Teresa of Avila’s Description & Understanding of the Transition from Mental Prayer to the Prayer of Spiritual Consolations

Teresa of Avila’s Description & Understanding of the Transition from Mental Prayer to the Prayer of Spiritual Consolations

COURSE: Religion 602 “Major Christian Thinkers”

Dr. Sandra Zimdars-Swartz

Eleanor M. Cooley

December 5, 1979

This paper will examine and describe a transition between stages in the mystical life of St. Teresa of Avila (hereafter referred to as Teresa) as it appears in her prayer life, attitude towards self, theological understanding, relationship with peers, and with her confessors. A description of the levels of prayer, as Teresa understood them, and an examination of the particular levels on either side of the point of transition will proceed the actual description of the transition point. There exists a sufficiently sharp juncture for Teresa between mental prayer and the prayer of spiritual consolations to separate the description of regular prayer from that of mystical prayer. Teresa understands Christian mystical prayer as "that which no skill nor effort of our own, however much we labor, can attain to."[i] To separate both types of prayer and the transition point between them requires definition, description, understanding, and analysis of the stages of her prayer life both before and after the point of transition or bridge from one state of prayer to another. It will be necessary, at times, to use non-Teresian terminology in the analysis, though every effort will be made to use Teresa's vocabulary in an understandable sense of meaning.

It must be noted that for Teresa what is today called "contemplation" is two distinct levels of prayer, encompassing both sides of the transition point under consideration. For Teresa, mental prayer or meditation is never under any circumstances considered contemplation, though many writers today call it contemplation or "acquired" contemplation to distinguish it and the point of transition from "infused" contemplation or the prayer of spiritual consolations which follows.[ii] For Teresa meditation and mental prayer are activities on our part whereas contemplation is activity on God's part as she points out:

"In contemplation the Lord Himself relieves us of this care, for He will not trust us to look after ourselves. So dearly does He love our souls that He prevents them from rushing into things which may do them harm just at this time when He is anxious to help them. So He calls them to His side at once, and in a single moment reveals more truths to them and gives them a clearer insight into the nature of everything than they could otherwise gain in many years. . .in contemplation the Lord brings us to the end of the day's journey without our understanding how."[iii]

The word contemplation has been so widely and indiscriminatively used in recent years that it will be avoided as much as possible in this presentation.

For purposes of this paper it is assumed that there is a path or journey of development and/or stages through which the majority of Christian mystics travel. Further, it is assumed that this path, for those so gifted with the years necessary, proper guidance, grace and aptitude in their personality, will lead to the advanced state called 'spiritual marriage' It is also assumed that 'spiritual marriage' is viable and real experience for such persons and not an abnormality of certain psychological make-ups."[iv] Even with the difference of centuries, language, and world view, it is assumed that there can be a substantial correlation between the stages or path in Christian mystical experience from Teresa and the present and that some idea of the experience can be shared and understood by those who are not on the path.

OVERVIEW

The spiritual journey or path which Teresa followed receives the most complete elaboration in her own words in The Interior Castle. There are seven moradas' or dwelling places in this castle which represents the human soul. These represent for her the seven states or levels of prayer from beginning Christian prayer to 'spiritual marriage." Mental or conscious prayer is the entrance into the castle. This conscious prayer which sometimes achieves high levels of devotion and joy (which she calls 'contentos') is the deliberate lifting up of the mind to God.[v] Teresa defines this mental prayer as "nothing but friendly intercourse and frequent solitary converse with Him who we know loves us."[vi] It continues as the way of prayer until the fourth 'morada' where spiritual consolations begin. These spiritual consolations or 'gustos' are pure gift which require no effort of our own but are an inflow of the love of God.[vii]

The first ‘morada' represents the person who is a self-contained, sacramentally-correct, Christian. This person is more attached to the world than to God. There is prayer present in the person's life, but it is sporadic and difficult. The basic area of needed growth at this level is self- understanding so that humility is gained.[viii] The desire for God as a real and viable presence in life begins while still in this level.

