the other; for in the prayer of
recollection, meditation, or the work of the intellect, must not be set
aside.) The will has such deep rest in its God that the clamor of the
intellect is a terrible bother to it. There is no need to pay any attention to
this clamor, for doing so would make the will lose much of what it enjoys.
But one should leave the intellect go and surrender oneself into the arms
of love, for His Majesty will teach the soul what it must do at that point.
Almost everything lies in finding oneself unworthy of so great a good and
in being occupied with giving thanks.
9. In order to deal with the prayer of recollection I postponed mention
of the effects or signs in souls to whom God, our Lord, gives this prayer of
quiet. What an expansion or dilation of the soul is may be clearly
understood from the example of a fount whose water doesn't overflow into
a stream because the fount itself is constructed of such material that the
more water there is flowing into it the larger the trough becomes. So it
seems is the case with this prayer and many other marvels that God grants
to the soul, for He enables and prepares it so that it can keep everything
within itself. Hence this interior sweetness and expansion can be verified
in the fact that the soul is not as tied down as it was before in things
pertaining to the service of God, but has much more freedom. Thus, in not
being constrained by the fear of hell (because although there is even
greater fear of offending God it loses servile fear here), this soul is left
with great confidence that it will enjoy Him. The fear it used to have of
doing penance and losing its health has disappeared, and it now thinks it
will be able to do all things in God[10] and has greater desire for penance
than previously. The fear it used to have of trials it now sees to be
tempered. Its faith is more alive; it knows that if it suffers trials for God,
His Majesty will give it the grace to suffer them with patience. Sometimes
it even desires them because there also remains a strong will to do
something for God. Since its knowledge of God's grandeur grows, it
considers itself to be more miserable. Because it has already experienced
spiritual delight from God, it sees that worldly delights are like filth. It
finds itself withdrawing from them little by little, and it is more master of
itself for so doing. In sum, there is an improvement in all the virtues. It
will continue to grow if it doesn't turn back now to offending God; because
if it does, then everything will be lost however high on the summit the
soul may be. Nor should it be understood that if God grants this favor once
or twice to a soul all these good effects will be caused. It must persevere
in receiving them, for in this perseverance lies all our good.
10. One strong warning I give to whoever finds himself in this state is
that he guard very carefully against placing himself in the occasion of
offending God. In this prayer the soul is not yet grown but is like a
suckling child. If it turns away from its mother's breasts, what can be
expected for it but death? I am very afraid that this will happen to anyone
to whom God has granted this favor and who withdraws from prayer --
unless he does so for a particularly special reason -- or if he doesn't return
quickly to prayer, for he will go from bad to worse. I know there is a great
deal to fear in this matter. And I know some persons for whom I have felt
quite sorry -- and I've seen what I'm speaking about -- because they have
turned away from One who with so much love wanted to be their friend
and proved it by deeds. I advise them so strongly not to place themselves
in the occasions of sin because the devil tries much harder for a soul of
this kind than for very many to whom the Lord does not grant these favors.
For such a soul can do a great deal of harm to the devil by getting others to
follow it, and it could be of great benefit to God's Church. And even
though the devil may have no other reason than to see who it is to whom
His Majesty shows particular love, that's sufficient for him to wear
himself out trying to lead the soul to perdition. So these souls suffer much
combat, and if they go astray, they stray much more than do others.
You, Sisters, are free of dangers, from what we can know. From pride
and vainglory may God deliver you. If the devil should counterfeit God's
favors, this will be known by the fact that these good effects are not
caused, but just the opposite.
11. There is one danger I want to warn you about (although I may have
mentioned it elsewhere)[11] into which I have seen persons of prayer fall,
especially women, for since we are weaker there is more occasion for what
I'm about to say. It is that some have a weak constitution because of a
great amount of penance, prayer, and keeping vigil, and even without
these; in receiving some favor, their nature is overcome. Since they feel
some consolation interiorly and a languishing and weakness exteriorly,
they think they are experiencing a spiritual sleep (which is a prayer a little
more intense than the prayer of quiet)[12] and they let themselves become
absorbed. The more they allow this, the more absorbed they become
because their nature is further weakened, and they fancy that they are
being carried away in rapture. I call it being carried away in
foolishness[13] because it amounts to nothing more than wasting time and
wearing down one's health. These persons feel nothing through their
senses nor do they feel anything concerning God. One person happened to
remain eight hours in this state. By sleeping and eating and avoiding so
much penance, this person got rid of the stupor, for there was someone
who understood her. She had misled both her confessor and other persons,
as well as herself -- for she hadn't intended to deceive. I truly believe that
the devil was trying to gain ground, and in this instance indeed he was
beginning to gain no small amount.
12. It must be understood that when something is truly from God there
is no languishing in the soul, even though there may be an interior and
exterior languishing, for the soul experiences deep feelings on seeing itself
close to God. Nor does the experience last so long, but for a very short
while -- although one becomes absorbed again. In such prayer, if the cause
of it is not weakness, as I said,[14] the body is not worn down nor is any
external feeling produced.
 13. For this reason let them take the advice that when they feel this
languishing in themselves they tell the prioress and distract themselves
from it insofar as they can. The prioress should make them give up so
many hours for prayer so that they have only a very few and try to get
them to sleep and eat well until their natural strength begins to return, if it
has been lost through a lack of food and sleep. If a Sister's nature is so
weak that this is not enough, may she believe me that God does not want
her to practice anything but the active life, which also must be practiced in
monasteries. They should let her get busy with different duties; and always
take care that she not have a great deal of solitude, for she would lose her
health completely. It will be quite a mortification for her; in how she bears
this absence is the way the Lord wants to test her love for Him. And He
will be pleased to give her strength back after some time. If He doesn't,
she will gain through vocal prayer and through obedience and will merit
what she would have merited otherwise, and perhaps more.
14. There could also be some persons with such weak heads and
imaginations -- and I have known some -- to whom it seems that
everything they think about they see. This is very dangerous. Because I
shall perhaps treat of it later on, I'll say no more here. I have greatly
enlarged upon this dwelling place because it is the one which more souls
enter. Since it is, and since the natural and the supernatural are joined in it,
the devil can do more harm. In those dwelling places still to be spoken of,
the Lord doesn't give him so much leeway. May His Majesty be forever
praised, amen.
===================================

[1] She spoke of the prayer of recollection in various places: Life, chs.
14-15; Way of Perfection, chs. 28-29; Spiritual Testimonies, 59, no. 3. But
Teresa is not consistent in her terminology. Sometimes she speaks of a
recollection that is not infused (in the Way of Perfection); at other times of
a recollection that is infused: in the Life, using the term indiscriminately
with "quiet" to designate the first degree of infused prayer, and in the
Spiritual Testimonies to designate the first faint experience of mystical
prayer that prepares the way for the prayer of quiet. See no. 8 of this
chapter.
 [2] She is alluding to works such as Osuna's Third Spiritual Alphabet,
IX, ch. 7; and Laredo's Ascent of Mount Sion, III, ch. 41. See Life, ch. 12,
nos. 1, 4, 5, 7; ch. 22, nos. 13, 18.
[3] In I, ch. 2, nos. 4, 12, 15.
[4] In Confessions, X, ch. 27; or in the pseudo-Augustine's Soliloquies,
ch. 31. See Life, ch. 40, no. 6; Way of Perfection, ch. 28, no. 2.
[5] In Osuna's Third Spiritual Alphabet, VI, ch. 4 .
[6] See Laredo's Ascent of Mount Sion, III, ch. 27.
[7] Treatise on Prayer and Meditation by Granada and at that time
attributed to St. Peter of Alcántara.
[8] In nos. 4-6; see ch. 2, no. 9.
[9] Perhaps she is referring to a parallel passage in the Way of
Perfection ch. 31, nos. 3, 7.
[10] Allusion to Ph. 4:13.
[11] In the book of Foundations, ch. 6. She will insist on this again in
VI, ch. 7, no. 13.
[12] See Life, chs. 16-17, where Teresa dwells at greater length on this
sleep of the faculties as though dealing with a special stage in the degrees
of mystical prayer.
[13] Teresa makes a pun here with the Spanish words arrobamiento
(rapture) and abobamiento (foolishness).
[14] In nos. 11-12.
 THE FIFTH DWELLING PLACES
Contains Four Chapters
Chapter 1
Begins to deal with how the soul is united to God in prayer. Tells how
one discerns whether there is any illusion.

1. O Sisters, how can I explain the riches and treasures and delights
found in the fifth dwelling places? I believe it would be better not to say
anything about these remaining rooms, for there is no way of knowing how
to speak of them; neither is the intellect capable of understanding them
nor can comparisons help in explaining them; earthly things are too coarse
for such a purpose.
Send light from heaven, my Lord, that I might be able to enlighten these
Your servants -- for You have been pleased that some of them ordinarily
enjoy these delights -- so that they may not be deceived by the devil
transforming himself into an angel of light.[1] For all their desires are
directed toward pleasing You.
2. And although I have said "some," there are indeed only a few who fail
to enter this dwelling place of which I shall now speak. There are various
degrees, and for that reason I say that most enter these places. But I
believe that only a few will experience some of the things that I will say
are in this room. Yet even if souls do no more than reach the door, God is
being very merciful to them; although many are called few are chosen.[2]
So I say now that all of us who wear this holy habit of Carmel are called to
prayer and contemplation. This call explains our origin; we are the
descendants of men who felt this call, of those holy fathers on Mount
Carmel who in such great solitude and contempt for the world sought this
treasure, this precious pearl of contemplation that we are speaking about.
Yet few of us dispose ourselves that the Lord may communicate it to us. In
exterior matters we are proceeding well so that we will reach what is
necessary; but in the practice of the virtues that are necessary for arriving
at this point we need very, very much and cannot be careless in either
small things or great. So, my Sisters, since in some way we can enjoy
heaven on earth, be brave in begging the Lord to give us His grace in such
a way that nothing will be lacking through our own fault; that He show us
the way and strengthen the soul that it may dig until it finds this hidden
treasure.[3] The truth is that the treasure lies within our very selves. This
is what I would like to know how to explain, if the Lord would enable me
to do so.
3. I said "strengthen the soul" so that you will understand that bodily
strength is not necessary for those to whom God does not give it. He
doesn't make it impossible for anyone to buy His riches. He is content if
each one gives what he has. Blessed be so great a God. But reflect,
daughters, that He doesn't want you to hold on to anything, so that you will
be able to enjoy the favors we are speaking of. Whether you have little or
much, He wants everything for Himself; and in conformity with what you
know you have given you will receive greater or lesser favors. There is no
better proof for recognizing whether our prayer has reached union or not.
4. Don't think this union is some kind of dreamy state like the one I
mentioned before.[4] I say "dreamy state" because it only seems that the
soul is asleep; for neither does it really think it is asleep nor does it feel
awake. There is no need here to use any technique to suspend the mind
since all the faculties are asleep in this state -- and truly asleep -- to the
things of the world and to ourselves. As a matter of fact, during the time
that the union lasts the soul is left as though without its senses, for it has
no power to think even if it wants to. In loving, if it does love, it doesn't
understand how or what it is it loves or what it would want. In sum, it is
like one who in every respect has died to the world so as to live more
completely in God. Thus the death is a delightful one, an uprooting from
the soul of all the operations it can have while being in the body. The death
is a delightful one because in truth it seems that in order to dwell more
perfectly in God the soul is so separated from the body that I don't even
know if it has life enough to breathe. (I was just now thinking about this,
and it seems to me that it doesn't -- at least if it does breathe, it is unaware
it is doing so.) Nonetheless, its whole intellect would want to be occupied
in understanding something of what is felt. And since the soul does not
have the energy to attain to this, it is so stunned that, even if consciousness
is not completely lost, neither a hand nor a foot stirs, as we say here below
when a person is in such a swoon that we think he is dead.
 O secrets of God! I would never tire of trying to explain them if I
thought I could in some way manage to do so; thus I will say a thousand
foolish things in order that I might at times succeed and that we might
give great praise to the Lord.
5. I said that this union was not some kind of dreamy state,[5] because
even if the experience in the dwelling place that was just mentioned is
abundant the soul remains doubtful that it was union. It doubts whether it
imagined the experience; whether it was asleep; whether the experience
was given by God; or whether the devil transformed himself into an angel
of light.[6] It is left with a thousand suspicions. That it has them is good,
for, as I have said,[7] even our own nature can sometimes deceive us in
that dwelling place. Though there is not so much room for poisonous
things to enter, some tiny lizards do enter; since these lizards have slender
heads they can poke their heads in anywhere. And even though they do no
harm, especially if one pays no attention to them, as I said,[8] they are
often a bother since they are little thoughts proceeding from the
imagination and from what I mentioned. But however slender they may be,
these little lizards cannot enter this fifth dwelling place; for there is
neither imagination, nor memory, nor intellect that can impede this good.
And I would dare say that if the prayer is truly that of union with God the
devil cannot even enter or do any damage. His Majesty is so joined and
united with the essence of the soul that the devil will not approach nor will
he even know about this secret. And this is obvious. Since as they say, he
doesn't know our mind, he will have less knowledge of something so
secret; for God doesn't even entrust this to our own mind. Oh what a great
good, a state in which this accursed one does us no harm! Thus the soul is
left with such wonderful blessings because God works within it without
anyone disturbing Him, not even ourselves. What will He not give, who is
so fond of giving and who can give all that He wants?
6. It seems I have left you confused by saying "if it is union" and that
there are other unions. And indeed how true it is that there are! Even
though these unions regard vain things, the devil will use such things to
transport us when they are greatly loved. But he doesn't do so in the way
God does, or with the delight and satisfaction of soul, or with the peace
and joy. This union is above all earthly joys, above all delights, above all
consolations, and still more than that. It doesn't matter where those
spiritual or earthly joys come from, for the feeling is very different as you
will have experienced. I once said[9] that the difference is like that
between feeling something on the rough outer covering of the body or in
the marrow of the bones. And that was right on the mark, for I don't know
how to say it better.
7. It seems to me that you're still not satisfied, for you will think you
can be mistaken and that these interior things are something difficult to
examine. What was said will be sufficient for anyone who has experienced
union. Yet, because the difference between union and the previous
experience is great, I want to mention a clear sign by which you will be
sure against error or doubts about whether the union is from God. His
Majesty has brought it to my memory today, and in my opinion it is the
sure sign. In difficult matters even though it seems to me I understand and
that I speak the truth I always use this expression "it seems to me." For if I
am mistaken, I am very much prepared to believe what those who have a
great deal of learning say. Even though they have not experienced these
things, very learned men have a certain "I don't know what;" for since God
destines them to give light to His Church, He enlightens them that they
might acknowledge a truth when presented with it. And if they do not live
a dissipated life but are God's servants, they are never surprised by His
grandeurs; they have come to understand well that He can do ever more
and more. And, finally, even though some things are not so well explained,
these learned men will find other things in their books that will show that
these things could take place.
8. I have had a great deal of experience with learned men, and have also
had experience with half-learned, fearful ones; these latter cost me dearly.
[10] At least I think that anyone who refuses to believe that God can do
much more or that He has considered and continues to consider it good
sometimes to communicate favors to His creatures, has indeed closed the
door to receiving them. Therefore, Sisters, let this never happen to you,
but believe that God can do far more and don't turn your attention to
whether the ones to whom He grants His favors are good or bad; for His
Majesty know this, as I have told you.[11] There is no reason for us to
meddle in the matter, but with humility and simplicity of heart we should
serve and praise Him for His works and marvels.
 9. Well then, to return to the sign that I say is the true one,[12] you now
see that God has made this soul a fool with regard to all so as better to
impress upon it true wisdom. For during the time of this union it neither
sees, nor hears, nor understands, because the union is always short and
seems to the soul even much shorter than it probably is. God so places
Himself in the interior of that soul that when it returns to itself it can in no
way doubt that it was in God and God was in it. This truth remains with it
so firmly that even though years go by without God's granting that favor
again, the soul can neither forget nor doubt that it was in God and God was
in it. This certitude is what matters now, for I shall speak of the effects of
this prayer afterward.[13]
10. Now, you will ask me, how did the soul see this truth or understand
if it didn't see or understand anything? I don't say that it then saw the truth
but that afterward it sees the truth clearly, not because of a vision but
because of a certitude remaining in the soul that only God can place there.
I know a person who hadn't learned that God was in all things by presence,
power, and essence, and through a favor of this kind that God granted her
she came to believe it. After asking a half-learned man of the kind I
mentioned[14] -- he knew as little as she had known before God
enlightened her -- she was told that God was present only by grace. Such
was her own conviction that even after this she didn't believe him and
asked others who told her the truth, with which she was greatly consoled.
[15]
11. Don't be mistaken by thinking that this certitude has to do with a
corporal form, as in the case of the bodily presence of our Lord Jesus
Christ in the Most Blessed Sacrament even though we do not see Him.
Here the matter isn't like that; it concerns only the divinity. How, then, is it
that what we do not see leaves this certitude? I don't know; these are His
works. But I do know I speak the truth. And I would say that whoever does
not receive this certitude does not experience union of the whole soul with
God, but union of some faculty, or that he experiences one of the many
others kinds of favors God grants souls. In regard to all these favors we
have to give up looking for reasons to see how they've come about. Since
our intellect cannot understand this union why do we have to make this
effort? It's enough for us to see that He who is the cause of it is almighty.
Since we have no part at all to play in bringing it about no matter how
much effort we put forth, but it is God who does so, let us not desire the
capacity to understand this union.
12. Now I recall, in saying that we have no part to play, what you have
heard the bride say in the Song of Songs: He brought me into the wine
cellar (or, placed me there, I believe it says).[16] And it doesn't say that
she went. And it says also that she went looking about in every part of the
city for her Beloved.[17] I understand this union to be the wine cellar
where the Lord wishes to place us when He desires and as He desires. But
however great the effort we make to do so, we cannot enter. His Majesty
must place us there and enter Himself into the center of our soul. And that
He may show His marvels more clearly He doesn't want our will to have
any part to play, for it has been entirely surrendered to Him. Neither does
He want the door of the faculties and of the senses to be opened, for they
are all asleep. But He wants to enter the center of the soul without going
through any door, as He entered the place where His disciples were when
He said, pax vobis;[18] or as He left the tomb without lifting away the
stone. Further on you will see in the last dwelling place[19] how His
Majesty desires that the soul enjoy Him in its own center even much more
than here.
13. O daughters, how much we shall see if we don't want to have
anything more to do with our own lowliness and misery and if we
understand that we are unworthy of being servants of a Lord who is so
great we cannot comprehend His wonders! May He be forever praised,
amen.
===================================

[1] Allusion to 2 Co. 11:14.

[2] Allusion to Mt. 22:14.
[3] Allusion to Mt. 13:44.
[4] In IV, ch. 3, no. 11.
[5] In no. 3.
[6] Another allusion to 2 Co. 11:14.
[7] In IV, ch. 3, nos. 11-14.
[8] In IV, ch. 1, nos. 8-12.
[9] She made a similar observation in the Way of Perfection, ch. 31, no.
10.
 [10] See Life, ch. 5, no. 3; ch. 13, no. 19; ch. 25, no. 22.
[11] In IV, ch. 1, no. 2; ch. 2, no. 9.
[12] See no. 7.
[13] She speaks of them in the next chapter, nos. 7-14.
[14] In no. 8.
[15] See Life, ch. 18, no. 15; Spir. Test., 49.
[16] Sg. 2:4.
[17] Sg. 3:2.
[18] Jn. 20:19.
[19] See VII, ch. 2, no. 3.

Chapter 2
Continues on the same topic. Explains the prayer of union through an
exquisite comparison. Tells about the effects it leaves in the soul. The
chapter is very important.

1. It will seem to you that everything has already been said about what
there is to see in this dwelling place. Yet a lot is missing; for, as I said,[1]
there are various degrees of intensity. With regard to the nature of union, I
don't believe I'd know how to say anything more. But when souls to whom
God grants these favors prepare themselves, there are many things to say
about the Lord's work in them. I shall speak of some of these and tell
about the state the soul is left in. To explain things better I want to use a
helpful comparison; it is good for making us see how, even though we can
do nothing in this work done by our Lord, we can do much by disposing
ourselves so that His Majesty may grant us this favor.
2. You must have already heard about His marvels manifested in the
way silk originates, for only He could have invented something like that.
The silkworms come from seeds about the size of little grains of pepper. (I
have never seen this but heard of it, and so if something in the explanation
gets distorted it won't be my fault.) When warm weather comes and the
leaves begin to appear on the mulberry tree, the seeds start to live, for they
are dead until then. The worms nourish themselves on mulberry leaves
until, having grown to full size, they settle on some twigs. There with their
little mouths they themselves go about spinning the silk and making some
very thick little cocoons in which they enclose themselves. The silkworm,
which is fat and ugly, then dies, and a little white butterfly, which is very
pretty, comes forth from the cocoon. Now if this were not seen but
recounted to us as having happened in other times, who would believe it?
Or what reasonings could make us conclude that a thing as nonrational as a
worm or a bee could be so diligent in working for our benefit and with so
much industriousness? And the poor little worm loses its life in the
challenge. This is enough, Sisters, for a period of meditation even though I
may say no more to you; in it you can consider the wonders and the
wisdom of our God. Well now, what would happen if we knew the property
of every created thing. It is very beneficial for us to busy ourselves
thinking of these grandeurs and delighting in being brides of a King so
wise and powerful.
3. Let's return to what I was saying. This silkworm, then, starts to live
when by the heat of the Holy Spirit it begins to benefit through the general
help given to us all by God and through the remedies left by Him to His
Church, by going to confession, reading good books, and hearing sermons,
which are the remedies that a soul, dead in its carelessness and sins and
placed in the midst of occasions, can make use of. It then begins to live
and to sustain itself by these things, and by good meditations, until it is
grown. Its being grown is what is relevant to what I'm saying, for these
other things have little importance here.
4. Well once this silkworm is grown -- in the beginning I dealt with its
growth[2] -- it begins to spin the silk and build the house wherein it will
die. I would like to point out here that this house is Christ. Somewhere, it
seems to me, I have read or heard that our life is hidden in Christ or in
God (both are the same), or that our life is Christ.[3] Whether the
quotation is exact or not doesn't matter for what I intend.
5. Well see here, daughters, what we can do through the help of God:
His Majesty Himself, as He does in this prayer of union, becomes the
dwelling place we build for ourselves. It seems I'm saying that we can
build up God and take Him away since I say that He is the dwelling place
and we ourselves can build it so as to place ourselves in it. And, indeed,
we can! Not that we can take God away or build Him up, but we can take
away from ourselves and build up, as do these little silkworms. For we
will not have finished doing all that we can in this work when, to the little
we do, which is nothing, God will unite Himself, with His greatness, and
give it such high value that the Lord Himself will become the reward of
this work. Thus, since it was He who paid the highest price, His Majesty
wants to join our little labors with the great ones He suffered so that all the
work may become one.
6. Therefore, courage, my daughters! Let's be quick to do this work and
weave this little cocoon by getting rid of our self-love and self-will, our
attachments to any earthly things, and by performing deeds of penance,
prayer, mortification, obedience, and of all the other things you know.
Would to heaven that we would do what we know we must; and we are
instructed about what we must do. Let it die; let this silkworm die, as it
does in completing what it was created to do! And you will see how we see
God, as well as ourselves placed inside His greatness, as is this little
silkworm within its cocoon. Keep in mind that I say "see God," in the
sense of what I mentioned[4] concerning that which is felt in this kind of
union.
7. Now, then, let's see what this silkworm does, for that's the reason I've
said everything else. When the soul is, in this prayer, truly dead to the
world, a little white butterfly comes forth. Oh, greatness of God! How
transformed the soul is when it comes out of this prayer after having been
placed within the greatness of God and so closely joined with Him for a
little while -- in my opinion the union never lasts for as much as a half
hour. Truly, I tell you that the soul doesn't recognize itself. Look at the
difference there is between an ugly worm and a little white butterfly; that's
what the difference is here. The soul doesn't know how it could have
merited so much good -- from where this good may have come I mean, for
it well knows that it doesn't merit this blessing. It sees within itself a
desire to praise the Lord; it would want to dissolve and die a thousand
deaths for Him. It soon begins to experience a desire to suffer great trials
without its being able to do otherwise. There are the strongest desires for
penance, for solitude, and that all might know God; and great pain comes
to it when it sees that He is offended. I shall treat of these things more
particularly in the next dwelling place;[5] although what is in this
dwelling place and the next are almost identical, the force of the effects is
very different. As I have said,[6] if after God brings a soul here it makes
the effort to advance, it will see great things.
8. Oh, now, to see the restlessness of this little butterfly, even though it
has never been quieter and calmer in its life, is something to praise God
for! And the difficulty is that it doesn't know where to alight and rest.
Since it has experienced such wonderful rest, all that it sees on earth
displeases it, especially if God gives it this wine often. Almost each time
it gains new treasures. It no longer has any esteem for the works it did
while a worm, which was to weave the cocoon little by little; it now has
wings. How can it be happy walking step by step when it can fly? On
account of its desires, everything it can do for God becomes little in its
own eyes. It doesn't wonder as much at what the saints suffered now that it
understands through experience how the Lord helps and transforms a soul,
for it doesn't recognize itself or its image. The weakness it previously
seemed to have with regard to doing penance it now finds is its strength.
Its attachment to relatives or friends or wealth (for neither its actions, nor
its determination, nor its desire to withdraw were enough; rather, in its
opinion, it was more attached to everything) is now so looked upon that it
grieves when obliged to do what is necessary in this regard so as not to
offend God. Everything wearies it, for it has learned through experience
that creatures cannot give it true rest.
9. It seems I have been lengthy, but I could say much more; and
whoever has received this favor from God will see that I've been brief. So,
there is no reason to be surprised that this little butterfly seeks rest again
since it feels estranged from earthly things. Well then, where will the poor
little thing go? It can't return to where it came from; as was said,[7] we are
powerless, however much we do, to bring about this favor until God is
again pleased to grant it. O Lord, what new trials begin for this soul! Who
would say such a thing after a favor so sublime? Briefly, in one way or
another, there must be a cross while we live. And with respect to anyone
who says that after he arrived here he always enjoyed rest and delight I
would say that he never arrived but that perhaps he had experienced some
spiritual delight -- if he had entered into the previous dwelling place -- and
his experience had been helped along by natural weakness or perhaps even
by the devil who gives him peace so as afterward to wage much greater
war against him.
 10. I don't mean to say that those who arrive here do not have peace;
they do have it, and it is very deep. For the trials themselves are so
valuable and have such good roots that although very severe they give rise
to peace and happiness. From the very unhappiness caused by worldly
things arises the ever so painful desire to leave this world. Any relief the
soul has comes from the thought that God wants it to be living in this
exile; yet even this is not enough, because in spite of all these benefits it is
not entirely surrendered to God's will, as will be seen further on[8] --
although it doesn't fail to conform itself. But it conforms with a great
feeling that it can do no more because no more has been given it, and with
many tears. Every time it is in prayer this regret is its pain. In some ways
perhaps the sorrow proceeds from the deep pain it feels at seeing that God
is offended and little esteemed in this world and that many souls are lost,
heretics as well as Moors; although those that grieve it most are
Christians. Even though it sees that God's mercy is great -- for, however
wicked their lives, these Christians can make amends and be saved -- it
fears that many are being condemned.
11. Oh, greatness of God! A few years ago -- and even perhaps days --
this soul wasn't mindful of anything but itself. Who has placed it in the
midst of such painful concerns? Even were we to meditate for many years
we wouldn't be able to feel them as painfully as does this soul now. Well,
God help me, wouldn't it be enough if for many days and years I strove to
think about the tremendous evil of an offense against God and that those
souls who are condemned are His children and my brothers and about the
dangers in which we live and how good it is for us to leave this miserable
life? Not at all, daughters; the grief that is felt here is not like that of this
world. We can, with God's favor, feel the grief that comes from thinking
about these things a great deal, but such grief doesn't reach the intimate
depths of our being as does the pain suffered in this state, for it seems that
the pain breaks and grinds the soul into pieces, without the soul's striving
for it or even at times wanting it. Well, what is this pain? Where does it
come from? I shall tell you.
12. Haven't you heard it said of the bride -- for I have already mentioned
it elsewhere here but not in this sense[9] -- that God brought her into the
inner wine cellar and put charity in order within her?[10] Well, that is
what I mean. Since that soul now surrenders itself into His hands and its
great love makes it so surrendered that it neither knows nor wants
anything more than what He wants with her (for God will never, in my
judgment, grant this favor save to a soul that He takes for His own), He
desires that, without its understanding how, it may go forth from this union
impressed with His seal. For indeed the soul does no more in this union
than does the wax when another impresses a seal on it. The wax doesn't
impress the seal upon itself; it is only disposed -- I mean by being soft.
And even in order to be disposed, it doesn't soften itself but remains still
and gives its consent. Oh, goodness of God; everything must be at a cost to
You! All You want is our will and that there be no impediment in the wax.
13. Well now, you see here, Sisters, what our God does in this union so
that this soul may recognize itself as His own. He gives from what He has,
which is what His Son had in this life. He cannot grant us a higher favor.
Who could have had a greater desire to leave this life? And so His Majesty
said at the Last Supper: I have earnestly desired.[11]
Well then, how is it Lord, that you weren't thinking of the laborious
death You were about to suffer, so painful and frightful? You answer: "No,
my great love and the desire I have that souls be saved are incomparably
more important than these sufferings; and the very greatest sorrows that I
have suffered and do suffer, after being in the world, are not enough to be
considered anything at all in comparison with this love and desire to save
souls."
14. This is true, for I have often reflected on the matter. I know the
torment a certain soul of my acquaintance[12] suffers and has suffered at
seeing our Lord offended. The pain is so unbearable that she desires to die
much more than to suffer it. If a soul with so little charity when compared
to Christ's -- for its charity could then be considered almost nonexistent --
felt this torment to be so unbearable, what must have been the feeling of
our Lord Jesus Christ? And what kind of life must He have suffered since
all things were present to Him and He was always witnessing the serious
offenses committed against His Father? I believe without a doubt that
these sufferings were much greater than were those of His most sacred
Passion. At the time of His Passion He already saw an end to these trials
and with this awareness as well as the happiness of seeing a remedy for us
in His death and of showing us the love He had for His Father in suffering
so much for Him, His sorrows were tempered. These sorrows are also
tempered here below by those who with the strength that comes from love
perform great penances, for they almost don't feel them; rather they would
want to do more and more -- and everything they do seems little to them.
Well, what must it have been for His Majesty to find Himself with so
excellent an occasion for showing His Father how completely obedient He
was to Him, and with love for His neighbor? Oh, great delight, to suffer in
doing the will of God! But I consider it so difficult to see the many
offenses committed so continually against His Majesty and the many souls
going to hell that I believe only one day of that pain would have been
sufficient to end many lives; how much more one life, if He had been no
more than man.
===================================

[1] In ch. 1, no. 2.

