Session III – The Teresian Mansions

Session III: The Teresian Mansions

1. Living Things Should Grow to Maturity (cont.)
   • The Soul: A Living and Growing Thing (covered in session II)
   • Growth of the Soul: Sanity and Sanctity (covered in session II)
   • The Sower: A Paradigm of Growth
     • We find many references to the souls growth in Scripture. We are going to look at one of the best known of those passages, the parable of the sower. The parable speaks of four types of people, which can be understood to represent four stages of spiritual development:
       • “The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, that they may not believe and be saved” (Lk 8:12).
       • “And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy; but these have no root, they believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away (Lk 8:13).
       • And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature (Lk 8:14).
       • “But those that were sown upon the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold” (Mk 4:20).
     • Clearly, this parable is a call to spiritual maturity, for in speaking of the soul’s growth, this parable tells us that not all souls grow to maturity:
       • “And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature (Lk 8:14).
       • “But those that were sown upon the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold” (Mk 4:20).
     • We should note here that growth of thirty, sixty and a hundredfold is remarkable growth, so this parable speaks of the great potential for growth of the soul.
       • Observe that the parable places a special emphasis on the soul’s volitional growth, that is, growth in the will, because hearing the Word of God is necessarily associated with acting according to what is heard:
         • “[Jesus] said, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep [observe, obey] it!’” (Lk 11:28).
         • “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” (Interior Castle, IV, I, 7, p. 319).
2. The Gospel’s Vision of Maturity in the Spiritual Life
   • The Spectrum of the Spiritual Life
     • Recognizing that a person’s spiritual life is capable of growth and that the Gospel calls us to spiritual maturity we have to ask what degree of growth equates to maturity. Naturally, we find the answer in the Gospel:
       • “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48).
         • The Greek word, “teleios,” translated here as “perfect,” means having reached its end, completed; hence, perfect according to what something was intended to be, or fully mature.
       • The Great Commandment: “[Jesus] answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself’” (Lk 10:27). “On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets” (Mt 22:40).
         • “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them” (Mt 5:17).
     • We see the same idea in the letters of St. Paul and throughout Scripture.
       • “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor 10:31).
       • “Let all that you do be done in love” (1 Cor 16:14).
     • Notice that these Scripture verses are not merely suggestions: “you must be perfect.”
     • If we return to the parable of the sower, we can get an idea of where we stand in regard to living the Great Commandment, for the parable can be understood to encompass the entire spectrum of the spiritual life.
       • Since the word “spectrum” may not be familiar to everyone, we will illustrate what is meant with an example from nature:
         • Visible light has seven colors, all of which we see in a good rainbow. If we draw a line to “cut” a cross section of the bow, starting on one end of the line we have the color red followed by orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and finally violet at the other end of the line.
         • This is the spectrum of visible light, from when it first becomes visible as red light until it reaches the end of the range of visibility with violet.
         • Similarly, we can speak of the spiritual life in general as ranging from what is essentially no spiritual life at all, for one in mortal sin, to the vibrant spiritual life of the saint. As with light, there are countless degrees in between the two extremes.
   • The Parable’s Spectrum of the Spiritual Life
     • In the parable of the sower, the seed that fell along the footpath clearly represents the low end of the spectrum of the spiritual life. There we have those who have given themselves up to the Devil:
       • “The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, that they may not believe and be saved” (Lk 8:12).
     • We have two stages in between the high end and the low end of the spectrum:
       • “And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy; but these have no root, they believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away (Lk 8:13).
       • And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature (Lk 8:14).
     • On the high end, we have those who have given themselves up to God:
       • “But those that were sown upon the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold” (Mk 4:20).
     • Now, notice that the difference between the seed that fell among the thorns and the seed that fell on good soil is vast.
       • The seed that fell among the thorns produced nothing, whereas the seed that fell on good soil produced thirty, sixty and a hundred-fold.
       • The seed that fell among the thorns did not mature, whereas the seed that fell on good soil did mature.
   • Two Parallels
     • Observe how this vast difference mirrors the vast difference between ordinary sanctity and heroic sanctity. Fr. Dubay writes:
       • “[The saints] moral beauty is vastly more splendid” than that of other sincere men and women (Fr. Dubay, Saints: A Closer Look, p. 1).
     • There is clearly a parallel here between heroic sanctity and the seed that fell on good soil, matured and “produced thirty, sixty and a hundred-fold.”
     • Similarly, there is a parallel between ordinary sanctity and the seed that fell among thorns and is “choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature”
   • Our Place in the Spectrum
     • So, where do we find ourselves in the spectrum of the spiritual life?
     • The seed that fell on the path would seem to be those who are on the path of damnation, for “the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, that they may not believe and [thus, not] be saved” (Lk 8:12), for St. Mark writes:
       • “He who does not believe will be condemned” (Mk 16:16).