In the second 'morada' prayer becomes more regular. There is desire and motivation for progress in the relationship with God and efforts to discipline oneself in virtue and other pious activity, while at the same time, there is a strong tendency to fall back into bad habits or neglect prayer.[ix]

The third 'morada' or the level of mediocrity, which will be considered in detail later, is a very stable stage. In it most Christians spend their entire spiritual lives. Teresa spent eighteen years on this plateau.[x] This stage is characterized by a stable prayer life, activity in religious functions, and general popular piety. "Being a good servant of the Lord" would be a common way of describing this level. It does not include friendship with God in the sense of communion with Him on a deep and consistent level.[xi] A significant reason for not moving off this level is the presence of ambivalence. Teresa described this ambivalence in her life; she wanted God, but she also wanted the rewards and activities of the world. It is at this juncture that a series of deeper, sometimes called second conversion experiences are necessary in order to make the total surrender to God a reality. Only then can one move into the realm of the 'prayer of quiet' which is the first level of spiritual consolations or 'gustos' which is a level of prayer and consolations supernaturally infused by God.

The fourth morada; which also will be dealt with later in detail, is the first level at which the infused element enters. The entrance into this level of prayer is a total surrender, which Teresa describes and which will be discussed later.[xii] This infused element is a pure gift or grace, and there is nothing a person can do to require or obligate God into drawing one into this type of prayer. At this level one moves back and forth between ordinary (mental) and infused prayer or 'gustos.’ Entrance into this morada' is by allowing God to bring us into it through 'gustos’[xiii] This requires three things as prerequisites: love to God and friends, detachment (which includes self-acceptance), and humility (which includes perseverance in prayer).[xiv] Once one has been drawn into infused prayer it there is no longer a change in type but only in degree. The remaining 'moradas' only continue and deepen this type of prayer rather than introducing any new type of prayer.

Hence the fifth, sixth, and seventh ‘moradas' describe the prayer of union, states of ecstasy or rapture, and the 'spiritual marriage, where the contact with God is as unbroken as it is possible to be while in this life. In the prayer of union (fifth morada') there is, though of short duration, an almost complete suspension of the faculties of the soul (which are for Teresa the memory, intellect and will).[xv] Teresa simply defines union as "two different things becoming one”[xvi] In the sixth morada' she describes how union becomes longer and includes the action of God in rapture or ecstasy. This she describes as a prayer in which "the faculties are so completely absorbed that we might describe them as dead, and the senses are so as well.”[xvii] It is in this state of total recollection of the faculties or suspension that God reveals certain mysteries which are so deeply impressed upon the memory they can never again be forgotten.[xviii]

The seventh, and final, 'morada' is what Teresa calls 'the spiritual marriage. This stage is a transforming union of the soul, completely and permanently in all its faculties, to a state of ineffable and perfect peace in God, as in Paul's words: "He who is joined to God becomes one Spirit with Him.”[xix] There is no higher state attainable in this life.[xx]

The understanding of the path according to Teresa should be qualified slightly. It is not totally linear though the scientific training of this age encourages linear modes of thought. Teresa says, "No soul on this road is such a giant that it does not often need to become a child at the breast again. (This must never be forgotten: I may repeat it again and again, for it is of great importance.) For there is no state of prayer, however sublime, in which it is not necessary often to go back to the beginning.”[xxi]Though the path proceeds in a generally straight order, there is repetition of steps, even to the beginning, as the Lord chooses and according to His will. This does not invalidate the general pattern of the walk."[xxii]

With this framework as given, the major transition or step from the third morada to the fourth will be approached with a more detailed description of the two stages adjacent to the point of transition. This step or transition is a major point on the path representing the move from human activity in prayer to 'gustos' or infused prayer coming as a gift from God.

Stages of Prayer

CHARACTERISTICS OF TERESA'S LIFE IMMEDIATELYPRIOR TO THE TRANSITION

Teresa was on the plateau of mediocrity (the third 'morada') for some eighteen years.[xxiii] The time of most importance in her prayer life for her growth out of mediocrity is that just before she began to experience the 'prayer of quiet' which is the beginning of infused prayer. There were several very important earmarks of mediocrity or the ordinary devout Christian life which Teresa describes at this time. She reports the cause of staying at this stage was an ambivalent attitude towards God and the world. which was eventually resolved for her by religious self-surrender. This ambivalence and tension between God and the world caused her misery and spiritual unhappiness. She says, "I can testify that this is one of the most grievous kinds of life which I think can be imagined, for I had neither joy in God nor any pleasure in the world."[xxiv] She also says that all she wanted to do was live outside of and apart from this misery.[xxv] After years of this ambivalence tension, the problem was overcome in surrender, as she says, "I could not have realized that all our efforts are unavailing unless we completely give up having confidence in ourselves and fix it all upon God.[xxvi]

