The Interior Castle (Complete Edition). St. Teresa of Avila
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ST. LUKE’S PRIORY,
WINCANTON, SOMERSET.
July, 1, 1905, and December 25, 1911.
2. Castle, Mansions v. ch. iv. I.
3. Letters of St. Teresa, Vol. ii.
4. The French Carmelite nuns in their new translation, Œuvres complètes de Sainte Thérèse, t. vi, Introduction, p. 5, quoting the Año Teresiano, t. vii ad 7 July, and Father Gracian’s Dilucidario, as well as his additions to Ribera, show the exact share of Fr. Gracian and Dr. Velasquez in the preliminaries of this work.
5. Fuente, Obras de Santa Teresa de Jesus. Edit. 1881, Vol. vi, p. 278.
6. Ibid. p. 178. A somewhat similar incident is reported by Mother Anne of the Incarnation (Ibid. p. 213), but it appears to be wrongly brought into connection with the composition of the Castle. The nun in question had belonged to the convent of St. Joseph at Segovia at an earlier period, but there is no evidence that St. Teresa visited this place in the course of the six months during which she composed this work. The Bollandists, indeed, maintain that it was commenced at Toledo, continued at Segovia and completed at Avila (n. 1541), but their sole authority for including Segovia is the passage in question, which, however, must refer to some other work of the Saint. The sister, passing St. Teresa’s door, saw her writing, her face being lit up as by a bright light. She wrote very fast without making any corrections. After an hour, it being about midnight, she ceased and the light disappeared. The Saint then knelt down and remained in prayer for three hours, after which she went to sleep.
7. Fuente, p. 223.
8. Ibid. p. 255.
9. Autograph, fol. cx.
10. December 7, 1577. Letters Vol. II.
11. Jan. 14, 1580. Letters Vol. IV:
12. Fuente, Obras. l.c. p. 275.
13. l.c. p. 217.
14. Ibid. p. 227.
15. Fuente, Obras. p. 190.
16. Autograph. fol. 1.
17. See Life, ch. xviii. 20. Mansions v. ch. i. 9. The ignorance of the priest who had told her that God was only present by His grace, made a lasting impression on St. Teresa. She was first undeceived by a Dominican.
18. Rom. viii. 18.
19. Fuente; pp. 131-133.
20. l.c. 184.
21. Allusion to the famous Mystical Theology attributed to Dionysius the Areopagite, and long considered the chief authority on this subject.
22. 2 Cor. iv. 6.
23. The example of Moses is scarcely to the point (cf. Exod. xxxiii. 11, and Num. xii. 7, 8).
24. Fuente, pp. 330-332.
25. l.c. p. 334. These testimonies could be easily multiplied.
26. Way of Perf. ch. xx. 1
27. S. Theol. 2da 2dæ, qq. 171-184.
28. Bollandists, Acta, n. 1495. See also Impressions in Spain. By Lady Herbert. London, 1867, p, 171.
29. The first translation is to be found in the Works of the Holy Mother St. Teresa of Jesus (third part). Printed in the year MDCLXXV, pp. 137-286. It bears the title: The Interiour Castle: or, Mansions. As to the authors of this translation—Abraham Woodhead and another, whose name is not known—see my book Carmel in England, p. 342, note. It is stated there that the third part, containing the Way of Perfection and the Castle, has no title-page. This is true with regard to the copy I had before me when writing that book. The one I have now is more complete. The second translation, by the Rev. John Dalton, appeared in 1852 and has been repeatedly reprinted. It was dedicated to Bishop Ullathorne. Of foreign translations it will be sufficient to mention the one by Cyprien de la Nativité, in Œuvres de la Sainte Mère Térèse de Jésus, Paris, 1657, and the new one in Œuvres already mentioned.
30. The present translation ought to dispose of the reservations expressed by an able critic in his otherwise valuable appreciation of the works of the Saint. See Santa Teresa, by the late Alexander Whyte, D.D. London, 1898, p. 32. Criticisms which have appeared in various papers, or have been privately conveyed, have been gratefully received and acted upon in the second and the present edition.
The First Mansions
Chapter 1.
Description of the Castle
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 FAVOURS 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 centre of the soul. 5. Why all souls do not receive certain favours. 6. Reasons for speaking of these favours. 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 to-day to speak for me, since I knew not what to say nor