Interior Castle. Teresa of Avila
seems greatly distressed, for God has not given me such strength as to bear, without disgust, the constant struggle against illness while performing many different duties. May He, Who has helped me in other more difficult matters, aid me with His grace in this, for I trust in His mercy. I think I have but little to say that has not already been put forth in my other works written under obedience; in fact, I fear this will be but repetition of them. I am like a parrot which has learned to talk; only knowing what it has been taught or has heard, it repeats the same thing over and over again. If God wishes me to write anything new, He will teach it me, or bring back to my memory what I have said else-where. I should be content even with this, for as I am very forgetful, I should be glad to be able to recall some of the matters about which people say I have spoken well, lest they should be altogether lost. If our Lord will not even grant me this, still, if I weary my brains and increase my headache by striving to obey, I will gain in merit, though my words should be useless to anyone. So I begin this work on the Feast of the Blessed Trinity in the year 1577, in the Convent of St. Joseph of Carmel at Toledo, where I am living, and I submit all my writings to the judgment of those learned men by whose commands I undertake them. That it will be the fault of ignorance, not malice, if I say anything contrary to the doctrine of the Holy Roman Catholic Church, may be held as certain. By God’s goodness I am, and always shall be, faithful to the Church, as I have been in the past. May He be forever blessed and glorified. Amen.
He who bids me write this, tells me that the nuns of these convents of our Lady of Carmel need someone to solve their difficulties about prayer: he thinks that women understand one another’s language best and that my sisters’ affection for me would make them pay special attention to my words, therefore it is important for me to explain the subject clearly to them. Thus I am writing only to my sisters; the idea that anyone else could benefit by what I say would be absurd. Our Lord will be doing me a great favor if He enables me to help but one of the nuns to praise Him a little better; His Majesty knows well that I have no other aim. If anything is to the point, they will understand that it does not originate from me and there is no reason to attribute it to me, as with my scant understanding and skill I could write nothing of the sort, unless God, in His mercy, enabled me to do so.
The First Mansions
Chapter I
This chapter treats of the beauty and dignity of our souls and makes a comparison to explain this. The advantage of knowing and understanding this and the favors God grants to us is shown, and how prayer is the gate of the spiritual castle.
1. Plan of this book
2. The Interior Castle
3. Our curable self-ignorance
4. God dwells in the center of the soul
5. Why all souls do not receive certain favors
6. Reasons for speaking of these favors
7. The entrance of the Castle
8. Entering into oneself
9. Prayer
10. Those who dwell in the first mansion
11. Entering
12. Difficulties of the subject
1. While I was begging our Lord today to speak for me, since I knew not what to say nor how to start this work which obedience has laid upon me, an idea occurred to me which I will explain, and which will serve as a foundation for that I am about to write.
2. I thought of the soul as resembling a castle, formed of a single diamond or a very transparent crystal,2 and containing many rooms, just as in heaven there are many mansions (cf. Jn 14:2).3 If we reflect, sisters, we shall see that the soul of the just man is but a paradise, in which, God tells us, He takes His delight (Prv 8:31). What, do you imagine, must that dwelling be in which a King so mighty, so wise, and so pure, containing in himself all good, can delight to rest? Nothing can be compared to the great beauty and capabilities of a soul; however keen our intellects may be, they are as unable to comprehend them as to comprehend God, for, as He has told us, He created us in His own image and likeness (Gn 1:26).
3. As this is so, we need not tire ourselves by trying to realize all the beauty of this castle, although, being His creature, there is all the difference between the soul and God that there is between the creature and the Creator; the fact that it is made in God’s image teaches us how great are its dignity and loveliness. It is no small misfortune and disgrace that, through our own fault, we neither understand our nature nor our origin. Would it not be gross ignorance, my daughters, if, when a man was questioned about his name, or country, or parents, he could not answer? Stupid as this would be, it is unspeakably more foolish to care to learn nothing of our nature except that we possess bodies, and only to realize vaguely that we have souls, because people say so and it is a doctrine of faith. Rarely do we reflect upon what gifts our souls may possess, Who dwells within them, or how extremely precious they are. Therefore we do little to preserve their beauty; all our care is concentrated on our bodies, which are but the coarse setting of the diamond, or the outer walls of the castle.
4. Let us imagine, as I said, that there are many rooms in this castle, of which some are above, some below, others at the side; in the center, in the very midst of them all, is the principal chamber in which God and the soul hold their most secret communication.4 Think over this comparison very carefully; God grant it may enlighten you about the different kinds of graces He is pleased to bestow upon the soul. No one can know all about them, much less a person so ignorant as I am. The knowledge that such things are possible will console you greatly should our Lord ever grant you any of these favors; people themselves deprived of them can then at least praise Him for His great goodness in bestowing them on others. The thought of heaven and the happiness of the saints does us no harm, but cheers and urges us to win this joy for ourselves, nor will it injure us to know that during this exile God can communicate himself to us loathsome worms; it will rather make us love Him for such immense goodness and infinite mercy.
5. I feel sure that displeasure at thinking that during our life on earth God can bestow these graces on the souls of others shows a want of humility and charity for one’s neighbor, for why should we not feel glad at a brother’s receiving divine favors which do not deprive us of our own share? Should we not rather rejoice at His Majesty’s thus manifesting His greatness wherever He chooses? (cf. Mt 20:15). Sometimes our Lord acts thus solely for the sake of showing His power, as He declared when the Apostles questioned whether the blind man whom He cured had been suffering for his own or his parents’ sins (Jn 9:2). God does not bestow these favors on certain souls because they are more holy than others who do not receive them, but to manifest His greatness, as in the case of Saint Paul and Saint Mary Magdalene, and that we may glorify Him in His creatures.
6. People may say such things appear impossible and it is best not to scandalize the weak in faith by speaking about them. But it is better that the latter should disbelieve us, than that we should cease from enlightening souls which receive these graces, that they may rejoice and may endeavor to love God better for His favors, seeing He is so mighty and so great. There is no danger here of shocking those for whom I write by treating of such matters, for they know and believe that God gives even greater proofs of His love. I am certain that if anyone of you doubts the truth of this, God will never allow her to learn it by experience, for He desires that no limits should be set to His work: therefore, never discredit them because you are not thus led yourselves.
7. Now let us return to our beautiful and charming castle and discover how to enter it. This appears incongruous: if this castle is the soul, clearly no one can have to enter it, for it is the person himself: one might as well tell someone to go into a room he is already in! There are, however, very different ways of being in this castle; many souls live in the courtyard of the building where the sentinels stand, neither caring to enter farther, nor to know who dwells in that most delightful place, what is in it and what rooms it contains.
8. Certain books on prayer that you have read advise the soul to enter into itself,5