It was at this point that Teresa began the transition necessary to move beyond the ambivalence which had frozen her spiritual journey. She entered the oratory of the convent one day and saw a statue representing Christ in part of his passion. This triggered a spiritual reaction within her as she was confronted with her sins and how Christ had suffered. She began to cry and pray for strength not to offend Him. It was at this time, as a result of seeing this image, that she says, "I had quite lost trust in myself and was placing all my confidence in God.”[xxvii] Even so the ambivalence remained, for she says, "I could not resolve to give myself wholly to God.”[xxviii]

The most important characteristic of prayer up to and throughout the third 'morada' is that it is a conscious activity on the part of the person, ranging from meditation, which Teresa defines as "prolonged reasoning with the understanding,”[xxix] and is a reasoned direction of thoughts, to the very simple state of the prayer of recollection in which the mind makes no reflections about conscious thought or logical presentations to God but simply places the person in the presence of God. Teresa speaks of the first of these two methods of prayer near the close of this period saying:

"My method of prayer was this: As I could not reason with my mind, I would try to make pictures of Christ inwardly; and I used to think I felt better when I dwelt on those parts of His life when He was most often alone. It seemed to me that His being alone and afflicted, like a person in need, made it possible to approach Him."[xxx]

The prayer of recollection or simplified prayer Teresa discusses in conjunction with thoughts which she said tormented her concerning her sins.

“This method of praying in which the mind makes no reflections means that the soul must either gain a great deal or lose itself--I mean by its attention going astray. If it advances it goes a long way, because it is moved by love. But those who arrive thus far will do so only at great cost to themselves save when the Lord is pleased to call them very speedily to the prayer of quiet, as He has called a few people whom I know. It is a good thing for those who follow this method to have a book at hand, so that they may quickly recollect themselves. It used also to help me to look at a field, or water, or flowers, These reminded me of the Creator.. .helped me recollect my self and thus served me as a book."[xxxi]

The incident which triggered the final deeper commitment necessary for her spiritual progress happened soon after the experience with the image of Christ. Teresa was given a copy of St. Augustine's Confessions. While reading the section about his conversion she says, "It seemed exactly as if the Lord were speaking that way to me, or so my heart felt."[xxxii]

In later writings, with more detached understanding, Teresa notes that at this time she began to long to spend more time in prayer and to drive away occasions of sin. Most importantly, love for God was no longer being overcome with love for the world. As she acknowledges in some of her later works, the fire of love of God was enkindled and tears came as a gift from God and fanned the flames of the fire of love.[xxxiii] Though she was still distracted by things of the world that she loved, or things she needed to do, there was a terrible thirst for God, intolerable, which grew so that she desired nothing but prayer and the presence of God.[xxxiv] The desire was so great that she felt the need to use discretion in her life regarding the time spent in prayer, fasting, and other practices because bodily health could be impaired. Because of her own experience she advises those who she instructs (the nuns of the reform convents) to use judgement in these matters.[xxxv]

This period was a time of few consolations (contentos) in prayer, only enough to let one see what was coming and encourage perseverance. The fact was that it was a time of great aridity in prayer in order to show Teresa her misery and give clear perception of her shortcomings (self-knowledge). The result of this was a detachment which included a freedom from the world and a very deep love for God. This love for God was without attachement to Him because of sweetness in prayer but was rather a love for Him for Himself alone.[xxxvi] These are the two parts of this second conversion; first, acceptance of self as Teresa found herself to be, without illusions or pretense, and, secondly, acceptance of the holiness of God as He is, and not demanding the traditional pious image of Him.[xxxvii]

Finally she points out that there is a need for a spiritual director upon entering this transition point, and that he should be a man of experience in prayer, prudent, of sound understanding, and, if possible, theologically educated as well.[xxxviii] She had good reason to give this counsel, for she was given bad direction at this stage that handicapped her transition into infused prayer. This inadequate spiritual direction depressed her and gave her unwarranted concern of deception at the beginning of infused prayer.[xxxix]

