The Life of Holy Mother
Teresa of Jesus
The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus,
of the Order of Our Lady of Carmel.
Discussion of Chapter 20
- She speaks of the difference
between Union and Trance, and
- explains what a Trance is;
- she also says something about the good
a soul derives from being,
through God's goodness,
led so far.
- She speaks of the effects of Union.
__________________
- The difference between union and rapture.
- What rapture is.
- The blessing it is to the soul.
- The effects of it.
______________________________
CHAPTER 20
Discussion Topics / Questions
1). How does St. Teresa describe
the difference between
Union with God and Rapture ?
[ Life: Ch. 20: # 2,3,4,9,10,
15,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,29,
30,31,32,33,34,36,37,38 ]
2). From her experience with raptures,
what does St Teresa say
regarding her fears, resistance,
and her prayerful response?
[ Life: Ch. 20: # 2,4,5,6,7,8,9 ]
3). How did St. Teresa describe a
most recent type of distress / pain
that she was experiencing ?
[ Life: Ch. 20: #10,11,12,13,14,15,16
17,19,20,21,22,23 ]
4). Because"......the pain has increased so
much..."it seeks solitude no longer".
[ Life: Ch. 20: #18 ]
In describing her most recent distress,
what does St. Teresa say
about companionship ?
about companionship ?
[ Life: Ch. 20: #12,13,15,17,18,
31,34,38]
5). Why did St. Teresa
"esteem this grace
(her current state)
(her current state)
more than all the others
( that God) had given me"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #21,22 ]
6). Why did St. Teresa
"expound...at such great length"
on the subject of raptures?
[ Life: Ch. 20: #27, 28 ]
______________________
Discussion
1). How does St. Teresa describe
the difference between
Union with God and Rapture ?
[ Life: Ch. 20: # 2,3,4,9,10,
15,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,29,
30,31,32,33,34,36,37,38 ]
St. Teresa describes the difference
between Union and Rapture in this way:
Union with God:
- "this utter transformation
of the soul in God"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #24 ]
Attributes of Union:
~ Uniformity of the experience
"for union is uniform
in the beginning,
the middle, and
the end, and is so
also interiorly"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #1 ]
"During Union,
we are...on our own ground"
~ Able to be Resisted:
Union may be hindered,
-- though that resistance
be painful and violent;
-- it is almost always ...possible
to resist
[ Life: Ch. 20: #3 ]
~ Duration:
continues only for an instant;
[ Life: Ch. 20: #24 ]
~ The Faculties
yet while it continues
- no faculty of the soul
-- is aware of it, or
-- knows what is passing there.
Nor can it be understood
while we are living on the earth
at least,
God will not have us understand it,
because we (are) incapable
of understanding it.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #24 ]
-"...the faculties are at rest...
joy suspends them (the faculties)
in union.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #15]
_____________________
_____________________
Rapture:
- "this utter transformation
of the soul in God"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #24 ]
"all these are only different names
for that one and the same thing":
- transport,
- flight of the spirit,
- trance,
- ecstasy.
"...are all one"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #1 ]
- more excellent than union,
- the fruits of it are much greater, and
- its other operations more manifold;
- have ends of a much higher kind,
- they produce effects
both within and without.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #1 ]
Attributes of Rapture:
~ "absolutely irresistible"
"A rapture is absolutely irresistible;
Rapture, for the most part,
- is irresistible.
- It comes, in general,
as a shock, quick and sharp,
- before you can collect your thoughts,
or help yourself in any way
[ Life: Ch. 20: #3]
- "Occasionally I was able,
by great efforts,
to make a slight resistance;
but afterwards I was worn out,
like a person who had been
contending with a strong giant;
at other times it was impossible
to resist at all:
- ...I had no power over it
[ Life: Ch. 20: #4 ]
~ Body: Lack of animation and heat
"During rapture,
- the soul does not seem
to animate the body,
- the natural heat of which
is perceptibly lessened;
-- the coldness increases"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #2 ]
"But during the rapture itself
- the body is very often
as if it were dead, perfectly powerless.
