Teresa of Jesus
The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus,
of the Order of Our Lady of Carmel.
CHAPTER 17
- Continues to declare matters
concerning the third degree of prayer and
- completes the explanation of its effects.
- She also treats of the impediment
caused by the imagination and the memory.
- The Third State of Prayer.
- The Effects Thereof.
- The Hindrance Caused
by the Imagination and the Memory.
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Discussion Topics
to keep in mind
as we read along:
1). What general description is given
regarding third degree of prayer?
[ Life: Ch. 17: # 1,2,3,4,5,6, 14 ]
2). What does St. Teresa say about the
faculties in this 3rd degree of prayer?
[ Life: Ch. 17:5,8,9,10,11,12,13 ]
3). What advice and "remedy" does
St. Teresa give to the soul
who is brought by God
to the third degree of prayer?
[ Life: Ch. 17: # 1,6,9,12 ]
4). What does St. Teresa say
regarding the soul's virtue
in the 3rd degree of prayer ?
[ Life: Ch. 17: # 3,4,14]
5). How does the Third state of Prayer
differ from the "Prayer of Quiet"
of the Second state of prayer?
[ Life: Ch17 #5,6,14 ]
6). St Teresa talks about
"another kind of union"
What did she say regarding this?
[ Life: Ch17 #7 ]
7). What is it that the soul, in the Third
state of Prayer, desires?
[ Life: Ch. 17: #6,9 ]
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1. Enough has been said
- of this manner of prayer, and
- of what the soul has to do,
- or rather, to speak more correctly,
of what God is doing within it;
- for it is He
-- who now takes upon Himself
the gardener's work, and
-- who will have the soul take its ease;
- except that the (person's) will
-- is consenting to the graces,
the fruition of which it has, and that
-- it must resign itself to all
that the True Wisdom would
accomplish in it--
for which it is certain it has
need of courage;
because the joy is so great,
that the soul seems now and then
to be on the very point of going forth
out of the body:
and what a blessed death that would be!
Now, I think it is for the soul's good--
as you, my father, have been told--
- to abandon itself
into the arms of God altogether;
-- if He will take it to heaven,
let it go;
-- if to hell,
no matter,
as it is going thither
with its sovereign Good.
-- If life is to come to an end for ever,
so it wills;
-- if it is to last a thousand years,
it wills that also:
-- His Majesty may do with it
as with His own property,--
-- the soul no longer belongs to itself,
it has been given wholly
to our Lord;
let it cast all care utterly away.
2. My meaning is that,
in a state of prayer, so high as this,
the soul
- understands that
-- God is doing His work
without any fatiguing of the
(person's) understanding,
except that, as it seems to me,
it is as if
- amazed in beholding our Lord
-- taking upon Himself
the work of the good gardener,
-- refusing to let the soul
undergo any labour whatever,
but that of taking its pleasure
in the flowers
beginning to send forth
their fragrance;
for when God raises a soul up to this state,
it can do all this, and much more,--
for these are the effects of it.
3. In one of these visits,
how brief soever it may be,
the Gardener, being who He is,--
in a word, the Creator of the water,--
- pours the water without stint; and
- what the poor soul,
with the labour, perhaps,
of twenty years
in fatiguing the understanding,
could not bring about,
- (what) that the heavenly Gardener
accomplishes
in an instant,
causing the fruit
both to grow and ripen;
so that the soul,
such being the will of our Lord,
may derive its sustenance
from its garden.
- But He allows it not to divide
the fruit with others,
until by eating thereof,
it is strong enough
not to waste it
in the mere tasting of it,--
-- giving to Him
none of the produce,
-- nor making any compensation
for it to Him who supplies it,--
lest it should be maintaining others,
feeding them at its own cost,
and itself perhaps dying
of hunger. [1]
The meaning of this is perfectly clear
for those who have understanding
enough to apply it--
much more clear than I can make it;
and I am tired.
4. Finally,
- the virtues are now stronger
than they were during the preceding
prayer of quiet;
- for the soul sees itself to be
other than it was, and
- it knows not how
it is beginning to do great things
in the odour which the flowers send forth;
- it being our Lord's will
that the flowers should open,
in order that the soul may believe itself
to be in possession of virtue;
- though it sees most clearly
-- that it cannot, and never could,
acquire them in many years, and
-- that the heavenly Gardener has given
them to it in that instant.
- Now, too, the humility of the soul is
much greater and deeper
than it was before;
because it sees more clearly that it
-- did neither much nor little, beyond
--- giving its consent
that our Lord might work
those graces in it, and
--- then accepting them willingly.
5. This state of prayer seems to me
- to be a most distinct union
of the whole soul with God,
but for this, that
- His Majesty appears to give the faculties
leave to
-- be intent upon, and
-- have the fruition of,
the great work He is doing then.
