St. Teresa’s first mansions

Okay, you’ve all poured over the chart of the seven mansions from Teresa of Avila’s Interior Castle that I posted last week and now you’re ready to study each in depth, right? Let’s dig right in.

Many people, unfortunately, live completely outside the castle of their souls. These include the unbaptized, atheists and agnostics, and Christians who have unconfessed mortal sin.  Their state is truly pitiable and only an act of God can open their eyes to it.

“So accustomed have they grown to living all the time with the reptiles and other creatures to be found in the outer court of the castle that they have almost become like them; and although by nature they are so richly endowed as to have the power of holding converse with none other than God Himself, there is nothing that can be done for them. Unless they strive to realize their miserable condition and to remedy it, they will be turned into pillars of salt for not looking within themselves, just as Lot’s wife was because she looked back.” (1:1, 7)

Of course, when Teresa says “there is nothing that can be done for them,” she does not mean that we should give up hope for their ultimate salvation. But often it is worse than a waste of time to try to argue with them or present them with the Gospel. It can be a matter of throwing our pearls before swine (Mt 7:6). We can still pray and sacrifice for them, however. And it may be that a few of them are open, but truly ignorant.

How can such people enter the castle? By beginning to pray.

As we grow in holiness, we become more and more interior-focused. That does not mean we focus more on ourselves, or that we ignore other people. Instead, it means we begin to place the soul’s concerns above those of the body, God’s way above the way of the world. We begin to detach ourselves, with God’s grace, from everything but God.

This process takes a lifetime. We don’t have to worry about the tasks of the seventh mansions when we are in the first. Each stage has enough concerns of its own, to paraphrase the Gospel (Mt 6:34).

The first dwelling places

So then, what is the life of the soul like who has barely entered the castle?

“These are very much absorbed in worldly affairs; but their desires are good; sometimes, though infrequently, they commend themselves to Our Lord; and they think about the state of their souls, though not very carefully. Full of a thousand preoccupations as they are, they pray only a few times a month, and as a rule they are thinking all the time of their preoccupations, for they are very much attached to them, and, where their treasure is, there is their heart also.” (1:1, 8)

Mortal sin is a real danger for them. They are doing the bare minimum to stay in the state of grace. Many reptiles from outside the castle have entered these first rooms with them. The soul walks in semi-darkness, unable to see the beauty in the center of the castle, even when it would like to. The Devil easily conquers it.

Spiritual advice

R. Thomas Richard has written an intriguing book about the Our Father and Carmelite Spirituality, called The Interior Liturgy of the Our Father.  I have not read the entire book, but it has received an endorsement from Dr. Anthony Lilles.  And I have an article on the same subject in my Carmelite formation files.

In “The Our Father, and the Interior Castle of St. Teresa,”  Richard connects the seven petitions of the Lord’s Prayer with the seven mansions. The sequence is in reverse order. Thus, the petition of the first mansions is, “Deliver us from evil.” Richard writes that the weakness of souls in these mansions requires urgent prayer for God to free them from “the horror and ugliness of all sin, and to grow also in the realization of the sublime beauty of the soul.”

Souls in the first mansions, Teresa writes, should begin addressing God as often as possible, calling on the saints, especially the Blessed Mother, to intercede for them. They must acknowledge how weak they are, and not be ashamed to ask for help.

How else should these souls pray?

“I do not say mental prayer rather than vocal, for, if it is prayer at all, it must be accompanied by meditation. If a person does not think Whom he is addressing, and what he is asking for, and who it is that is asking and of Whom he is asking it, I do not consider that he is praying at all even though he be constantly moving his lips.” (1:1, 7)

All of us must take care not to rattle off words, but to pray from the heart. Those in the first mansions might be confining themselves to a Hail Mary or Our Father. If they strive to recollect their souls for even the space of those short prayers, they will come into contact with Christ. If they do not do so, they are not praying at all.

Charlotte Mason and distractions in prayer

This reminds me of the Charlotte Mason method of education, popular among homeschoolers. I use many Charlotte Mason ideas myself. Mason advocated short lessons followed by narrations, to train young children to pay close attention to the subject at hand. She considered this the foundation of true education. When a child has made a habit of paying attention for fifteen minutes, the teacher can begin extending the lesson time, in small increments.

I think we can learn much from this. How often do we pray a Rosary and find our minds wandering for four of the five decades? Perhaps we should go back to the beginning, practicing saying one Hail Mary with fixed attention, then moving on to two, et cetera. We may balk at the idea of having to do something so basic. But is our pride keeping us from growing in intimacy with Christ? Are we willing to become little, to go back to a practice we should have made a habit of in the first mansions, in order to advance through the second or third mansions?

I have to confess that my mind wanders terribly during vocal prayer (although not so much in mental prayer). I always fear I am not praying at all, that I am wasting my time. Of course, we can’t overcome all distractions in prayer on our own. But I am committing today to try this method of baby steps to see if it will help me. Beginning today, I will say one Hail Mary, slowly and prayerfully during my mental prayer time. I am not too big for returning to spiritual kindergarten in some areas.

In Way of Perfection, Teresa tells of a nun who went straight from praying the Our Father with attention, to infused contemplation. Many authorities believe this nun was Teresa herself, who suffered terribly from distractions. If Teresa was not too proud to begin this way, how can we be?

Definitions

That reminds me that some of my readers may be unfamiliar with the terms Teresa takes for granted. Here are a few definitions from the late Fr. John Hardon to keep in mind as we continue.

vocal prayer – “In its broadest, generic sense, vocal prayer is prayer that follows a set form of words. In vocal prayer the words may be those of someone, someone whom we’ve never met. But it’s someone else and the words of the one who is praying. Again, in vocal prayer in the broadest sense it may be using the words of Sacred Scripture. Or using the words of our Lord when He taught us the Lord’s Prayer. Or it may be a prayer composed by one of the saints, like saint Francis of Assisi, or naturally, St. Ignatius of Loyola. That’s the one meaning of vocal prayer.” This is the sense in which St. Teresa speaks of vocal prayer. She does not concern herself with whether or not we are praying aloud.

mental prayer – “In mental prayer we use our own thoughts to express our mind and heart to God.” That’s it. You can even pray mental prayer aloud! I do this sometimes when I’m in danger of falling asleep. It helps keep me awake.

Connie Rossini