Interior Castle, 4th Dwelling Places, Chapter 3
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 this 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 eye, 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 soul is recovering what it had lost.
They say that the soul enters within itself and, at other times, that it rises above itself. 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, 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 himself. 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.
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. 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 we 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. (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.
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 counseled in some books, 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 – 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.
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.
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 are we to be forgetful of self if we are so careful not to stir or even to allow our intellect or desires to be stirred to a longing for the greater glory of God, or if we rest in what we already have? 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.
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. 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.
But, as I said elsewhere, 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 les 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 let 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.
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 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.
One strong warning I give to those who find themselves in this state is that they guard very carefully against placing themselves 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 those to whom God has granted this favor and who withdraw from prayer – unless they do so for a particularly special reason – or if they don't return quickly to prayer, for they 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.
There is one danger I want to warn you about (although I may have mentioned it elsewhere), 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) 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 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.
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, the body is not worn down nor is any external feeling produced.
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; how she bears this absence is the way in which 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.
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.
of Avila, St Teresa. The Interior Castle Study Edition (pp. 147-148). ICS Publications. Kindle Edition.