[2] In the Dwelling Places I-IV.
[3] See Col. 3:3-4.
[4] In ch. 1, nos. 10-11.
[5] In VI, ch. 6, no. 1; ch. 11 passim.
[6] In ch. 1, nos. 2, 3, 13.
[7] In ch. 1, no. 12; IV, ch. 2, no. 9.
[8] In VI, ch. 10, no. 8; VII, ch. 3, no. 4.
[9] In ch. 1, no. 12.
[10] Allusion to Sg. 2:4.
[11] Lk. 22:15.
[12] She is referring to herself. See Life, ch. 38, no. 18.

Chapter 3
Continues on the same subject. Tells about another kind of union the
soul can reach with God's help and of how important love of neighbor is
for this union. The chapter is very useful.

1. Well now let us get back to our little moth[1] and see something
about what God gives it in this state. It must always be understood
that one has to strive to go forward in the service of our Lord and in
 self-knowledge. For if a person does no more than receive this favor
and if, as though already securely in possession of something, she
grows careless in her life and turns aside from the heavenly path,
which consists of keeping the commandments, that which happens to
the silkworm will happen to her. For it gives forth the seed that
produces other silkworms, and itself dies forever. I say that it “gives
forth the seed” because I hold that it is God’s desire that a favor so
great not be given in vain; if a person doesn’t herself benefit, the
favor will benefit others. For since the soul is left with these desires
and virtues that were mentioned, it always brings profit to other souls
during the time that it continues to live virtuously; and they catch
fire from its fire. And even when the soul has itself lost this fire, the
inclination to benefit others will remain, and the soul delights in
explaining the favors God grants to whoever loves and serves Him.
2. I know a person to whom this happened.[2] Although she had gone far
astray, she enjoyed helping others through the favors God had granted her
and showing the way of prayer to those who didn’t understand it; and she
did a great deal of good. Afterward the Lord again gave her light. It’s true
that she still hadn’t experienced the effects that were mentioned; but how
many there must be, like Judas, whom the Lord calls to the apostolate by
communing with them, and like Saul, whom He calls to be king, who
afterward through their own fault go astray! Thus we can conclude,
Sisters, that, in order to merit more and more and avoid getting lost like
such persons, our security lies in obedience and refusal to deviate from
God’s law. I'm speaking to those to whom He has granted similar favors,
and even to everyone.
3. It seems to me that despite all I've said about this dwelling place, the
matter is still somewhat obscure. Since so much gain comes from entering
this place, it will be good to avoid giving the impression that those to
whom the Lord doesn't give things that are so supernatural are left without
hope. True union can very well be reached, with God's help, if we make
the effort to obtain it by keeping our wills fixed only on that which is
God's will. Oh, how many of us there are who will say we do this, and it
will seem to us that we don't want anything else and that we would die for
this truth, as I believe I have said![3] Well I tell you, and I will often
repeat it, that if what you say is true you will have obtained this favor
from the Lord, and you needn't care at all about the other delightful union
that was mentioned. That which is most valuable in the delightful union is
that it proceeds from this union of which I'm now speaking; and one
cannot arrive at the delightful union if the union coming from being
resigned to God's will is not very certain. Oh, how desirable is this union
with God's will! Happy the soul that has reached it. Such a soul will live
tranquilly in this life, and in the next as well. Nothing in earthly events
afflicts it unless it finds itself in some danger of losing God or sees that
He is offended: neither sickness, nor poverty, nor death -- unless the death
is of someone who will be missed by God's Church -- for this soul sees
well that the Lord knows what He is doing better than it knows what it is
desiring.
4. You must note that there are different kinds of sufferings. Some
sufferings are produced suddenly by our human nature, and the same goes
for consolations, and even by the charity of compassion for one's neighbor,
as our Lord experienced when He raised Lazarus.[4] Being united with
God's will doesn't take these experiences away, nor do they disturb the soul
with a restless, disquieting passion that lasts a long while. These
sufferings pass quickly. As I have said concerning consolations in prayer,
[5] it seems they do not reach the soul's depth but only the senses and
faculties. They are found in the previous dwelling places; but they do not
enter the last ones still to be explained, since the suspension of the
faculties is necessary in order to reach these, as has been said.[6] The Lord
has the power to enrich souls through many paths and bring them to these
dwelling places, without using the short cut that was mentioned.
5. Nonetheless, take careful note, daughters, that it is necessary for the
silkworm to die, and, moreover, at a cost to yourselves. In the delightful
union,[7] the experience of seeing oneself in so new a life greatly helps
one to die; in the other union,[8] it's necessary that, while living in this
life, we ourselves put the silkworm to death. I confess this latter death will
require a great deal of effort, or more than that; but it has its value. Thus if
you come out victorious the reward will be much greater. But there is no
reason to doubt the possibility of this death any more than that of true
union with the will of God. This union with God's will is the union I have
desired all my life; it is the union I ask the Lord for always and the one
that is clearest and safest.
 6. But alas for us, how few there must be who reach it; although
whoever guards himself against offending the Lord and has entered
religious life thinks he has done everything! Oh, but there remain some
worms, unrecognized until, like those in the story of Jonah that gnawed
away the ivy,[9] they have gnawed away the virtues. This happens through
self-love, self-esteem, judging one's neighbors (even though in little
things), a lack of charity for them, and not loving them as ourselves. For
even though, while crawling along, we fulfill our obligation and no sin is
committed, we don't advance very far in what is required for complete
union with the will of God.
7. What do you think His will is, daughters? That we be completely
perfect. See what we lack to be one with Him and His Father as His
Majesty asked.[10] I tell you I am writing this with much pain upon seeing
myself so far away -- and all through my own fault. The Lord doesn't have
to grant us great delights for this union; sufficient is what He has given us
in His Son, who would teach us the way. Don't think the matter lies in my
being so conformed to the will of God that if my father or brother dies I
don't feel it, or that if there are trials or sicknesses I suffer them happily.
Such an attitude is good, and sometimes it's a matter of discretion because
we can't do otherwise, and we make a virtue of necessity. How many
things like these the philosophers did, or even, though not like these, other
things, such as acquiring much learning. Here in our religious life the Lord
asks of us only two things: love of His Majesty and love of our neighbor.
These are what we must work for. By observing them with perfection, we
do His will and so will be united with Him. But how far, as I have said, we
are from doing these two things for so great a God as we ought! May it
please His Majesty to give us His grace so that we might merit, if we want,
to reach this state that lies within our power.
8. The most certain sign, in my opinion, as to whether or not we are
observing these two laws is whether we observe well the love of neighbor.
We cannot know whether or not we love God, although there are strong
indications for recognizing that we do love Him; but we can know whether
we love our neighbor.[11] And be certain that the more advanced you see
you are in love for your neighbor the more advanced you will be in the
love of God, for the love His Majesty has for us is so great that to repay us
for our love of neighbor He will in a thousand ways increase the love we
have for Him. I cannot doubt this.
9. It's important for us to walk with careful attention to how we are
proceeding in this matter, for if we practice love of neighbor with great
perfection, we will have done everything. I believe that, since our nature is
bad, we will not reach perfection in the love of neighbor if that love
doesn't rise from love of God as its root. Since this is so important to us,
Sisters, let's try to understand ourselves even in little things, and pay no
attention to any big plans that sometimes suddenly come to us during our
prayer in which it seems we will do wonders for our neighbor and even for
just one soul so that it may be saved. If afterward our deeds are not in
conformity with those plans, there will be no reason to believe that we will
accomplish the plans. I say the same about humility and all the virtues.
Great are the wiles of the devil; to make us think we have one virtue --
when we don't -- he would circle hell a thousand times. And he is right
because such a notion is very harmful, for these feigned virtues never
come without some vainglory since they rise from that source; just as
virtues from God are free of it as well as of pride.
10. I am amused sometimes to see certain souls who think when they
are at prayer that they would like to be humiliated and publicly insulted
for God, and afterward they would hide a tiny fault if they could; or, if
they have not committed one and yet are charged with it -- God deliver us!
Well, let anyone who can't bear such a thing be careful not to pay attention
to what he has by himself determined -- in his opinion -- to do. As matter
of fact the determination was not in the will -- for when there is a true
determination of the will it's another matter -- but a work of the
imagination; it is in the imagination that the devil produces his wiles and
deceits. And with women or unlearned people he can produce a great
number, for we don't know how the faculties differ from one another and
from the imagination, nor do we know about a thousand other things there
are in regard to interior matters. Oh, Sisters, how clearly one sees the
degree to which love of neighbor is present in some of you, and how
clearly one sees the deficiency in those who lack such perfection! If you
were to understand how important this virtue is for us you wouldn't engage
in any other study.
 11. When I see souls very earnest in trying to understand the prayer they
have and very sullen when they are in it -- for it seems they don't dare let
their minds move or stir lest a bit of their spiritual delight and devotion be
lost -- it makes me realize how little they understand of the way by which
union is attained; they think the whole matter lies in these things. No,
Sisters, absolutely not; works are what the Lord wants! He desires that if
you see a Sister who is sick to whom you can bring some relief, you have
compassion on her and not worry about losing this devotion; and that if
she is suffering pain, you also feel it; and that, if necessary, you fast so
that she might eat -- not so much for her sake as because you know it is
your Lord's desire. This is true union with His will, and if you see a person
praised, the Lord wants you to be much happier than if you yourself were
being praised. This, indeed, is easy, for if you have humility you will feel
sorry to see yourself praised. But this happiness that comes when the
virtues of the Sisters are known is a very good thing; and when we see
some fault in them, it is also a very good thing to be sorry and hide the
fault as though it were our own.
12. I have said a lot on this subject elsewhere,[12] because I see, Sisters,
that if we fail in love of neighbors we are lost. May it please the Lord that
this will never be so; for if you do not fail, I tell you that you shall receive
from His Majesty the union that was mentioned. When you see yourselves
lacking in this love, even though you have devotion and gratifying
experiences that make you think you have reached this stage, and you
experience some little suspension in the prayer of quiet (for to some it
then appears that everything has been accomplished), believe me you have
not reached union. And beg our Lord to give you this perfect love of
neighbor. Let His Majesty have a free hand, for He will give you more than
you know how to desire because you are striving and making every effort
to do what you can about this love. And force your will to do the will of
your Sisters in everything even though you may lose your rights; forget
your own good for their sakes no matter how much resistance your nature
puts up; and, when the occasion arises, strive to accept work yourself so as
to relieve your neighbor of it. Don't think that it won't cost you anything or
that you will find everything done for you. Look at what our Spouse's love
for us cost Him; in order to free us from death, He died that most painful
death of the cross.
 ===================================

[1] For Teresa the little moth is equivalent to the little butterfly; she
uses these images interchangeably. See ch. 4, no. 1; VI, ch. 2, no. 1; ch. 4,
no. 1; ch. 6, no. 1; ch. 11, no. 1; VII, ch. 3, no. 1.
[2] She is referring to herself. See Life, ch. 7, no. 10.
[3] In ch. 2, nos. 6-7.
[4] See Jn. 11:33-36.
[5] In ch. 1, no. 6; IV, ch. 1, nos. 4-5; ch. 2, nos. 3-5.
[6] In ch. 1, nos. 3-4.
[7] The delightful union is the infused prayer of union.
[8] The union that arises from conformity of wills.
[9] Jon. 4:6-7 .
[10] Jn. 17:22.
[11] Allusion to 1 Jn. 4:20.
[12] In the Way of Perfection, ch. 7; Foundations, ch. 5.

Chapter 4
Continues with the same subject, explaining further this kind of prayer.
[1] Tells how important it is to walk with care because the devil himself
uses a great deal of care in trying to make one turn back from what was
begun.

1. It seems to you have a desire to see what this little moth is doing and
where it rests since as was explained it rests neither in spiritual delights
nor in earthly consolations. Its flight is higher, and I cannot satisfy your
desire until the last dwelling place. May it please God that I then
remember or have the time to write of this. About five months have passed
since I began,[2] and because my head is in no condition to read over what
I’ve written, everything will have to continue on without order, and
perhaps some things will be said twice. Since this work is for my Sisters,
the disorder won’t matter much.
2. Nonetheless, I want to explain more to you about what I think
this prayer of union is. In accordance with my style, I shall draw a
 comparison. Later on we’ll say more about this little butterfly.
Although it is always bearing fruit by doing good for itself and for
other souls, it never stops to rest, because it fails to find its true
repose.
3. You’ve already often heard that God espouses souls spiritually.
Blessed be His mercy that wants so much to be humbled! And even
though the comparison may be a coarse one I cannot find another that
would better explain what I mean than the sacrament of marriage.
This spiritual espousal is different in kind from marriage, for in these
matters that we are dealing with there is never anything that is not
spiritual. Corporal things are far distant from them, and the spiritual
joys the Lord gives when compared to the delights married people
must experience are a thousand leagues distant. For it is all a matter
of love united with love, and the actions of love are most pure and so
extremely delicate and gentle that there is no way of explaining them,
but the Lord knows how to make them very clearly felt.
4. It seems to me that the prayer of union does not yet reach the stage of
spiritual betrothal. Here below when two people are to be engaged, there is
a discussion about whether they are alike, whether they love each other,
and whether they might meet together so as to become more satisfied with
each other. So, too, in the case of this union with God, the agreement has
been made, and this soul is well informed about the goodness of her
Spouse and determined to do His will in everything and in as many ways
as she sees might make Him happy. And His Majesty, as one who
understands clearly whether these things about His betrothed are so, is
happy with her. As a result He grants this mercy, for He desired her to
know Him more and that they might meet together, as they say, and be
united.[3] We can say that union is like this, for it passes in a very short
time. In it there no longer takes place the exchanging of gifts, but the soul
sees secretly who this Spouse is that she is going to accept. Through the
work of the senses and the faculties she couldn't in any way or in a
thousand years understand what she understands here in the shortest time.
But being who He is, the Spouse from that meeting alone leaves her more
worthy for the joining of hands, as they say. The soul is left so much in
love that it does for its part all it can to avoid disturbing this divine
betrothal. But if it is careless about placing its affection in something
other than Him, it loses everything. And the loss is as great as the favors
He was granting her, and cannot be exaggerated.
5. For this reason, I ask Christian souls whom the Lord has brought to
these boundaries that for His sake they not grow careless but withdraw
from occasions. Even in this state the soul is not so strong that it can place
itself in the occasions as it will be after the betrothal is made. The
betrothal belongs to the dwelling place we shall speak of after this one.
This present communication amounts to no more than a meeting, as they
say. And the devil will go about very carefully in order to fight against and
prevent this betrothal. Afterward, since he sees the soul entirely
surrendered to the Spouse he doesn't dare do so much, because he fears it.
He has experienced that if sometimes he tries he is left with a great loss;
and the soul, with further gain.
6. I tell you, daughters, that I have known persons who had ascended
high and had reached this union, who were turned back and won over by
the devil with his deep cunning and deceit. All hell must join for such a
purpose because, as I have often said,[4] in losing one soul of this kind,
not only one is lost but a multitude. The devil already has experience in
this matter. Look at the multitude of souls God draws to Himself by means
of one. He is to be greatly praised for the thousands converted by the
martyrs: for a young girl like St. Ursula; for those the devil must have lost
through St. Dominic, St. Francis, and other founders of religious orders,
and those he now loses through Father Ignatius, the one who founded the
Society. Clearly, all of these received, as we read, similar favors from God.
How would this have come about if they hadn't made the effort not to lose
through their own fault so divine an espousal? Oh, my daughters, how
prepared this Lord is to grant us favors now just as He has granted them to
others in the past. And, in part, He is even more in need that we desire to
receive them, for there are fewer now who care about His honor, than there
were then. We love ourselves very much; there's an extraordinary amount
of prudence we use so as not to lose our rights. Oh, what great deception!
May the Lord through His mercy enlighten us so that we do not fall into
similar darknesses.
7. You will ask me or be in doubt concerning two things: First, if the
soul is as ready to do the will of God as was mentioned,[5] how can it be
deceived since it doesn't want to do anything but His will in all? Second,
what are the ways in which the devil can enter so dangerously that your
soul goes astray? For you are so withdrawn from the world, so close to the
sacraments, and in the company, we could say, of angels, and through the
Lord's goodness you have no other desire than to serve God and please
Him in everything. With those who are already in the midst of worldly
occasions such a turn backward would not be surprising. I say that you are
right about this, for God has granted us a great deal of mercy. But when I
see, as I have said[6], that Judas was in the company of the Apostles and
conversing always with God Himself and listening to His words, I
understand that there is no security in these things.
8. In answer to the first, I say that if this soul were always attached to
God's will it is clear that it would not go astray. But the devil comes along
with some skilled deception and, under the color of good, confuses it with
regard to little things and induces it to get taken up with some of them that
he makes it think are good. Then little by little he darkens the intellect,
cools the will's ardor, and makes self-love grow until in one way or
another he withdraws the soul from the will of God and brings it to his
own.
Thus, we have an answer to the second doubt. There is no enclosure so
fenced in that he cannot enter, or desert so withdrawn that he fails to go
there. And I still have something more to say: perhaps the Lord permits
this so as to observe the behavior of that soul He wishes to set up as a light
for others. If there is going to be a downfall, it's better that it happen in the
beginning rather than later, when it would be harmful to many.
9. The diligence on our part that comes to my mind as being the most
effective is the following. First, we must always ask God in prayer to
sustain us, and very often think that if He abandons us we will soon end in
the abyss, as is true; and we must never trust in ourselves since it would be
foolish to do so. Then, we should walk with special care and attention,
observing how we are proceeding in the practice of virtue: whether we are
getting better or worse in some areas, especially in love for one another, in
the desire to be considered the least among the Sisters, and in the
performance of ordinary tasks. For if we look out for these things and ask
the Lord to enlighten us, we will soon see the gain or the loss. Don't think
that a soul that comes so close to God is allowed to lose Him so quickly,
that the devil has an easy task. His Majesty would regret the loss of this
soul so much that He gives it in many ways a thousand interior warnings,
so that the harm will not be hidden from it.
10. Let this, in sum, be the conclusion: that we strive always to advance.
And if we don't advance, let us walk with great fear. Without doubt the
devil wants to cause some lapse, for it is not possible that after having
come so far, one will fail to grow. Love is never idle, and a failure to grow
would be a very bad sign. A soul that has tried to be the betrothed of God
Himself, that is now intimate with His Majesty, and has reached the
boundaries that were mentioned, must not go to sleep.
That you, daughters, may see what He does with those He now considers
to be His betrothed ones, we shall begin to speak of the sixth dwelling
places. And you will see how little it all is that we can do to serve and
suffer and accomplish so as to dispose ourselves for such great favors. It
could be that our Lord ordained that they command me to write so that we
might forget our little earthly joys because we will have our eyes set on
the reward and see how immeasurable is His mercy -- since He desires to
commune with and reveal Himself to some worms -- and because we will
have these eyes set also on His greatness, and thus run along enkindled in
His love.
11. May He be pleased that I manage to explain something about these
very difficult things. I know well that this will be impossible if His
Majesty and the Holy Spirit do not move my pen. And if what I say will
not be for your benefit, I beg Him that I may not succeed in saying
anything. His Majesty knows that I have no other desire, insofar as I can
understand myself, but that His name be praised and that we strive to serve
a Lord who even here on earth pays like this. Through His favors we can
understand something of what He will give us in heaven without the
intervals, trials, and dangers that there are in this tempestuous sea. If there
were no danger of losing or offending Him, it would be easy to endure life
until the end of the world so as to labor for so great a God and Lord and
Spouse.
May it please His Majesty that we may merit to render Him some
service; without as many faults as we always have, even in good works,
amen.
===================================
 [1] The prayer of union.
[2] Having begun this work in Toledo, June 2, 1577, Teresa in less than a
month and a half had got as far as chapter three of the fifth dwelling place.
About the middle of July she moved to Avila where she probably wrote
chapter three. She then abandoned all work on her book until the beginning
of November. And by November 29, 1577, her task was completed.
[3] In her comparison, Teresa makes use of the stages that were
followed in her day for the arrangement of a marriage: 1) meetings
between the young man and woman; 2) exchanging of gifts; 3) falling in
love; 4) the joining of hands; 5) betrothal; 6) marriage.
[4] See, e.g., IV, ch. 3, nos. 9-10.
[5] In no. 4.
[6] In ch. 3, no. 2.
 THE SIXTH DWELLING PLACES
Contains Eleven Chapters
Chapter 1
Discusses how greater trials come when the Lord begins to grant
greater favors. Mentions some and how those who are now in this dwelling
place conduct themselves. This chapter is good for souls undergoing
interior trials.