CHARACTERISTICS OF TERESA'S LIFE IMMEDIATELYFOLLOWING THE TRANSITION

It is necessary to observe that Teresa says she briefly experienced the prayer of quiet and possibly even union at age 21 or 22 just after becoming a nun, though she did not understand what was happening and was unprepared at this time to pursue the walk.[xl] Following the initial fervor, there was eighteen years of great aridities "due to my being unable to meditate"[xli] and "this battle and conflict which arose from my having relations with both God and the world.[xlii] When Teresa had made a total surrender of herself to God the time of ambivalence and aridity came to an end.and a different kind of prayer became habitual or regular as part of the path of growing towards spiritual marriage. Shortly after her deeper spiritual response when reading Augustine, she began to experience the prayer of quiet and of union quite frequently. When she speaks of this she says:

"I began to be afraid, for the delight and the sweetness which I felt were so great and often I could not help feeling them, But on the other hand I was conscious of a very deep inward assurance that this was of God, especially when I was engaged in prayer, and I found that I was the better for it and developed greater fortitude. But as soon as I became a little distracted, I would grow afraid again and begin to wonder if it was the devil who wanted to suspend my understanding. it seemed to me that I was losing rather than gaining.”[xliii]

She goes on to say that "fear was getting such a hold over me, because I was progressing in the practice of prayer, it seemed to me that there must either be something very good about this or something terribly bad; for I was quite sure that my experiences were supernatural.”[xliv]

At this point she sought out a different spiritual director, beyond the convent, because though she had had devout men helping her, she felt the need for additional direction. She saw two men as directors, one a cleric known for his holy life and the second a married man who was considered to live an exemplary life. The directors' decisions were that she was being deluded by the devil in these experiences in prayer, and they advised that she should resist the devil and the prayer she was experiencing. This caused her great distress because she knew she couldn't give up prayer. Later she went to a priest of the Company of Jesus, on the recommendation of these two directors, and he assured her that her prayer was from God."[xlv] From this time on she always used the Jesuits for counsel and found them stable and discerning.

Clearly, there had been a major change in Teresa's prayer life, enough to make her afraid of what was happening. The 'prayer of quiet' is described in nearly all her works as the "first supernatural state, and however hard we try, we cannot reach it for ourselves.”[xlvi] Teresa calls this state the 'prayer of quiet; "because of the peace it brings to the powers, the soul receives great consolations.”[xlvii] The prayer itself consists in a feeling of extreme interior sweetness in which the will is recollected and the rest of the faculties of the soul (memory, and understanding) are focused on God, but the memory and understanding still function.[xlviii] In later writings Teresa speaks of this state as a swoon, both inward and outward, such that one does not wish to move, but rests like one who has almost reached the end of the journey. The body experiences the greatest delight, and the soul is conscious of a deep satisfaction. The faculties are stilled, though not completely (only the will is completely absorbed), and, as long as this state lasts, a person is so overwhelmed and absorbed by the joy and delight which they experience, they can think of nothing else to desire.[xlix] There are other aspects of this prayer to consider. During this prayer, which is a totally passive state, "great truths are here imparted to the soul, which, although it is too dazzled to realize what the light is, now beholds the vanity of the world. still, it is left with greatly increased knowledge and such growth and strength of the virtues as to be unable to recognize its former self."[l] When coming out of this prayer the person is amazed and confused, and perhaps fearful, and nothing higher seems possible of attainment from this perspective.[li]

Once Teresa began getting good direction she also began trying to make changes in her habits. Persons who knew her and the nuns of her own house (Convent of the Incarnation, Avila) considered and described these changes as extreme. However, she felt they still fell short of the obligations of her vocation.[lii] Very shortly after the beginning of infused prayer she experienced her first rapture, which she describes as a transport, flight of spirit, or ecstasy, all being the same. In this "the Lord gathers up the soul as the clouds gather up the vapors from the Earth and raises it up till it is right out of itself. The body gradually becomes colder, though conscious of the greatest sweetness and delight; no means of resistance is possible."[liii] The result of this change of state was a detachment from relationships with people such that she could not maintain firm friendships except with people whom she believed loved God and practiced prayer. She observed that it was a real cross for her to have anything to do with those who did not pray. She says, "since that day I have been courageous enough to give up everything for the sake of God, who in that moment, for I think it happened in no more than a moment, was pleased to make his servant another person.[liv] She acknowledged that in one moment God could bring a freedom to do His will which, despite all her efforts over many years, she had never been able to attain."[lv]