- It continues in the position it was in
when the rapture came upon it--
-- if sitting, sitting;
-- if the hands were open, or
if they were shut,
they will remain
open or shut.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #23]
- "...they must be as dead persons
during the trance"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #28]
~ Feeling of "rising upwards"
- you see and feel it...
rising upwards, and
carrying you away...
[ Life: Ch. 20: #3 ]
- our Lord draws up the soul...
and carries it away out of itself
...takes the soul with Him, and
begins to show it
the treasures of the kingdom
which He has prepared for it.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #2 ]
- you feel and see yourself
carried away,
you know not whither.
- my soul was carried away,
and almost always my head with it
I had no power over it,--
and now and then
the whole body as well,
so that it was lifted up
from the ground.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #4 ]
- ... the spirit draws it
upwards after itself,
[ Life: Ch. 20: #9 ]
- "this is the flight of the spirit,
rising upwards
above all created things,
and chiefly above itself"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #32 ]
~ "exceeding joy and sweetness"
- it is a sweet flight, a delicious flight--
a flight without noise"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #32 ]
- " with great sweetness"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #9 ]
- accompanied with
exceeding joy and sweetness.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #2 ]
- we feel how delicious it is
[ Life: Ch. 20: #4 ]
~ Fear
- yet the weakness of our nature
makes us afraid at first"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #4 ]
- "... a great fear comes upon me
of offending God, who is so mighty.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #9 ]
~ Love
- This fear is bound up in
exceedingly great love,
which is acquired anew,
and directed to Him,
who, we see, bears so great a love
to a worm so vile, and
who seems
-- not (only) to be satisfied with
attracting the soul to Himself
in so real a way,
-- but who will have the body also,
though it be
--- mortal and
--- of earth so foul,
through our sins,
which are so great.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #9 ]
~ Duration:
- "continues only for an instant"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #24 ]
- "the rapture is not continuous"
- "This...lasts but a moment"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #25 ]
- Yet may seem to last for hours
since:
-- TheWill may continue
to be in Union
"the will alone remains
in union with Him"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #25 ]
and
-- the after effects can leave
the body drained and
the faculties stunned
so as to seem to be
still enraptured:
"the body under constraint
for many hours,
[ Life: Ch. 20: #27 ]
"the faculties may remain,
if the rapture has been deep,
for a day or (more)
-- so absorbed, or
-- as if stunned...
as to be in appearance
no longer themselves.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #29 ]
"you...will ask me:
"How comes it, then, that a rapture
occasionally lasts so many hours?
- the rapture is not continuous,
- the soul is frequently absorbed,
or, to speak more correctly,
our Lord absorbs it in Himself;
and when He has held it thus
for a moment,
the will alone
remains
in union with Him.
The movements
of the two other faculties
seem ...never at rest;
yet when the (God) will(s)..it so,
He can hold it still"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #25 ]
- "This...lasts but a moment;
yet, as the impulse
and the upraising of the spirit
were vehement, and
though the other faculties
bestir themselves again,
the will
continues absorbed...
...the two other faculties are
- restless, and
- attempt to disturb (the Will)
[ Life: Ch. 20: #26 ]
- the understanding and the memory
...in general...are inebriated
-- with the praises of God, or
-- or with searching to
comprehend or understand that
which has passed over them.
And yet even for this
they are not thoroughly awake,
but are rather like one
who has slept long,
and dreamed,
and is hardly yet awake.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #27 ]
~ The Faculties
"yet while it continues
- no faculty of the soul
-- is aware of it, or
-- knows what is passing there.