1. Well then, let us, with the help of the Holy Spirit, speak of the sixth
dwelling places, where the soul is now wounded with love for its Spouse
and strives for more opportunities to be alone and, in conformity with its
state, to rid itself of everything that can be an obstacle to this solitude.
That meeting[1] left such an impression that the soul's whole desire is
to enjoy it again. I have already said that in this prayer nothing is seen in a
way that can be called seeing, nor is anything seen with the imagination. I
use the term "meeting" because of the comparison I made.[2] Now the soul
is fully determined to take no other spouse. But the Spouse does not look
at the soul's great desires that the betrothal take place, for He still wants it
to desire this more, and He wants the betrothal to take place at a cost; it is
the greatest of blessings. And although everything is small when it comes
to paying for this exceptional benefit, I tell you, daughters, that for the
soul to endure such delay it needs to have that token or pledge of betrothal
that it now has. Oh, God help me, what interior and exterior trials the soul
suffers before entering the seventh dwelling place!
2. Indeed, sometimes I reflect and fear that if a soul knew beforehand,
its natural weakness would find it most difficult to have the determination
to suffer and pass through these trials, no matter what blessings were
represented to it -- unless it had arrived at the seventh dwelling place. For
once it has arrived there, the soul fears nothing and is absolutely
determined to overcome every obstacle for God.[3] And the reason is that
it is always so closely joined to His Majesty that from this union comes its
fortitude. I believe it will be well to recount some of those trials that I
know one will certainly undergo. Perhaps not all souls will be led along
this path, although I doubt very much that those persons who sometimes
enjoy so truly the things of heaven will live free of earthly trials that come
in one way or another.
3. Although I hadn't intended to treat of these, I thought doing so would
bring great consolation to some soul going through them, for it would
learn that these trials take place in souls to whom God grants similar
favors; for truly, when one is suffering the trials, it then seems that
everything is lost. I will not deal with them according to the order in
which they happen, but as they come to mind. And I want to begin with the
smallest trials. There is an outcry by persons a Sister is dealing with and
even by those she does not deal with and who, it seems to her, would never
even think of her; gossip like the following: "she's trying to make out she's
a saint; she goes to extremes to deceive the world and bring others to ruin;
there are other better Christians who don't put on all this outward show."
(And it's worth noting that she is not putting on any outward show but just
striving to fulfill well her state in life.) Those she considered her friends
turn away from her, and they are the ones who take the largest and most
painful bite at her: "that soul has gone astray and is clearly mistaken; these
are things of the devil; she will turn out like this person or that other that
went astray, and will bring about a decline in virtue; she has deceived her
confessors" (and they go to these confessors, telling them so, giving them
examples of what happened to some that were lost in this way); a thousand
kinds of ridicule and statements like the above.
4. I know a person who had great fear that there would be no one who
would hear her confession because of such gossip[4] -- so much gossip
that there's no reason to go into it all here. And what is worse these things
do not pass quickly, but go on throughout the person's whole life including
the advice to others to avoid any dealings with such persons.
You will tell me that there are also those who will speak well of that
soul. Oh, daughters, how few there are who believe in such favors in
comparison with the many who abhor them! Moreover, praise is just
another trial greater than those mentioned! Since the soul sees clearly that
if it has anything good this is given by God and is by no means its own --
for just previously it saw itself to be very poor and surrounded by great
sins -- praise is an intolerable burden to it, at least in the beginning. Later
on, for certain reasons, praise is not so intolerable. First, because
experience makes the soul see clearly that people are as quick to say good
things as bad, and so it pays no more attention to the good things than to
the bad. Second, because it has been more enlightened by the Lord that no
good thing comes from itself but is given by His Majesty; and it turns to
praise God, forgetful that it has had any part to play, just as if it had seen
the gift in another person. Third, if it sees that some souls have benefited
from seeing the favors God grants it, it thinks that His Majesty used this
means, of its being falsely esteemed as for good, so that some blessings
might come to those souls. Fourth, since it looks after the honor and glory
of God more than its own, the temptation, which came in the beginning,
that these praises will destroy it, is removed; little does dishonor matter to
it if in exchange God might perhaps thereby just once be praised --
afterward, let whatever comes come.
5. These reasons and others mitigate the great pain these praises cause;
although some pain is almost always felt, except when one is paying
hardly any attention. But it is an incomparably greater trial to see oneself
publicly considered as good without reason than the trials mentioned. And
when the soul reaches the stage at which it pays little attention to praise, it
pays much less to disapproval; on the contrary, it rejoices in this and finds
it a very sweet music. This is an amazing truth. Blame does not intimidate
the soul but strengthens it. Experience has already taught it the wonderful
gain that comes through this path. It feels that those who persecute it do
not offend God; rather that His Majesty permits persecution for the benefit
of the soul. And since it clearly experiences the benefits of persecution, it
acquires a special and very tender love for its persecutors. It seems to it
that they are greater friends and more advantageous than those who speak
well of it.
6. The Lord is wont also to send it the severest illnesses. This is a much
greater trial, especially when the pains are acute. For in some way, if these
pains are severe, the trial is, it seems to me, the greatest on earth -- I mean
the greatest exterior trial, however many the other pains. I say "if the pains
are severe," because they then afflict the soul interiorly and exteriorly in
such a way that it doesn't know what to do with itself. It would willingly
accept at once any martyrdom rather than these sharp pains; although they
do not last long in this extreme form. After all, God gives no more than
what can be endured; and His Majesty gives patience first. But other great
sufferings and illnesses of many kinds are the usual thing.
7. I know a person who cannot truthfully say that from the time the Lord
began forty years ago to grant the favor that was mentioned she spent even
one day without pains and other kinds of suffering (the lack of bodily
health, I mean) and other great trials.[5] It's true that she had been very
wretched and that everything seemed small to her in comparison with the
hell she deserved. Others, who have not offended our Lord so much, will
be led by another path. But I would always choose the path of suffering, if
only to imitate our Lord Jesus Christ if there were no other gain;
especially, since there are always so many other benefits.
Oh, were we to treat of interior sufferings these others would seem
small if the interior ones could be clearly explained; but it is impossible to
explain the way in which they come to pass.
8. Let us begin with the torment one meets with from a confessor who is
so discreet and has so little experience that there is nothing he is sure of:
he fears everything and finds in everything something to doubt because he
sees these unusual experiences. He becomes especially doubtful if he
notices some imperfection in a soul that has them, for it seems to such
confessors that the ones to whom God grants these favors must be angels -
- but that is impossible as long as they are in this body. Everything is
immediately condemned as from the devil or melancholy. And the world is
so full of this melancholy that I am not surprised. There is so much of it
now in the world, and the devil causes so many evils through this means,
that confessors are very right in fearing it and considering it carefully. But
the poor soul that walks with the same fear and goes to its confessor as to
its judge, and is condemned by him, cannot help but be deeply tormented
and disturbed. Only the one who has passed through this will understand
what a great torment it is. For this is another one of the terrible trials these
souls suffer, especially if they have lived wretched lives; thinking that
because of their sins God will allow them to be deceived. Even though
they feel secure and cannot believe that the favor when granted by His
Majesty, is from any other spirit than from God, the torment returns
immediately since the favor is something that passes quickly, and the
remembrance of sins is always present, and the soul sees faults in itself,
which are never lacking. When the confessor assures it, the soul grows
calm, although the disturbance will return. But when the confessor
contributes to the torment with more fear, the trial becomes something
almost unbearable -- especially when some dryness comes between the
times of these favors. It then seems to the soul that it has never been
mindful of God and never will be; and when it hears His Majesty spoken
of, it seems to it as though it were hearing about a person far away.
9. All this would amount to nothing if it were not for the fact that in
addition comes the feeling that it is incapable of explaining things to its
confessors, that it has deceived them. And even though it thinks and sees
that it tells its confessors about every stirring, even the first ones, this
doesn't help. The soul's understanding is so darkened that it becomes
incapable of seeing the truth and believes whatever the imagination
represents to it (for the imagination is then its master) or whatever foolish
things the devil wants to represent. The Lord, it seems, gives the devil
license so that the soul might be tried and even be made to think it is
rejected by God. Many are the things that war against it with an interior
oppression so keen and unbearable that I don't know what to compare this
experience to if not to the oppression of those that suffer in hell, for no
consolation is allowed in the midst of this tempest. If they desire to be
consoled by their confessor, it seems the devils assist him to torment it
more. Thus, when a confessor was dealing with a person after she had
suffered this torment (for it seems a dangerous affliction since there are so
many things involved in it), he told her to let him know when she was in
this state; but the torment was always so bad that he came to realize there
was nothing he could do about it.[6] Well, then, if a person in this state
who knows how to read well takes up a book in the vernacular, he will find
that he understands no more of it then if he didn't know how to read even
one of the letters, for the intellect is incapable of understanding.[7]
10. In sum, there is no remedy in this tempest but to wait for the mercy
of God. For at an unexpected time, with one word alone or a chance
happening, He so quickly calms the storm that it seems there had not been
even as much as a cloud in that soul, and it remains filled with sunlight
and much more consolation. And like one who has escaped from a
dangerous battle and been victorious, it comes out praising our Lord; for it
was He who fought for the victory. It knows very clearly that it did not
fight, for all the weapons with which it could have defended itself are seen
to be, it seems, in the hands of its enemies. Thus, it knows clearly its
wretchedness and the very little we of ourselves can do if the Lord
abandons us.
11. It seems the soul has no longer any need of reflection to understand
this, for the experience of having suffered through it, having seen itself
totally incapacitated, made it understand our nothingness and what
miserable things we are. For in this state grace is so hidden (even though
the soul must not be without grace since with all this torment it doesn't
offend God nor would it offend Him for anything on earth) that not even a
very tiny spark is visible. The soul doesn't think that it has any love of God
or that it ever had any, for if it has done some good, or His Majesty has
granted it some favor, all of this seems to have been dreamed up or
fancied. As for sins, it sees certainly that it has committed them.
12. O Jesus, and what a thing it is to see this kind of forsaken soul; and,
as I have said,[8] what little help any earthly consolation is for it! Hence,
do not think, Sisters, if at some time you find yourselves in this state, that
the rich and those who are free will have a better remedy for these times of
suffering. Absolutely not, for being rich in this case seems to me like the
situation of a person condemned to die who has all the world's delights
placed before him. These delights would not be sufficient to alleviate his
suffering; rather, they would increase the torment. So it is with this
torment; it comes from above, and earthly things are of no avail in the
matter. Our great God wants us to know our own misery and that He is
king; and this is very important for what lies ahead.
13. Well then, what will this poor soul do when the torment goes on for
many days? If it prays, it feels as though it hasn't prayed -- as far as
consolation goes, I mean. For consolation is not admitted into the soul's
interior, nor is what one recites to oneself, even though vocal, understood.
As for mental prayer, this definitely is not the time for that, because the
faculties are incapable of the practice; rather, solitude causes greater harm
-- and also another torment for this soul is that it be with anyone or that
others speak to it. And thus however much it forces itself not to do so, it
goes about with a gloomy and ill-tempered mien that is externally very
noticeable.
Is it true that it will know how to explain its experiences? They are
indescribable, for they are spiritual afflictions and sufferings that one
cannot name. The best remedy (I don't mean for getting rid of them,
because I don't find any, but so that they may be endured) is to engage in
external works of charity and to hope in the mercy of God who never fails
those who hope in Him. May He be forever blessed, amen.
14. Other exterior trials the devils cause must be quite unusual; and so
there's no reason to speak of them. Nor they, for the most part, so painful;
for, however much the devils do, they do not, in my opinion, manage to
disable the faculties or disturb the soul in this way. In sum, there’s reason
for thinking that they can do no more than what the Lord allows them to
do; and provided one doesn’t lose one’s mind, everything is small in
comparison with what was mentioned.
15. We shall be speaking in these dwelling places of other interior
sufferings, and dealing with different kinds of prayer and favors from the
Lord. For even though some favors cause still more severe suffering than
those mentioned, as will be seen from the condition in which the body is
left, they do not deserve to be called trials. Nor is there any reason for us
to write of them since they are such great favors from the Lord. In the
midst of receiving them the soul understands that they are great favors and
far beyond its merits. This severe suffering comes so that one may enter
the seventh dwelling place. It comes along with many other sufferings,
only some of which I shall speak of [9] because it would be impossible to
speak of them all, or even to explain what they are; for they are of a
different, much higher level than those mentioned in this chapter. And if I
haven’t been able to explain any more than I did about those of a lower
kind, less will I be able to say of the others. May the Lord give His help
for everything through the merits of His Son, amen.
===================================

[1] Allusion to the meeting referred to in V, ch. 4, no. 4.

[2] See V, ch. 1, nos. 9-11; V, ch. 4, nos. 3-4.
[3] See VII, ch. 3, nos. 4-5.
[4] She is referring to herself. See Life, ch. 28, no. 14.
[5] The "favor that was mentioned" is the prayer of union or the
"meetings" between the two who will be betrothed, the prayer
characteristic of the fifth dwelling place. The person Teresa refers to is
herself. "Forty years ago" would have been 1537. For an account of these
sufferings and trials see Life, chs. 4-6; for her first experiences of union,
see Life, ch. 4, no. 7.
[6] The person here is Teresa, and the confessor is Father Baltasar
Alvarez, S.J. See Life, ch. 30, no. 13.
[7] See Life, ch. 30, no. 12.
[8] In nos. 9-10.
[9] She does so in VI, ch. 11.

Chapter 2
Deals with some of the ways in which our Lord awakens the soul. It
seems there is nothing in these awakenings to fear even though the
experience is sublime and the favors are great.

1. Seemingly we have left the little moth far behind; but we have not,
for these are the trials that make it fly still higher. Well let us begin, then,
to discuss the manner in which the Spouse deals with it and how before He
belongs to it completely He makes it desire Him vehemently by certain
delicate means the soul itself does not understand. (Nor do I believe I'll be
successful in explaining them save to those who have experienced them).
These are impulses so delicate and refined, for they proceed from very
deep within the interior part of the soul, that I don't know any comparison
that will fit.
2. They are far different from all that we can acquire of ourselves here
below and even from the spiritual delights that were mentioned.[1] For
often when a person is distracted and forgetful of God, His Majesty will
awaken it. His action is as quick as a falling comet. And as clearly as it
hears a thunderclap, even though no sound is heard, the soul understands
that it was called by God. So well does it understand that sometimes,
especially in the beginning, it is made to tremble and even complain
without there being anything that causes it pain. It feels that it is wounded
in the most exquisite way, but it doesn't learn how or by whom it was
wounded. It knows clearly that the wound is something precious, and it
would never want to be cured. It complains to its Spouse with words of
love, even outwardly, without being able to do otherwise. It knows that He
is present, but He doesn't want to reveal the manner in which He allows
Himself to be enjoyed. And the pain is great, although delightful and
sweet. And even if the soul does not want this wound, the wound cannot be
avoided. But the soul, in fact, would never want to be deprived of this
pain. The wound satisfies it much more than the delightful and painless
absorption of the prayer of quiet.[2]
3. I am struggling, Sisters, to explain for you this action of love, and I
don't know how. For it seems a contradiction that the Beloved would give
the soul clear understanding that He is with it and yet make it think that
He is calling it by a sign so certain that no room is left for doubt and a
whisper so penetrating that the soul cannot help but hear it. For it seems
that when the Spouse, who is in the seventh dwelling place, communicates
in this manner (for the words are not spoken), all the people in the other
dwelling places keep still; neither the senses, nor the imagination, nor the
faculties stir.
O my powerful God, how sublime are your secrets, and how different
spiritual things are from all that is visible and understandable here below.
There is nothing that serves to explain this favor, even though the favor is
a very small one when compared to the very great ones You work in souls.
4. This action of love is so powerful that the soul dissolves with desire,
and yet it doesn't know what to ask for since clearly it thinks that its God
is with it.
You will ask me: Well, if it knows this, what does it desire or what pains
it? What greater good does it want? I don't know. I do know that it seems
this pain reaches to the soul's very depths and that when He who wounds it
draws out the arrow, it indeed seems, in accord with the deep love the soul
feels, that God is drawing these very depths after Him.[3] I was thinking
now that it's as though, from this fire enkindled in the brazier that is my
God, a spark leapt forth and so struck the soul that the flaming fire was
felt by it. And since the spark was not enough to set the soul on fire, and
the fire is so delightful, the soul is left with that pain; but the spark merely
by touching the soul produces that effect. It seems to me this is the best
comparison I have come up with. This delightful pain -- and it is not pain -
- is not continuous, although sometimes it lasts a long while; at other
times it goes away quickly. This depends on the way the Lord wishes to
communicate it, for it is not something that can be produced in any human
way. But even though it sometimes lasts for a long while, it comes and
goes. To sum up, it is never permanent. For this reason it doesn't set the
soul on fire; but just as the fire is about to start, the spark goes out and the
soul is left with the desire to suffer again that loving pain the spark causes.
5. Here there is no reason to wonder whether the experience is brought
on naturally or caused by melancholy, or whether it is some trick of the
devil or some illusion. It is something that leaves clear understanding of
how this activity comes from the place where the Lord who is unchanging
dwells. The activity is not like that found in other feelings of devotion,
where the great absorption in delight can make us doubtful. Here all the
senses and faculties remain free of any absorption, wondering what this
could be, without hindering anything or being able, in my opinion, to
increase or take away that delightful pain.
Anyone to whom our Lord may have granted this favor -- for if He has,
that fact will be recognized on reading this -- should thank Him very
much. Such a person doesn't have to fear deception. Let his great fear be
that he might prove ungrateful for so generous a favor, and let him strive
to better his entire life, and to serve, and he will see the results and how he
receives more and more. In fact, I know a person[4] who received this
favor for some years and was so pleased with it that had she served the
Lord through severe trials for a great number of years she would have felt
well repaid by it. May He be blessed forever, amen.
6. You may wonder why greater security is present in this favor than in
other things. In my opinion, these are the reasons: First, the devil never
gives delightful pain like this. He can give the savor and delight that seem
to be spiritual, but he doesn't have the power to join pain -- and so much of
it -- to the spiritual quiet and delight of the soul. For all of his powers are
on the outside, and the pains he causes are never, in my opinion, delightful
or peaceful, but disturbing and contentious. Second, this delightful
tempest comes from a region other than those regions of which he can be
lord. Third, the favor brings wonderful benefits to the soul, the more
customary of which are the determination to suffer for God, the desire to
have many trials, and the determination to withdraw from earthly
satisfactions and conversations and other similar things.
7. That this favor is no fancy is very clear. Although at other times the
soul may strive to experience this favor, it will not be able to counterfeit
one. And the favor is something so manifest that it can in no way be
fancied. I mean, one cannot think it is imagined, when it is not, or have
doubts about it. If some doubt should remain, one must realize that the
things experienced are not true impulses; I mean if there should be doubt
about whether the favor was experienced or not. The favor is felt as clearly
as a loud voice is heard. There's no basis for thinking it is caused by
melancholy, because melancholy does not produce or fabricate its fancies
save in the imagination. This favor proceeds from the interior part of the
soul.
Now it could be that I'm mistaken, but until I hear other reasons from
someone who understands the experience I will always have this opinion.
And so I know a person who was quite fearful about being deceived but
who never had any fear of this prayer.[5]
8. The Lord also has other ways of awakening the soul: unexpectedly,
when it is praying vocally and not thinking of anything interior, it seems a
delightful enkindling will come upon it as though a fragrance were
suddenly to become so powerful as to spread through all the senses. (I
don't say that it is a fragrance but am merely making this comparison.) Or
the experience is something like this, and it is communicated only for the
sake of making one feel the Spouse's presence there. The soul is moved
with a delightful desire to enjoy Him, and thereby it is prepared to make
intense acts of love and praise of our Lord. This favor rises out of that
place I mentioned;[6] but there is nothing in it that causes pain, nor are the
desires themselves to enjoy God painful. Such is the way the soul usually
experiences it. Neither does it seem to me, for some of the reasons
mentioned,[7] there is anything to fear; but one should try to receive this
favor with gratitude.
===================================

[1] In the fourth dwelling places.

[2] See IV, ch. 3, nos. 11-14.
[3] For a parallel passage from her personal experience see her Life, ch.
29, no. 10; in no. 13 of that same chapter she describes her experience of
the transverberation.
[4] She is alluding to herself. See Spir. Test., 59, no. 13.
 [5] In Spir. Test., 59, no. 15 she speaks of how even the learned men she
consulted were free of fears about this prayer. St. John of Avila wrote to
her assuring her that the prayer was good. For a description of her personal
experience of this grace see also her Life, chs. 29 and 30.
[6] See nos. 1, 3, and 5. These favors proceed "from very deep within
the interior part of the soul," from "the Spouse, who is in the seventh
dwelling place," there, "where the Lord who is unchanging dwells."
[7] In no. 6.

Chapter 3
Deals with the same subject and tells of the manner in which God, when
pleased, speaks to the soul. Gives counsel about how one should behave in
such a matter and not follow one's own opinion. Sets down some signs for
discerning when there is deception and when not. This chapter is very
beneficial.[1]

1. God has another way of awakening the soul. Although it somehow

seems to be a greater favor than those mentioned,[2] it can be more
dangerous, and therefore I shall pause a little to consider it. There are
many kinds of locutions given to the soul. Some seem to come from
outside oneself; others, from deep within the interior part of the soul;
others, from the superior part; and some are so exterior that they come
through the sense of hearing, for it seems there is a spoken word.
Sometimes, and often, the locution can be an illusion, especially in
persons with a weak imagination or in those who are melancholic, I mean
who suffer noticeably from melancholy.
2. In my opinion no attention should be paid to these latter two kinds of
persons even if they say they see and hear and understand. But neither
should one disturb these persons by telling them their locutions come from
the devil; one must listen to them as to sick persons. The prioress or
confessor to whom they relate their locutions should tell them to pay no
attention to such experiences, that these locutions are not essential to the
service of God, and that the devil has deceived many by such means, even
though this particular person, perhaps, may not be suffering such
deception. This counsel should be given so as not to aggravate the
melancholy, for if they tell her the locution is due to melancholy, there will
be no end to the matter; she will swear that she sees and hears, for it seems
to her that she does.
3. It is true that it's necessary to be firm in taking prayer away from her
and to insist strongly that she pay no attention to locutions; for the devil is
wont to profit from these souls that are sick in this way, even though what
he does may not be to their harm but to the harm of others. But for both
the sick and the healthy there is always reason to fear these things until the
spirit of such persons is well understood. And I say that in the beginning it
is always better to free these persons from such experiences, for if the
locutions are from God, doing so is a greater help toward progress, and a
person even grows when tested. This is true; nonetheless, one should not
proceed in a way that is distressing or disturbing to a soul, because truly
the soul can't help it if these locutions come.
4. Now then, to return to what I was saying about locutions, all the kinds
I mentioned[3] can be from God or from the devil or from one's own
imagination. If I can manage to do so, I shall give, with the help of the
Lord, the signs as to when they come from these different sources and
when they are dangerous; for there are many souls among prayerful people
who hear them. My desire, Sisters, is that you realize you are doing the
right thing if you refuse to give credence to them, even when they are
destined just for you (such as, some consolation, or advise about your
faults), no matter who tells you about them, or if they are an illusion, for it
doesn't matter where they come from. One thing I advice you: do not
think, even if the locutions are from God, that you are better because of
them, for He spoke frequently with the Pharisees. All the good comes from
how one benefits by these words; and pay no more attention to those that
are not in close conformity with Scripture than you would to those heard
from the devil himself. Even if they come from your weak imagination,
it's necessary to treat them as if they were temptations in matters of faith,
and thus resist them always. They will then go away because they will
have little effect on you.
5. Returning, then, to the first of the different kinds of locutions;
whether or not the words come from the interior part of the soul, from the
superior part, or from the exterior part doesn't matter in discerning
whether or not they are from God. The surest signs they are from God that
can be had, in my opinion, are these: the first and truest is the power and
authority they bear, for locutions from God effect what they say. Let me
explain myself better. A soul finds itself in the midst of all the tribulation
and disturbance that was mentioned,[4] in darkness of the intellect and in
dryness; with one word alone of these locutions from the Lord ("don't be
distressed"), it is left calm and free from all distress, with great light, and
without all that suffering in which it seemed to it that all the learned men
and all who might come together to give it reasons for not being distressed
would be unable to remove its affliction no matter how hard they tried. Or,
it is afflicted because its confessor and others have told it that its spirit is
from the devil, and it is all full of fear; with one word alone ("it is I, fear
not"), the fear is taken way completely, and the soul is most comforted,
thinking that nothing would be sufficient to make it believe anything else.
Or, it is greatly distressed over how certain serious business matters will
turn out; it hears that it should be calm, that everything will turn out all
right. It is left certain and free of anxiety. And this is the way in many
other instances.[5]
6. The second sign is the great quiet left in the soul, the devout and
peaceful recollection, the readiness to engage in the praises of God. O
Lord, if a word sent to be spoken through one of Your attendants (for the
Lord Himself does not speak the words -- at least not in this dwelling
place -- but an angel) has such power, what will be the power You leave in
the soul that is attached to You, and You to it, through love?
7. The third sign is that these words remain in the memory for a very
long time, and some are never forgotten, as are those we listen to here on
earth -- I mean those we hear from men. For even if the words are spoken
by men who are very important and learned, or concern the future, we do
not have them engraved on our memory, or believe them, as we do these.
The certitude is so strong that even in things that in one's own opinion
sometimes seem impossible and in which there is doubt as to whether they
will or will not happen, and the intellect wavers, there is an assurance in
the soul itself that cannot be overcome. Even though it seems that
everything is going contrary to what the soul understood, and years go by,
the thought remains that God will find other means than those men know
of and that in the end the words will be accomplished; and so they are.
Although, as I say, the soul still suffers when it sees the many delays, for
since time has passed since it heard the words, and the effects and the
certitude that were present about their being from God have passed, these
doubts take place. The soul wonders whether the locutions might have
come from the devil or from the imagination. Yet, none of these doubts
remain in the soul, but it would at present die a thousand deaths for that
truth. But, as I say, what won't the devil do with all these imaginings so as
to afflict and intimidate the soul, especially if the words regard a business
matter which when carried out will bring many blessings to souls, and
works that will bring great honor and service to God, and if there is great
difficulty involved? At least he weakens faith, for it does great harm not to
believe that God has the power to do things that our intellects do not
understand.
8. Despite all these struggles and even the persons who tell one that the
locutions are foolishness (I mean the confessors with whom one speaks
about these things), and despite the many unfortunate occurrences that
make it seem the words will not be fulfilled, there remains a spark of
assurance so alive -- I don't know from where -- that the words will be
fulfilled,[6] though all other hopes are dead, that even should the soul
desire otherwise, that spark will stay alive. And in the end, as I have said,
the words of the Lord are fulfilled. And the soul is so consoled and happy
it wouldn't want to do anything but always praise His Majesty, and praise
Him more for the fact that what He had told it was fulfilled than for the
work itself, no matter how important the work is to the soul.
9. I don't know why it is so important to the soul that these words turn
out to be true, for if that soul were itself caught in some lies, I don't think
it would regret the fact as much. And yet, there is nothing else it can do,
for it merely says what it hears. Countless times, in this regard, a certain
person thought of how the prophet Jonah feared that Nineveh would not be
destroyed.[7] In sum, since the spirit is from God, it is right that the soul
be faithful in its desire that the words be considered true, for God is the
supreme truth. And so its happiness is great when through a thousand
roundabout ways and in most difficult circumstances it sees them fulfilled.
Even though great trials should come to the person herself from them, she
would rather suffer such trials than the trial of seeing that what she knows
for certain the Lord told her fails in fact to happen. Perhaps not all persons
will have this weakness -- if it is a weakness, for I cannot condemn it as
bad.
10. If the locutions come from the imagination, there are none of these
signs; neither certitude, nor peace, nor interior delight. But it could happen
-- and I even know some persons to whom it has happened -- that while
these imaginings come a person may be very absorbed in the prayer of
quiet and spiritual sleep. Some have such a weak constitution and
imagination, or I don't know the cause, that indeed in this deep
recollection they are so outside themselves (for they don't feel anything
exteriorly and all the senses are put to sleep) that they think as when they
are asleep and dreaming (and perhaps it is true that they are asleep) that
these locutions are spoken to them and even that they see things. And they
think these things are from God, but in the end the effects are like those of
sleep. It can also happen that while with affection they are begging our
Lord for something, they think the locution is telling them what they want
to hear; this sometimes happens. But anyone who has had much
experience of God's locutions will not be deceived by these that come, in
my opinion, from the imagination.
11. With those locutions coming from the devil there is more to fear.
But if the signs mentioned[8] are present, there can be a great deal of
certainty that the locutions are from God. But the certainty shouldn't be so
strong that if the locution concerns something serious about oneself and
has to be carried out in deed, or business affairs involving third parties,
anything should ever be done or pass through one's mind without the
opinion of a learned and prudent confessor and servant of God. This is so
even if the soul increasingly understands and thinks the locution is clearly
from God. His Majesty wants the soul to consult in this way; and that it
does so does not mean it is failing to carry out the Lord's commands, for
He told us, where the words are undoubtedly His, to hold the confessor in
His place.[9] And these words of His help to give courage if the task is a
difficult one, and our Lord when He so desires will make the confessor
believe that the locution comes from His spirit. If He doesn't, the
confessor and the soul are no longer under obligation. To do otherwise and
follow nothing but your own opinion in this, I hold to be very dangerous.
And so, Sisters, I warn you, on the part of our Lord, that you never let this
happen to you.
 12. There is another way in which the Lord speaks to the soul -- for I
hold that it is very definitely from Him -- with a certain intellectual
vision, the nature of which I will explain further on.[10] The locution
takes place in such intimate depths and a person with the ears of the soul
seems to hear those words from the Lord Himself so clearly and so in
secret that this very way in which they are heard, together with the acts
that the vision itself produces, assures that person and gives him certitude
that the devil can have no part to play in the locution. Wonderful effects
are left so that the soul may believe; at least there is assurance that the
locution doesn't come from the imagination. Furthermore, if the soul is
attentive, it can always have assurance for the following reasons: First,
there is a difference because of the clarity of the locution. It is so clear
that the soul remembers every syllable and whether it is said in one style
or another, even if it is a whole sentence. But in a locution fancied by the
imagination the words will not be so clear or distinct but like something
half-dreamed.
13. Second, in these locutions one often is not thinking about what is
heard (I mean that the locution comes unexpectedly and even sometimes
while one is in conversation), although many times it is a response to what
passes quickly through the mind or to what did so previously. But it often
refers to things about the future that never entered the mind, and so the
imagination couldn't have fabricated it in such a way that the soul could be
deceived in fancying what was not desired or wanted or thought of.
14. Third, the one locution comes as in the case of a person who hears,
and that of the imagination comes as in the case of a person who gradually
composes what he himself wants to be told.
15. Fourth, the words are very different, and with one of them much is
comprehended. Our intellect could not compose them so quickly.
16. Fifth, together with the words, in a way I wouldn't know how to
explain, there is often given much more to understand than is ever
dreamed possible without words.
I shall speak more about this mode of understanding elsewhere,[11] for
it is something very delicate and to the praise of our Lord. For in regard to
these different kinds of locutions, there have been persons who were very
doubtful and unable to understand themselves. A certain person,
especially, experienced this doubt,[12] and so there will be others. And
thus I know that she observed the differences with close attention because
the Lord has often granted her this favor, and the greatest doubt she had in
the beginning was whether she had imagined the locution. That the words
come from the devil can be more quickly understood; even though his
wiles are so many, for he knows well how to counterfeit the Spirit of light.
In my opinion the devil will say the words very clearly so that there will
be certitude about their meaning, as is so with those coming from the
Spirit of truth. But he will not be able to counterfeit the effects that were
mentioned[13] or leave this peace or light in the soul; on the contrary he
leaves restlessness and disturbance. But he can do little harm or none if
the soul is humble and does what I have mentioned,[14] that is, doesn't
make a move to do a thing of what he hears.
17. If the locutions contain words of favor and consolation from the
Lord, let the soul look attentively to see if it thinks that because of them it
is better than others. The more it hears words of favor the more humble it
should be left; if it isn't, let it believe that the spirit is not from God. One
thing very certain is that when the spirit is from God the soul esteems
itself less, the greater the favor granted, and it has more awareness of its
sins and is more forgetful of its own gain, and its will and memory are
employed more in seeking only the honor of God, nor does it think about
its own profit, and it walks with greater fear lest its will deviate in
anything, and with greater certitude that it never deserved any of those
favors but deserved hell. Since all the favors and things it experienced in
prayer produce these effects, the soul does not walk fearfully but with
confidence in the mercy of the Lord, who is faithful[15] and will not let
the devil deceive it; although walking with fear is always good.
18. It could be that those whom the Lord does not lead along this path
think such souls could refuse to listen to these words spoken to them --
and if the words are interior distract themselves in such a way that they
not be admitted -- and as a result go about free of these dangers.
To this, I reply that it is impossible. I'm not speaking of imaginary
locutions, for by not being so desirous of a thing or wanting to pay
attention to their imaginings souls have a remedy. In locutions from the
Lord, they have none. For the very spirit that speaks puts a stop to all other
thoughts and makes the soul attend to what is said. It does this in such a
way that I think, and I believe truly, that somehow it would be more
possible for a person with very good hearing not to hear someone else
speaking in a loud voice. In this latter instance the person would be able to
turn his attention away and center his mind and intellect on something
else. But in the locution we are speaking about this cannot be done; there
are no ears to stop, nor is there the power to think of anything but what is
said to the soul. For He who was able to stop the sun (through Joshua's
prayer, I believe)[16] can make the faculties and the whole interior stop in
such a way that the soul sees clearly that another greater Lord than itself
governs that castle. And this brings it deep devotion and humility. So
there's no remedy for this kind of locution. May the divine Majesty
provide a remedy that will enable us to place our eyes only on pleasing
Him and to be forgetful of ourselves, as I said, amen.
Please God that I may have succeeded in explaining what I set out to;
may it be helpful for whoever has had such experience.
===================================

[1] This chapter restates what was said in ch. 25 of the Life. In both
places the prevailing effort is to distinguish between genuine locutions
(coming from God or His saints) and false ones (from the imagination or
the devil). In this chapter Teresa deals first with locutions in general (nos.
1-11); then she goes on to treat of a more subtle kind of mystical locution
accompanied by "a certain intellectual vision" (nos. 12-18).
[2] In ch. 2, nos. 1-4, 8.
[3] In no. 1.
[4] In ch. 1, nos. 7-15.
[5] In a veiled way she is alluding to her own experience described in
her Life, ch. 25, nos. 14-19.
[6] In no. 7.
[7] See Jon. chs. 1 and 4. Though Teresa refers to Jonah about six times
in her writings and could be referring to herself, she might, on the other
hand, be thinking of Teresa Layz the benefactress of Alba about whom she
speaks in the Foundations, ch. 20, and especially in no. 12.
[8] In nos. 5-7.
[9] Allusion to Lk. 10:16.
[10] She speaks of intellectual visions in chs. 8 and 10; see also ch. 5,
nos. 8-9.
 [11] In ch. 10; also in ch. 4.
[12] A reference to herself. See Life, ch. 25, nos. 14-19.
[13] In nos. 12-16.
[14] In no. 11.
[15] Allusion to 1 Co. 10:13.
[16] Jos. 10:12-13. See Life, ch. 25, no. 1.

