Timeline:
00:00:00 Show Opener - Interior Castle Fifth Mansions Chapter 2
00:01:10 Introduction - Welcome
00:06:10 Introduction to the Fifth Mansions (Third Water)
00:13:52 Paragraph 1. Zeal for the souls left by divine union.
00:26:30 Paragraph 2. The soul may fall from such a state.
00:28:30 Paragraph 3. How divine union may always be obtained.
00:29:13 Paragraph 4. Union with the will of good - supernatural union.
00:30:25 Paragraph 5. Advantage of union gained by self-mortification.
00:37:26 Paragraph 6. Defects which hinder this union.
00:40:05 Paragraph 7. Divine union obtained by perfect love of God and our neighbor.
00:44:04 Paragraph 8. Love for God and our neighbor are proportionate.
00:46:53 Paragraph 9. Real and imaginary virtues.
00:47:58 Paragraph 10. Illusionary good resolutions.
00:52:36 Paragraph 11. Works, not feelings, procure union.
00:55:28 Paragraph 12. Fraternal charity will certainly gain this union.
01:00:16 Spiritual Exercises - Contemplation
01:12:46 Conclusion
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Show Notes
Fifth Mansions Chapter 3 MP3 audio from Discerning Hearts
Paragraph Footnotes from this episode.
1. Zeal for souls left by divine union.
185 - Life, ch. vii. 18. Way of Perf. xli. 8. xli - 41
Life, ch. vii. 18
To set up this footnote, we need to step back two paragraphs to 16.
Life, ch. vii. 16-17
16. In those early days, when I was ill, and before I knew how to be of use to myself, I
had a very strong desire to further the progress of others: a most common temptation of
beginners. With me, however, it had good results. Loving my father so much, I longed to
see him in the possession of that good which I seemed to derive myself from prayer. I thought
that in this life there could not be a greater good than prayer; and by roundabout ways, as
well as I could, I contrived make him enter upon it; I gave him books for that end. As he
was so good—I said so before—this exercise took such a hold upon him, that in five or
six years, I think it was, he made so great a progress that I used to praise our Lord for it. It
was a very great consolation to me. He had most grievous trials of diverse kinds; and he
bore them all with the greatest resignation. He came often to see me; for it was a comfort
to him to speak of the things of God.
17. And now that I had become so dissipated, and had ceased to pray, and yet saw that
he still thought I was what I used to be, I could not endure it, and so undeceived him. I had
been a year and more without praying, thinking it an act of greater humility to abstain.
This—I shall speak of it again—was the greatest temptation I ever had, because it very
nearly wrought my utter ruin; for, when I used to pray, if I offended God one day, on
the following days I would recollect myself, and withdraw farther from the occasions of sin.
Life, ch. vii. 18 - foootnote from paragraph
18. When that blessed man, having that good opinion of me, came to visit me, it pained
me to see him so deceived as to think that I used to pray to God as before. So I told him that
I did not pray; but I did not tell him why. I put my infirmities forward as an excuse; for
though I had recovered from that which was so troublesome, I have always been weak, even
very much so; and though my infirmities are somewhat less troublesome now than they
were, they still afflict me in many ways; specially, I have been suffering for twenty years from
sickness every morning, so that I could not take any food till past mid-day, and even occasionally
not till later; and now, since my Communions have become more frequent, it is
at night, before I lie down to rest, that the sickness occurs, and with greater pain; for I have
to bring it on with a feather, or other means. If I do not bring it on, I suffer more; and thus
I am never, I believe, free from great pain, which is sometimes very acute, especially about
the heart; though the fainting-fits are now but of rare occurrence. I am also, these eight years
past, free from the paralysis, and from other infirmities of fever, which I had so often. These
afflictions I now regard so lightly, that I am even glad of them, believing that our Lord in
some degree takes His pleasure in them.
Way of Perf. xli. 8.
8. As far as you can without offending God try to be genial and to
behave in such a way with those you have to deal with that they may
take pleasure in your conversation and may wish to imitate your life
and manners, instead of being frightened and deterred from virtue.
This is an important matter for nuns: the more holy they are, the
more cordial they ought to be with their sisters. Although you may be
pained because their conversation is not what you could wish, still,
never keep aloof from them, for thus you will help them and win their
love. We ought to try our best to be sociable and to humour and
please those with whom we talk, especially when they are our
sisters.
2. The soul may fall from such a state.
Life. ch, vii. 21.
21. My father was not the only person whom I prevailed upon to practise prayer, though
I was walking in vanity myself. When I saw persons fond of reciting their prayers, I showed
them how to make a meditation, and helped them and gave them books; for from the time
I began myself to pray, as I said before, I always had a desire that others should serve
God. I thought, now that I did not myself serve our Lord according to the light I had, that
the knowledge His Majesty had given me ought not to be lost, and that others should serve
Him for me. I say this in order to explain the great blindness I was in: going to ruin myself,
and laboring to save others.
5.Advantage of union gained by self-mortification.
189 - St. John xi. 35, 36: ‘Et lacrymatus est Jesus. Dixerunt ergo Judæi: Ecce quomodo amabat cum.’
35 Jesus wept. 36 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
190 - Fourth Mansions, ch. i. 5. Fifth Mansions, ch. i. 7.