Nor can it be understood
while we are living on the earth
at least,
God will not have us understand it,
because we (are) incapable
of understanding it.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #24 ]
- "...the faculties are at rest...
joy suspends them (the faculties)
...in a trance.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #15]
The Will:
- " the will alone remains
in union with Him.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #25 ]
- " the will
continues absorbed, and
causes this operation in the body,
as if it were the absolute mistress;
[ Life: Ch. 20: #26 ]
The Understanding/ Intellect and
The Memory:
- "The movements
of the two other faculties
seem....never at rest...
yet when (God) will(s) it...
He can hold it still.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #25 ]
- "the other faculties
bestir themselves again"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #26 ]
- "the two other faculties are
- restless, and
- attempt to disturb(the Will)
[ Life: Ch. 20: #26 ]
Senses:
- "if unresisted,
the senses are not lost;
... I was ... able to see
that I was being lifted up"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #9 ]
- "...the senses fail...rarely and
then only for a short time.
- But in general they are in disorder;
...they have no power whatever
to deal with outward things,
- there remains the power
of hearing and seeing;
but it is as if the things heard and seen
were at a great distance, far away."
[ Life: Ch. 20: #23]
- "the senses also shall not trouble it..
-- the senses are suspended;
for so our Lord wills it.
-- ...for the most part
the eyes are closed,
though we may not wish
to close them;
and if occasionally
they remain open...
the soul
neither discerns
nor considers what it sees"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #26 ]
- But "when the rapture is
at the highest...
when the faculties are lost, because
profoundly united with God, it
neither sees,
nor hears,
nor perceives,
[ Life: Ch. 20: #24]
Temporary after-effects of the rapture:
~ The Body
"...when the rapture was over,
my body seemed frequently
to be buoyant,
as if all weight had departed from it;
that...I scarcely knew
that my feet touched the ground.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #23]
- "...though I do all I can,
my body has no strength
to move for some time;
the soul took it all away.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #29 ]
- "the body...can do...still less
in order that, when the faculties
come together again,
there may not be so much to do.
- the body under constraint
for many hours,
[ Life: Ch. 20: #27]
~ The faculties:
"When we recover our consciousness,
- the faculties may remain,
if the rapture has been deep,
for a day or two,
and even for three days,
-- so absorbed, or
-- as if stunned...
as to be in appearance
no longer themselves.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #29 ]
- "the understanding and the memory
occasionally astray.
...in general,
- they are inebriated
-- with the praises of God, or
-- or with searching to
comprehend or understand that
which has passed over them.
And yet even for this
they are not thoroughly awake,
but are rather like one
who has slept long,
and dreamed,
and is hardly yet awake.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #27 ]
Lasting Effects of Rapture:
"The effects of rapture are great":
[ Life: Ch. 20: #9 ]
- "if the raptures be true raptures,
the fruits and advantages...
abide in the soul;
but if they did not,
I should have great doubts
about their being from God--
[ Life: Ch. 20: #31 ]
~ Experience of the Majesty of God
- "one (effect) is that the mighty power
of our Lord is manifested;
and as we are not strong enough,
when His Majesty wills it,
to control either soul or body,
so neither have we any power over it;
...we see
- that there is one mightier than we are"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #9 ]
- "The majesty of Him
who can effect this
so manifests itself"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #9 ]
~ Humility:
"we see...
- these graces are His gifts, and
- that of ourselves
we can do nothing whatever; and
- humility is deeply imprinted in us"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #9 ]
- "It sees distinctly
that all this does not belong to it,
[ Life: Ch. 20: #31 ]
- "It is in rapture that
true humility is acquired--
Humility that will
never say any good of self,
nor suffer others to do so.
The Lord of the garden,
not the soul,
distributes the fruit thereof,
and so none remains in its hands;
all the good it has,
it refers to God;
if it says anything about itself,
it is for His glory.
It knows that it possesses nothing here"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #38 ]
~ Self-Knowledge
- "how ashamed it is of the time
when it was entangled!
- how it is amazed at its own blindness!