Now having discussed Teresa's life just before and just after the inception of these spiritual consolations or 'gustos' it is important to consider the transition and compare and contrast her life before and after the transition. Also this transition must be analyzed as to how Teresa understood it.

CHANGES ACROSS THE TRANSITION

The difference in Teresa's life before and after the transition, both exterior (relationships with confessors, peers, and others) and interior (prayer, self-understanding), was very significant. One of the most obvious changes was in the area of her confessors. Like all persons who are in a religious vocation in the Roman Catholic Church, she had confessors from the start, as for example, one she mentions shortly after becoming a nun.[lvi] She records that her confessors, close to the end of the period of mediocrity, seeing that she spent time in prayer and had good desires, approved of her prayer life and said she was doing a great deal. At the same point in time Teresa says, "In my heart of hearts I knew that I was not doing what I was bound to do for Him to whom I owed so much.”[lvii] In this state, then, she suffered from lack of purpose, anxiety, and ambivalence. her directors approved of her prayer life. At the same time, When Teresa had begun to experience the prayer of quiet, she had difficulties with her confessors of a different kind. She had a great deal of fear over what was happening to her and sought help from her directors. Her director’s accusation of evil involvement was so traumatic that it caused her, in her later works, to caution people to be very careful about who they choose for spiritual direction.[lviii] Her whole relationship with spiritual directors changed at the point of transition. After the point they often did not understand or support her where before they approved of what she considered inadequate.

Teresa's relationship with peers (other nuns of her convent) gave every indication of being 'normal' before this transition. Her one need in regard to others was that of friendship, as she says. "I would advise those who practice pray er, especially at first, to cultivate friendship and intercourse with others of similar interests. This is a most important thing if only because we can help each other by our prayers.”[lix] After the transition, as she began to experience spiritual consolations regularly, she remarked that even the nuns in her own house considered that she was going to extremes.[lx]

The most radical change in Teresa's relationships occurred with those outside the convent whose presence was not good for her. She uses these exterior inter-personal relationships to expound on the danger of laxity in keeping the rule of enclosure in a convent.[lxi] Specifically, in her first rapture the Lord said to her, "I will have thee converse now, not with men, but with angels."[lxii] After this she could no longer maintain any relationship with those, even relatives, who were not practicing prayer. This exclusive attitude toward those practicing prayer was reflected in her later rule as well as her insistence upon strict enclosure.[lxiii]

Teresa's ambivalence before her series of second conversion experiences came from her extroversion vs. her desire for instant union with God. She was not in touch with her real self, and she floundered around in exteriority.[lxiv] Through the conversion experiences there came a self-acceptance, which allowed her to be herself before the Lord and thus allowed Him to transform her.[lxv] This resulted from an acceptance of powerlessness, as she said, "I had quite lost trust in myself and was placing all my confidence in God.[lxvi]This self-acceptance is also reflected in the personal attitude that she shared about herself, "though advanced in Divine favors, was, as regards virtues and mortifications, still quite a beginner.[lxvii] The most significant change for Teresa in this transition, and the one which controlled all the rest, was in her prayer life. The most obvious change was in the mode of prayer. Before the transition, the activity is on the part of Teresa in practicing meditation or simply but nevertheless deliberately, placing herself in God's presence in love. What sweetness there was in her prayer came from Teresa's attempt at meditation, which she calls 'contentos.’ Teresa's prayer life, as has been explained above, contained few consolations of any kind at this stage. It was a time of aridity and ambivalence because of the need for detachment from the world and the world's training of receiving everything through the senses. Through this detachment, Teresa learned to love God regardless of any consolation and came to realize the misery of the human state, which is self-knowledge. This self-knowledge produced humility,[lxviii] which she calls "the foundation of the entire edifice...the nearer we come to God, the greater must be the progress which we make in this virtue.”[lxix]