Chapter 4
Treats of when God suspends the soul in prayer with rapture or ecstasy
or transport, which are all the same in my opinion,[1] and how great
courage is necessary to receive sublime favors from His Majesty.

1. With these trials and the other things that were mentioned, what kind
of calm can the poor little butterfly have? All these sufferings are meant to
increase one's desire to enjoy the Spouse. And His Majesty, as one who
knows our weakness, is enabling the soul through these afflictions and
many others to have the courage to be joined with so great a Lord and to
take Him as its Spouse.[2]
2. You will laugh at my saying this and will think it's foolishness; it will
seem to any one of you that such courage is unnecessary and that there's
no woman so miserable who wouldn't have the courage to be married to
the king. I believe this is true with respect to kings here on earth; but with
respect to the King of heaven, I tell you there is need for more courage
than you think. Our nature is very timid and lowly when it comes to
something so great, and I am certain that if God were not to give the
courage, no matter how much you might see that the favor is good for us,
it would be impossible for you to receive that favor. And thus you will see
what His Majesty does to conclude this betrothal, which I understand
comes about when He gives the soul raptures that draw it out of its senses.
For if it were to see itself so near this great Majesty while in its senses, it
would perhaps die. Let it be understood that I mean true raptures and not
the weaknesses women experience here below, for everything seems to us
to be a rapture or an ecstasy. And, as I believe I have said,[3] some have
constitutions so weak that the prayer of quiet is enough to make them die.
 I want to put down here some kinds of rapture that I've come to
understand because I've discussed them with so many spiritual persons.
But I don't know whether I shall succeed as I did when I wrote elsewhere
about them[4] and other things that occur in this dwelling place. On
account of certain reasons it seems worthwhile to speak of these kinds of
rapture again, and, if for no other reason, so that everything related to
these dwelling places will be put down here together.
3. One kind of rapture is that in which the soul even though not in
prayer is touched by some word it remembers or hears about God. It seems
that His Majesty from the interior of the soul makes the spark we
mentioned[5] increase, for He is moved with compassion in seeing the
soul suffer so long a time from its desire. All burnt up, the soul is renewed
like the phoenix, and one can devoutly believe that its faults are pardoned.
Now that it is so pure, the Lord joins it with Himself, without anyone
understanding what is happening except these two; nor does the soul itself
understand in a way that can afterward be explained. Yet, it does have
interior understanding, for this experience is not like that of fainting or
convulsion; in these latter nothing is understood inwardly or outwardly.
4. What I know in this case is that the soul was never so awake to the
things of God nor did it have such deep enlightenment and knowledge of
His Majesty. This will seem impossible for if the faculties are so absorbed
that we can say they are dead, and likewise the senses, how can a soul
know that it understands this secret? I don't know, nor perhaps does any
creature but only the Creator. And this goes for many other things that take
place in this state -- I mean in these two dwelling places, for there is no
closed door between the one and the other. Because there are things in the
last that are not revealed to those who have not yet reached it, I thought I
should divide them.
5. When the soul is in this suspension, the Lord likes to show it some
secrets, things about heaven, and imaginative visions. It is able to tell of
them afterward, for these remain so impressed on the memory that they
are never forgotten. But when the visions are intellectual, the soul doesn't
know how to speak of them. For there must be some visions during these
moments that are so sublime that it's not fitting for those who live on this
earth to have the further understanding necessary to explain them.
However, when the soul is again in possession of its senses, it can say
many things about these intellectual visions.
It could be that some of you do not know what a vision is, especially an
intellectual one. I shall explain at the proper time,[6] for one who has the
authority ordered me to do so.[7] And although the explanation may not
seem pertinent, it will perhaps benefit some souls.
6. Well now you will ask me: if afterward there is to be no remembrance
of these sublime favors granted by the Lord to the soul in this state, what
benefit do they have? Oh, daughters, they are so great one cannot
exaggerate! For even though they are unexplainable, they are well
inscribed in the very interior part of the soul and are never forgotten.
But, you will insist, if there is no image and the faculties do not
understand, how can the visions be remembered? I don't understand this
either; but I do understand that some truths about the grandeur of God
remain so fixed in this soul, that even if faith were not to tell it who God is
and of its obligation to believe that He is God, from that very moment it
would adore Him as God, as did Jacob when he saw the ladder. By means
of the ladder Jacob must have understood other secrets that he didn't know
how to explain, for by seeing just a ladder on which angels descended and
ascended he would not have understood such great mysteries if there had
not been deeper interior enlightenment.[8] I don't know if I'm guessing
right in what I say, for although I have heard this story about Jacob, I don't
know if I'm remembering it correctly.
7. Nor did Moses know how to describe all that he saw in the bush, but
only what God wished him to describe.[9] But if God had not shown
secrets to his soul along with a certitude that made him recognize and
believe that they were from God, Moses could not have entered into so
many severe trials. But he must have understood such deep things among
the thorns of that bush that the vision gave him the courage to do what he
did for the people of Israel. So, Sisters, we don't have to look for reasons
to understand the hidden things of God. Since we believe He is powerful,
clearly we must believe that a worm with as limited a power as ours will
not understand His grandeurs. Let us praise Him, for He is pleased that we
come to know some of them.
8. I have been wanting to find some comparison by which to explain
what I'm speaking about, and I don't think there is any that fits. But let's
use this one: you enter into the room of a king or great lord, or I believe
they call it the treasure chamber, where there are countless kinds of glass
and earthen vessels and other things so arranged that almost all these
objects are seen upon entering. Once I was brought to a room like this in
the house of the Duchess of Alba where, while I was on a journey,
obedience ordered me to stay because of this lady's insistence with my
superiors.[10] I was amazed on entering and wondered what benefit could
be gained from the conglomeration of things, and I saw that one could
praise the Lord at seeing so many different kinds of objects, and now I
laugh to myself upon realizing how the experience has helped me here in
my explanation. Although I was in that room for a while, there was so
much there to see that I soon forgot it all; none of those pieces has
remained in my memory any more than if I had never seen them, nor
would I know how to explain the workmanship of any of them. I can only
say in general that I remember seeing everything. Likewise with this
favor, the soul, while it is made one with God, is placed in this room of the
empyreal heaven that we must have interiorly. For clearly, the soul has
some of these dwelling places since God abides within it. And although
the Lord must not want the soul to see these secrets every time it is in this
ecstasy, for it can be so absorbed in enjoying Him that a sublime good like
that is sufficient for it, sometimes He is pleased that the absorption
decrease and the soul see at once what is in that room. After it returns to
itself, the soul is left with that representation of the grandeurs it saw; but it
cannot describe any of them, nor do its natural powers attain to any more
than what God wished that it see supernaturally.
9. You, therefore, might object that I admit that the soul sees and that
the vision is an imaginative one. But I'm not saying that, for I'm not
dealing with an imaginative vision but with an intellectual one. Since I
have no learning, I don't know how in my dullness to explain anything. If
what I have said up to now about this prayer is worthwhile, I know clearly
that I'm not the one who has said it.
I hold that if at times in its raptures the soul doesn't understand these
secrets, its raptures are not given by God but caused by some natural
weakness. It can happen to persons with a weak constitution, as is so with
women, that any spiritual force will overcome the natural powers, and the
soul will be absorbed as I believe I mentioned in reference to the prayer of
quiet.[11] These experiences have nothing to do with rapture. In a rapture,
believe me, God carries off for Himself the entire soul, and, as to someone
who is His own and His spouse, He begins showing it some little part of
the kingdom that it has gained by being espoused to Him. However small
that part of His kingdom may be, everything that there is in this great God
is magnificent. And He doesn't want any hindrance from anyone, neither
from the faculties nor from the senses, but he immediately commands the
doors of all these dwelling places to be closed; and only that door to His
dwelling place remains open so that we can enter. Blessed be so much
mercy; they will be rightly cursed who have not wanted to benefit by it
and who have lost this Lord.
10. Oh, my Sisters, what nothingness it is, that which we leave! Nor is
what we do anything, nor all that we could do for a God who thus wishes
to communicate Himself to a worm! And if we hope to enjoy this blessing
even in this present life, what are we doing? What is causing us to delay?
What is enough to make us, even momentarily, stop looking for this Lord
as the bride looked for Him in the streets and in the squares?[12] Oh, what
a mockery everything in the world is if it doesn't lead us and help us
toward this blessing even if its delights and riches and joys, as much of
them as imaginable, were to last forever! It is all loathsome dung
compared to these treasures that will be enjoyed without end. Nor are
these anything in comparison with having as our own the Lord of all the
treasures of heaven and earth.
11. Oh, human blindness! How long, how long before this dust will be
removed from our eyes! Even though among ourselves the dust doesn't
seem to be capable of blinding us completely, I see some specks, some
tiny pebbles that if we allow them to increase will be enough to do us great
harm. On the contrary, for the love of God, Sisters, let us benefit by these
faults so as to know our misery, and they will give us clearer vision as did
the mud to the blind man cured by our Spouse.[13] Thus, seeing ourselves
so imperfect, let us increase our supplications that His Majesty may draw
good out of our miseries so that we might be pleasing to Him.
12. I have digressed a great deal without realizing it. Pardon me, Sisters,
and believe me that having reached these grandeurs of God (I mean,
reached the place where I must speak of them), I cannot help but feel very
sorry to see what we lose through our own fault. Even though it is true that
these are blessings the Lord gives to whomever He wills, His Majesty
would give them all to us if we loved Him as He loves us. He doesn't
desire anything else than to have those to whom to give. His riches do not
lessen when He gives them away.
13. Well now, to get back to what I was saying,[14] the Spouse
commands that the doors of the dwelling places be closed and even those
of the castle and the outer wall. For in desiring to carry off this soul, He
takes away the breath so that, even though the other senses sometimes last
a little longer, a person cannot speak at all; although at other times
everything is taken away at once, and the hands and the body grow cold so
that the person doesn't seem to have any life; nor sometimes is it known
whether he is breathing. This situation lasts but a short while, I mean in its
intensity; for when this extreme suspension lets up a little, it seems that
the body returns to itself somewhat and is nourished so as to die again and
give more life to the soul. Nevertheless so extreme an ecstasy doesn't last
long.
14. But it will happen that even though the extreme ecstasy ends, the
will remains so absorbed and the intellect so withdrawn, for a day and
even days, that the latter seems incapable of understanding anything that
doesn't lead to awakening the will to love; and the will is wide awake to
this love and asleep to becoming attached to any creature.
15. Oh, when the soul returns completely to itself, what bewilderment
and how intense its desires to be occupied in God in every kind of way He
might want! If the effects that were mentioned were produced by the
former kinds of prayer what will be the effects of a favor as sublime as
this? The soul would desire to have a thousand lives so as to employ them
all for God and that everything here on earth would be a tongue to help it
praise Him. The desires to do penance are most strong, but not much help
comes from performing it, because the strength of love makes the soul feel
that all that is done amounts to little and see clearly that the martyrs did
not accomplish much in suffering the torments they did because with this
help from our Lord, such suffering is easy. Hence these souls complain to
His Majesty when no opportunity for suffering presents itself.
16. When this favor is granted them in secret, their esteem for it is
great; when it is given in the presence of other persons, their
embarrassment and shame are so strong that the pain and worry over what
those who saw it will think somehow take the soul away from what was
being enjoyed.[15] For these persons know the malice of the world, and
they understand that the world will not perhaps regard the experience for
what it is, but that what the Lord should be praised for will perhaps be the
occasion for rash judgments. In some ways it seems to me that this pain
and embarrassment amount to a lack of humility, for if this person desires
to be reviled, what difference does it make what others think? But the soul
cannot control such feelings. One who was in this affliction heard from the
Lord: "Don't be afflicted, either they will praise Me or criticize you; and in
either case you gain."[16] I learned afterward that this person was very
much consoled and encouraged by these words, and I put them down here
in case one of you might find herself in this affliction. It seems that our
Lord wishes all to understand that that soul is now His, that no one should
touch it. Well and good if its body, or honor, or possessions are touched for
this soul draws honor for His Majesty out of everything. But that one
touch the soul -- absolutely not; for if the soul does not withdraw from its
Spouse through a very culpable boldness, He will protect it from the whole
world and even from all hell.
17. I don't know if anything has been explained about the nature of
rapture, for to explain it is completely impossible, as I have said.[17] But I
don't believe anything has been lost by trying. For there are effects that are
very different in feigned raptures. I do not say "feigned" because the one
who has the experience wants to deceive but because that person is
deceived. And since the signs and effects of the feigned raptures are not in
conformity with such a great blessing, the true rapture is looked upon
unfavorably; and afterward the one to whom the Lord grants it, justifiably
is not believed. May He be blessed and praised forever, amen, amen.
===================================

[1] In regard to this terminology see Life, ch. 20, no. 1; Spir. Test., 59,
no. 9.
[2] The need for great courage in order to receive these mystical graces
is often stated by Teresa. See Life, ch. 13, no. 2; ch. 20, no. 4; ch. 39, no.
21; Spir. Test., 59, no. 9; Way of Perfection, ch. 18; and in these sixth
dwelling places, ch. 5, nos. 1, 5, 12; ch. 11, no. 11.
[3] In IV, ch. 3, nos. 11-12; VI, ch. 3, no. 10.
 [4] In Life, ch. 20, Spir. Test., 59, no. 9.
[5] In ch. 2, no. 4.
[6] In ch. 8 she will deal with intellectual visions and in ch. 9, with
imaginative ones.
[7] Fr. Gracián; see Introduction.
[8] See Gn. 28:12.
[9] See Ex. 3:1-16.
[10] This happened sometime during the first months of 1574. See
Foundations, ch. 21, nos. 1-2.
[11] In IV, ch. 3, nos. 11-13.
[12] Allusion to Sg. 3:2.
[13] Allusion to Jn. 9:6-7.
[14] In no. 9.
[15] See Life, ch. 20, no. 5.
[16] She is alluding to herself. See Life, ch. 31, no. 13.
[17] In nos. 4-5.

Chapter 5
Continues on the same subject and deals with a kind of rapture in which
God raises up the soul through a flight of the spirit, an experience
different from that just explained. Tells why courage is necessary. Explains
something about this delightful favor the Lord grants. The chapter is a
very beneficial one.

1. There is another kind of rapture -- I call it flight of the spirit -- which,

though substantially the same as other raptures, is interiorly experienced
very differently.[1] For sometimes suddenly a movement of the soul is felt
so swift that it seems the spirit is carried off, and at a fearful speed
especially in the beginning. This is why I have told you[2] that strong
courage is necessary for the one to whom God grants these favors, and
even faith and confidence and a full surrender to our Lord so that He may
do what He wants with the soul. Do you think it is a small disturbance for
a person to be very much in his senses and see his soul carried off (and in
the case of some, we have read, even the body with the soul) without
knowing where that soul is going, what or who does this, or how? At the
beginning of this swift movement there is not so much certitude that the
rapture is from God.[3]
2. Well, now, is there some means by which one can resist it? None at
all; rather, to resist makes matters worse, for I know this was so with a
certain person.[4] It seems God wishes that the soul that has so often so
earnestly, and with such complete willingness offered everything to Him
should understand that in itself it no longer has any part to play; and it is
carried off with a noticeably more impetuous movement. It is determined
now to do no more than what the straw does when drawn by the amber -- if
you have noticed -- and abandon itself into the hands of the One who is all
powerful, for it sees that the safest thing to do is to make a virtue of
necessity. And that I mentioned a straw is certainly appropriate, for as
easily as a huge giant snatches up a straw, this great and powerful Giant of
ours carries away the spirit.[5]
3. It seems the trough of water we mentioned (I believe it was in the
fourth dwelling place, for I don't recall exactly)[6] filled so easily and
gently, I mean without any movement. Here this great God, who holds
back the springs of water and doesn't allow the sea to go beyond its
boundaries,[7] lets loose the springs from which the water in this trough
flows. With a powerful impulse, a huge wave rises up so forcefully that it
lifts high this little bark that is our soul. A bark cannot prevent the furious
waves from leaving it where they will; nor does the pilot have the power,
nor do those who take part in controlling the little ship. So much less can
the interior part of the soul stay where it will, or make its senses or
faculties do other than what they are commanded; here the soul doesn't
care what happens in the exterior senses.
4. It is certain, Sisters, that just from writing about it I am amazed at
how the immense power of this great King and Emperor is shown here.
What will be the amazement of the one who experiences it! I hold that if
His Majesty were to reveal this power to those who go astray in the world
as He does to these souls, the former would not dare offend Him; this out
of fear if not out of love. Oh, how obliged, then, will those persons be who
have been informed through so sublime a path to strive with all their
might not to displease this Lord! For love of Him, Sisters, I beg you, those
of you to whom His Majesty has granted these favors, or others like them,
that you don't grow careless and do nothing but receive. Reflect that the
one who owes a lot must pay a lot.[8]
5. In this respect, too, great courage is necessary, for this favor is
something frightening. If our Lord were not to give such courage, the soul
would always go about deeply distressed. For it reflects on what His
Majesty does for it and turns back to look at itself, at how little it serves in
comparison with its obligation, and at how the tiny bit it does is full of
faults, failures, and weaknesses. So as not to recall how imperfectly it
performs some work -- if it does -- it prefers striving to forget its works,
keeping in mind its sins, and placing itself before the mercy of God. Since
it doesn't have anything with which to pay, it begs for the pity and mercy
God has always had toward sinners.
6. Perhaps He will respond as He did to a person who before a crucifix
was reflecting with deep affliction that she had never had anything to give
to God, or anything to give up for Him. The Crucified, Himself, in
consoling her told her He had given her all the sufferings and trials He had
undergone in His Passion so that she could have them as her own to offer
His Father.[9] The comfort and enrichment was such that, according to
what I have heard from her, she cannot forget the experience. Rather,
every time she sees how miserable she is, she gets encouragement and
consolation from remembering those words.
I could mention here some other experiences like this, for since I have
dealt with so many holy and prayerful persons, I know about many such
experiences; but I want to limit myself lest you think I am speaking of
myself. What I said seems to me very beneficial to help you understand
how pleased our Lord is that we know ourselves and strive to reflect again
and again on our poverty and misery and on how we possess nothing that
we have not received. So, my Sisters, courage is necessary for this
knowledge and for the many other graces given to the soul the Lord has
brought to this stage. And when there is humility, courage, in my opinion,
is even more necessary for this knowledge of one's own misery. May the
Lord give us this humility because of who He is.
7. Well, now, to return to this quick rapture of the spirit.[10] It is such
that the spirit truly seems to go forth from the body. On the other hand, it
is clear that this person is not dead; at least, he cannot say whether for
some moments he was in the body or not. It seems to him that he was
entirely in another region different from this in which we live, where there
is shown another light so different from earth's light that if he were to
spend his whole life trying to imagine that light, along with the other
things, he would be unable to do so. It happens that within an instant so
many things together are taught him that if he were to work for many
years with his imagination and mind in order to systematize them he
wouldn't be able to do so, not with even one thousandth part of one of
them. This is not an intellectual but an imaginative vision, for the eyes of
the soul see much better than do we with bodily eyes here on earth, and
without words understanding of some things is given; I mean that if a
person sees some saints, he knows them as well as if he had often spoken
with them.
8. At other times, along with the things seen through the eyes of the soul
by an intellectual vision, other things are represented, especially a
multitude of angels with their Lord. And without seeing anything with the
eyes of the body or the soul, through an admirable knowledge I will not be
able to explain, there is represented what I'm saying and many other things
not meant to be spoken of. Anyone who experiences them, and has more
ability then I, will perhaps know how to explain them; although doing so
seems to me very difficult indeed. Whether all this takes place in the body
or not, I wouldn't know; at least I wouldn't swear that the soul is in the
body or that the body is without the soul.[11]
9. I have often thought that just as the sun while in the sky has such
strong rays that, even though it doesn't move from there, the rays promptly
reach the earth, so the soul and the spirit, which are one,[12] could be like
the sun and its rays. Thus, while the soul remains in its place, the superior
part rises above it. In a word, I don't know what I'm saying. What is true,
is that with the speed of a ball shot from an arquebus, when fire is applied,
an interior flight is experienced -- I don't know what else to call it --
which, though noiseless, is so clearly a movement that it cannot be the
work of the imagination. And while the spirit is far outside itself, from all
it can understand, great things are shown to it. When it again senses that it
is within itself, the benefits it feels are remarkable, and it has so little
esteem for all earthly things in comparison to the things it has seen that
the former seem like dung. From then on its life on earth is very painful,
and it doesn't see anything good in those things that used to seem good to
it. The experience causes it to care little about them. It seems the Lord,
like those Israelites who brought back signs from the promised land,[13]
has desired to show it something about its future land so that it may suffer
the trials of this laborious path, knowing where it must go to get its final
rest. Even though something that passes so quickly will not seem to you
very beneficial, the blessings left in the soul are so great that only the
person who has this experience will be able to understand its value.
10. Wherefore, the experience, obviously, is not from the devil; it would
be impossible for the imagination or the devil to represent things that
leave so much virtue, peace, calm, and improvement in the soul. Three
things, especially, are left in it to a very sublime degree: knowledge of the
grandeur of God, because the more we see in this grandeur the greater is
our understanding; self-knowledge and humility upon seeing that
something so low in comparison with the Creator of so many grandeurs
dared to offend Him (and neither does the soul dare look up at Him); the
third, little esteem of earthly things save for those that can be used for the
service of so great a God.
11. These are the jewels the Spouse begins to give the betrothed, and
their value is such that the soul will not want to lose them. For these
meetings[14] remain so engraved in the memory that I believe it's
impossible to forget them until one enjoys them forever, unless they are
forgotten through one's own most serious fault. But the Spouse who gives
them has the power to give the grace not to lose them.
12. Well to get back to the courage that is necessary,[15] does it seem to
you that this is so trivial a thing? For it truly seems that because the soul
loses its senses, and doesn't understand why, that it is separated from the
body. It's necessary that He who gives everything else give the courage
also. You will say that this fear is well paid. So do I. May it please His
Majesty to give us the courage so that we may merit to serve Him, amen.
===================================

[1] On the difference between rapture and flight of the spirit see Life,
ch. 18, no. 7; ch. 20, no. 1; Spir. Test., 59, nos. 9-10.
[2] In ch. 4, no. 1.
[3] See the account of her personal experience in Life, ch. 20, nos. 3-7.
[4] She is speaking of herself; see Life, ch. 20, nos. 5-6.
 [5] For parallel passages see Life, ch. 22, no. 13; ch. 20, no. 4.
[6] In IV, ch. 2, nos. 2-5.
[7] Allusion to Pr. 8:29.
[8] Allusion to Lk. 12:48.
[9] She is speaking of herself. See Spir. Test., 46.
[10] She returns to the theme taken up in no. 1.
[11] Allusion to 2 Co. 12:2-4.
[12] Concerning the distinction between the soul and the spirit, see VII,
ch. 1, no. 11; Spir. Test., 59, no. 11; 25, no. 1; Life, ch. 20, no. 14.
[13] Nb. 13:18-27.
[14] She continues to use the symbolic language (jewels and meetings)
introduced in V, ch. 4, no. 3.
[15] See nos. 1-5; ch. 4, nos. 1-2.

Chapter 6
Tells about an effect of the prayer discussed in the previous chapter.
How to understand whether this effect is true rather than deceptive.
Discusses another favor the Lord grants so that the soul might be occupied
in praising Him.