[ Life: Ch. 20: #33 ]
- "It sees..its great faults,
but also the specks of dirt,
however slight they may be;
for the sun shines most clearly; and
thus, however much the soul
may have laboured
at its own perfection,
it sees itself
to be very unclean"
"The soul...appears (clear)
when the sun
does not shine through it;
but if it does,
(it) is found to be full of (specks)"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #36 ]
- "Before the soul fell into the trance,
it thought itself
to be careful
about not offending God
but now it beholds itself
wholly unclean.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #37 ]
- "its eyes are
- shut against the things
of this world, and
- open to see the truth"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #38 ]
~ Detachment
"Rapture leaves behind
- a certain strange detachment
...higher than--the other graces,
which are simply spiritual;
for though these effect
detachment in spirit from all things...
in...rapture (there is)
-- Not only "a complete detachment
in spirit from all things"
-- But also
"our Lord would have the body itself
to be detached also...
thus a certain singular estrangement
from the things of earth
is wrought,
which makes life
much more distressing"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #10 ]
- The soul...in a place of safety,
- ... sees most clearly
-- how lightly...to be esteemed...
are the things of this world and
-- the nothingness thereof.
- (The soul) will not act as the owner
even of itself,
nor of anything...
(all) is at His Majesty's disposal;
for from henceforth the soul
will have nothing of its own,--
[ Life: Ch. 20: #30 ]
- "...is mistress of everything, and
acquires such freedom in one hour,
and even in less,
as to be unable to recognize itself.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #31 ]
- "how it looks down upon everything,
entangled by nothing!
[ Life: Ch. 20: #31 ]
- The soul is weary of...
the delusion which led it to believe
that to be honour
(what) the world calls by that name;
It understands that true honour is...
-- esteeming that which
is worthy of esteem, and
-- despising that which is despicable;
- "Everything is nothing and
Less than nothing,
(is) whatever passeth away, and
is not pleasing unto God.
- "it is plain that these blessings
are gained
by abandoning all things.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #34 ]
~ Love of God
This fear ...of offending God...
is bound up in
exceedingly great love,
which is acquired anew,
and directed to Him,
[ Life: Ch. 20: #9 ]
~ Love and Concern for the
Welfare of others:
- "how it pities those
who are still in darkness...
It would like to cry out to them,
that they might be made to see
the delusions they are in:
...how strong the influence is
that moves it.
The soul at times cannot help itself;
nor can it refrain
from undeceiving those it loves,
and whom it longs to see delivered
out of the prison of this life;
for that state in which the soul itself
had been before
neither is, nor seems to be,
anything else but a prison.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #33 ]
~ Fear
- "... a great fear of offending God
[ Life: Ch. 20: #9 ]
- This fear is bound up in
exceedingly great love
[ Life: Ch. 20: #9 ]
~ The Faculties:
The Understanding:
- "neither knows it
how it came to possess so great a good;
[ Life: Ch. 20: #31 ]
- but it clearly perceives
the very great blessing
which every one of these raptures
always brings.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #31 ]
The Will:
~ Conformity with the Will of God
- "The soul now
-- seeks not, and
-- possesses not,
any other will
but that of doing our Lord's will
- "it gives to Him
the keys of its own will.
the gardener is now become
the commander of a fortress!"
- "The soul will do nothing
but the will of our Lord;
- "all it seeks is to do
everything for His glory, and
according to His will.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #30 ]
- "a soul which has reached this state
-- neither speaks
-- nor acts
of itself,
but rather that the supreme King
takes care
of all it has to do.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #32 ]
~ Bodily health
"- Very often, too, he who was
before sickly and full of pain
remains healthy,
and even stronger;
for it is something great
that is given to the soul in rapture;
and sometimes...
our Lord will have the body rejoice,
because it is obedient
in that which the soul requires of it.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #29 ]
________________________
2). From her experience with raptures,
what does St Teresa say
regarding her fears, resistance,
and her prayerful response?