The change in prayer at this transition is one of kind, not of degree. Now, in the fourth 'morada’ the activity is from God and the person is passive. Teresa says:

"The soul is convinced by a feeling of extreme interior sweetness that our Lord is near it. This sweetness is not only a feeling of devotion which moves it pleasantly to shed tears abundantly either over the passion of our Lord or our past sins.. The whole creature, both body and soul, is comforted as if some very fragrant ointment...had been infused into the marrow of the bones; . it entirely pervades our being. So it seems in this most sweet love of our God: with the greatest suavity it enters the soul which feels happy and satisfied, but cannot understand the reason nor how this great good entered it."[lxx]

This kind of prayer is unlike anything proceeding it. It is pure gift, 'gustos' of God. Teresa says that when a person first experiences it, they think there is nothing left to desire and count themselves well recompensed for any service done for the Lord.[lxxi] The desire for God is satisfied to some degree (though one of the paradoxical aspects of this path is the o more love one experiences from God the more one desires and loves Him).[lxxii]

Teresa also reacted with fear to what she had started experiencing as well as the joy in prayer. This was in marked contrast to what she had experienced previously when prayer had been under her control.[lxxiii] However, the very nature of this prayer meant that she was not in control, and this caused a great deal of fear for her.[lxxiv] This giving up of control is why she makes it clear that total surrender to God and trust in Him is the only entrance to the fourth ‘morada.’[lxxv] Teresa interrupts the narrative of her autobiography at this transition point with an extensive section on prayer. Following this, she says, "from this point onward I am speaking of another and a new book, I mean, of another and a new life. Until now the life I was describing was my own; but the life I have been living since I began to expound these matters concerning prayer is the life which God has been living in me, or so it has seemed to me.”[lxxvi]

Teresa interpreted this transition as she later reflected upon it. It is important to realize that she looks at this transition theologically under the influence not only of her experiences but also of her confessors, not the least of which is St. John of the Cross,[lxxvii] and also of the Western Church, the milieu out of which she comes. Though not theologically trained, she is well read, for she mentions many books that helped her along this path.[lxxviii]

Teresa saw this transition point as the major step in the life of prayer, for, speaking of the 'infused' spark or prayer given with spiritual consolations, she says:

This prayer, then is a little spark of true love for the Lord which He begins to enkindle in the soul, and His will is that it should come to understand the nature of this love with its attendant joy...this little spark, then, planted within us by God, small though it is, makes a loud noise; and if we do not quench it through some fault of our own, it is this that begins to enkindle the great fire which sends forth flames of that most ardent love of God with which His Majesty endows the souls of the perfect.

The spark is given to the soul by God as a sign or a pledge that He is already choosing it for great things if it will prepare itself to receive them.[lxxix]

She discusses in most of her works on prayer that these spiritual consolations ('gustos') are a great favour, but one must be true to the grace given. She also refers to the prayer of quiet in saying that "there are many, many souls that reach this state and few that pass beyond it."[lxxx] She explains why in The Way of Perfection, saying that "I believe this is why spiritual people are not much more numerous. They do not respond to so great a favour in a practical way; Instead of preparing themselves to receive this favour again, they take back from the Lord's hands the will which he considered His own and center it upon base things.”[lxxxi] She observes that people at the transition point are greatly detached, but they still have a long way to go and must "try to become more and more detached from everything, otherwise they will remain where they are.”[lxxxii]

CONCLUSION

In all of the proceeding, Teresa has an awareness of the importance of the transition point between the third and fourth moradas' in her own spiritual journey. She is also aware of the need for this knowledge in the prayer life of her nuns. This paper has shown that the magnitude of change at this point of transition is larger and more significant than is commonly acknowledged. For Teresa, and for the many who have followed her model of the spiritual journey, this is the most important juncture in the entire spiritual walk and a mandatory transition if the journey is ever going to approach 'spiritual marriage.

EPILOGUE

It should be noted that the classical Christian mystical description of the path or journey from the time of Dionysius the Areopagite[lxxxiii] and including St. John of the Cross[lxxxiv] sees the beginning of contemplation as a significant, new, and more profound stage of the journey at almost precisely the same point in the change of the pattern of prayer as the transition point for Teresa between the third and fourth ‘moradas’ Though a correlation between these two mystical systems is beyond the scope of this paper, it must be observed that the similarities in experience, despite widely differing terminologies, would serve to give additional emphasis to this transition point in the prayer of St. Teresa.

