Here is the summary of the 4th and 5th Mansions in the Interior Castle that was presented at the February meeting.
Lay Dominican – Large Group Study
Summary of The Interior Castle, St. Teresa of Avila
On the Fourth and Fifth Mansions
Using the Study Addition, Translated by Kieran Kavanaugh, O.C.D. and Otilio Rodriguez, O.C.D.,
ICS Publications, Washington, DC, 2010
We continue our study of St Teresa of Avila’s The Interior Castle after a beautiful preaching last month on the first three mansions, which focused on states of prayer “achievable through active or human efforts and the ordinary help of grace”; and we venture into the Fourth and Fifth Mansions, or dwelling places, the first two of the final four mansions, all of which illuminate for us the stages of prayer characterized by passive or mystical elements of the spiritual life.
History: St. Teresa’s Life in Three Stages
In her own movement through the mansions, St. Teresa’s spiritual life can be separated into three distinct stages. The first period was her childhood and youth until entrance into religious life between the years 1515-1535. In this first stage of her life, she experienced many highs-and-lows and notable breakdowns. This took her in and out of the First, Second, and Third Mansions.
The second period occurred between 1535-1544, and includes her initial years as a Carmelite nun, a serious and painful illness, and her return to prayer after her father’s death in 1543. This period was marked by “intense ascetical struggle” and entrance into the fourth mansion.
The third period, marking her soul’s entrance into the final three mansions and supernatural union with God, comes soon after her conversion in 1554. How did she come to the point of conversion? Let us go back a step to that second period of her life and a look at the Fourth Mansion. Teresa was leading a holy life within the monastery. Though she had fallen away from prayer, she enjoyed having visitors with whom she could still remember and share the consolations God gives and brief glimpses of Him, discussing mental prayer and other things concerning faith. Yet she still focused her energies outward.
The Fourth Mansion or Dwelling Place is where the soul begins to experience infused prayer, which St. Teresa also calls “supernatural prayer” or “contemplation”. The key to knowing whether the soul is still in this fourth mansion is that it experiences this transitioning back and forth, or even an intermingling, between the natural and the supernatural (or the acquired and the infused), because it is still struggling between friendship with God and friendship with the world. (p120-21)
The soul struggles with the natural world in three main ways:
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