     • The seed that fell on the rock [i.e., rocky soil] would seem to be those who are likely to fall into mortal sin, for “in time of temptation [they] fall away” (Lk 8:13).
     • We have already said that the high end of the spectrum, the seed on good soil, equates to those who are saintly, for they have matured and produced “thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold” (Mk 4:20).
     • Consequently, if we are not already saintly ourselves, then the best we can say is that we are the seed that fell among the thorns.
     • This means that we are choked by the “cares and riches and pleasures of life” and, as a result, our spiritual lives have not matured because we have conformed our lives to this world.
       • “When [Jesus] came to explain why people who listen to His word (and thus have some goodness in them) do not mature in their response to it, He laid the cause in their being smothered by the cares and riches and pleasures of life” (Dubay, Fire Within, p. 81).
     • As was said earlier, a living thing that has not matured at the proper time points to an abnormality, a problem in the process of development.
   • In Need of Transformation
     • Clearly, the Gospel is calling for nothing less than a complete renewal of our spiritual lives. It is calling for us to be transformed, as St. Paul says to the Romans:
       • “Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom 12:2).
       • Again, we have the word “perfect,” meaning complete or fully mature.
     • Those who are sincere about following the Gospel but are not yet spiritually mature are in a state of ordinary holiness and in need of transformation. But there is a problem:
       • “Most people strongly resist growing from ordinary to heroic sanctity” (SSD, p. 268).
     • For the transformation from ordinary sanctity to heroic sanctity, to which we are all called, “something radically new is needed” (Prayer Primer, p. 87)
       • We can’t get to the moon by jumping. An entirely new approach is need (Dubay, Prayer Primer, p. 87).
3. An Entirely New Approach: What the Saints Have that We Don’t Have
   • Seed on Good Soil: The Saints
     • As shown above, the seed that fell on good soil matures and produces fruit equates to the saints; hence, we read in the Gospel:
       • “You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles?” (Mt 7:16).
     • The fruits spoken of here are clearly the virtues, as the Common Doctor states: “The fruits are any virtuous deed in which one delights” (Summa I of II, q. 70, a. 2). Hence, we read in the Gospel:
       • “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal 5:22-23).
       • In addition to those listed by St. Paul, the tradition includes generosity, modesty and chastity. However, “either more or fewer fruits might have been mentioned” (Summa I of II, q. 70, a. 3, ad. 4).
     • As was shown in the last lecture, the fruits of the saints are so remarkable (i.e., humanly impossible), that they serve as a clear sign of the authenticity of Divine Revelation, the teaching of the Church, and the correspondence of their lives to both.
   • Saintliness Not Automatic with Sanctifying Grace
     • Consider how we and the saints receive these virtues. They come to us with sanctifying grace, which is “infused into our souls when we are Baptized [and] imparts to us the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity, the supernatural moral virtues of prudence justice, temperance, and fortitude, [along with all the other moral virtues] and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord (CCC 1266, 1813).
       • Frank Sheed writes, “[Sanctifying grace] has vast effects in the soul . . . enabling the soul to do things that by nature it could not do” (Frank Sheed, Theology and Sanity, 186).
     • Note two things in regard to sanctifying grace:
       • First, the saints have no advantage over us in regard to access to the sacraments, the primary source of sanctifying grace. We have the same access they have.
       • Second, sanctifying grace alone does not automatically bring about the transformation St. Paul speaks of. This is only too easy to see.
         • For example, an adult who receives baptism doesn’t experience an instantaneous growth in virtue.
     • Consequently, the difference between ordinary and heroic sanctity cannot lie in the source of the virtues, that is, in sanctifying grace.
     • It follows that the virtues and Gifts of the Holy Spirit are received in seed form; they must be “watered” in order for growth to occur. In other words, there must be something that energizes the virtues in a person’s soul.
   • The Prime Differentiator
     • What is this prime differentiator that energizes the virtues in the saints, and without which the virtues are left unenergized in us?
     • We find the answer in the Gospels by observing an obvious difference between the routine of Jesus and the routine of those sincere people living lives of ordinary sanctity; we briefly touched on this in the last lecture:
       • “Rising early the next morning, he went off to a lonely place in the desert; there he was absorbed in prayer” (Mk 1:35).
       • “Then he went out to the mountain to pray, spending the night in communion with God” (Lk 6:12).
       • “He often retired to deserted places and prayed” (Lk 5:16).
       • “And he came out, and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples followed him” (Lk 22:39).
     • We can see something of great importance in these verses. Extended times of prayer were an integral part of His life, despite the fact that He is God incarnate and was never without an abundance of sanctifying grace.