[ Life: Ch. 20: # 2,4,5,6,7,8,9 ]
Regarding her experience with raptures,
St. Teresa taught:
~ Regarding fears
- Weakness of our nature
-- "...feel(ing)...yourself carried away
...know(ing) not whither.
...feel(ing) how delicious it is,
yet the weakness of our nature
makes us afraid at first"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #4 ]
-- "it threw me into great fear,
very great indeed at first"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #9 ]
- Fear of being deluded
by self or devil
-- "I was afraid of delusions"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #4 ]
~ Regarding not resisting
- "we require a much more
resolute and courageous spirit
than in the previous states,
in order
--- to risk everything,
come what may, and
--- to abandon ourselves
into the hands of God,
[ Life: Ch. 20: #4 ]
- Conformity with the Will of God
-- "it is a great struggle
and...of little use,
whenever our Lord so wills it.
There is no power against His power."
[ Life: Ch. 20: #7 ]
-- "go willingly
whither we are carried,
however
--- painful it may be; and
--- so trying is it"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #4 ]
~ Regarding her resistance
- In Public
- "I would very often resist,
and exert all my strength,
particularly at those times
when the rapture was coming
on me in public:
[ Life: Ch. 20: #4 ]
-- in choir... I, on my knees,
on the point of communicating.
(about to receive Communion)
I...was afraid it would
occasion much talk;
-- On a feastday when
"...some great ladies
being present..."
(despite but her precautions)
the rapture was observed"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #5 ]
- In Solitude
"I (resisted) very often
when I was alone,
because I was afraid of delusions.
- ...When we resist it
out of humility,
He produces those very effects
which would have resulted
if we had fully consented to it.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #8 ]
- At other times He is...satisfied
(only to) makes us see
that He is ready
to give us this grace, and
that it is not He
(Who) withholds it"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #8 ]
~ Her Prayerful Response:
- "I made many supplications
to our Lord,
that He would be pleased
to give me no more of those graces
which were outwardly visible;
for I was weary of living
under such great restraint, and
because His Majesty could bestow
such graces on me
without their becoming known.
It seems that, of His goodness,
He has been pleased to hear my prayer;
for I have never been enraptured since.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #6 ]
____________________________
3). How did St. Teresa describe a
most recent type of distress / pain
that she was experiencing ?
[ Life: Ch. 20: #10,11,12,13,14,15,16
17,19,20,21,22,23 ]
St. Teresa briefly refers to
a more advanced state
to which the Lord brought her
beyond that of rapture:
~ "...which ...is even more
than a rapture..."
[ Life: Ch. 20: #23]
"our Lord bade me
not to fear,
but to esteem this grace more
than all the others
He had given me;
[ Life: Ch. 20: #21]
"Afterwards..."
(it seems she means beyond
the state of rapture)
"it causes a pain..."
[ Life: Ch. 20: #10 ]
"after I had received those graces
(of rapture) from our Lord
...it is in this state
(that) our Lord keeps me
at this moment.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #20 ]
"after all the visions and revelations...
after that time,
wherein I gave myself to prayer,
in which our Lord gave me
so much sweetness and delight
...this is my present state, and one
to which I have been brought
very lately"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #11]
~ This new state has been described as:
- "this pain" [#11]
"these impetuosities" [#20]
(Lewis - current book being read)
- "this distress" [#9]
"violent impulses" [#15]
(Peers translation)
- "gran pena" [#9]
"Ãmpetus" (force) [#15]
(La Vida de la Madre Teresa de Jesús)
- "painful experience" [#9]
"deep pain" [#9]
"experience of pain" [#15]
(Kavanaugh & Rodriquez: ICS )
"this is the habitual state of my soul!"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #16 ]
"our Lord leads me by a new way"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #20 ]
~ This state is granted
according to God's will.
It can not be acquired or merited.