Endnotes

1. from a letter of Teresa to P. Rodrigo Alverez, Feb. 1576 in Montague Summers, The Physical Phenomena of Mysticism. (N.Y.: Rider & Co., 1950) 52 ↩
2. see for example: R. B. Eilen, "Recent Theological Opinion on Infused Contemplation," Theological Studies, 2,, (fall 1941) 89-100 ↩
3. Teresa of Jesus, St. The Way of Perfection, trans. by E. A. Peers from the critical edition of P. Silverio De Santa Teresa, C. D. (N. Y.: Doubleday Image Books, 1964) 140 (hereafter referred to as Way) ↩
4. For a discussion of mystical experience from a psychological viewpoint see: James Henry Leuba. The Psychology of Religious Mysticism. (N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace & Co., Inc., 1925); George Stanley Godwin, The Great Mystics. (the Thinker's Library #106), (London: Watts & Co., 1945); As well as the classics by William James and Evelyn Underhill, (see bibliography) ↩
5. Albert Farges. Mystical Phenomena Compared with their Human and Diabolical Counterfeits: A Treatise on Mystical Theology in Agreement with the Principles of St. Teresa set forth by the Carmelite Congress of 1923 at Madrid, trans. from the 2nd French Ed. by S. P. Jacques. (London: Burns, Oates & Washbourne, Ltd., 1926) 39 ↩
6. Teresa of Jesus, St. The Autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila. Trans. by E. A. Peers from the critical ed. of P. Silverio de Santa Teresa, C. D. (N.Y.: Doubleday Image Books, 1960) 110, (hereafter referred to as Life) ↩
7. Teresa used the Spanish word 'contentos' to denote experiences (such as joy, peace, satisfaction) that are not infused; that is, experiences which come as a result of prayer and virtue but similar to those derived from everyday events. On the other hand, she uses the Spanish word 'gustos' to denote infused experiences, or mystical prayer which begin in the fourth 'morada.' (in Kavanaugh's trans. of The Interior Castle, see bibliography). ↩
8. Teresa of Jesus, St. The Interior Castle, trans. by E. A. Peers from the critical edition of P. Silverio de Santa Teresa, C. D. (N. Y.: Doubleday. Image Books, 1961) 37 (hereafter referred to as Interior Castle) ↩
9. Interior Castle, 51-52 ↩
10. Lecture notes from the Institute on Ministry, "I Have not Called You Servants," recorded by Eleanor M. Cooley, June 1-4, 1977, ? (hereafter referred to as 'Notes' 6/77) ↩
11. Notes' 6/77, 7 ↩
12. Life, 117-118 ↩
13. Interior Castle, 75-76 ↩
14. Teresa uses two separate lists. In her Life she has friends, self- acceptance, and prayer and in The Way of Perfection she has love (fraternal), detachment and humility. Fr. Larkin corralates these as being different descriptions of the same thing. (Notes, 6/77) ↩
15. Life, 171-172 ↩
16. Life, 174 ↩
17. Interior Castle, 150 ↩
18. Interior Castle, 150 ↩
19. I Cor 6:18 ↩
20. Interior Castle, 215 ↩
21. Life, 145 ↩
22. The classical; description of the path in mystical theology uses the purgative, illumnative (which is the beginning of infused prayer) and Unitive way to describe the stages of prayer. Dr. Larkin points out that this is not linear but more like three lanes of the same highway upon which one can be moved from oneelane to another, or like a spiral going around as it goes up. There is a little of the beginner in the most advanced (even those who are in the 'spiritual marriage') and a little of the advanced even in beginners. The part of the path one is on can only be judged by which kind of spiritual experience is habitual. (Notes, 6/77, 3) ↩