It happens at times, and indeed very often, that,
the will being in union,
the soul
- should be aware of it, and
- see that the will is a captive and in joy,
- that the will alone is abiding
in great peace,--
while, on the other hand,
- the understanding and the memory
are so free,
that they can
be employed in affairs and
be occupied in works of charity.
I say this, that you, my father, may
see it is so, and
understand the matter
when it shall happen to yourself;
at least, it carried me out of myself, and
that is the reason why I speak of it here.
6. It differs from the prayer of quiet,
of which I have spoken, [2]
though it does seem
as if it were all one with it.
~ In that prayer (of quiet),
the soul,
- which would willingly
neither stir nor move,
- is delighting in the holy repose
of Mary
(Luke 10:38-42 Mary of Bethany,
sister of Martha and Lazarus)
~ but in this (3rd state of) prayer
- it can be like Martha also. [3]
Accordingly,
the soul is, as it were,
- living the
-- active and
-- contemplative
life at once, and
- is able to apply itself to
-- works of charity and the
-- affairs of its state, and to
-- spiritual reading.
Still, those who arrive at this state,
- are not wholly masters
of themselves,
and are well aware
- that the better part of the soul
is elsewhere.
It is as if we were speaking
to one person,
and another speaking to us
at the same time,
while we ourselves are not perfectly
attentive either
to the one or the other.
It is a state that is
- most easily ascertained, and
one, when attained to,
- that ministers great joy and
contentment, and
- that prepares the soul
in the highest degree,
by observing times
of solitude, or
of freedom from business,
for the attainment
of the most tranquil quietude.
It is like the life of a man
who is
-- full,
-- requiring no food,
-- with his appetite satisfied,
-- so that he will not eat
of everything set before him,
-- yet not so full either
as to refuse to eat
if he saw any desirable food.
So the soul
- has no satisfaction in the world, and
- seeks no pleasure in it then;
because it has in itself
that which gives it a
-- greater satisfaction,
-- greater joys in God,
-- longings for the satisfaction
of its longing to have a deeper joy
in being with Him--
this is what the soul seeks.
7. There is another kind of union,
which, though not a perfect union,
is yet more so
than the one of which I have just spoken;
(Prayer of Quiet of Second state of Prayer)
but not so much so as this spoken of
as the third water.
You, my father, will be delighted greatly
if our Lord should bestow them all
upon you,
if you have them not already,
- to find an account of the matter
in writing, and
- to understand it;
- for it is one grace
that our Lord gives grace; and
- it is another grace
to understand
-- what grace and
-- what gift it is; and
- it is another and further grace
to have the power
-- to describe and explain it
to others.
Though it does not seem
that more than the first of these--
the giving of the grace--
is necessary
- to enable the soul to advance
without confusion and fear, and
- to walk with the greater courage
in the way of our Lord,
trampling under foot
all the things of this world,
it is a great advantage and
a great grace
- to understand it;
for every one who has it
has great reason to praise our Lord;
and so, also, has he
who has it not:
because His Majesty has bestowed it
upon some person living
who is to make us profit by it.
8. This union,
of which I would now speak,
frequently occurs,
particularly to myself.
God has very often bestowed
such a grace upon me, whereby
He constrains
- the will, and
- even the understanding,
as it seems to me,
seeing that
-- it makes no reflections,
-- but is occupied in the fruition
of God:
like a person who
looks on, and
sees so many things,
that he knows not
where to look--
one object puts another
out of sight,
and none of them leaves
any impression behind.
9. The memory
remains free,
and it must be so,
together with the imagination;
and so,
when it finds itself alone,
it is marvellous to behold
- what war it makes on the soul, and
- how it labours to throw everything
into disorder.
As for me,
I am wearied by it, and
I hate it;
and very often do I implore our Lord
to deprive me of it on these occasions,
if I am to be so much troubled by it.
Now and then, I say to Him:
O my God,
when shall my soul praise Thee
without distraction,
not dissipated in this way,
unable to control itself!
I understand now the mischief
that sin has done,
in that it has rendered us
unable to do what we desire--
to be always occupied in God. [4]
10. I say that it happens to me
from time to time,--
it has done so this very day,
and so I remember it well,--
to see my soul tear itself,
in order to find itself there
where the greater part of it is,
and to see, at the same time,
that it is impossible:
because the memory
and the imagination
- assail it with such force,
that it cannot prevail against them;
yet, as the other faculties
give them no assistance,
- they are not able to do it any harm--
none whatever;
they do enough
when they trouble its rest.
When I say they do no harm,
my meaning is,
that they cannot really hurt it,
-- because they have
not strength enough, and
-- because they are
too discursive.
As the understanding
gives no help,
neither much nor little,
in the matters put before the soul,
- they never rest anywhere,
but hurry to and fro,
like nothing else but gnats at night,
troublesome and unquiet: and so they
go about from one subject to another.
(The Memory and Imagination)
11. This comparison seems to me
to be singularly to the purpose;
for the memory and the imagination,
though they
- have no power to do any harm,
- are very troublesome.