"this pain...which we can
never inflict of ourselves,
nor remove when once it has come.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #10 ]
- we have no part in causing this pain;
[ Life: Ch. 20: #12 ]
- "...is not anything that
I have acquired myself,
because it is
exceedingly supernatural"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #20 ]
- "the exceeding greatness
of the blessing
....I called to mind
how little I had deserved it.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #22]
- "this pain was a great grace"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #22]
~ Intense Desire for God
- "The soul seems to be,
in the utmost extremity of need,
asking itself, and saying,
"Where is Thy God?"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #14]
~ Pain of abandonment
(extreme desolation, loneliness)
"is the most frequent and
the most common.
It varies in its intensity".
"...when it is sharpest;
... this pain...the most spiritual;
the soul feels that pain,
...with...extremity of abandonment".
[ Life: Ch. 20: #11 ]
"...God seems...far away
from the soul".
[ Life: Ch. 20: #12 ]
This experience "is a communication
made, not to console,
but to show the reason
why the soul must be weary;
because it is
far away from the Good
which in itself comprehends all good.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #12 ]
In this communication
- the desire (for God) grows,
- so also does the bitterness
of that loneliness
wherein the soul beholds itself,
suffering a pain
so sharp and piercing
[ Life: Ch. 20: #13]
Pain suspends...(the faculties)
[ Life: Ch. 20: #15]
Dying verses Enduring
- On the one hand, she is sorry that
her life goes on in this loneliness
and feelings of abandonment
and separation from God
She stated she "trembles...
when I feel them coming on,
"I fall into these agonies of death...
because they are not unto death".
[ Life: Ch. 20: #16 ]
"All my anxiety
(longing, yearning)
at these times
is that I should die:
I do not think of purgatory,
nor of the great sins
I have committed, and
by which I have deserved hell.
I forget everything
in my eagerness to see God;
[ Life: Ch. 20: #17 ]
- Yet, during this experience,
she would endure this loss
as long as God wills it:
"I...wish to spend...
all the rest of my life,
though the pain be so very great
that I can scarcely endure it".
[ Life: Ch. 20: #16 ]
~ Detachment:
- "There springs up a desire unexpectedly
I know not how it comes...
which pierces the soul in a moment,
because of this desire,
the soul begins to be wearied,
...that it rises upwards above itself,
and above all created things.
- God then so strips it of everything,
that...there is nothing on earth
that can be its companion.
Neither, indeed,
would it wish to have any;
It would rather die in that loneliness.
The spirit,
notwithstanding all it may do,
cannot be withdrawn
from that loneliness".
[ Life: Ch. 20: #12]
- No consolation reaches it
from heaven,
and it is not there itself;
it wishes for none from earth,
and it is not there either;
But it is...
- crucified between heaven and earth,
- enduring its passion:
- receiving no succour from either".
[ Life: Ch. 20: #14]
- For if any earthly thing
be then offered to the soul,
even though it may be that
which it habitually found most sweet,
the soul will have none of it;
yea, it seems to throw it away
at once.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #15]
The soul sees distinctly
that it seeks nothing but God;
Yet its love dwells not
on any attribute of Him
in particular;
it seeks Him as He is, and
knows not what it seeks".
[ Life: Ch. 20: #15]
~ Knowledge of God:
- "The succour it receives from heaven
is a most marvellous
knowledge of God,
above all that we can desire--
brings with it greater pain;
for the desire (for God) then
so grows,
that, in my opinion,
its intense painfulness now and then
robs the soul of all sensation;
only, it lasts but for a short time
after the senses are suspended".
[ Life: Ch. 20: #15]
- "He reveals His grandeurs at times
in the strangest way conceivable".
[ Life: Ch. 20: #12 ]
~ Occasional sweetness
- "now I have that sweetness
occasionally"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #11 ]
Joy accompanied by Intense Suffering
"It seems as if it were
at the point of death;
only, the agony carries with it
so great a joy
[ Life: Ch. 20: #15]
It is a sharp martyrdom,
full of sweetness"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #15]
- "That...comfort...which I once had
in prayer and loneliness...
has become in general a torment...
while, at the same time,
it is so full of sweetness,
that the soul,
discerning its inestimable worth,
prefers it
to all those consolations
which it formerly had.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #19]
- It seems also to be a safer state,
because it is the way of the cross;
and involves....
a joy of exceeding worth,
because the state of the body in it
is only pain.