191 Way of Perf. ch. xvii. 2.
2. Thus it does not follow, because all the nuns in this convent
practise prayer, that they must all be contemplatives. Such an idea
would greatly discourage those who do not understand the truth that
contemplation is a gift of God which is not necessary for salvation
nor for earning our eternal reward, nor does any one here require us
to possess it. She who is without it, yet who follows the counsels I
have given, will attain great perfection. It may be that she will gain far
more merit, as she has to work harder on her own account; our Lord
is treating her like a valiant woman and keeping until hereafter all the
happiness she has missed in this life. Let her not be disheartened
nor give up prayer or the other practices of which her sisters make
use sometimes our Lord comes very late, and pays as much all at
once as He has given to others during many years. For more than
fourteen years I could not meditate without a book. 8 There are
many people of this kind, and others cannot meditate even with the
help of reading, but are obliged to recite vocal prayers which to a
certain extent arrest their attention. Some have so volatile an
imagination that they cannot fix their thoughts, which are always
wandering, upon one thing; if they try to think of God they are
troubled with a thousand foolish fancies, scruples, and doubts.
6. Defects which hinder this union.
192 Jonas iv. 6, 7: ‘And the Lord God prepared an ivy, and it came up over the head of Jonas, to be a shadow over his head, and to cover him, for he was fatigued; and Jonas was exceeding glad of the ivy. But God prepared a worm, when the morning arose on the following day: and it struck the ivy and it withered.’
7. Divine union obtained by perfect love of God and our neighbor.
193 St. John xvii. 22, 23: ‘Ut sint unum, sicut et nos unum sumus. Ego in eis, et tu in me: ut sint consummati in unum.’
John 17:22-23
22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,
23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
11. Works, not feelings, procure union.
197 Way of Perf. ch. vii. 4.
4. This is the kind of affection I wish we all possessed. Although in
the beginning our love may be defective, yet our Lord will correct it.
Let us consider the way to obtain perfect love. Although at first we
mingle some tenderness with it, no harm will be done as long as it
does not amount to particular friendship. It is necessary at times to
show some tenderness in our love and even to feel it; we must
sympathise with many of our sisters trials and weaknesses,
insignificant as they may be. Sometimes a trifling matter gives as
much pain to one person as a heavy cross would cause another.
Sensitive natures feel very keenly slight troubles at which others
would laugh. If you are stronger-minded, still, pity your neighbours
and do not be astonished at them. Perhaps the devil has taken more
trouble to wound their feelings thus than he has to grieve you by
severe trials and crosses. It may be that our Lord spares us these
sufferings to give us trials of other kinds, when perhaps what seems,
and is indeed a heavy cross to us, will appear but a light one to our
sisters.
12. Fraternal charity will certainly gain this union.
198 Way of Perf. ch. iv. 3; vii. 4.
Way of Perf. ch. iv. 3;
3. Do not fancy, my friends and my sisters, that I am going to lay
many charges on you : please God we may fulfil those that our holy
Fathers enjoined and practised in our Rules and Constitutions, which
include all the virtues, and by performing which our predecessors
earned the name of Saints. It would be an error to seek another road
or to try to learn some other way. I will explain three matters only,
which are in our Constitutions: it is essential for us to understand
how much they help us to preserve that peace, both interior and
exterior, which our Lord so strongly enjoined. The first of these is
love for one another: the second, detachment from all created things:
the other is true humility, which, though I mention it last, is chief of all
and includes the rest. The first matter, that is, fervent mutual charity,
is most important, for there is no annoyance that cannot easily be
borne by those who love one another: anything must be very out of
the way to cause irritation. If this commandment were observed in
this world as it ought to be I believe it would be a great help towards
obeying the others, but whether we err by excess or by defect; we
only succeed in keeping it imperfectly.
Way of Perf. ch. vii. 4.
4. This is the kind of affection I wish we all possessed. Although in
the beginning our love may be defective, yet our Lord will correct it.
Let us consider the way to obtain perfect love. Although at first we
mingle some tenderness with it, no harm will be done as long as it
does not amount to particular friendship. It is necessary at times to
show some tenderness in our love and even to feel it; we must
sympathise with many of our sisters trials and weaknesses,
insignificant as they may be. Sometimes a trifling matter gives as
much pain to one person as a heavy cross would cause another.
Sensitive natures feel very keenly slight troubles at which others
would laugh. If you are stronger-minded, still, pity your neighbours
and do not be astonished at them. Perhaps the devil has taken more
trouble to wound their feelings thus than he has to grieve you by
severe trials and crosses. It may be that our Lord spares us these
sufferings to give us trials of other kinds, when perhaps what seems,
and is indeed a heavy cross to us, will appear but a light one to our
sisters.
Spiritual Exercises
Mathew 22:34-39 The Great Commandment
34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.
35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him.
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
38 This is the great and first commandment.
39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Way of Perf. ch. xxxii. 6.
6. O eternal Sovereign! How canst You then consent to such a
request? How canst You permit such a thing? Yield not to His love
which for the sake of fulfilling Your will and of succoring us would
lead Him to endure being hacked into a thousand pieces every day.
It is for Thee to look to it, my God, since Your Son is reckless what
He suffers. Why must every good thing come to us only at His cost?
How is it that He is mute and knows not how to speak for Himself,
but only pleads for us? Shall no one intercede for this most meek
and loving Lamb? Give me the right, Lord, to be His advocate, since
You hast deigned to leave Him in our power and He submits His will
to Thee thus utterly and gives Himself so lovingly to us.
194 Way of Perf. ch. ix. i, 2.
8. Love for God and our neighbor are proportionate.
195 1 St. John iv. 20: ‘Qui enim non diligit fratrem suum quem videt, Deum quem non videt quomodo potest diligere?’
196 Way of Perf. ch. xviii. 5.
1 John 4:20
20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.
Till Next Time
We're getting there! We are halfway through the Fifth Mansions. Our next stop in Saint Teresa's Interior Castle is Chapter 4 of the Fifth Mansions. Then we start the Sixth Mansions!!! I am excited about the content Saint Teresa will edify us with in those dwelling places!
God Bless
REv. Mike
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