     • His long hours spent in prayer were not merely to give us a good example. As man, He needed to spend time in prayer with His heavenly Father so as to have the virtues in His human soul energized.
       • If He did not need this time in prayer, then He was not truly man. Similarly, He needed food, water, sleep, etc.
       • “He had to be made like his brethren in every respect” (Heb 2:17).
     • Here we have the “secret” to saintliness. Spending ample time in authentic prayer, just as the Lord did.
     • The primary difference between the heroic sanctity of the saints and our ordinary sanctity is that the saints have taken to heart a Gospel principle that is found in the teaching of Sacrosanctum Concilium:
       • “The human is directed toward and subordinated to the divine . . . action to contemplation” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, #2).
     • Recall from last time:
       • “The Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the better part, which shall not be taken away from her’” (Lk 10:41-42)
     • The example of the saints:
       • St. Francis Borgia, while still a layman (five hours daily):
         • Prayed from 4:00 till 8:00 each morning. Attended Mass at 8:00 a.m. After Mass he spent another hour in prayer. Then he began his work day (Dubay, Contemplation video series)
       • St. Thomas More, a layman, husband and father, Chancellor of England, a lawyer and writer (four hours daily):
         • Prayed from 2:00 till 6:00 each morning (Dubay, Contemplation video series).
       • St. Teresa of Avila
         • “I do not know, my Creator, why it is that everyone does not strive to reach You through this special friendship, and why those who are wicked, who are not conformed to Your will, do not, in order that You make them good allow You to be with them at least two hours each day, even though they may not be with You, but with a thousand disturbances from worldly cares and thoughts, as was the case with me” (Teresa of Avila, Life, ch. 8, 6)
4. Why study stages (FW: 74-3 ff)
   • Five Reasons from Teresa
     • Knowing the destination (seventh mansions) of the spiritual life, and knowing it is for everyone, is a strong motivational factor for putting forth the effort to arrive at that destination.
     • Knowing the difficulties before embarking on the journey helps to prepare one for those difficulties.
     • Knowing what happens in the “transition stage” prepares one for the eventual need to leave meditation behind, rather than clinging to a former good that would otherwise be a hindrance.
     • One operates in prayer differently according to the stage one is in. Knowing the stages enables one to cooperate with what God is trying to accomplish.
     • A traveler on a long journey is encouraged by seeing progress toward the destination. Knowing the stages enables one to measure progress.
   • Two Additional Reasons from Fr. Dubay
     • To appreciate the early stages of living things it is useful to have knowledge of their mature states. Knowledge of the splendor of seventh mansions (the transforming union) helps us to appreciate the stages of prayer that lead to it.
     • Glimpsing the splendor of the transforming union is a strong spur toward making all the sacrifices necessary to reach the summit.
5. Teresian Mansions Overview
   • Teresa’s Growth Images
     • In her book “Interior Castle,” St. Teresa of Avila used two images for illustrating the different stages of prayer growth. One image involves the ways in which one might water a garden. The other image is that of a great castle.
   • Watering a Garden.
     • With this image, Teresa compares the labor experienced by a gardener in watering the plants of his garden, to the “labor” of prayer at the various stages of spiritual growth. She describes a garden which can be watered in four ways:
       • Drawing water from a well with a bucket (meditation).
       • Cranking a water wheel and having the water run through an aqueduct (prayer of quiet).
       • Having a stream which runs through the garden (prayer of union).
       • A gentle abundant rainfall (prayer of sixth mansions).
   • Mansion/Dwelling Places of the Interior Castle.
     • “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places” (Jn 14:2).
     • As Teresa was beseeching the Lord to speak for her when she was beginning to write “Interior Castle” there came to her mind the image of the soul being 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. . . . 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” (IC 1:1, #1).
       • “ I found delight in the sons of men” (Prv 8:31).
     • Psalm 84
       • How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts!
       • My soul longs, yea, faints for the courts of the LORD;
       • My heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. . . .
       • Blessed are those who dwell in thy house, ever singing thy praise! . . .
       • They go from strength to strength; the God of gods will be seen in Zion. . . .
       • For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.
       • I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
       • O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in you!
     • The Seven Mansions of the Interior Castle
       • First Mansions (First Water: Prayer of Meditation)
       • Second Mansions
       • Third Mansions
       • Fourth Mansions (Second Water: Prayer of Quiet – the will is captured)
       • Fifth Mansions (Third Water: Prayer of Union – all the faculties are captured)
       • Sixth Mansions (Fourth Water – Prayer of Sixth Mansions)
       • Seventh Mansions (The final preparation for the Beatific Vision)
6. First Mansions (First Water: Meditation)
   • Prayer: The Mode of Entry into the Castle
     • “Those who pray are certainly saved; those who do not pray are certainly damned” (Alphonsus Liguori, CCC 2744).