- "...the soul...suffers and exults
alone in that joy and contentment
which suffering supplies.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #19]
~ Body: Lack of animation
"Sometimes
- my pulse ceases...to beat at all...
- my bones are racked, and
- my hands become so rigid,
that I cannot always join them.
Even on the following day
I have a pain
in my wrists, and
over my whole body,
as if my bones were out of joint.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #16 ]
~ Involvement of the Faculties
- "it seeks Him as He is, and
knows not what it seeks.
...the imagination forms
no representation whatever;
...much of that time
the faculties are at rest.
Pain suspends them then..."
[ Life: Ch. 20: #15]
~ Effects
"...the soul was purified by this pain
burnished, or refined
as gold in the crucible,
so that it might be
the better enamelled
with His gifts,
and the dross burnt away
in this life,
which would have to be burnt away
in purgatory.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #21]
__________________________
4). Because"......the pain has increased so
much..."it seeks solitude no longer".
[ Life: Ch. 20: #18 ]
In describing her most recent distress,
what does St. Teresa say about
companionship ?
[ Life: Ch. 20: #12,13,15,17,18,
31,34,38]
Previously St Teresa,
regarding her most recent experience
of distress (favor),
described her intense desire for God
which was accompanied by an extreme
sense of abandonment and loneliness.
~ She stated that no
material good or person on earth
could comfort this distress.
"this desire (for God)...
pierces the soul in a moment,
the soul begins to be wearied,
so much so that it rises upwards
above itself, and
above all created things.
God then so strips it of everything,
that, do what it may,
there is nothing on earth
that can be its companion.
Neither...would it wish to have any;
it would rather die in that loneliness.
If people spoke to it, and
if itself made every effort possible
to speak,
it would be of little use"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #12 ]
- "The soul...seeks nothing but God"
"if any earthly thing
be then offered to the soul,
the soul will have none of it".
[ Life: Ch. 20: #15 ]
- "I forget everything
in my eagerness to see God...
this abandonment and loneliness
seem preferable to
any company in the world.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #17 ]
~ As her desire for God grew
"so also (did) the bitterness
of that loneliness".
She found comfort in reading
of saints who experienced
this same loneliness.
She found comfort in the Psalms.
"It was a comfort to know
that others had felt
this extreme loneliness"
"How much greater my comfort,
when these persons were
such as David was!"
"... the royal prophet said so,
being in that very loneliness himself,
except that our Lord
may have granted to him,
being a saint,
to feel it more deeply"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #13 ]
~ Later, St. Teresa said perhaps
one may find solace in the company
of one "who has passed throught this trial'
- some comfort could be provided by the
support of one
who has been granted
this same distress/favor
and so would be familiar with and
understand her experience.
"If anything can be a consolation
in this state,
it is to speak to one
who has passed through this trial,
seeing that,
though the soul may complain of it,
no one seems disposed
to believe in it.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #17 ]
~ But, she said, this desire for company
is derived from human weakness
since it is a desire for
-- comfort by distraction and
--- release from this distress
contrary to "the will of the spirit".
- Later, St. Teresa stated,
"because the pain
has increased so much...
it seeks
-- solitude no longer,
as it did before,
-- nor companionship,
unless it be that of those
to whom it may
make its complaint".
[ Life: Ch. 20: #18 ]
- "This desire of companionship seems
to proceed from our weakness;
for, as pain brings
with it the risk of death...
rais(ing) the cry for succour..."
[ Life: Ch. 20: #18 ]
If the soul does find others
who have experience or
understanding of its suffering,
it may due to "weakness"
- seek relief
in that companionship,
- distracting itself from its
loneliness and suffering,
- dodging "the will of
the spirit;
and so lose its way.