1. As a result of these wonderful favors the soul is left so full of

longings to enjoy completely the One who grants them that it lives in a
great though delightful torment. With the strongest yearnings to die, and
thus usually with tears, it begs God to take it from this exile. Everything it
sees wearies it. When it is alone it finds some relief, but soon this torment
returns; yet when the soul does not experience this pain, something is felt
to be missing. In sum, this little butterfly is unable to find a lasting place
of rest; rather, since the soul goes about with such tender love, any
occasion that enkindles this fire more makes the soul fly aloft. As a result,
in this dwelling place the raptures are very common and there is no means
to avoid them even though they may take place in public. Hence,
persecutions and criticism. Even though the soul may want to be free from
fears, others do not allow this freedom. For there are many persons who
cause these fears, especially confessors.
 2. And even though, on the one hand, the soul seems to feel very secure
in its interior part, especially when it is alone with God, on the other hand,
it goes about in deep distress because it fears the devil may in some way
beguile it into offending the One whom it loves so much. Little does it
suffer over criticism, unless the confessor himself distresses it, as if it
could do more. It does nothing but ask prayers from all and beg His
Majesty to lead it by another path, for they all tell it to take another; they
say that the path it is on is very dangerous. But since the soul has found
this path to be so greatly beneficial, it sees that such a path is leading it
along the way to heaven, according to what it reads, hears, and knows
about God's commandments. Even if it wanted to, it could not really desire
anything else but to abandon itself into God's hands. And even this
powerlessness distresses it, for it thinks it is not obeying its confessor.
Obeying and not offending our Lord, it thinks, is the complete remedy
against deception. Thus, in its opinion, it would not commit knowingly a
venial sin even were others to crush it to pieces. It is intensely afflicted
upon seeing that it cannot free itself from unknowingly committing many
venial sins.
3. God gives these souls the strongest desire not to displease Him in
anything, however small, and the desire to avoid if possible every
imperfection. For this reason alone, if for no other, the soul wants to flee
people, and it has great envy of those who have lived in deserts. On the
other hand, it would want to enter into the midst of the world to try to play
a part in getting even one soul to praise God more. A woman in this stage
of prayer is distressed by the natural hindrance there is to her entering the
world, and she has great envy of those who have the freedom to cry out
and spread the news abroad about who this great God of hosts is.
4. Oh, poor little butterfly, bound with so many chains which do not let
you fly where you would like! Have pity on it, my God! Ordain that it
might somehow fulfill its desires for your honor and glory. Do not be
mindful of the little it deserves and of its lowly nature. You have the
power, Lord, to make the great sea and the large river Jordan roll back and
allow the children of Israel to pass.[1] Yet, do not take pity on this little
butterfly! Helped by your strength, it can suffer many trials; it is
determined to do so and desires to suffer them. Extend Your powerful arm,
[2] Lord, that this soul might not spend its life in things so base. Let Your
grandeur appear in a creature so feminine and lowly, whatever the cost to
her, so that the world may know that this grandeur is not hers at all and
may praise You. This praise is what she desires, and she would give a
thousand lives -- if she had that many -- if one soul were to praise You a
little more through her; and she would consider such lives very well spent.
She understands in all truth that she doesn't deserve to suffer for You a
tiny trial, much less die.
5. I don't know what my goal was in saying this, Sisters, nor why I said
it, for these words were not planned. Let us realize that such effects are
undoubtedly left by these suspensions and ecstasies. The desires are not
passing but remain, and when an occasion arises to manifest their
presence, one sees that they are not feigned. Why do I say they remain?
Sometimes the soul feels, and in the smallest things, that it is a coward
and so timid and frightened it doesn't think that it has the courage to do
anything. I understand that the Lord leaves it then to its own human nature
for its own greater good. It then sees that if it had been able to do
something, the power was given by His Majesty. This truth is seen with a
clarity that leaves the soul annihilated within itself and with deeper
knowledge of God's mercy and grandeur -- attributes the Lord desired to
show to something so low. But usually its state is like that we've just
mentioned.
6. Note one thing, Sisters, about these great desires to see our Lord: they
sometimes afflict so much that you must necessarily avoid fostering them
and must distract yourselves; if you can, I mean, for in other instances
which I shall mention further on,[3] this cannot be done, as you will see.
As for these initial desires, it's sometimes possible to distract oneself from
them because there is every reason to be conformed to the will of God and
say what St. Martin said.[4] A person can reflect upon St. Martin's words
if the desires afflict a great deal. Since it seems these desires are
characteristic of very advanced persons, the devil could instigate them so
that we might think we are advanced. It is always good to walk with fear.
But my opinion is that he would not be able to give the quiet and peace
this suffering gives the soul; he would be stirring some passion, as
happens when we suffer over worldly things. But a person who has no
experience of the authentic and the inauthentic desires will think his
desires are something great and will help them along as much as he can
and will do serious harm to his health. For this suffering is continual, or at
least very habitual.
7. Also note that a weak constitution is wont to cause these kinds of
suffering, especially in the case of tender persons who will weep over
every little thing. A thousand times they will be led to think they weep for
God, but they will not be doing so. And it can even happen, when tears
flow in abundance (I mean, that for a time every little word the soul hears
or thinks concerning God becomes the cause of tears), that some humor
has reached the heart thereby contributing more to the tears than does love
for God; for seemingly these persons will never finish weeping. Since they
have already heard that tears are good, they will not restrain themselves
nor would they desire to do anything else; and they help the tears along as
much as they can. The devil's aim here is that these persons become so
weak they will afterward be unable either to pray or to keep their rule.
8. It seems to me I can see you asking what you should do since I mark
danger everywhere and in something as good as tears I think there can be
deception; you are wondering if I may be the one who is deceived. And it
could be that I am. But believe me, I do not speak without having seen that
these false tears can be experienced by some persons; although not by me,
for I am not at all tender. Rather, I have a heart so hard that sometimes I
am distressed; although when the inner fire is intense, the heart, no matter
how hard, distills like an alembic. You will indeed know when this fire is
the source of the tears, for they are then more comforting and bring peace
not turbulence, and seldom cause harm. The good that lies in the false
tears -- when there is any good -- is that the damage is done to the body (I
mean when there is humility) and not to the soul. But even if there is no
harm done to the body, it won't be wrong to be suspicious about tears.
9. Let's not think that everything is accomplished through much
weeping but set our hands to the task of hard work and virtue. These are
what we must pay attention to; let the tears come when God sends them
and without any effort on our part to induce them. These tears from God
will irrigate this dry earth, and they are a great help in producing fruit. The
less attention we pay to them the more there are, for they are the water that
falls from heaven. The tears we draw out by tiring ourselves in digging
cannot compare with the tears that come from God, for often in digging we
shall get worn out and not find even a puddle of water much less a flowing
well. Therefore, Sisters, I consider it better for us to place ourselves in the
presence of the Lord and look at His mercy and grandeur and at our own
lowliness, and let Him give us what He wants, whether water or dryness.
He knows best what is suitable for us. With such an attitude we shall go
about refreshed, and the devil will not have so much chance to play tricks
on us.
10. In the midst of the experiences that are both painful and delightful
together, our Lord sometimes gives the soul feelings of jubilation and a
strange prayer it doesn't understand. I am writing about this favor here so
that if He grants it to you, you may give Him much praise and know what
is taking place. It is, in my opinion, a deep union of the faculties; but our
Lord nonetheless leaves them free that they might enjoy this joy -- and the
same goes for the senses -- without understanding what it is they are
enjoying or how they are enjoying. What I'm saying seems like gibberish,
but certainly the experience takes place in this way, for the joy is so
excessive the soul wouldn't want to enjoy it alone but wants to tell
everyone about it so that they might help this soul praise our Lord. All its
activity is directed to this praise. Oh, how many festivals and
demonstrations the soul would organize, if it could, that all might know its
joy! It seems it has found itself and that, like the father of the prodigal
son, it would want to prepare a festival and invite all[5] because it sees
itself in an undoubtedly safe place, at least for the time being. And I hold
that there is reason for its desires. The devil cannot give this experience,
because there is so much interior joy in the very intimate part of the soul
and so much peace; and all the happiness stirs the soul to the praises of
God.
11. To be silent and conceal this great impulse of happiness when
experiencing it, is no small pain. St. Francis must have felt this impulse
when the robbers struck him, for he ran through the fields crying out and
telling the robbers that he was the herald of the great King; and also other
saints must feel it who go to deserts to be able to proclaim as St. Francis
these praises of their God. I knew a saint named Friar Peter of Alcántara --
for I believe from the way he lived that he was one -- who did this very
thing,[6] and those who at one time listened to him thought he was crazy.
Oh, what blessed madness, Sisters! If only God would give it to us all!
And what a favor He has granted you by bringing you to this house where,
when the Lord gives you this favor and you tell others about it, you will
receive help rather than the criticism you would receive in the world. This
proclamation is so unusual there that one is not at all surprised at the
criticism.
12. Oh, how unfortunate the times and miserable the life in which we
now live; happy are they whose good fortune it is to remain apart from the
world. Sometimes it is a particular joy for me to see these Sisters gathered
together and feeling such great joy at being in the monastery that they
praise our Lord as much as possible. It is seen very clearly that their
praises rise from the interior of the soul. I would want you to praise Him
often, Sisters; for the one who begins, awakens the others. In what better
way can you, when together, use your tongues than in the praises of God
since we have so many reasons for praising Him?
13. May it please His Majesty to give us this prayer often since it is so
safe and beneficial; to acquire it is impossible because it is something
very supernatural. And it may last a whole day. The soul goes about like a
person who has drunk a great deal but not so much as to be drawn out of
his senses; or like a person suffering melancholy who has not lost his
reason completely but cannot free himself from what is in his imagination
-- nor can anyone else.
These are inelegant comparisons for something so precious, but I can't
think up any others. The joy makes a person so forgetful of self and of all
things that he doesn't advert to, nor can he speak of anything other than the
praises of God which proceed from his joy.
Let us all help this soul, my daughters. Why do we want to have more
discretion? What can give us greater happiness? And may all creatures
help us forever and ever, amen, amen, amen!
===================================

[1] Ex. 14:21-22; Jos. 3:13-17.

[2] Allusion to Gn. 8:8-9, used again in VII, ch. 3, no. 13.
[3] In ch. 11.
[4] "Lord, if I am still necessary to your people I don't refuse to live;
may Your will be done." See the liturgical office for St. Martin in the
Roman Breviary.
[5] Lk. 15:22-32.
 [6] She tells about St. Peter of Alcántara's manner of life in Life, ch. 27,
nos. 16-20; ch. 30, nos. 2-7.

Chapter 7
Discusses the kind of suffering those souls to whom God grants the
favors mentioned feel concerning their sins. Tells what a great mistake it
is, however spiritual one may be, not to practice keeping the humanity of
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ present in one's mind; also His most
sacred Passion and life, His glorious Mother, and the saints. The chapter
is very helpful.

1. You will think, Sisters, that these souls to whom the Lord
communicates Himself in this unusual way will already be so sure of
enjoying Him forever that they will have nothing to fear nor sins to weep
over. Those especially who have not attained these favors from God will
think this, for if they had enjoyed them, they would know what I'm going
to say. But to think the above would be a great mistake because suffering
over one's sins increases the more one receives from our God. And, for my
part, I hold that until we are there where nothing can cause pain this
suffering will not be taken away.
2. True, sometimes there is greater affliction than at other times; and
the affliction is also of a different kind, for the soul doesn't think about the
suffering it will undergo on account of its sins but of how ungrateful it has
been to One to whom it owes so much and who deserves so much to be
served. For in these grandeurs God communicates to it, it understands
much more about Him. It is astonished at how bold it was; it weeps over
its lack of respect; it thinks its foolishness was so excessive that it never
finishes grieving over that foolishness when it recalls that for such base
things it abandoned so great a Majesty. Much more does it recall this
foolishness than it does the favors it receives, though these favors are as
remarkable as the ones mentioned or as those still to be spoken of. These
favors are like the waves of a large river in that they come and go; but the
memory these souls have of their sins clings like thick mire. It always
seems that these sins are alive in the memory, and this is a heavy cross.
 3. I know a person[1] who, apart from wanting to die in order to see
God, wanted to die so as not to feel the continual pain of how ungrateful
she had been to One to whom she ever owed so much and would owe. Thus
it didn't seem to her that anyone's wickedness could equal her own, for she
understood that there could be no one else from whom God would have
had so much to put up with and to whom He had granted so many favors.
As for the fear of hell, such persons don't have any. That they might lose
God, at times -- though seldom -- distresses them very much. All their fear
is that God might allow them out of His hand to offend Him, and they find
themselves in as miserable a state as they were once before. In regard to
their own suffering or glory, they don't care. If they don't want to stay long
in purgatory, the reason comes from the fact of their not wanting to be
away from God -- as are those who are in purgatory -- rather than from the
sufferings undergone there.
4. I wouldn't consider it safe for a soul, however favored by God, to
forget that at one time it saw itself in a miserable state. Although recalling
this misery is a painful thing, doing so is helpful for many. Perhaps it is
because I have been so wretched that I have this opinion and am always
mindful of my misery. Those who have been good will not have to feel this
pain, although there will always be failures as long as we live in this
mortal body. No relief is afforded this suffering by the thought that our
Lord has already pardoned and forgotten the sins. Rather, it adds to the
suffering to see so much goodness and realize that favors are granted to
one who deserves nothing but hell. I think such a realization was a great
martyrdom for St. Peter and the Magdalene. Since their love for God had
grown so deep and they had received so many favors and come to know
the grandeur and majesty of God, the remembrance of their misery would
have been difficult to suffer, and they would have suffered it with tender
sentiments.
5. It will also seem to you that anyone who enjoys such lofty things will
no longer meditate on the mysteries of the most sacred humanity of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Such a person would now be engaged entirely in loving.
This is a matter I wrote about at length elsewhere.[2] They have
contradicted me about it and said that I don't understand, because these are
paths along which our Lord leads, and that when souls have already passed
beyond the beginning stages it is better for them to deal with things
concerning the divinity and flee from corporeal things. Nonetheless, they
will not make me admit that such a road is a good one. Now it could be
that I'm mistaken and that we are all saying the same thing. But I myself
see that the devil tried to deceive me in this matter, and thus I have so
learned my lesson from experience that I think, although I've spoken on
this topic at other times,[3] I will speak of it again here that you will
proceed very carefully in this matter. And take notice that I dare say you
should not believe anyone who tells you something else. I'll try to explain
myself better than I did elsewhere. If anyone perhaps has written what a
certain person told me, this would be good if the matter is explained at
length, but to speak of it so summarily could do much harm to those of us
who are not well informed.[4]
6. It will also seem to some souls that they cannot think about the
Passion, or still less about the Blessed Virgin and the lives of the saints;
the remembrance of both of these latter is so very helpful and
encouraging. I cannot imagine what such souls are thinking of. To be
always withdrawn from corporeal things and enkindled in love is the trait
of angelic spirits not of those who live in mortal bodies. It's necessary that
we speak to, think about, and become the companions of those who having
had a mortal body accomplished such great feats for God. How much more
is it necessary not to withdraw through one's own efforts from all our good
and help which is the most sacred humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ. I
cannot believe that these souls do so, but they just don't understand; and
they will do harm to themselves and to others. At least I assure them that
they will not enter these last two dwelling places. For if they lose the
guide, who is the good Jesus, they will not hit upon the right road. It will
be quite an accomplishment if they remain safely in the other dwelling
places. The Lord Himself says that He is the way; the Lord says also that
He is the light and that no one can go to the Father but through Him, and
"anyone who sees me sees my Father."[5] They will say that another
meaning is given to these words. I don't know about those other meanings;
I have got along very well with this one that my soul always feels to be
true.
7. There are some souls -- and there are many who have spoken about it
to me -- who brought by our Lord to perfect contemplation would like to
be in that prayer always; but that is impossible. Yet this favor of the Lord
remains with them in such a way that afterward they cannot engage as
before in discursive thought about the mysteries of the Passion and life of
Christ. I don't know the reason, but this inability is very common, for the
intellect becomes less capable of meditation. I believe the reason must be
that since in meditation the whole effort consists in seeking God and that
once God is found the soul becomes used to seeking Him again through
the work of the will, the soul doesn't want to tire itself by working with the
intellect. Likewise, it seems to me that since this generous faculty, which
is the will, is already enkindled, it wants to avoid, if it can, using the other
faculty; and it doesn't go wrong. But to avoid this will be impossible,
especially before the soul reaches these last two dwelling places; and the
soul will lose time, for the will often needs the help of the intellect so as to
be enkindled.
8. And note this point, Sisters; it is important, and so I want to explain it
further: The soul desires to be completely occupied in love and does not
want to be taken up with anything else, but to be so occupied is impossible
for it even though it may want to; for although the will is not dead, the fire
that usually makes it burn is dying out, and someone must necessarily
blow on the fire so that heat will be given off. Would it be good for a soul
with this dryness to wait for fire to come down from heaven to burn this
sacrifice that it is making of itself to God, as did our Father Elijah?[6] No,
certainly not, nor is it right to expect miracles. The Lord works them for
this soul when He pleases, as was said and will be said further on.[7] But
His Majesty wants us to consider ourselves undeserving of them because
of our wretchedness, and desires that we help ourselves in every way
possible. I hold for myself that until we die such an attitude is necessary
however sublime the prayer may be.
9. It is true that anyone whom the Lord places in the seventh dwelling
place rarely, or hardly ever, needs to make this effort. (I will give the
reason for this fact when speaking of that dwelling place, if I remember.)
[8] But such a person walks continually in an admirable way with Christ,
our Lord, in whom the divine and the human are joined and who is always
that person's companion. As for the above, when the fire in the will that
was mentioned[9] is not enkindled and God's presence is not felt, it is
necessary that we seek this presence. This is what His Majesty wants us to
do, as the bride did in the Song of Songs,[10] and he wants us to ask
creatures who it is who made them -- as St. Augustine says, I believe, in
his Meditations or Confessions[11] -- and not be like dunces wasting time
waiting for what was given us once before. At the beginning of the life of
prayer it may be that the Lord will not give this fire in a year, or even in
many years. His Majesty knows why; we must not desire to know nor is
there any reason why we should. Since we know the path by which we
must please God, which is that of the commandments and counsels, we
should follow it very diligently, and think of His life and death and of the
many things we owe Him; let the rest come when the Lord desires.
10. At this point, someone may respond that he cannot dwell on these
things, and, because of what was said,[12] perhaps he will in a certain way
be right. You already know that discursive thinking with the intellect is
one thing and representing truths to the intellect by means of the memory
is another. You may say, perhaps, that you do not understand me, and
indeed it could be that I don't know how to explain the matter; but I shall
do the best I can. By meditation I mean much discursive reflection with
the intellect in the following way: we begin to think about the favor God
granted us in giving us His only Son, and we do not stop there, but go on to
the mysteries of His whole glorious life; or we begin to think about the
prayer in the garden, but the intellect doesn't stop until He is on the cross;
or we take a phase of the Passion like, let us say, the arrest, and we proceed
with this mystery considering in detail the things there are to think of and
feel about the betrayal of Judas, the flight of the apostles, and all the rest;
this kind of reflection is an admirable and very meritorious prayer.
11. This prayer is the kind that those whom God has brought to
supernatural things and to perfect contemplation are right in saying they
cannot practice. As I have said,[13] I don't know the reason, but usually
they cannot practice discursive reflection. But I say that a person will not
be right if he says he does not dwell on these mysteries or often have them
in mind, especially when the Catholic Church celebrates them. Nor is it
possible for the soul to forget that it has received so much from God, so
many precious signs of love, for these are living sparks that will enkindle
it more in its love for our Lord. But I say this person doesn't understand
himself, because the soul understands these mysteries in a more perfect
manner. The intellect represents them in such a way, and they are so
stamped on the memory, that the mere sight of the Lord fallen to the
ground in the garden with that frightful sweat is enough to last the intellect
not only an hour but many days, while it looks with a simple gaze at who
He is and how ungrateful we have been for so much suffering. Soon the
will responds even though it may not do so with tender feelings, with the
desire to serve somehow for such a great favor and to suffer something for
One who suffered so much, and with other similar desires relating to what
the memory and intellect are dwelling upon. I believe that for this reason a
person cannot go on to further discursive reflection on the Passion, and
this inability makes him think that he cannot think about it.
12. If he doesn't dwell on these mysteries in the way that was
mentioned, it is good that he strive to do so, for I know that doing so will
not impede the most sublime prayer. I don't think it's good to fail to dwell
often on these mysteries. If as a result the Lord suspends the intellect, well
and good; for even though the soul may not so desire He will make it
abandon what it was dwelling on. And I am very certain that this
procedure is not a hindrance but a very great help toward every good; the
hindrance would come from a great deal of work with the discursive
reflection I mentioned in the beginning. I hold that one who has advanced
further along cannot practice this discursive reflection. It could be that one
can, for God leads souls by many paths. But let not those who can travel
by the road of discursive thought condemn those who cannot, or judge
them incapable of enjoying the sublime blessings that lie enclosed in the
mysteries of our good, Jesus Christ. Nor will anyone make me think,
however spiritual he may be, that he will advance by trying to turn away
from these mysteries.
13. There are some principles and even means that certain souls use, by
which it is thought that when a person begins to experience the prayer of
quiet and to relish the enjoyment and spiritual delights given by the Lord,
the important thing is to remain always in that state of delight. Well, now,
let them believe me and not be so absorbed, as I have said elsewhere.[14]
Life is long, and there are in it many trials, and we need to look at Christ
our model, how He suffered them, and also at His apostles and saints, so as
to bear these trials with perfection. Jesus is too good a companion for us to
turn away from Him and His most Blessed Mother, and He is very pleased
that we grieve over His sufferings even though we sometimes leave aside
our own consolation and delight. Moreover, daughters, enjoyment in
prayer is not so habitual that there is not time for everything. I would be
suspicious of anyone who says this delight is continual; I mean, who can
never do what was mentioned. And you should be suspicious too, and
strive to free yourselves from this error and avoid such absorption with all
your strength. If your efforts aren't enough, tell the prioress so that she
might give you some task demanding such care that this danger is
removed. For if this absorption continues, it is extremely dangerous at
least for the brain and the head.
14. I believe I've explained that it is fitting for souls, however spiritual,
to take care not to flee from corporal things to the extent of thinking that
even the most sacred humanity causes harm. Some quote what the Lord
said to His disciples that it was fitting that He go.[15] I can't bear this. I
would wager that He didn't say it to His most Blessed Mother, because she
was firm in the faith; she knew He was God and man, and even though she
loved Him more than they did, she did so with such perfection that His
presence was a help rather than a hindrance. The apostles must not have
been as firm then in the faith as they were afterward and as we have reason
to be now. I tell you, daughters, that I consider this a dangerous path and
think the devil could make one lose devotion for the most Blessed
Sacrament.
15. The mistake it seemed to me I was making wasn't so extreme, rather
it consisted of not delighting so much in the thought of our Lord Jesus
Christ but in going along in that absorption, waiting for that enjoyment.
And I realized clearly that I was proceeding badly. Since it wasn't possible
for me to experience the absorption always, the mind wandered here and
there. My soul, it seems to me, was like a bird flying about that doesn't
know where to light; and it was losing a lot of time and not making
progress in virtue or improving in prayer. I didn't understand the reason,
nor would I have understood it, in my opinion, because it seemed to me
that what I was doing was very correct, until a person with whom I was
discussing my prayer, who was a servant of God, warned me. Afterward, I
saw clearly how wrong I had been, and I never stop regretting that there
had been a time in which I failed to understand that I could not gain much
through such a great loss. And even if I could gain, I wouldn't want any
good save that acquired through Him from whom all blessings come to us.
May He be always praised, amen.
 ===================================

[1] She is referring to herself. See Life, ch. 26, no. 2; ch. 34, no. 10; Spir.
Test., 1, no. 26; 48, no. 1; 59, no. 12.
[2] In Life, ch. 22.
[3] In Life, ch. 22, nos. 2-3.
[4] The person to whom Teresa refers is unknown. The passage is
intentionally somewhat enigmatic.
[5] See Jn. 8:12; 14:6, 9.
[6] 1 K. 18:30-39 {3 K. 18:30-39}.
[7] In VI, ch. 11, no. 8.
[8] In VII, ch. 2, nos. 3, 9, 10; ch. 3, nos. 8, 10, 11; ch. 4, nos. 1-2.
[9] At the end of no. 7.
[10] Sg. 3:1-3.
[11] See The Confessions of St. Augustine, X, ch. 6, nos. 9-10.
[12] In no. 7.
[13] In nos. 9-10.
[14] In ch. 4, nos. 2, 9; Life, ch. 22, no. 10.
[15] Jn. 16:7.

Chapter 8
Discusses how God communicates Himself to the soul through an
intellectual vision; gives some counsels. Tells about the effects such a
vision causes if it is genuine. Recommends secrecy concerning these
favors.