23. see her Life, chapters 8 & 9 ↩
24. Life, 109 ↩
25. Life, 114 ↩
26. Life, 114 ↩
27. Life, 115 ↩
28. Life, 117 ↩
29. from The Complete Works of St. Teresa, Trans. by E. Allison Peers, 304-9 in Rev. Jordan Aumann, O. P. "The Role of Christ in Teresian Spirituality," Spiritual Life, 11 (spring 1965), 34 ↩
30. Life, 115 ↩
31. Life, 116 ↩
32. Life, 118, It should be noted that most writers consider Teresa's second conversion experience as stemming from the one incident with the image, however, my own understanding is that it takes both this incident and the one upon reading Augustine's Confessions to complete the conversion. ↩
33. Way, 138 ↩
34. Way, 141 ↩
35. way, 144 ↩
36. Interior Castle, 65-67 ↩
37. Notes,' 6/77, 7 ↩
38. Life, 145 ↩
39. Life, 219-226 ↩
40. Life, 80 ↩
41. Life, 82 ↩
42. Life, 109 ↩
43. Life, 220 ↩
44. Life, 221 ↩
45. Life, 222-227 ↩
46. Way, 200 ↩
47. Teresa of Jesus, St. Minor Works of St. Teresa. Poems, Exclamations, Conceptions of the Love of God, Etc. rev. trans. from the standard Burgos version by a Benedictine of Stanbrook. (2nd ed., London: T. Baker, 1939) 128 (hereafter referred to as 'Minor Works) ↩
48. Life, 149 ↩
49. Way, 201-202 ↩
50. Minor Works, 129 ↩
51. Minor Works, 130 ↩
52. Life, 229 ↩
53. Life, 189-190 ↩
54. Life, 231-232 ↩
55. Life, 219-220 ↩
56. Life, 84 ↩
57. Life, 113-114 ↩
58. See for example: Life, 144-145; Way, 57-67 ↩
59. Life, 107 ↩
60. Life, 228-229 ↩
61. Life, 97-101 ↩
62. Life, 231-232 ↩
63. Teresa of Jesus, St., The Book of the Foundations of St. Teresa of Jesus of the Order of Our Lady of Carmel with Visitation of nunneries, the rule and constitutions written by herself. Trans. by David Lewis. (New & Rev. ed. London: T. Baker, 1913) 427-428 ↩
64. Notes, 6/77, 7 ↩
65. Notes, 6/77, 7 ↩
66. Life, 115 ↩
67. Life, 223 ↩
68. Life, 130-131 ↩
69. Life, 135 ↩
70. Minor Works, 128 ↩
71. Life, 120 ↩
72. Lecture notes from the Institute on Ministry, "The Journey According to John of the Cross," recorded by Eleanor M. Cooley June 4-14, 1979, 31 ↩
73. Life, 115 ↩
74. Life, 220 ↩
75. Life, 115; and 'Notes,' 6/77. 7 ↩
76. Life, 232 ↩
77. John of the Cross (1542-1591) was a younger contemporary of St. Teresa. She met him shortly after his ordination as a priest (1567) and convinced him to help with the reform of the Carmelites. He was her confessor for a little over a year at Avila beginning in May 1572. It was under his guidance that she was brought into the 'spiritual Marriage." (Gollected Works, of John, 20) ↩
78. For example: Francisco de Osuna's Third Spiritual Alphabet; (Life, 8U), Augustine's Confessions, (Life, 117); Bernadino de Laredo The Ascent of Mt. Sion, (Life, 225) ↩
79. Life, 156 ↩
80. Life, 155 ↩
81. Way, 208-209 ↩
82. Way, 208 ↩
83. Dionysius the Areopagite. On the Divine Names and the Mystical Theology. by C. E. Rolt, ed. by W. J. Sparrow-Simpson, et. al. (translations of Christian Literature, Series I, Greek Texts) (N.Y.: Macmillan Co,,1957) 191-201 ↩
84. John of the Cross, St., The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, trans. by Kieran Kavanaugh, O.C.D. and Otilio Rodriguez, O.C.D., (Washington, D.C.; Institute of Carmelite Studies, 1973). Ascent of Mt. Carmel II, 13 & 17; Dark Night I, 9; Living Flame of Love III, 32-43: Also, Notes and Charts comparing St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross by Fr. Ernest Larkin, 0. Carm., S. T.D., and presented to the Institute on Ministry, Loras College, Dubuque, Iowa, June 14, 1977 (mimiographed) 14 ↩