     • “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” (IC, I:1, 7).
   • Traits of those in First Mansions
     • Those in first mansions are “men and women who want to avoid offending God and who ‘may perform good works’” (FW, 81-3).
     • However, they are “still absorbed in worldly matters and pleasures, and they are ‘puffed up with worldly honors and ambitions’” (FW, 81-3).
     • “They have only a tenuous relationship with Him, and they scarcely see His light, so submerged are they in the things of the world” (FW, 81-3).
       • Both feet are firmly planted in the world, as opposed to second mansions where the situation is much improved.
       • Those in first mansions correspond to the seed on rocky soil.
     • God calls all of us ceaselessly, but those in the first mansions are “both deaf and dumb [to the call], notes Teresa” (FW, 83-2).
   • How One Advances
     • In order to advance to Second Mansions, it is essential that these individuals leave the spirit of the world (FW, 81-4).
     • They must put aside all unnecessary affairs and business (FW, 82-1).
       • “You cannot serve God and mammon” (Mt 6:24).
       • “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world passes away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever” (1 Jn 2:15-17).
     • “The main business of the beginner, therefore, is to make a determined turnabout from preoccupation with this worldly world to a life centered in the Trinity” (FW, 82-2).
     • Meditation and Love
       • Meditate on the Gospels:
         • “I have always been fond of the words of the Gospels . . . and have found more recollection in them than in the most carefully planned books” (Way, 21:3).
         • Teresa says nothing about complicated steps and substeps for the practice of meditation (FW, 82-5).
         • A method of meditation is usually needed by beginners, but once they understand the process, there is no need to rigidly adhere a the method.
       • “Love much”
         • “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” (Interior Castle, IV, I, 7).
         • “To love is to labor to divest and deprive oneself for God of all that is not God” (Ascent, II, 5, 7).
7. Second Mansions
   • Traits (FW, 83-2, 3, 4)
     • Those in second mansions have one foot in the things of the world and the other in the things of God.
     • They now hear God’s call, whereas they were “deaf and dumb” in first mansions.
     • They are “weak and irresolute”; hence, their response to God’s call is mixed, following it sometimes.
     • “The man or woman in the second mansions is a battleground where the conflict between the world and the divine call is being waged.”
       • Earthly pleasures remain attractive, and appear almost eternal.
       • The soul finds it difficult to give up worldly esteem; it is attached to human respect.
         • The beheading of John the Baptist: “And the king was sorry; but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given” (Mt 14:9)
         • The crucifixion of Jesus: “So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.”” (Mt 27:24).
       • “It unreasonably fears doing penances to which it now feels called.”
       • Nevertheless, real growth has “taken place and has instilled a conviction that only in God is one’s surety. “Thus, the will is inclined to love [God] and to press on to leave worldliness with all of its falsehoods.”
   • Program (see FW, 84-1)
     • Avoid association with “evil” and mediocre people; mix with those who have advanced to the higher mansions.
       • “A friend who would lead us into sin has become our enemy” (St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life, III, ch. 22).
       • “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals’” (1 Cor 15:33).
     • Embrace the cross. “There must be a generous willed welcome to hardships and dryness in prayer.”
       • “And he said to all, ‘If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me’” (Lk 9:23).
       • “If, indeed, there had been anything better and more beneficial to man’s salvation than suffering, Christ certainly would have showed it by word and example” (Imitation of Christ, bk. II, ch. 12, 15).
       • “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).
     • “The beginner . . . [must] labor . . . with all possible diligence to bring his will into conformity with the will of God.”
       • “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor 10:31)
       • “And this must be our business, to strive to overcome ourselves, and daily to gain strength over ourselves, and to grow better and better” (Imitation, bk I, ch. 3, 3).
     • One who falls into sin must repent and persevere in his efforts, recognizing that perfection is still a long ways off.
       • “A righteous man falls seven times, and rises again; but the wicked are overthrown by calamity” (Prov 24:16).
     • One must exercise fidelity to prayer, “getting to know ourselves better, reflecting on the divine goodness and our need for mercy.”
       • “To know oneself! to know God! that is the perfection of man . . . . Here, all immensity, all perfection and the absolute good; there: nothing; to know that, is the end of man. . . . To be eternally bent over the double abyss, that is my secret!” (P. Marie-Eugene, A Practical Synthesis of Carmelite Spirituality, vol. I, p. 41, n. 17).
     • Make a daily examination of conscience:
       • Speaking of the time assigned to private prayer Teresa writes:
         • “Let your prayer always begin and end with self-knowledge” (Way, ch. 39, 5).
           • By “self-knowledge,” Teresa means an examination of conscience [i.e., an examen, per Fr. Dubay, Fire Within, p. 230).