1. For you to see, Sisters, that what I have told you is true and that the
further a soul advances the more it is accompanied by the good Jesus, we
will do well to discuss how, when His Majesty desires, we cannot do
otherwise then walk always with Him. This is evident in the ways and
modes by which His Majesty communicates Himself to us and shows us
the love He bears us. He does this through some very wonderful
apparitions and visions. That you might not be frightened if He grants you
some of these, I want briefly to mention something about these visions --
if the Lord be pleased that I succeed -- so that we might praise Him very
much even though He may not grant them to us. We would be praising
Him because though He is filled with majesty and power He nonetheless
desires to communicate thus with a creature.
2. It will happen while the soul is heedless of any thought about such a
favor being granted to it, and though it never had a thought that it deserved
this vision, that it will feel Jesus Christ, our Lord, beside it. Yet, it does
not see Him, either with the eyes of the body or with those of the soul.
This is called an intellectual vision; I don't know why. I saw the person[1]
to whom God granted this favor, along with other favors I shall mention
further on, quite worried in the beginning because since she didn't see
anything she couldn't understand the nature of this vision. However, she
knew so certainly that it was Jesus Christ, our Lord, who showed Himself
to her in that way that she couldn't doubt; I mean she couldn't doubt the
vision was there. As to whether it was from God or not, even though she
carried with her great effects to show that it was, she nonetheless was
afraid. She had never heard of an intellectual vision, nor had she thought
there was such a kind. But she understood very clearly that it was this
same Lord who often spoke to her in the way mentioned.[2] For until He
granted her this favor I am referring to, she never knew who was speaking
to her, although she understood the words.
3. I know that since she was afraid about this vision (for it isn't like the
imaginative one that passes quickly, but lasts many days and sometimes
even more than a year), she went very worried to her confessor. He asked
her how since she didn't see anything she knew that it was our Lord; what
kind of face He had.[3] She told him she didn't know, that she didn't see
any face, and that she couldn't say any more than what she had said, that
what she did know was that He was the one who spoke to her and that the
vision had not been fancied. And although some persons put many fears in
her, she was still frequently unable to doubt, especially when the Lord said
to her: "Do not be afraid, it is I."[4] These words had so much power that
from then on she could not doubt the vision, and she was left very much
strengthened and happy over such good company. She saw clearly that the
vision was a great help toward walking with a habitual remembrance of
God and a deep concern about avoiding anything displeasing to Him, for it
seemed to her that He was always looking at her. And each time she
wanted to speak with His Majesty in prayer, and even outside of it, she felt
He was so near that He couldn't fail to hear her. But she didn't hear words
spoken whenever she wanted; only unexpectedly when they were
necessary. She felt He was walking at her right side, but she didn't
experience this with those senses by which we can know that a person is
beside us. This vision comes in another unexplainable, more delicate way.
But it is so certain and leaves much certitude; even much more than the
other visions do because in the visions that come through the senses one
can be deceived, but not in the intellectual vision. For this latter brings
great interior benefits and effects that couldn't be present if the experience
were caused by melancholy; nor would the devil produce so much good;
nor would the soul go about with such peace and continual desires to
please God, and with so much contempt for everything that does not bring
it to Him. Afterward she understood clearly that the vision was not caused
by the devil, which became more and more clear as time went on.
4. Nonetheless, I know that at times she went about very much
frightened; at other times, with the most intense confusion, for she didn't
know why so much good had come to her. We were so united, she and I,
that nothing took place in her soul of which I was ignorant; so I can be a
good witness. And believe me, all I have said of this matter is the truth.
It is a favor from the Lord that she bears in herself the most intense
confusion and humility. If the vision were from the devil, the effects
would be contrary. And since the vision is something definitely understood
to be a gift from God and human effort would not be sufficient to produce
this experience, the one who receives it can in no way think it is his own
good but a good given through the hand of God. And even though, in my
opinion, some of those favors that were mentioned are greater, this favor
bears with it a particular knowledge of God. This continual companionship
gives rise to a most tender love for His Majesty, to some desires even
greater than those mentioned[5] to surrender oneself totally to His service,
and to a great purity of conscience because the presence at its side makes
the soul pay attention to everything. For even though we already know that
God is present in all we do, our nature is such that we neglect to think of
this. Here the truth cannot be forgotten, for the Lord awakens the soul to
His presence beside it. And even the favors that were mentioned[6]
became much more common since the soul goes about almost continually
with actual love for the One who it sees and understands is at its side.
5. In sum, with respect to the soul's gain, the vision is seen to be a most
wonderful and highly valuable favor. The soul thanks the Lord that He
gives the vision without any merits on its part and would not exchange that
blessing for any earthly treasure or delight. Thus, when the Lord is pleased
to take the vision away, the soul feels very much alone. But all the efforts
it could possibly make are of little avail in bringing back that
companionship. The Lord gives it when He desires, and it cannot be
acquired. Sometimes also the vision is of some saint, and this too is most
beneficial.
6. You will ask how if nothing is seen one knows that it is Christ, or a
saint, or His most glorious Mother. This, the soul will not know how to
explain, nor can it understand how it knows, but it does know with the
greatest certitude. It seems easier for the soul to know when the Lord
speaks; but what is more amazing is that it knows the saint, who doesn't
speak but seemingly is placed there by the Lord as a help to it and as its
companion. Thus there are other spiritual things that one doesn't know
how to explain, but through them one knows how lowly our nature is when
there is question of understanding the sublime grandeurs of God, for we
are incapable even of understanding these spiritual things. But let the one
to whom His Majesty gives these favors receive them with admiration and
praise for Him. Thus He grants the soul particular graces through these
favors. For since the favors are not granted to all, they should be highly
esteemed; and one should strive to perform greater services since God in
so many ways helps the soul to perform these services. Hence the soul
doesn't consider itself to be any greater because of this, and it thinks that it
is the one who serves God the least among all who are in the world. This
soul thinks that it is more obligated to Him than anyone, and any fault it
commits pierces to the core of its being, and very rightly so.
7. These effects from the vision that were mentioned[7] and that are left
in the soul can be recognized by anyone of you whom the Lord has brought
by this road. Through them you can know that the vision is not an illusion
or a fancy. As I have said,[8] I hold that it would be impossible for a vision
caused by the devil to last so long and benefit the soul so remarkably,
clothing it with so much interior peace. It is not customary for something
so evil to do something so good, nor can the devil even though he may
want to. If he could, there would at once be some outward show of self-
esteem and thought of being better than others. But that the soul goes
about always so attached to God and with its thoughts so occupied in Him,
causes the devil such rage that even though he might try he would not
often return. And God is so faithful[9] that He will not allow the devil
much leeway with a soul that doesn't aim for anything else than to please
His Majesty and spend its life for His honor and glory; He will at once
ordain how it may be undeceived.
8. My theme is and will be that since, as a result of these favors from
God, the soul walks in the way here mentioned, His Majesty will make it
be the one to gain. And if He sometimes permits the devil to tempt the
soul, He will so ordain that the evil one will be defeated. As a result,
daughters, if someone should walk along this road, as I have said, do not
be astonished. It is good that there be fear and that we walk with more
care. Nor should you be self-confident, for since you are so favored you
could grow more careless. If you do not see in yourselves the effects that
were mentioned,[10] it will be a sign the favor is not from God. It is good
that at the beginning you speak about this vision under the seal of
confession with a very learned man, for learned men will give us light. Or,
with some very spiritual person, if there be one available; if there isn't, it's
better to speak with very learned man. Or with both a spiritual person and
a learned man if both are at hand. And should they tell you the vision is
fancied, do not be concerned, for the fancy can do little good or evil.
Commend yourself to the divine Majesty that he not let you be deceived.
If they should tell you your vision is from the devil, it will be a greater
trial, although no one will say this if he is indeed learned and the effects
mentioned are present. But if he says so, I know that the Lord Himself who
walks with you will console you, assure you, and give the confessor light
that he may give it to you.
9. If the confessor is a person whom, although he practices prayer, the
Lord has not led by this path, he will at once be frightened and condemn it.
For this reason I advise you to have a confessor who is very learned and, if
possible, also spiritual. The prioress should give permission for such
consultation. Even though, judging by the good life you live, you may be
walking securely, the prioress will be obligated to have you speak with a
confessor so that both you and she may walk securely. And once you have
spoken with these persons, be quiet and don't try to confer about the matter
with others; at times the devil causes some fears so excessive that they
force the soul, without its having anything really to fear, not to be satisfied
with one consultation. If, especially, the confessor has little experience,
and the soul sees that he is fearful, and he himself makes it continue to
speak of the matter, that which by rights should have remained very secret
is made public, and this soul is persecuted and tormented. For while it
thinks the matter is secret, it finds out that the visions are publicly known.
As a result many troublesome things happen to it and could happen to its
religious order, the way these times are going.[11] Hence a great deal of
discretion is necessary in this matter, and I highly recommend it to the
prioresses.
10. A prioress should not think that since a Sister has experiences like
these she is better than the others. The Lord leads each one as He sees is
necessary. This path is a preparation for becoming a very good servant of
God, provided that one cooperate. But sometimes God leads the weakest
along this path. And so there is nothing in it to approve or condemn. One
should consider the virtues and who it is who serves our Lord with greater
mortification, humility, and purity of conscience; this is the one who will
be the holiest. Yet, little can be known here below with certitude; we must
wait until the true Judge gives to each one what is merited. In heaven we
will be surprised to see how different His judgment is from what we can
understand here below. May He be forever praised, amen.
===================================

[1] This person is Teresa herself. See Life, ch. 27, nos. 2-5.
[2] In ch. 3.
[3] See Life, ch. 27, no. 3.
[4] See Life, ch. 25, no. 18; Spir. Test., 22, no. 1; 31; 48; 58, no. 16; Int.
Castle. VI, ch. 3, no. 5.
[5] In ch. 6, nos. 1-6.
[6] The series of favors mentioned in the preceding chapters.
[7] In nos. 3-5.
[8] In no. 3.
 [9] Allusion to 1 Co. 10:13. See ch. 3, no. 17. She also refers to this
statement of St. Paul in her Life, ch. 23, no. 15.
[10] In no. 1.
[11] She is alluding probably to interventions of the Spanish Inquisition.

Chapter 9
Treats of how the Lord communicates with the soul through an
imaginative vision; gives careful warning against desiring to walk by this
path and the reasons for such a warning. The chapter is very beneficial.

1. Now let us come to imaginative visions, for they say the devil
meddles more in these than in the ones mentioned,[1] and it must be so.
But when these imaginative visions are from our Lord, they in some way
seem to me more beneficial because they are in greater conformity with
our nature. I'm excluding from that comparison the visions the Lord shows
in the last dwelling place; no other visions are comparable to those.
2. Well now let us consider what I have told you in the preceding
chapter[2] about how this Lord is present. It is as though we had in a gold
vessel a precious stone having the highest value and curative powers. We
know very certainly that it is there although we have never seen it. But the
powers of the stone do not cease to benefit us provided that we carry it
with us.[3] Although we have never seen this stone, we do not on that
account cease to prize it, because through experience we have seen that it
has cured us of some illnesses for which it is suited. But we do not dare
look at it or open the reliquary, nor can we, because the manner of opening
this reliquary is known solely by the one to whom the jewel belongs. Even
though he lent us the jewel for our own benefit, he has kept the key to the
reliquary and will open it, as something belonging to him when he desires
to show us the contents, and he will take the jewel back when he wants to,
as he does.
3. Well, let us say now that sometimes he wants to open the reliquary
suddenly in order to do good to the one to whom he has lent it. Clearly, a
person will afterward be much happier when he remembers the admirable
splendor of the stone, and hence it will remain more deeply engrained in
his memory. So it happens here: when our Lord is pleased to give more
delight to this soul, He shows it clearly His most sacred humanity in the
way He desires; either as He was when He went about in the world or as
He is after His resurrection. And even though the vision happens so
quickly that we could compare it to a streak of lightning, this most
glorious image remains so engraved on the imagination that I think it
would be impossible to erase it until it is seen by the soul in that place
where it will be enjoyed without end.
4. Although I say "image" let it be understood that, in the opinion of the
one who sees it, it is not a painting but truly alive, and sometimes the Lord
is speaking to the soul and even revealing great secrets. But you must
understand that even though the soul is detained by this vision for some
while, it can no more fix its gaze on the vision than it can on the sun.
Hence this vision always passes very quickly, but not because its brilliance
is painful, like the sun's to the inner eye. It is the inner eye that sees all of
this. I wouldn't know how to say anything about a vision that comes
through the exterior sense of sight, because this person mentioned, of
whom I can speak so particularly,[4] had not undergone such a vision, and
one cannot be sure about what one has not experienced. The brilliance of
this inner vision is like that of an infused light coming from a sun covered
by something as transparent as a properly-cut diamond. The garments
seems made of a fine Dutch linen. Almost every time God grants this
favor the soul is in rapture, for in its lowliness it cannot suffer so
frightening a sight.
5. I say "frightening" because although the Lord's presence is the most
beautiful and delightful a person could imagine even were he to live and
labor a thousand years thinking about it (for it far surpasses the limitations
of our imagination or intellect), this presence bears such extraordinary
majesty that it causes the soul extreme fright. Certainly it's not necessary
here to ask how the soul knows, without having been told, who the Lord is,
for it is clearly revealed that He is the Lord of heaven and earth. This is
not true of earthly kings, for in themselves they would be held in little
account were it not for their retinue, or unless they tell who they are.
6. O Lord, how we Christians fail to know you! What will that day be
when You come to judge, for even when You come here with so much
friendliness to speak with your bride, she experiences such fear when she
looks at You? Oh, daughters, what will it be like when He says in so severe
a voice, depart you who are cursed by My Father?[5]
7. As a result of this favor granted by God, let us keep in mind the above
thought, for it will be no small blessing. Even St. Jerome, though he was a
saint, kept it in mind. And thus all that we suffer here in the strict
observance of the religious life will seem to us nothing; for, however long
it lasts, it lasts but a moment in comparison with eternity. I tell you
truthfully that as wretched as I am I have never had fear of the torments of
hell, for they would be nothing if compared to what I recall the condemned
will experience upon seeing the anger in these eyes of the Lord, so
beautiful, meek, and kind. It doesn't seem my heart could suffer such a
sight. I've felt this way all my life. How much more will the person fear
this sight to whom the Lord has thus represented Himself since the
experience is so powerful that it carries that person out of his senses. The
reason the soul is suspended must be that the Lord helps its weakness
which is joined to His greatness in this sublime communication.
8. When the soul can remain a long while gazing upon this Lord, I don't
believe it will be experiencing a vision but some intense reflection in
which some likeness is fashioned in the imagination; compared with a
vision this likeness is similar to something dead.
9. It happens to some persons (and I know this is true, for they have
spoken with me -- and not just three or four but many) that their
imagination is so weak, or their intellect so effective, or I don't know what
the cause is, that they become absorbed in their imagination to the extent
that everything they think about seems to be clearly seen. Yet, if they were
to see a real vision, they would know without any doubt whatsoever their
mistake, for they themselves are composing what they see with their
imagination. This imagining doesn't have any effect afterward, but they
are left cold -- much more than if they were to see a devotional image. It's
very wise not to pay any attention to this kind of imagining and thus what
was seen is forgotten much more than a dream.
10. In the vision we are dealing with the above is not so: rather, while
the soul is very far from thinking that anything will be seen, or having the
thought even pass through its mind, suddenly the vision is represented to it
all at once and stirs all the faculties and senses with a great fear and
tumult so as to place them afterward in that happy peace. Just as there was
a tempest and tumult that came from heaven when St. Paul was hurled to
the ground,[6] here in this interior world there is a great stirring; and in a
moment, as I have said,[7] all remains calm, and this soul is left so well
instructed about so many great truths that it has no need of any other
master. For without any effort on the soul's part, true Wisdom has taken
away the mind's dullness and leaves a certitude, which lasts for some time,
that this favor is from God. However much the soul is told the contrary,
others cannot then cause it fear that there could be any deception.
Afterward, if the confessor puts fear in it, God allows it to waver and think
that because of its sins it could possibly be deceived. But it does not
believe this; rather, as I have said concerning those other things,[8] the
devil can stir up doubts, as he does with temptations against matters of
faith, that do not allow the soul to be firm in its certitude. But the more the
devil fights against that certitude, the more certain the soul is that the
devil could not have left it with so many blessings, as they really are, for
he cannot do so much in the interior of the soul. The devil can present a
vision, but not with this truth and majesty and these results.
11. Since the confessors cannot witness this vision -- nor perhaps, can it
be explained by the one to whom God grants this favor -- they fear and
rightly so. Thus it's necessary to proceed with caution, wait for the time
when these apparitions will bear fruit, and move along little by little
looking for the humility they leave in the soul and the fortitude in virtue.
If the vision is from the devil, he will soon show a sign, and will be caught
in a thousand lies. If the confessor has experience and has undergone these
experiences, he needs little time for discernment; immediately in the
account given he will see whether the vision is from God or the
imagination or the devil, especially if His Majesty has given him the gift
of discernment of spirits. If he has this latter as well as learning, even
though he may have no experience, he will recognize the true vision very
well.
12. What is necessary, Sisters, is that you proceed very openly and
truthfully with your confessor. I don't mean in regard to telling your sins,
for that is obvious, but in giving an account of your prayer. If you do not
give such an account, I am not sure you are proceeding well, nor that it is
God who is teaching you. He is very fond of our speaking as truthfully and
clearly to the one who stands in His place as we would to Him and of our
desiring that the confessor understand all our thoughts and even more our
deeds however small they be. If you do this you don't have to go about
disturbed or worried. Even if the vision is not from God, it will do you no
harm if you have humility and a good conscience. His Majesty knows how
to draw good from evil, and the road along which the devil wanted to make
you go astray will be to your great gain. Thinking that God grants you such
wonderful favors, you will force yourselves to please Him more and be
always remembering His image. As a very learned man said,[9] the devil
is a great painter and that if the devil were to show him a living image of
the Lord, he wouldn't be grieved but allow the image to awaken his
devotion, and that he would thereby wage war on the devil with that evil-
one's own wickedness. Even though a painter may be a very poor one, a
person shouldn't on that account fail to reverence the image he makes if it
is a painting of our every Good.
13. That learned man was strongly opposed to the advice some gave
about making the fig[10] when seeing a vision, for he used to say that
wherever we see a painting of our King we must reverence it. And I see
that he is right, because even here below a similar action would be
regretted: If a person knew that before a portrait of himself another whom
he loved manifested such contempt, he would be unhappy about the act.
Well how much greater reason there is always to have respect for any
crucifix or portrait we see of our Emperor? Although I have written of this
elsewhere,[11] I am glad to write of it here, for I saw that a person went
about in distress when ordered to use this remedy.[12] I don't know who
invented a thing that could so torment a person who wasn't able to do
anything else than obey, if the confessor gave her this counsel, because she
thought she would go astray if she didn't obey. My counsel is that even
though a confessor gives you such advice, you should humbly tell him this
reason and not accept his counsel. The good reasons given me by that
learned man I found very acceptable.
14. A wonderful benefit the soul draws from this favor of the Lord is
that when it thinks of Him or of His life and Passion it remembers His
most meek and beautiful countenance. This remembrance is the greatest
consolation, just as here below it would be far more consoling to see a
person who has done a great deal of good for us than someone we had
never met. I tell you that so delightful a remembrance brings much
consolation and benefit.
Many are the other blessings these visions bring, but since so much has
been said about such effects, and more will be said, I don't want to tire
myself, or tire you, but advise you strongly that when you learn or hear
that God grants these favors to souls you never beseech Him or desire Him
to lead you by this path.
15. Although this path may seem to you very good, one to be highly
esteemed and reverenced, desiring it is inappropriate for certain reasons:
First, the desire to be given what you have never deserved shows a lack of
humility, and so I believe that whoever desires this path will not have
much humility. Just as the thoughts of a lowly workman are far from any
desire to be king since such a thing seems impossible to him, and he thinks
he doesn't deserve it, so too with the humble person in similar matters. I
believe that these favors will never be given to those who desire them,
because before granting them God gives a deep self-knowledge. For how
will he who has such desires understand in truth that he is being granted a
very great favor at not being in hell? Second, such a person will very
certainly be deceived or in great danger because the devil needs nothing
more than to see a little door open before playing a thousand tricks on us.
Third, the imagination itself, when there is a great desire, makes a person
think that he sees what he desires and hears it, as with those who desiring
something during the day and thinking a great deal about it happen to
dream of it at night. Fourth, it would be extremely bold to want to choose
a path while not knowing what suits me more. Such a matter should be left
to the Lord who knows me -- for He leads me along the path that is fitting
-- so that in all things I might do His will. Fifth, do you think the trials
suffered by those to whom the Lord grants these favors are few? No, they
are extraordinary and of many kinds. How do you know you would be able
to bear them? Sixth, by the very way you think you will gain, you will
lose, as Saul did by being king.[13]
16. In sum, Sisters, besides these reasons there are others; believe me,
the safest way is to want only what God wants. He knows more than we
ourselves do, and He loves us. Let us place ourselves in His hands so that
His will may be done in us, and we cannot err if with a determined will we
always maintain this attitude. And you must note that greater glory is not
merited by receiving a large number of these favors; rather, on the
contrary the recipients of these favors are obliged to serve more since they
have received more. The Lord doesn't take away from us that which,
because it lies within our power, is more meritorious. So there are many
holy persons who have never received one of these favors; and others who
receive them but are not holy. And do not think the favors are given
continually; rather, for each time the Lord grants them there are many
trials. Thus, the soul doesn't think about receiving more but about how to
serve for what it has received.
17. It is true that this vision must be a powerful help toward possessing
the virtues with higher perfection, but the person who has gained them at
the cost of his own labors will merit much more. I know a person or two
persons -- one was a man -- to whom the Lord had granted some of these
favors, who were so desirous of serving His Majesty at their own cost,
without these great delights, and so anxious to suffer that they complained
to our Lord because He bestowed the favors on them, and if they could
decline receiving these gifts they would do so.[14] I am speaking not of
the delights coming from these visions -- for in the end these persons see
that the visions are very beneficial and to be highly esteemed -- but of
those the Lord gives in contemplation.
18. It is true that these desires also, in my opinion, are supernatural and
characteristic of souls very much inflamed in love. Such souls would want
the Lord to see that they do not serve Him for pay. Thus, as I have said,
[15] they never, as a motive for making the effort to serve more, think
about receiving glory for anything they do. But their desire is to satisfy
love, and it is love's nature to serve with deeds in a thousand ways. If it
could, love would want to discover ways of consuming the soul within
itself. And if it were necessary to be always annihilated for the greater
honor of God, love would do so very eagerly. May He be praised forever,
amen. For in lowering Himself to commune with such miserable creatures,
He wants to show His greatness.
===================================

[1] In ch. 8; the intellectual visions.

[2] In nos. 2-3.
 [3] A popular belief in Teresa's time was that certain stones had curative
powers; for example, the bezoar.
[4] Teresa is referring to herself. See Life, ch. 28, especially no. 4; Spir.
Test., 58, no. 15, in which she states that "she never saw anything with her
bodily eyes."
[5] Mt. 25:41.
[6] Ac. 9:3-4.
[7] In ch. 8, no. 3.
[8] In ch. 8, nos. 4, 8.
[9] She is referring to Fr. Domingo Báñez, O.P. See her Book of
Foundations, ch. 8, no. 3.
[10] See Life, ch. 25, nos. 5-6.
[11] In Foundations, ch. 8, no. 3.
[12] This person is herself. See Life, ch. 29, nos. 5-6.
[13] See 1 S. 15:10-11 {1 K. 15:10-11}.
[14] She is speaking of herself. The man could have been St. John of the
Cross who was confessor at the monastery of the Incarnation in Avila
when St. Teresa was prioress there from 1571-1574.
[15] In no. 16; IV, ch. 2, no. 9.

Chapter 10
Tells about other favors God grants the soul, in a way different from
those just mentioned, and of the great profit that comes from them.

1. In many ways does the Lord communicate Himself to the soul

through these apparitions. He grants some of them when it is afflicted;
others, when a great trial is about to come; others, so that His Majesty
might take His delight in the soul and give delight to it. There's no reason
to go into further detail about each, since my intention is only to explain
the different favors there are on this road, insofar as I understand them.
Thus you will know, Sisters, their nature and their effects, lest we fancy
that everything imagined is a vision. When what you see is an authentic
vision, you won't go about disturbed or afflicted if you understand that
such a thing is possible. The devil gains much and is extremely pleased to
see a soul afflicted and disquieted, for he knows that disturbance impedes
it from being totally occupied in loving and praising God.
His Majesty communicates Himself in other ways that are more
sublime, and less dangerous because the devil, I believe, will be unable to
counterfeit them. Thus, since these latter are something very secret, it is
difficult to explain them, whereas the imaginative visions are easier to
explain.
2. It will happen, when the Lord is pleased, that while the soul is in
prayer and very much in its senses a suspension will suddenly be
experienced in which the Lord will reveal deep secrets. It seems the soul
sees these secrets in God Himself, for they are not visions of the most
sacred humanity. Although I say the soul sees, it doesn't see anything, for
the favor is not an imaginative vision but very much an intellectual one. In
this vision it is revealed how all things are seen in God and how He has
them all in Himself.[1] This favor is most beneficial. Even though it
passes in a moment, it remains deeply engraved in the soul and causes the
greatest confusion. The evil of offending God is seen more clearly,
because while being in God Himself (I mean being within Him) we
commit great evils. I want to draw a comparison -- if I succeed -- so as to
explain this to you. For although what I said is true, and we hear it often,
either we do not pay attention to this truth or we do not want to understand
it. If the matter were understood, it doesn't seem it would be possible to be
so bold.
3. Let's suppose that God is like an immense and beautiful dwelling or
palace and that this palace, as I say, is God Himself.[2] Could the sinner,
perhaps, so as to engage in his evil deeds leave this palace? No, certainly
not; rather, within the palace itself, that is within God Himself, the
abominations, indecent actions, and evil deeds committed by us sinners
take place. Oh, frightful thought, worthy of deep reflection, and very
beneficial for those of us who know little. We don't completely understand
these truths, for otherwise it wouldn't be possible to be so foolishly
audacious! Let us consider, Sisters, the great mercy and compassion of
God in not immediately destroying us there, and be extremely thankful to
Him, and let us be ashamed to feel resentment about anything that is said
or done against us. The greatest evil of the world is that God, our Creator,
suffers so many evil things from His creatures within His very self and
that we sometimes resent a word said in our absence and perhaps with no
evil intention.
4. Oh, human misery! When, daughters, will we imitate this great God?
Oh, let us not think we are doing anything by suffering injuries, but we
should very eagerly endure everything, and let us love the one who offends
us since this great God has not ceased to love us even though we have
offended Him very much. Thus the Lord is right in wanting all to pardon
the wrongs done to them.[3]
I tell you, daughters, that even though this vision passes quickly it is a
great favor from our Lord if one desires to benefit from it by keeping it
habitually present.
5. It also happens very quickly and ineffably that God will show within
Himself a truth that seems to leave in obscurity all those there are in
creatures, and one understands very clearly that God alone is Truth, unable
to lie.[4] What David says in a psalm about every man being a liar is
clearly understood.[5] However frequently the verse may be heard, it is
never understood as it is in this vision. God is everlasting Truth. I am
reminded of Pilate, how he was often questioning our Lord when during
the Passion he asked Him, "What is truth?"[6] and of the little we
understand here below about this supreme Truth.
6. I would like to be able to explain more about this, but it is
unexplainable. Let us conclude, Sisters, that in order to live in conformity
with our God and Spouse in something, it will be well if we always study
diligently how to walk in this truth. I'm not merely saying that we should
not tell lies, for in that regard, glory to God, I already notice that you take
great care in these houses not to tell a lie for anything. I'm saying that we
should walk in truth before God and people in as many ways as possible.
Especially, there should be no desire that others consider us better than we
are. And in our works we should attribute to God what is His and to
ourselves what is ours and strive to draw out the truth in everything. Thus,
we shall have little esteem for this world, which is a complete lie and
falsehood, and as such will not endure.
7. Once I was pondering why our Lord was so fond of this virtue of
humility, and this thought came to me -- in my opinion not as a result of
reflection but suddenly: It is because God is supreme Truth; and to be
humble is to walk in truth, for it is a very deep truth that of ourselves we
have nothing good but only misery and nothingness. Whoever does not
understand this walks in falsehood. The more anyone understands it the
more he pleases the supreme Truth because he is walking in truth. Please
God, Sisters, we will be granted the favor never to leave this path of self-
knowledge, amen.
8. Our Lord grants these favors to the soul because, as to one to whom
He is truly betrothed, one who is already determined to do His will in
everything, He desires to give it some knowledge of how to do His will
and of His grandeurs. There's no reason to deal with more than these two
things I mentioned[7] since they seem to me very beneficial. In similar
things there is nothing to fear; rather, the Lord should be praised because
He gives them. The devil, in my opinion, and even one's own imagination
have little capacity at this level, and so the soul is left with profound
satisfaction.
===================================

[1] See Life, ch. 40, no. 9.

[2] For the origin of this comparison see Life, ch. 40, no. 10.
[3] Allusion to Mt. 6:12, 15; Lk. 6:37.
[4] Teresa gives a personal account of this experience in Life, ch. 40,
nos. 1-4.
[5] Ps. 116:11.
[6] Jn. 18:36-38.
[7] In nos. 2 and 5.

Chapter 11
Treats of some desires God gives the soul that are so powerful and
vehement they place it in danger of death. Treats also of the benefits
caused by this favor the Lord grants.