"by speaking of it,
by complaining,
and distracting itself,
causes the soul to seek
means of living
(that are) very much
against the will of
the spirit, or
the higher part of the soul,
(which) would not wish
to be delivered
from this pain."
[ Life: Ch. 20: #18 ]
- Also implied, was the solace and
commiseration afforded by one
who shared this experience with her
while others without this experience
would not understand or believe her;
or would think it a temptation.
since "no one seems disposed
to believe in it.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #17 ]
- Likewise, in her discussion
regarding raptures,
She said that others who were
without experience of
this favor/distress
but who came to hear
of her experience
would not understand
or believe her,
especially if they had known
of her "wicked" past.
"No one will believe this
who has not had experience of it,
and so they do not believe
the poor soul:
they saw it lately so wicked,
and now they see it pretend
to things of so high an order...
They consider this a temptation
and a folly;
[ Life: Ch. 20: #31 ]
- In regards to this desire for
companions as support against
the judgements of others,
she teaches the importance of :
-- humility and lack of concern for
the esteem of others:
"The soul is weary of
--- the days during which it
respected points of honour
--- the delusion regarding what
"the world calls" honor.
[Life: Ch. 20: #34 ]
-- acknowledging and following
God's will for itself
"it comes
not from the soul,
but from our Lord,
to whom it has given up
the keys of its will.
[ Life: Ch. 20: #31 ]
"all the good it has,
it refers to God"
"if it says anything about itself,
it is for His glory.
"It knows that
it possesses nothing here"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #38 ]
______________________________
5). Why did St. Teresa
"esteem this grace (her current state)
more than all the others
( that God) had given me"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #21,22 ]
St. Teresa stated that:
"Our Lord bade me
- not to fear,
- but to esteem this grace more
than all the others
He had given me"
because
-- "the soul was purified
by this pain--
burnished, or refined as gold
in the crucible,
so that it might be
the better enamelled
with His gifts..."
-- it was being cleansed now
of the impurities of which
it would need to be cleansed
in purgatory.
"...the dross burnt away in this life,
which would have to be burnt away
in purgatory".
[ Life: Ch. 20: #21]
"I understood perfectly that
this pain was a great grace;
but I was much more certain of it now
and my confessor tells me I did well.
And though I was afraid,
because I was so wicked,
I never could believe
it was anything wrong:
on the other hand,
the exceeding greatness
of the blessing
made me afraid,
when I called to mind
how little I had deserved it".
[ Life: Ch. 20: #22]
______________________________
6). Why did St. Teresa
"expound...at such great length"
on the subject of raptures?
[ Life: Ch. 20: #27, 28 ]
St. Teresa wanted to describe the experience of rapture,
its significance and its effects in order to:
- counsel those who are having such
experience
- advise Confessors who may be the
spiritual directors of one
who is experiencing raptures,
but may not be familiar with this
experience, themselves.
In obedience to the request
of her Confessor,
she wrote this account of her
prayer experiences.
She wanted to thoroughly describe
the experience of rapture in prayer
in order to advise:
- of the mercies and blessings of God,
- of its description and
- how to recognize rapture
by its effect in the soul
- what to do
"I dwell so long on this point
because
-- ...there are persons now...
to whom our Lord
is granting these graces"
-- "if their directors
have had no experience...
they will think, perhaps,
that they must be as dead persons
during the trance--
and they will think so the more
if they have no learning".
She wanted to help those
whom God brought to this state
from losing their way and losing time:
-- "It is piteous to see
what those confessors
who do not understand this
make people suffer."
[ Life: Ch. 20: #28 ]
She wanted to advise those
whom God brought to this state.
not to be discouraged:
"Let him to whom our Lord
has granted this grace,
be not discouraged
when he finds himself in this state"
[ Life: Ch. 20: #27 ]
___________________________