I know of no remedy for it;
and, hitherto, God has told me of none.
If He had, most gladly
would I make use of it;
for I am, as I say, tormented very often.
- This shows our wretchedness and
- brings out most distinctly
the great power of God,
seeing that the faculty
which is free
hurts and wearies us so much;
while the others,
occupied with His Majesty,
give us rest.
12. The only remedy I have found,
after many years of weariness,
is that I spoke of when I
describing the prayer of quiet: [5]
- to make no more account of it**
than of a madman,
- but let it go with its subject;
for God alone can take it from it,--
in short, it is a slave here.
** (blog note) "it" seems to be referencing the Memory - "...que no se haga caso de ella más que de un loco" "...to not notice of her (it) any more than of a madman" --"La Vida de la Madre Teresa de Jesús escrita de su misma mano, con una aprobación del P. Maestro Fr. Domingo Báñez su confesor y cathedrático de prima en Salamanca" - "...to pay nor more attention to the Memory than one to a madman..." -- The Book of Her Life ICS Publication Ch17 #7 Another version references The Will: - "the soul must take no more notice of the will than it would of a madman..." -- "The Life of the holy Mother Teresa of Jesus" [ Peers Ch17 #7 ] End of Blogger's note |
We must bear patiently with it,
as Jacob bore with Lia;
for our Lord showeth us mercy enough
when we are allowed
to have Rachel with us.
13. I say that it remains a slave;
for, after all, let it do what it will,
it cannot drag the other faculties
in its train;
on the contrary, they,
without taking any trouble,
compel it to follow after them.
Sometimes God is pleased
to take pity on it,
when He sees it so lost and so unquiet,
through the longing it has
to be united with the other faculties, and
His Majesty consents to its burning itself
in the flame of that divine candle
by which the others are already
reduced to ashes, and their nature lost,
being, as it were, supernaturally
in the fruition of blessings so great.
14. In all these states of prayer
of which I have spoken,
while explaining this last method
of drawing the water out of the well,
- so great is the bliss and repose
of the soul, that
- even the body most distinctly shares
in its joy and delight,--
and this is most plain;
- and the virtues continue to grow,
as I said before. [6]
It seems to have been the good pleasure
of our Lord
to explain these states of prayer,
wherein the soul finds itself,
with the utmost clearness possible,
I think, here on earth.
15. Do you, my father,
discuss it with any spiritual person
who has arrived at this state,
and is learned.
If he says of it, it is well,
you may believe that God has spoken it,
and you will give thanks to His Majesty
for, as I said just now, [7]
in the course of time
you will rejoice greatly
in that you have understood it.
Meanwhile,
if
- He does not allow you
to understand what it is,
- though He does give you
the possession of it,
yet, with your intellect and learning,
seeing that His Majesty
has given you the first,
- you will know what it is,
by the help of
what I have written here.
Unto Him be praise for ever and ever!
Amen.
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1. See ch. xix. § 4.
2. Ch. xv. § 1.
3. See Relation, viii. § 6; and
Way of Perfection, ch. liii.,
but ch xxxi. of former editions.
See also
Concept. of the Love of God, ch. vii.
4. See Relation, viii. § 17.
5. Ch. xiv. § 4.
See also
Way of Perfection, ch. liii.,
but ch. xxxi. of the old editions.
6. Ch. xiv. § 6.
7. § 7.
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Footnote #1.
See Chapter 19 Paragraph 4
Chapter 19 Paragraph 4
(regarding the 4th degree of prayer)
4. "The good effects of this prayer
abide in the soul for some time.
Now that it clearly apprehends that
- the fruit is not its own,
- the soul can begin to share it
with others, and that
without any loss to itself.
It begins
- to show signs of its being a soul
that is guarding the treasures
of heaven, and
- to be desirous of communicating
them to others, and
- to pray to God that itself may not be
the only soul that is rich in them.
- It begins to benefit its neighbours,
as it were, without
being aware of it, or
doing anything consciously:
its neighbours understand the matter,
because the odour of the flowers
has grown so strong
as to make them eager
to approach them.
They understand that
this soul is full of virtue:
they see the fruit,
how delicious it is, and
they wish to help that soul to eat it."
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Recall from Ch 14 #4, 5:
(regarding the Second State of Prayer)
4. The other two faculties
help the will,
that it may render itself
capable of the fruition
of so great a good;
nevertheless,
it occasionally happens,
even when the will
is in union,
that they hinder it very much:
but then it should never heed them at all,
simply abiding in its fruition and quiet.
For if it tried to make them recollected,
it would miss its way
together with them...
And so the memory and
the understanding come and go,
seeking whether the will
is going to give them
that into the fruition of which
it has entered itself.
5. ...now and then
the memory or the imagination,
seeking to represent to it
that of which it has the fruition,
does it harm.
The will, therefore, should be careful
to deal with them as I shall explain.
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