1. Do you think that all these favors the Spouse has bestowed on the
soul will be sufficient to satisfy the little dove or butterfly -- don't think I
have forgotten it -- so that it may come to rest in the place where it will
die? No, certainly not; rather this little butterfly is much worse. Even
though it may have been receiving these favors for many years, it always
moans and goes about sorrowful because they leave it with greater pain.
The reason is that since it is getting to know ever more the grandeurs of its
God and sees itself so distant and far from enjoying Him, the desire for the
Lord increases much more; also, love increases in the measure the soul
discovers how much this great God and Lord deserves to be loved. And
this desire continues gradually growing in these years so that it reaches a
point of suffering as great as that I shall now speak of. I have said "years"
so as to be in line with the experience of that person I've mentioned here,
[1] for I well understand that one must not put limits on God; in a moment
He can bring a soul to the lofty experience mentioned here. His Majesty
has the power to do whatever He wants and is eager to do many things for
us.
2. Well, here is what happens sometimes to a soul that experiences these
anxious longings, tears, sighs, and great impulses that were mentioned[2]
(for all of these seem to proceed from our love with deep feelings, but they
are all nothing in comparison with this other experience that I'm going to
explain, for they resemble a smoking fire that though painful can be
endured). While this soul is going about in this manner, burning up within
itself, a blow is felt from elsewhere (the soul doesn't understand from
where or how). The blow comes often through a sudden thought or word
about death's delay. Or the soul will feel pierced by a fiery arrow.[3] I don't
say that there is an arrow, but whatever the experience, the soul realizes
clearly that the feeling couldn't come about naturally. Neither is the
experience that of a blow, although I said "blow"; but it causes a sharp
wound. And, in my opinion, it isn't felt where earthly sufferings are felt,
but in the very deep and intimate part of the soul, where this sudden flash
of lightning reduces to dust everything it finds in this earthly nature of
ours; for while this experience lasts nothing can be remembered about our
being. In an instant the experience so binds the faculties that they have no
freedom for anything except those things that will make this pain increase.
3. I wouldn't want what I say to appear to be an exaggeration. Indeed, I
see that my words fall short because the experience is unexplainable. It is
an enrapturing of the faculties and senses away from everything that is not
a help, as I said, to feeling this affliction. For the intellect is very alive to
understanding the reason why the soul feels far from God; and His
Majesty helps at that time with a vivid knowledge of Himself in such a
way that the pain increases to a point that makes the one who experiences
it begin to cry aloud. Though she is a person who has suffered and is used
to suffering severe pains, she cannot then do otherwise. This feeling is not
in the body, as was said,[4] but in the interior part of the soul. As a result,
this person understood how much more severe the feelings of the soul are
than those of the body, and she reflected that such must be the nature of
the sufferings of souls in purgatory, for the fact that these souls have no
body doesn't keep them from suffering much more than they do through
all the bodily sufferings they endure here on earth.
4. I saw a person in this condition; truly she thought she was dying, and
this was not so surprising because certainly there is great danger of death.
[5] And thus, even though the experience lasts a short while, it leaves the
body very disjointed, and during that time the heart beat is as slow as it
would be if a person were about to render his soul to God. This is no
exaggeration, for the natural heat fails, and the fire so burns the soul that
with a little more intensity God would have fulfilled the soul's desires.
This is true not because a person feels little or much pain in the body;
although it is disjointed, as I said, in such a way that for three of four days
afterward one feels great sufferings and doesn't even have the strength to
write. And it even seems to me always that the body is left weaker. The
reason one doesn't feel the pain must be that the interior feeling of the soul
is so much greater that one doesn't pay any attention to the body. When
one experiences a very sharp bodily pain, other bodily pains are hardly felt
even though there may be many. I have indeed experienced this. With the
presence of this spiritual pain, I don't believe that physical pain would be
felt, little or much, even if the body were cut in pieces.
5. You will tell me that this feeling is an imperfection and ask why the
soul doesn't conform to the will of God since it is so surrendered to Him.
Until now it could do this, and has spent its life doing so. As for now, the
reasoning faculty is in such a condition that the soul is not the master of it,
nor can the soul think of anything else than of why it is grieving, of how it
is absent from its Good, and of why it should want to live. It feels a
strange solitude because no creature in all the earth provides it company,
nor do I believe would any heavenly creature, not being the One whom it
loves; rather, everything torments it. But the soul sees that it is like a
person hanging, who cannot support himself on any earthly thing; nor can
it ascend to heaven. On fire with this thirst, it cannot get to the water; and
the thirst is not one that is endurable but already at such a point that
nothing will take it away. Nor does the soul desire that the thirst be taken
away save by that water of which our Lord spoke to the Samaritan woman.
[6] Yet no one gives such water to the soul.
6. Oh, God help me! Lord, how You afflict Your lovers! But everything
is small in comparison with what You give them afterward. It's natural that
what is worth much costs much. Moreover, if the suffering is to purify this
soul so that it might enter the seventh dwelling place -- just as those who
will enter heaven must be cleansed in purgatory -- it is as small as a drop
of water in the sea. Furthermore, in spite of all this torment and affliction,
which cannot be surpassed, I believe, by any earthly afflictions (for this
person had suffered many bodily as well as spiritual pains, but they all
seemed nothing in comparison with this suffering), the soul feels that the
pain is precious; so precious -- it understands very well -- that one could
not deserve it. However, this awareness is not of a kind that alleviates the
suffering in any way. But with this knowledge the soul suffers the pain
very willingly and would suffer it all its life, if God were to be thereby
served; although the soul would not then die once but be always dying, for
truly the suffering is no less than death.
7. Well, let us consider, Sisters, those who are in hell, who do not have
this conformity or this consolation and spiritual delight which is placed by
God in the soul; nor do they see that their suffering is beneficial, but they
always suffer more and more. The torments of the soul are so much more
severe than those of the body, and the torment souls in hell suffer is
incomparably greater than the suffering we have here mentioned, and
must, it is seen, last forever and ever. What, then, will the suffering of
these unfortunate souls be? And what can we do or suffer in so short a life
that would amount to anything if we were thereby to free ourselves of
those terrible and eternal torments? I tell you it would be impossible to
explain how keenly felt is the suffering of the soul, and how different it is
from that of the body, if one had not experienced these things. And the
Lord Himself desires that we understand this so that we may know the
extraordinary debt we owe Him for bringing us to a state in which through
His mercy we hope He will free us and pardon our sins.
 8. Well, to return to what we were dealing with[7] -- for we left this soul
with much pain -- this pain lasts only a short while in such intensity. At the
most it will last three or four hours, in my opinion, because if it were to
last a long while natural weakness would not be able to endure it unless by
a miracle. It has happened that the experience lasted no more than a
quarter of an hour but left the soul in pieces. Truly, that time the person
lost her senses completely, and the pain came in its rigor merely from her
hearing a word about life not ending. This happened while she was
engaged in conversation during Easter week, the last day of the octave,
after she had spent all of Easter in so much dryness she almost didn't know
it was Easter. In no way can the soul resist. It can no more do so than it
can, if thrown in a fire, stop flames from having heat and burning it. This
feeling is not one that can be concealed from others, but those who are
present are aware of the great danger in which the person lies, although
they cannot be witnesses to what is taking place interiorly. True, they
provide some company, as though they were shadows; and so, like
shadows, do all earthly things appear to that person.
9. And that you realize, in case you might sometime have this
experience, what is due to our weakness, it happens at times that while in
that state, as you have seen, the soul dies with the desire to die. For the fire
afflicts so much that seemingly hardly anything keeps the soul from
leaving the body. The soul truly fears and lest it end up dying would want
the pain to abate. The soul indeed understands that this fear is from natural
weakness, because on the other hand its desire to die is not taken away.
Nor can a remedy be found to remove this pain until the Lord Himself
takes it away, usually by means of a great rapture, or with some vision,
where the true Comforter consoles and strengthens the soul that it might
desire to live as long as God wills.
10. This experience is a painful one, but the soul is left with the most
beneficial effects, and fear of the trials that can come its way is lost. When
compared to the painful feeling experienced in the soul, the trials don't
seem to amount to anything. The benefits are such that one would be
pleased to suffer the pain often. But one can in no way do this, nor is there
any means for suffering the experience again. The soul must wait until the
Lord desires to give this favor, just as there is no way to resist it or remove
it when it comes. The soul is left with greater contempt for the world than
before because it sees that nothing in the world was any help to it in that
torment, and it is much more detached from creatures because it now sees
that only the Creator can console and satisfy it. And it has greater fear of
offending Him, taking more care not to do so, because it sees that He can
also torment as well as console.
11. Two experiences, it seems to me, which lie on this spiritual path, put
a person in danger of death: the one is this pain, for it truly is a danger,
and no small one; the other is overwhelming joy and delight, which
reaches so extraordinary a peak that indeed the soul, I think, swoons to the
point that it is hardly kept from leaving the body -- indeed, its happiness
could not be considered small.
Here you will see, Sisters, whether I was right in saying that courage is
necessary,[8] and whether when you ask the Lord for these favors He is
right in answering as He did the sons of Zebedee, are you able to drink the
chalice?[9]
12. I believe all of us, Sisters, will answer yes; and very rightly so, for
His Majesty gives strength to the one He sees has need of it. He defends
these souls in all things; when they are persecuted and criticized He
answers for them as he did for the Magdalene[10] -- if not through words,
through deeds. And in the very end, before they die, He will pay for
everything at once, as you will now see. May He be blessed forever, and
may all creatures praise Him, amen.
===================================

[1] The person is herself. See ch. 10, nos. 2-5.

[2] In ch. 2, no. 1; ch. 6, no. 6; ch. 8, no. 4.
[3] Teresa describes an equivalent experience of hers that took place at
Salamanca in 1571. See Spir. Test., 12, nos. 1-5.
[4] In no. 2.
[5] She is speaking of herself. See Spir. Test., 59, no. 14; Life, ch. 20,
nos. 12-13.
[6] Jn. 4:7-14.
[7] In nos. 2 and 4.
[8] See ch. 4.
[9] Mt. 20:22.
[10] Lk. 7:40-48.
 THE SEVENTH DWELLING PLACES
Contains Four Chapters
Chapter 1
Treats of the great favors God grants souls that have entered the seventh
dwelling places. Tells how in her opinion there is a certain difference
between the soul and the spirit, although the soul is all one. The chapter
contains noteworthy doctrine.

1. You will think, Sisters, that since so much has been said about this
spiritual path it will be impossible for anything more to be said. Such a
thought would be very foolish. Since the greatness of God is without
limits, His works are too. Who will finish telling of His mercies and
grandeurs? To do so is impossible, and thus do not be surprised at what
was said, and will be said, because it is but a naught in comparison to what
there is to tell of God. He grants us a great favor in having communicated
these things to a person through whom we can know about them. Thus the
more we know about His communication to creatures the more we will
praise His grandeur and make the effort to have esteem for souls in which
the Lord delights so much. Each one of us has a soul, but since we do not
prize souls as is deserved by creatures made in the image of God we do not
understand the deep secrets that lie in them.
May it please His Majesty, if He may thereby be served to move my pen
and give me understanding of how I might say something about the many
things to be said and which God reveals to the one whom He places in this
dwelling place. I have earnestly begged this of His Majesty since He
knows that my intention is to make known His mercies that His name may
be more praised and glorified.
2. I hope, not for myself but for you, Sisters, that He may grant me this
favor. Thus you will understand how important it is for you not to impede
your Spouse’s celebration of this spiritual marriage with your souls, since
this marriage brings so many blessings, as you will see. O great God! It
seems that a creature as miserable as I should tremble to deal with a thing
so foreign to what I deserve to understand. And, indeed, I have been
covered with confusion wondering if it might not be better to conclude my
discussion of this dwelling place with just a few words. For it seems to me
that others will think I know about it through experience. This makes me
extremely ashamed; for, knowing what I am, such a thought is a terrible
thing. On the other hand, the thought of neglecting to explain this dwelling
place seemed to me to be a temptation and weakness on my part, no matter
how many of the above judgments you make about me. May God be
praised and understood a little more, and let all the world cry out against
me; how much more so in that I will perhaps be dead when what I write is
seen. May He be blessed who lives, and will live, forever, amen.
3. When our Lord is pleased to have pity on this soul that He has already
taken spiritually as His spouse because of what it suffers and has suffered
through its desires, He brings it, before the spiritual marriage is
consummated, into His dwelling place which is this seventh. For just as in
heaven so in the soul His Majesty must have a room where He dwells
alone. Let us call it another heaven. It’s very important for us, Sisters, not
to think the soul is something dark. Since we do not see the soul, it usually
seems that there is no such thing as interior light but only the exterior light
which we all see, and that a certain darkness is in our soul. As for the soul
that is not in grace, I confess this is so, but not through any fault of the
Sun of Justice who dwells within it giving it being but because such a soul
is incapable of receiving the light, as I believe I have said in the first
dwelling place, according to what a certain person understood.[1] For
these unfortunate souls are as though in a dark prison, bound hands and
feet, in regard to doing anything good that would enable them to merit,
and blind and deaf. We can rightly take pity on them and reflect that at one
time we were ourselves in this condition and that the Lord can also have
mercy on them.
4. Let us take special care, Sisters, to beg this mercy of Him and not be
careless, for it is a most generous alms to pray for those who are in mortal
sin. Suppose we were to see a Christian with his hands fastened behind his
back by a strong chain, bound to a post, and dying of hunger, not because
of lack of food, for there are very choice dishes beside him, but because he
cannot take hold of the food and eat, and even has great loathing for it; and
suppose he sees that he is about to breathe his last and die, not just an
earthly death but an eternal one. Wouldn't it be a terrible cruelty to stand
looking at him and not feed him? Well, then, what if through your prayer
the chains could be loosed? The answer is obvious. For the love of God I
ask you always to remember in your prayers souls in mortal sin.
5. We are not speaking about them now but about those who already by
the mercy of God have done penance for their sins and are in the state of
grace. Thus we are not reflecting on something restricted to a corner but
on an interior world where there is room for so many and such attractive
dwelling places, as you have seen; and indeed it is right that the soul be
like this since within it there is a dwelling place for God.
Now then, when His Majesty is pleased to grant the soul this divine
marriage that was mentioned,[2] He first brings it into His own dwelling
place. He desires that the favor be different from what it was at other
times when He gave the soul raptures. I really believe that in rapture he
unites it with Himself, as well as in the prayer of union that was
mentioned.[3] But it doesn't seem to the soul that it is called to enter into
its center, as it is here in this dwelling place, but called to the superior
part. These things matter little; whether the experience comes in one way
or another, the Lord joins the soul to Himself. But He does so by making it
blind and deaf, as was St. Paul in his conversion,[4] and by taking away
perception of the nature and kind of favor enjoyed, for the great delight the
soul then feels is to see itself near God. Yet when He joins it to Himself, it
doesn't understand anything; for all the faculties are lost.
6. In this seventh dwelling place the union comes about in a different
way: our good God now desires to remove the scales from the soul's eyes
and let it see and understand, although in a strange way, something of the
favor He grants it. When the soul is brought into that dwelling place, the
Most Blessed Trinity, all three Persons, through an intellectual vision, is
revealed to it through a certain representation of the truth. First there
comes an enkindling in the spirit in the manner of a cloud of magnificent
splendor; and these Persons are distinct, and through an admirable
knowledge the soul understands as a most profound truth that all three
Persons are one substance and one power and one knowledge and one God
alone. It knows in such a way that what we hold by faith, it understands,
we can say, through sight -- although the sight is not with the bodily eyes
nor with the eyes of the soul, because we are not dealing with an
imaginative vision. Here all three Persons communicate themselves to it,
speak to it, and explain those words of the Lord in the Gospel: that He and
the Father and the Holy Spirit will come to dwell with the soul that loves
Him and keeps His commandments.[5]
7. Oh, God help me! How different is hearing and believing these words
from understanding their truth in this way! Each day this soul becomes
more amazed, for these Persons never seem to leave it any more, but it
clearly beholds, in the way that was mentioned,[6] that they are within it.
In the extreme interior, in some place very deep within itself, the nature of
which it doesn't know how to explain, because of a lack of learning, it
perceives this divine company.
8. You may think that as a result the soul will be outside itself and so
absorbed that it will be unable to be occupied with anything else. On the
contrary, the soul is much more occupied than before with everything
pertaining to the service of God; and once its duties are over it remains
with that enjoyable company. If the soul does not fail God, He will never
fail, in my opinion, to make His presence clearly known to it. It has strong
confidence that since God has granted this favor He will not allow it to
lose the favor. Though the soul thinks this, it goes about with greater care
than ever not to displease Him in anything.
9. It should be understood that this presence is not felt so fully, I mean
so clearly, as when revealed the first time or at other times when God
grants the soul this gift. For if the presence were felt so clearly, the soul
would find it impossible to be engaged in anything else or even to live
among people. But even though the presence is not perceived with this
very clear light, the soul finds itself in this company every time it takes
notice. Let's say that the experience resembles that of a person who after
being in a bright room with others finds himself, once the shutters are
closed, in darkness. The light by which he could see them is taken away.
Until it returns he doesn't see them, but not for that reason does he stop
knowing they are present. It might be asked whether the soul can see them
when it so desires and the light returns. To see them does not lie in its
power, but depends on when our Lord desires that the window of the
intellect be opened. Great is the mercy He shows in never departing from
the soul and in desiring that it perceive Him so manifestly.
 10. It seems that the divine Majesty desires, through this wonderful
company, to prepare the soul for more. Clearly, the soul will be truly
helped in every way to advance in perfection and to lose the fear it
sometimes had of the other favors He granted it, as was said.[7] Such was
the experience of this person,[8] for in everything she found herself
improved, and it seemed to her, despite the trials she underwent and the
business affairs she had to attend to, that the essential part of her soul
never moved from that room. As a result, it seemed to her that there was,
in a certain way, a division in her soul. And while suffering some great
trials a little after God granted her this favor, she complained of that part
of the soul, as Martha complained of Mary,[9] and sometimes pointed out
that it was there always enjoying that quietude at its own pleasure while
leaving her in the midst of so many trials and occupations that she could
not keep it company.
11. This will seem to you, daughters, to be foolishness, but it truly
happens in this way. Although we know that the soul is all one, what I say
is no mere fancy; the experience is very common. Wherefore I said[10]
that interior things are seen in such a way that one understands with
certitude that there is some kind of difference, a difference clearly
recognized, between the soul and the spirit, even though they are both one.
So delicate a division is perceived that sometimes it seems the one
functions differently from the other, and so does the savor the Lord desires
to give them seem different. It also seems to me that the soul and the
faculties are not one but different. There are so many and such delicate
things in the interior that it would be boldness on my part to set out to
explain them. In heaven we will see all this, if the Lord in His mercy
grants us the favor of bringing us there where we shall understand these
secrets.
===================================

[1] In I, ch. 2, nos. 1-3.

[2] In no. 3.
[3] In the fifth dwelling place.
[4] Ac. 9:8.
[5] Jn. 14:23. For another description of this grace see Spir. Test., 13.
[6] Through an intellectual vision; see no. 6.
 [7] In VI, ch. 3, nos. 3 and 17; ch. 6, no. 6; ch. 7, no. 3; ch. 8, nos. 3-4.
[8] Teresa is referring to herself.
[9] Lk. 10:40.
[10] In VI, ch. 5, nos. 1 and 9.

Chapter 2
Continues on the same subject. Explains the difference between spiritual
union and spiritual marriage. Describes this difference through some
delicate comparisons.

1. Now then Let us deal with the divine and spiritual marriage, although
this great favor does not come to its perfect fullness as long as we live; for
if we were to withdraw from God, this remarkable blessing would be lost.
The first time the favor is granted, His Majesty desires to show Himself
to the soul through an imaginative vision of His most sacred humanity so
that the soul will understand and not be ignorant of receiving this
sovereign gift. With other persons the favor will be received in another
form. With regard to the one of whom we are speaking, the Lord
represented Himself to her, just after she had received Communion, in the
form of shining splendor, beauty, and majesty, as He was after His
resurrection, and told her that now it was time that she consider as her own
what belonged to Him and that He would take care of what was hers, and
He spoke other words destined more to be heard than to be mentioned.[1]
2. It may seem that this experience was nothing new since at other times
the Lord had represented Himself to the soul in such a way. The experience
was so different that it left her indeed stupefied and frightened: first,
because this vision came with great force; second, because of the words
the Lord spoke to her; and also because in the interior of her soul, where
He represented Himself to her, she had not seen other visions except the
former one.[2] You must understand that there is the greatest difference
between all the previous visions and those of this dwelling place. Between
the spiritual betrothal and the spiritual marriage the difference is as great
as that which exists between two who are betrothed and two who can no
longer be separated.[3]
 3. I have already said[4] that even though these comparisons are used,
because there are no others better suited to our purpose, it should be
understood that in this state there is no more thought of the body than if
the soul were not in it, but one's thought is only of the spirit. In the
spiritual marriage, there is still much less remembrance of the body
because this secret union takes place in the very interior center of the soul,
which must be where God Himself is, and in my opinion there is no need
of any door for Him to enter. I say there is no need of any door because
everything that has been said up until now seems to take place by means of
the senses and faculties, and this appearance of the humanity of the Lord
must also.[5] But that which comes to pass in the union of the spiritual
marriage is very different. The Lord appears in this center of the soul, not
in an imaginative vision but in an intellectual one, although more delicate
than those mentioned,[6] as He appeared to the apostles without entering
through the door when He said to them pax vobis.[7] What God
communicates here to the soul in an instant is a secret so great and a favor
so sublime -- and the delight the soul experiences so extreme -- that I don't
know what to compare it to. I can say only that the Lord wishes to reveal
for that moment, in a more sublime manner than through any spiritual
vision or taste, the glory of heaven. One can say no more -- insofar as can
be understood -- than that the soul, I mean the spirit, is made one with
God. For since His Majesty is also spirit, He has wished to show His love
for us by giving some persons understanding of the point to which this
love reaches so that we might praise His grandeur. For He has desired to be
so joined with the creature that, just as those who are married cannot be
separated,[8] He doesn't want to be separated from the soul.
4. The spiritual betrothal is different, for the two often separate. And the
union is also different because, even though it is the joining of two things
into one, in the end the two can be separated and each remains by itself.
We observe this ordinarily, for the favor of union with the Lord passes
quickly, and afterward the soul remains without that company; I mean,
without awareness of it. In this other favor from the Lord, no. The soul
always remains with its God in that center. Let us say that the union is like
the joining of two wax candles to such an extent that the flame coming
from them is but one, or that the wick, the flame, and the wax are all one.
But afterward one candle can be easily separated from the other and there
are two candles; the same holds for the wick. In the spiritual marriage the
union is like what we have when rain falls from the sky into a river or
fount; all is water, for the rain that fell from heaven cannot be divided or
separated from the water of the river. Or it is like what we have when a
little stream enters the sea, there is no means of separating the two. Or,
like the bright light entering a room through two different windows;
although the streams of light are separate when entering the room, they
become one.
5. Perhaps this is what St. Paul means in saying He that is joined or
united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him,[9] and is referring to this
sovereign marriage, presupposing that His Majesty has brought the soul to
it through union. And he also says: For me to live is Christ, and to die is
gain.[10] The soul as well, I think, can say these words now because this
state is the place where the little butterfly we mentioned[11] dies, and with
the greatest joy because its life is now Christ.
6. And that its life is Christ is understood better, with the passing of
time, by the effects this life has. Through some secret aspirations the soul
understands clearly that it is God who gives life to our soul. These
aspirations come very, very often in such a living way that they can in no
way be doubted. The soul feels them very clearly even though they are
indescribable. But the feeling is so powerful that sometimes the soul
cannot avoid the loving expressions they cause, such as: O Life of my life!
Sustenance that sustains me! and things of this sort. For from those divine
breasts where it seems God is always sustaining the soul there flow
streams of milk bringing comfort to all the people of the castle. It seems
the Lord desires that in some manner these others in the castle may enjoy
the great deal the soul is enjoying and that from that full-flowing river,
where this tiny fount is swallowed up, a spurt of that water will sometimes
be directed toward the sustenance of those who in corporeal things must
serve these two who are wed. Just as a distracted person would feel this
water if he were suddenly bathed in it, and would be unable to avoid
feeling it, so are these operations recognized, and even with greater
certitude. For just as a great gush of water could not reach us if it didn't
have a source, as I have said, so it is understood clearly that there is
Someone in the interior depths who shoots these arrows and gives life to
this life, and that there is a Sun in the interior of the soul from which a
brilliant light proceeds and is sent to the faculties. The soul, as I have said,
[12] does not move from that center nor is its peace lost; for the very One
who gave peace to the apostles when they were together[13] can give it to
the soul.
7. It has occurred to me that this greeting of the Lord must have
amounted to much more than is apparent from its sound. So, too, with the
Lord's words to the glorious Magdalene that she go in peace.[14] Since His
words are effected in us as deeds, they must have worked in such a manner
in those souls already disposed that everything corporeal in the soul was
taken away and it was left in pure spirit. Thus the soul could be joined in
this heavenly union with the uncreated Spirit. For it is very certain that in
emptying ourselves of all that is creature and detaching ourselves from it
for the love of God, the same Lord will fill us with Himself. And thus,
while Jesus our Lord was once praying for His apostles -- I don't
remember where -- He said that they were one with the Father and with
Him, just as Jesus Christ our Lord is in the Father and the Father is in
Him.[15] I don't know what greater love there can be than this. And all of
us are included here, for His Majesty said: I ask not only for them but for
all those who also will believe in me; and He says: I am in them.[16]
8. Oh, God help me, how true these words are! And how well they are
understood by the soul who is in this prayer and sees for itself. How well
we would all understand them if it were not for our own fault, since the
words of Jesus Christ, our King and Lord, cannot fail.[17] But since we
fail by not disposing ourselves and turning away from all that can hinder
this light, we do not see ourselves in this mirror that we contemplate,
where our image is engraved.
9. Well, to return to what we were saying.[18] The Lord puts the soul in
this dwelling of His, which is the center of the soul itself. They say that
the empyreal heaven where the Lord is does not move as do the other
heavens; similarly, it seems, in the soul that enters here there are none of
those movements that usually take place in the faculties and the
imagination and do harm to the soul, nor do these stirrings take away its
peace.
It seems I'm saying that when the soul reaches this state in which God
grants it this favor, it is sure of its salvation and safe from falling again. I
do not say such a thing, and wherever I so speak that it seems the soul is
secure, this should be taken to mean as long as the divine Majesty keeps it
in His hand and it does not offend Him. At least I know certainly that the
soul doesn't consider itself safe even though it sees itself in this state and
the state has lasted for some years. But it goes about with much greater
fear than before, guarding itself from any small offense against God and
with the strongest desires to serve Him, as will be said further on,[19] and
with habitual pain and confusion at seeing the little it can do and the great
deal to which it is obliged. This pain is no small cross but a very great
penance. For when this soul does penance, the delight will be greater in the
measure that the penance is greater. The true penance comes when God
takes away the soul's health and strength for doing penance. Even though I
have mentioned elsewhere[20] the great pain this lack causes, the pain is
much more intense here. All these things must come to the soul from its
roots, from where it is planted. The tree that is beside the running water is
fresher and gives more fruit. What is there, then, to marvel at in the
desires this soul has since its true spirit has become one with the heavenly
water we mentioned?[21]
10. Now then, to return to what I was saying,[22] it should not be
thought that the faculties, senses, and passions are always in this peace;
the soul is, yes. But in those other dwelling places, times of war, trial, and
fatigue are never lacking; however, they are such that they do not take the
soul from its place and its peace; that is, as a rule.
This center of our soul, or this spirit, is something so difficult to
explain, and even believe in, that I think, Sisters, I'll not give you the
temptation to disbelieve what I say, for I do not know how to explain this
center. That there are trials and sufferings and that at the same time the
soul is in peace is a difficult thing to explain. I want to make one or more
comparisons for you. Please God, I may be saying something through
them; but if not, I know that I'm speaking the truth in what I say.
11. The King is in His palace and there are many wars in his kingdom
and many painful things going on, but not on that account does he fail to
be at his post. So here, even though in those other dwelling places there is
much tumult and there are many poisonous creatures and the noise is
heard, no one enters that center dwelling place and makes the soul leave.
Nor do the things the soul hears make it leave; even though they cause it
some pain, the suffering is not such as to disturb it and take away its
peace. The passions are now conquered and have a fear of entering the
center because they would go away from there more subdued.
Our entire body may ache; but if the head is sound, the head will not
ache just because the body aches.
I am laughing to myself over these comparisons for they do not satisfy
me, but I don't know any others. You may think what you want; what I
have said is true.
===================================

[1] See her corresponding account in Spir. Test., 31.

[2] The one referred to in ch. 1, nos. 6-7.
[3] Teresa first wrote: "between two who have consummated marriage."
She then changed it to the present reading.
[4] In V, ch. 4, no. 3.
[5] See no. 1; Spir. Test., 31.
[6] See VI, ch. 8.
[7] Jn. 20:19-21. See V, ch. 1, no. 12.
[8] Again she changed what she had previously written, "those who have
consummated marriage," to the present reading.
[9] 1 Co. 6:17. This text from St. Paul and the application were written
between the lines. Teresa first wrote and then crossed out: "... we are made
one spirit with God if we love Him; he doesn't say that we are joined with
Him ... but are made one spirit with Him."
[10] Ph. 1:21. Teresa cited the passage in her own form of Latin: Mi
bivere Cristus es mori lucrum.
[11] See V, ch. 3, note 1.
[12] In no. 4.
[13] Jn. 20:19-21.
[14] Lk. 7:50.
[15] Jn. 17:21.
[16] Jn. 17:20, 23.
[17] Allusion to Lk. 21:33.
[18] In no. 3.
[19] In ch. 3, nos. 3 and 6; ch. 4, no. 2.
[20] Probably in V, ch. 2, nos. 7-11.
[21] In no. 4; see also IV, ch. 2.
 [22] In no. 9.

Chapter 3
Deals with the wonderful effects of this prayer that was mentioned. It is
necessary to pay attention and heed to these effects, for the difference
between them and the previous ones is remarkable.

1. Now, then, we are saying that this little butterfly has already died,
with supreme happiness for having found repose and because Christ lives
in it. Let us see what life it lives, or how this life differs from the life it
was living. For from the effects, we shall see if what was said is true. By
what I can understood these effects are the following.[1]
2. The first effect is a forgetfulness of self, for truly the soul, seemingly,
no longer is, as was said.[2] Everything is such that this soul doesn't know
or recall that there will be heaven or life or honor for it, because it
employs all it has in procuring the honor of God. It seems the words His
Majesty spoke to her produced the deed in her. They were that she look
after what is His and that He would look after what is hers.[3] Thus, the
soul doesn't worry about all that can happen. It experiences strange
forgetfulness, for, as I say, seemingly the soul no longer is or would want
to be anything in anything, except when it understands that there can come
from itself something by which the glory and honor of God may increase
even one degree. For this purpose the soul would very willingly lay down
its life.
3. Don't think by this, daughters, that a person fails to remember to eat
and sleep -- doing so is no small torment -- and to do all that he is obliged
to in conformity with his state in life. We are speaking of interior matters,
for there is little to say about exterior works. Rather, the soul's pain lies in
seeing that what it can now do by its own efforts amounts to nothing. For
no earthly thing would it fail to do all it can and understands to be for the
service of our Lord.
4. The second effect is that the soul has a great desire to suffer, but not
the kind of desire that disturbs it as previously. For the desire left in these
souls that the will of God be done in them reaches such an extreme that
they think everything His Majesty does it good. If he desires the soul to
suffer, well and good; if not, it doesn't kill itself as it used to.
5. These souls also have a deep interior joy when they are persecuted,
with much more peace than that mentioned, and without any hostile
feelings toward those who do, or desire to do, them evil. On the contrary,
such a soul gains a particular love for its persecutors, in such a way that if
it sees these latter in some trial it feels compassion and would take on any
burden to free them from their trial, and eagerly recommends them to God
and would rejoice to lose the favors His Majesty grants it if He would
bestow these same gifts on those others so that they wouldn't offend our
Lord.
6. You have already seen the trials and afflictions these souls have
experienced in order to die so as to enjoy our Lord.[4] What surprises me
most of all now is that they have just as great a desire to serve Him and
that through them He be praised and that they may benefit some soul if
they can. For not only do they not desire to die but they desire to live very
many years suffering the greatest trials if through these they can help that
the Lord be praised, even though in something very small. If they knew for
certain that in leaving the body the soul would enjoy God, they wouldn't
pay attention to that; nor do they think of the glory of the saints. They do
not desire at that time to be in glory. Their glory lies in being able some
way to help the Crucified, especially when they see He is so offended and
that few there are who, detached from everything else, really look after
His honor.
7. It is true that sometimes these things are forgotten, and the loving
desires to enjoy God and leave this exile return, especially when the soul
sees how little it serves Him. But soon it turns and looks within itself and
at how continually it experiences His presence, and with that it is content
and offers His Majesty the desire to live as the most costly offering it can
give Him.
It has no more fear of death than it would of a gentle rapture. The fact is
that He who gave those desires that were so excessive a torment, now
gives these others. May He be always blessed and praised.
8. The desires these souls have are no longer for consolations or
spiritual delights, since the Lord Himself is present with these souls and it
is His Majesty who now lives. Clearly, His life was nothing but a continual
torment, and He makes ours the same; at least with the desires, for in other
things He leads us as the weak, although souls share much in His fortitude
when He sees they have need of it.
There is great detachment from everything and a desire to be always
either alone or occupied in something that will benefit some soul. There
are no interior trials or feelings of dryness, but the soul lives with a
remembrance and tender love of our Lord. It would never want to go
without praising Him. When it becomes distracted the Lord Himself
awakens it in the manner mentioned,[5] for one sees most clearly that that
impulse, or I don't know what to call the feeling, proceeds from the
interior depths of the soul, as was said of the impulses in the previous
dwelling place.[6] Here, in this dwelling place, these impulses are
experienced most gently, but they do not proceed from the mind or the
memory, nor do they come from anything that would make one think the
soul did something on its own. This experience is an ordinary and frequent
one, for it has been observed carefully. Just as a fire does not shoot its
flames downward but upward, however great a fire is enkindled, so one
experiences here that this interior movement proceeds from the center of
the soul and awakens the faculties.
9. Certainly, if there were no other gain in this way of prayer except to
understand the particular care God has in communicating with us and
beseeching us to remain with Him -- for this experience doesn't seem to be
anything else -- it seems to me that all the trials endured for the sake of
enjoying these touches of His love, so gentle and penetrating, would be
well worthwhile.
This you will have experienced, Sisters. For I think that when one has
reached the prayer of union the Lord goes about with this concern if we do
not grow negligent in keeping His commandments. When this impulse
comes to you, remember that it comes from this interior dwelling place
where God is in our soul, and praise Him very much. For certainly that
note or letter is His, written with intense love and in such a way that He
wants you alone to understand it and what He asks of you in it. By no
means should you fail to respond to His Majesty, even though you may be
externally occupied or in conversation with some persons. For it will often
happen that our Lord will want to grant you this secret favor in public, and
it is very easy -- since the response is interior -- to do what I'm saying and
make an act of love, or say what St. Paul said: Lord, what will You have me
do?[7] In many ways He will teach you there what will be pleasing to Him
and the acceptable time. I think it is understood that He hears us, and this
touch, which is so delicate, almost always disposes the soul to be able to
do what was said with a resolute will.
10. The difference in this dwelling place is the one mentioned:[8] There
are almost never any experiences of dryness or interior disturbance of the
kind that were present at times in all the other dwelling places, but the
soul is almost always in quiet. There is no fear that this sublime favor can
be counterfeited by the devil, but the soul is wholly sure that the favor
comes from God; for, as I have said,[9] the faculties and senses have
nothing to do with what goes on in this dwelling place. His Majesty
reveals Himself to the soul and brings it to Himself in that place where, in
my opinion, the devil will not dare enter, nor will the Lord allow him to
enter. Nor does the Lord in all the favors He grants the soul here, as I have
said,[10] receive any assistance from the soul itself, except what it has
already done in surrendering itself totally to God.
11. Every way in which the Lord helps the soul here, and all He teaches
it, takes place with such quiet and so noiselessly that, seemingly to me, the
work resembles the building of Solomon's temple where no sound was
heard.[11] So in this temple of God, in this His dwelling place, He alone
and the soul rejoice together in the deepest silence. There is no reason for
the intellect to stir or seek anything, for the Lord who created it wishes to
give it repose here and that through a small crevice it might observe what
is taking place. At times this sight is lost and the other faculties do not
allow the intellect to look, but this happens for only a very short time. In
my opinion, the faculties are not lost here;[12] they do not work, but
remain as though in amazement.
12. I am amazed as well to see that when the soul arrives here all
raptures are taken away. Only once in a while are they experienced and
then without those transports and that flight of the spirit. They happen
very rarely and almost never in public as they very often did before. Nor
do the great occasions of devotion cause the soul concern as previously.
Nor, if souls in this dwelling place see a devout image or hear a sermon --
previously it was almost as though they didn't hear it -- or music, are they
worried as was the poor little butterfly that went about so apprehensive
that everything frightened it and made it fly. Now the reason could be that
in this dwelling place either the soul has found its repose, or has seen so
much that nothing frightens it, or that it doesn't feel that solitude it did
before since it enjoys such company. In sum, Sisters, I don't know what the
cause may be. For when the Lord begins to show what there is in this
dwelling place and to bring the soul there, this great weakness is taken
away. The weakness was a severe trial for the soul and previously was not
taken away. Perhaps the reason is that the Lord has now fortified, enlarged,
and made the soul capable. Or it could be that His Majesty wished to make
known publicly that which He did with these souls in secret for certain
reasons He knows, for His judgments are beyond all that we can imagine
here below.
13. These effects along with all the other good ones from the degrees of
prayer we mentioned, are given by God when He brings the soul to
Himself with this kiss sought by the bride,[13] for I think this petition is
here granted. Here an abundance of water is given to this deer that was
wounded. Here one delights in God's tabernacle. Here the dove Noah sent
out to see if the storm was over finds the olive branch as a sign of firm
ground discovered amid the floods and tempests of this world. O Jesus!
Who would know the many things there must be in Scripture to explain
this peace of soul! My God, since You see how important it is for us, grant
that Christians will seek it; and in Your mercy do not take it away from
those to whom You have given it. For, in the end, people must always live
with fear until You give them true peace and bring them there where that
peace will be unending. I say "true peace," not because this peace is not
true but because the first war could return if we were to withdraw from
God.
14. But what will these souls feel on seeing that they could lack so great
a blessing? Seeing this makes them proceed more carefully and seek to
draw strength from their weakness so as not to abandon through their own
fault any opportunity to please God more. The more favored they are by
His Majesty the more they are afraid and fearful of themselves. And since
through His grandeurs they have come to a greater knowledge of their own
miseries, and their sins become more serious to them, they often go about
like the publican[14] not daring to raise their eyes. At other times they go
about desiring to die so as to be safe; although, with the love they have,
soon they again want to live in order to serve Him, as we said.[15] And in
everything concerning themselves they trust in His mercy. Sometimes the
many favors make them feel more annihilated, for they fear that just as a
ship too heavily laden sinks to the bottom they will go down too.
15. I tell you, Sisters, that the cross is not wanting but it doesn't disquiet
or make them lose peace. For the storms, like a wave, pass quickly. And
the fair weather returns, because the presence of the Lord they experience
makes them soon forget everything. May He be ever blessed and praised
by all His creatures, amen.
===================================

[1] Teresa numbers only the first two effects; the others are present in
the midst of a series of digressions and commentary. Here is a list of these
effects: 1) forgetfulness of self (in no. 2); 2) desire to suffer (no. 4); 3)
deep interior joy in persecution (no. 5); 4) desire to serve (no. 6); 5) great
detachment (no. 8); 6) no fear of the devil's deceits (no. 10); and finally a
recapitulation in no. 13.
[2] In ch. 2, nos. 4-5.
[3] An allusion to the grace of spiritual marriage. See ch. 2, no. 1; Spir.
Test., 31.
[4] She is referring to the experiences spoken of in the sixth dwelling
place; see particularly ch. 11.
[5] In VI, ch. 2.
[6] In VI. ch. 2, no. 1; ch. 11, no. 2.
[7] Ac. 9:6.
[8] In no. 8.
[9] In ch. 2, nos. 3 and 10.
[10] In ch. 2, nos. 5-6 and 9.
[11] 1 K. 6:7{3 K. 6:7}.
[12] In Teresa's terminology "not lost" is the equivalent of not being
enraptured. In this dwelling place the faculties remain in amazement but
not ecstatically suspended.
[13] Allusion to Sg. 1:2; there follows a series of biblical allusions to:
Ps. 42:2; Rv. 21:3; Gn. 8:8-12.
[14] Allusion to Lk. 18:13.
[15] In no. 6.
 Chapter 4
Concludes by explaining what she thinks our Lord's purpose is in
granting such great favors to the soul and how it is necessary that Martha
and Mary join together. This chapter is very beneficial.

1. You must not think, Sisters, that the effects I mentioned[1] are always
present in these souls. Hence where I remember, I say "ordinarily." For
sometimes our Lord leaves these individuals in their natural state, and
then it seems all the poisonous creatures from the outskirts and other
dwelling places of this castle band together to take revenge for the time
they were unable to have these souls under their control.
2. True, this natural state lasts only a short while, a day at most or a
little more. And in this great disturbance, usually occasioned by some
event, the soul's gain through the good company it is in becomes manifest.
For the Lord gives the soul great stability and good resolutions not to
deviate from His service in anything. But it seems this determination
increases, and these souls do not deviate through even a very slight first
movement. As I say this disturbance is rare, but our Lord does not want
the soul to forget its being, so that, for one thing, it might always be
humble; for another, that it might better understand the tremendous favor
it receives, what it owes His Majesty, and that it might praise Him.
3. Nor should it pass through your minds that, since these souls have
such determination and strong desires not to commit any imperfection for
anything on earth, they fail to commit many imperfections, and even sins.
Advertently, no; for the Lord must give souls such as these very particular
help against such a thing. I mean venial sins, for from what these souls can
understand they are free from mortal sins, although not immune. That they
might have some sins they don't know about is no small torment to them.
They also suffer torment in seeing souls go astray. Even though in some
way they have great hope that they themselves will not be among these
souls, they cannot help but fear when they recall some of those persons
Scripture mentions who, it seems, were favored by the Lord, like Solomon,
who communed so much with His Majesty, as I have said.[2] The one
among you who feels safest should fear more, for blessed is the man who
fears the Lord,[3] says David. May His Majesty protect us always. To
beseech Him that we not offend Him is the greatest security we can have.
May He be praised forever, amen.
4. It will be good, Sisters, to tell you the reason the Lord grants so many
favors in this world. Although, if you have paid attention, you will have
understood this in learning of their effects, I want to tell you again here
lest someone think that the reason is solely for the sake of giving delight
to these souls; that thought would be a serious error. His Majesty couldn't
grant us a greater favor than to give us a life that would be an imitation of
the life His beloved Son lived. Thus I hold for certain that these favors are
meant to fortify our weakness, as I have said here at times,[4] that we may
be able to imitate Him in His great sufferings.
5. We have always seen that these who were closer to Christ our Lord
were those with the greatest trials. Let us look at what His glorious Mother
suffered and the glorious apostles. How do you think St. Paul could have
suffered such very great trials? Through him we can see the effects visions
and contemplation produce when from our Lord, and not from the
imagination or the devil's deceit. Did St. Paul by chance hide himself in
the enjoyment of these delights and not engage in anything else? You
already see that he didn't have a day of rest, from what we can understand,
and neither did he have any rest at night since it was then that he earned
his livelihood.[5] I like very much the account about St. Peter fleeing from
prison and how our Lord appeared to him and told him "I am on my way to
Rome to be crucified again." We never recite the office of this feast, where
this account is, that I don't find particular consolation.[6] How did this
favor from the Lord impress St. Peter or what did he do? He went straight
to his death. And it was no small mercy from the Lord that Peter found
someone to provide him with death.
6. O my Sisters! How forgetful this soul, in which the Lord dwells in so
particular a way, should be of its own rest, how little it should care for its
honor, and how far it should be from wanting esteem in anything! For if it
is with Him very much, as is right, it should think little about itself. All its
concern is taken up with how to please Him more and how or where it will
show Him the love it bears Him. This is the reason for prayer, my
daughters, the purpose of this spiritual marriage: the birth always of good
works, good works.
7. This is the true sign of a thing, or favor, being from God, as I have
already told you.[7] It benefits me little to be alone making acts of
devotion to our Lord, proposing and promising to do wonders in His
service, if I then go away and when the occasion offers itself do everything
the opposite. I was wrong in saying it profits little, for everything having
to do with God profits a great deal. And even though we are weak and do
not carry out these resolutions afterward, sometimes His Majesty will give
us the power to do so, even though, perhaps, doing so is burdensome to us,
as is often true. Since He sees that a soul is very fainthearted He gives it a
severe trial, truly against its will, and brings this soul out of the trial with
profit. Afterward, since the soul understands this, the fear lessens and one
can offer oneself more willingly to Him. I meant "it benefits me little" in
comparison with how much greater the benefit is when our deeds conform
with what we say in prayer; what cannot be done all at once can be done
little by little. Let the soul bend its will if it wishes that prayer be
beneficial to it, for within the corners of these little monasteries there will
not be lacking many occasions for you to do so.[8]
8. Keep in mind that I could not exaggerate the importance of this. Fix
your eyes on the Crucified and everything will become small for you. If
His Majesty showed us His love by means of such works and frightful
torments, how is it you want to please Him only with words? Do you know
what it means to be truly spiritual? It means becoming the slaves of God.
Marked with His brand, which is that of the cross, spiritual persons,
because now they have given Him their liberty, can be sold by Him as
slaves of everyone, as He was. He doesn't thereby do them any harm or
grant them a small favor. And if souls aren't determined about becoming
His slaves, let them be convinced that they are not making much progress,
for this whole building, as I have said,[9] has humility as its foundation. If
humility is not genuinely present, for your own sake the Lord will not
construct a high building lest that building fall to the ground. Thus,
Sisters, that you might build on good foundations, strive to be the least and
the slaves of all, looking at how or where you can please and serve them.
What you do in this matter you do more for yourself than for them and lay
stones so firmly that the castle will not fall.
 9. I repeat, it is necessary that your foundation consist of more than
prayer and contemplation. If you do not strive for the virtues and practice
them, you will always be dwarfs. And, please God, it will be only a matter
of not growing, for you already know that whoever does not increase
decreases. I hold that love, where present, cannot possibly be content with
remaining always the same.
10. It will seem to you that I am speaking with those who are beginning
and that after this beginner's stage souls can rest. I have already told
you[10] that the calm these souls have interiorly is for the sake of their
having much less calm exteriorly and much less desire to have exterior
calm. What, do you think, is the reason for those inspirations (or to put it
better, aspirations) I mentioned, and those messages the soul sends from
the interior center to the people at the top of the castle and to the dwelling
places outside the center where it is? Is it so that those outside might fall
asleep? No, absolutely not! That the faculties, senses, and all the corporeal
will not be idle, the soul wages more war from the center than it did when
it was outside suffering with them, for then it didn't understand the
tremendous gain trials bring. Perhaps they were the means by which God
brought it to the center, and the company it has gives it much greater
strength then ever. For if here below, as David says, in the company of the
saints we will become saints,[11] there is no reason to doubt that, being
united with the Strong One through so sovereign a union of spirit with
spirit, fortitude will cling to such a soul; and so we shall understand what
fortitude the saints had for suffering and dying.
11. It is very certain that from that fortitude which clings to it there the
soul assists all those who are in the castle, and even the body itself which
often, seemingly, does not feel the strength. But the soul is fortified by the
strength it has from drinking wine in this wine cellar, where it Spouse has
brought it[12] and from where He doesn't allow it to leave; and strength
flows back to the weak body, just as food placed in the stomach
strengthens the head and the whole body. Thus the soul has its share of
misfortune while it lives. However much it does, the interior strength
increases and this, too, the war that it waged; for everything seems like a
trifle to it. The great penances that many saints -- especially the glorious
Magdalene, who had always been surrounded by so much luxury --
performed must have come from this center. Also that hunger which our
Father Elijah had for the honor of his God[13] and which St. Dominic and
St. Francis had so as to draw souls to praise God. I tell you, though they
were forgetful of themselves, their suffering must have been great.
12. This is what I want us to strive for, my Sisters; and let us desire and
be occupied in prayer not for the sake of our enjoyment but so as to have
this strength to serve. Let's refuse to take an unfamiliar path, for we shall
get lost at the most opportune time. It would indeed be novel to think of
having these favors from God through a path other than the one He took
and the one followed by all His saints. May the thought never enter our
minds. Believe me, Martha and Mary must join together in order to show
hospitality to the Lord and have Him always present and not host Him
badly by failing to give Him something to eat. How would Mary, always
seated at His feet, provide Him with food if her sister did not help her? His
food is that in every way possible we draw souls that they may be saved
and praise Him always.[14]
13. You will make two objections: one, that He said that Mary had
chosen the better part. The answer is that she had already performed the
task of Martha, pleasing the Lord by washing His feet and drying them
them her hair.[15] Do you think it would be a small mortification for a
woman of nobility like her to wander through these streets (and perhaps
alone because her fervent love made her unaware of what she was doing)
and enter a house she had never entered before and afterward suffer the
criticism of the Pharisee and the very many other things she must have
suffered? The people saw a woman like her change so much -- and, as we
know, she was among such malicious people -- and they saw her friendship
with the Lord whom they vehemently abhorred, and that she wanted to
become a saint since obviously she would have changed her manner of
dress and everything else. All of that was enough to cause them to
comment on the life she had formerly lived. If nowadays there is so much
gossip against persons who are not so notorious; what would have been
said then? I tell you, Sisters, the better part came after many trials and
much mortification, for even if there were no other trial than to see His
Majesty abhorred, that would be an intolerable one. Moreover, the many
trials that afterward she suffered at the death of the Lord and in the years
that she subsequently lived in His absence must have been a terrible
torment. You see she wasn't always in the delight of contemplation at the
feet of the Lord.
14. The other objection you will make is that you are unable to bring
souls to God, that you do not have the means; that you would do it
willingly but that not being teachers or preachers, as were the apostles,
you do not know how. This objection I have answered at times in writing,
but I don't know if I did so in this Castle.[16] Yet since the matter is
something I believe is passing through your minds on account of the
desires God gives you I will not fail to respond here. I already told you
elsewhere[17] that sometimes the devil gives us great desires so that we
will avoid setting ourselves to the task at hand, serving our Lord in
possible things, and instead be content with having desired the impossible.
Apart from the fact that by prayer you will be helping greatly, you need
not be desiring to benefit the whole world but must concentrate on those
who are in your company, and thus your deed will be greater since you are
more obliged toward them. Do you think such deep humility, your
mortification, service of all and great charity toward them, and love of the
Lord is of little benefit? This fire of love in you enkindles their souls, and
with every other virtue you will be always awakening them. Such service
will not be small but very great and very pleasing to the Lord. By what you
do in deed -- that which you can -- His Majesty will understand that you
would do much more. Thus He will give you the reward He would if you
had gained many souls for Him.
15. You will say that such service does not convert souls because all the
Sisters you deal with are already good. Who has appointed you judge in
this matter? The better they are the more pleasing their praises will be to
our Lord and the more their prayer will profit their neighbor.
In sum, Sisters, what I conclude with is that we shouldn't build castles
in the air. The Lord doesn't look so much at the greatness of our works as
at the love with which they are done. And if we do what we can, His
Majesty will enable us each day to do more and more, provided that we do
not quickly tire. But during the little while this life lasts -- and perhaps it
will last a shorter time than each one thinks -- let us offer the Lord
interiorly and exteriorly the sacrifice we can. His Majesty will join it with
that which He offered on the cross to the Father for us. Thus even though
our works are small they will have the value our love for Him would have
merited had they been great.
16. May it please His Majesty, my Sisters and daughters, that we all
reach that place where we may ever praise Him. Through the merits of His
Son who lives and reigns forever and ever, may He give me the grace to
carry out something of what I tell you, amen. For I tell you that my
confusion is great, and thus I ask you through the same Lord that in your
prayers you do not forget this poor wretch.
===================================

[1] In ch. 3, nos. 2-10.

[2] 1 K. 11 {3 K. 11}. See III, ch. 1, nos. 1-4.
[3] Ps. 112:1.
[4] In VI, ch. 9, nos. 16-17; see also ch. 1, no. 7.
[5] Allusion to 1 Th. 2:9.
[6] This quo vadis legend appeared in the Carmelite breviary, used in
the time of St. Teresa, on the feast of St. Peter (June 29).
[7] In V, ch. 3, nos. 11.
[8] There is a Teresian proverb that reads in Spanish: La virtud se ha de
ver no en los rincones sino en medio de las ocasiones. It might go like this
in English: "Look for virtue not in corners away from the din but right
amidst the occasions of sin." See Foundations, ch. 5, no. 15.
[9] In I, ch. 2, nos. 8-9, 11 and 13.
[10] In ch. 3, nos. 3, 5-8.
[11] Ps. 18:26.
[12] Allusion to Sg. 2:4.
[13] Allusion to 1 K. 19:10 {3 K. 19:10}. The shield of the Carmelite
order takes as its motto the prophet Elijah's words: Zelo zelatus sum pro
Domino Deo exercituum.
[14] Lk. 10:38-42.
[15] Allusion to Lk. 7:37-38.
[16] See Way of Perfection, chs. 1-3; Meditations, ch. 7.
[17] In III, ch. 2, no. 13.
 [Epilogue][1]
JHS

1. Although when I began writing this book I am sending you I did so

with the aversion I mentioned in the beginning,[2] now that I am finished I
admit the work has brought me much happiness, and I consider the labor,
though I confess it was small, well spent. Considering the strict enclosure
and the few things you have for your entertainment, my Sisters, and that
your buildings are not always as large as would be fitting for your
monasteries, I think it will be a consolation for you to delight in this
interior castle since without permission from the prioress you can enter
and take a walk through it at any time.
2. True, you will not be able to enter all the dwelling places through
your own efforts, even though these efforts may seem to you great, unless
the Lord of the castle Himself brings you there. Hence I advise you to use
no force if you meet with any resistance, for you will thereby anger Him in
such a way that He will never allow you to enter them. He is very fond of
humility. By considering that you do not deserve even to enter the third
you will more quickly win the favor to reach the fifth. And you will be
able to serve Him from there in such a way, continuing to walk through
them often, that He will bring you into the very dwelling place He has for
Himself. You need never leave this latter dwelling place unless called by
the prioress, whose will this great Lord desires that you comply with as
much as if it were His own. Even though you are frequently outside
through her command, you will always find the door open when you
return. Once you get used to enjoying this castle, you will find rest in all
things, even those involving much labor, for you will have the hope of
returning to the castle which no one can take from you.
3. Although no more than seven dwelling places were discussed, in each
of these there are many others, below and above and to the sides, with
lovely gardens and fountains and labyrinths, such delightful things that
you would want to be dissolved in praises of the great God who created the
soul in His own image and likeness.[3] If you find something good in the
way I have explained this to you, believe that indeed His Majesty said it so
as to make you happy; the bad that you might find is said by me.
 4. Through the strong desire I have to play some part in helping you
serve my God and Lord, I ask that each time you read this work you, in my
name, praise His Majesty fervently and ask for the increase of His Church
and for light for the Lutherans. As for me, ask Him to pardon my sins and
deliver me from purgatory, for perhaps by the mercy of God I will be there
when this is given you to read -- if it may be seen by you after having been
examined by learned men. If anything is erroneous it is so because I didn't
know otherwise; and I submit in everything to what the holy Roman
Catholic Church holds, for in this Church I live, declare my faith, and
promise to live and die.
May God our Lord be forever praised and blessed, amen, amen.
5. This writing was finished in the monastery of St. Joseph of Avila in
the year 1577, the eve before the feast of St. Andrew,[4] for the glory of
God who lives and reigns forever and ever, amen.
===================================

[1] This epilogue was sent in the form of a letter along with the original
manuscript to the Discalced Carmelite nuns in Seville.
[2] In Prologue, no. 1.
[3] Allusion to Gn. 1:26. See I, ch. 1, no. 1.
[4] That is, Nov. 29, 1577, close to six months after she had begun
writing on June 2nd of that same year. See Prologue, no. 3.