. Discussion of CHAPTER 31 The Way of Perfection - Continues the same subject. - Explains what is meant by the Prayer of Quiet. - Gives several counsels to those who experience it. This chapter is very noteworthy. . |
St. Teresa continues to discuss
█ the petition of the Lord's Prayer,
"Thy Kingdom Come"
and
█ the "Prayer of Quiet,
by which "the Lord begin(s) to show us
that He is hearing our petition:
"Thy Kingdom Come"
He begins to give us
His Kingdom on earth
so that we may truly
◦ praise Him and
◦ hallow His Name and
◦ strive to make others do so likewise.
"when the soul is brought
to this state of prayer,
it would seem
that the Eternal Father
has already granted its petition
that He will give it
His Kingdom on earth".
God "puts His Kingdom
into their very hands,
by giving them
this Prayer of Quiet
and
this inward peace"
"If God gives a soul such pledges,
it is a sign
that He has great things in store for it"
. The Prayer of Quiet: ◘ It is a supernatural gift from God It Can't be acquired or earned by merit ◘ Peace, Joy ◘ Conscious of the Presence and nearness of God ◘ Deeper Love and knowledge of God ◘ The Will is in captivity; in union with God The other two faculties The Mind (Intellect / Understanding / Thought) The memory may be distracted or may be silent may be helpful or may be a disturbance . |
She describes the Prayer of Quiet:
▓ It is a supernatural gift from God
It Can't be acquired or earned by merit
▲ However hard we try,
we cannot reach it for ourselves;
▲ This is a supernatural state,
...the Lord,
out of His goodness alone,
has brought to this state...
It is
◦ supernatural
and
◦ something we cannot acquire.
"When one of you finds herself
in this sublime state of prayer,
which...is most markedly supernatural..."
" being most unworthy
and undeserving of it"
▓ Peace
for it is a state
in which the soul enters into peace,
or rather
▲ in which the Lord gives it peace
through His presence,
nothing distresses them,
nor does it seem
that anything can possibly do so.
Sometimes tears come to their eyes,
but they weep
very gently and
quite without distress:
▓ Joy
(see also the topic, 'The Will' )
▲ "The body experiences
the greatest delight
and
the soul is conscious
of a deep satisfaction"
"So glad is it merely to find itself
near the fountain
that, even before it has begun to drink,
it has had its fill".
In short,
for as long as this state lasts,
they are so overwhelmed and absorbed
by the joy and delight
which they experience
that they
◦ can think of nothing else
to wish for,
and
◦ will gladly say with Saint Peter:
"Lord, let us make here
three mansions." [107]
"The soul is like an infant
still at its mother's breast:
such is the mother's care for it
that she gives it its milk
without its having to ask for it
so much as by moving its lips.
That is what happens here.
The will simply loves,
and
no effort needs to be made
by the understanding,
for it is the Lord's pleasure
that, without exercising its thought,
the soul
◦ should realize
that it is in His company,
and
◦ should merely
- drink the milk
which His Majesty puts into its mouth
and
- enjoy its sweetness".
▓ Conscious of the Presence and nearness of God
The soul, in a way
which has nothing to do
with the outward senses,
realizes
▲ that it is now
very close to its God,
and
that, if it were but a little closer,
it would become
one with Him through union.
it sees
◦ that it is in the Kingdom
◦ (or at least
is near to the King
Who will give it the Kingdom),
So glad is it merely to find itself
near the fountain
that, even before it has begun to drink,
it has had its fill.
"They are so close to God
that they know
they can make themselves understood
by signs".
"They are in the palace,
near to their King,
and
they see
that He is already beginning
to give them
His Kingdom on earth"
"He, to Whom you are praying,
is very near to you
and
will not fail to hear you;
and
you may be sure
that you are truly
praising Him and
hallowing His name,
since you are
glorifying the Lord
as a member of His household
and
praising Him with increasing
affection and desire
so that it seems
you can never forsake His service"
▓ Deeper Love of God
...their whole desire is
the hallowing of this name.
They seem not to be in the world,
and
have no wish to see or hear anything
but their God;
it feels such reverence
that it dares to ask nothing.
There seems
nothing left for it to desire.
▓ Knowledge of God
"though less clearly,
...the soul know Who He is.
It cannot understand
how it knows Him
▲The Lord desires it to know
• that it is He Who is granting it
that favour
and
• that in its enjoyment of it
He too rejoices.
• But it is not His will
that the soul should try to understand
how it is enjoying it,
or
what it is enjoying;
▓ Desire to be quiet; not to move
"Persons in this state
prefer the body to remain motionless,
for otherwise their peace
would be destroyed:
for this reason they dare not stir.
Speaking is a distress to them:
they will spend a whole hour
on a single repetition
of the Paternoster".
"It is, as it were, in a swoon,
both inwardly and outwardly,
so that the outward man ...(the "body"),
does not wish to move,
but rests,
like one who has almost reached
the end of his journey,
so that it may the better start again
upon its way,
with redoubled strength for its task"
♦ Her Advice:
"when such persons experience this joy,
...they are tempted to imagine
that they can prolong it and
they may even try not to breathe.
This is ridiculous:
we can
no more control this prayer
than we can
make the day break, or
stop night from falling;
It is supernatural and
something we cannot acquire.
The most we can do
to prolong this favour
is to realize
that we can
neither diminish
nor add to it
but, being most unworthy
and undeserving of it,
can only
♦ receive it with thanksgiving.
▓ Faculties
In this state
▲ all the faculties are stilled.
▲The faculties
are stilled
and
have no wish to move,
for any movement they may make
appears to hinder the soul
from loving God.
They are not completely lost, however,
since, two of them being free,
they can realize
in Whose Presence they are.
▲ The Will
"It is the will
that is in captivity now;
and,
if while in this state
it is capable of experiencing any pain,
the pain comes when it realizes
that it will have to resume its liberty"
"the soul is conscious of having reached
this state of prayer,
which is a
quiet, deep and Peaceful happiness
of the will,
without being able to decide precisely
what it is,
although it can clearly see
how it differs from the happiness
of the world.
To have dominion over the whole world,
with all its happiness,
would not suffice to bring the soul
such inward satisfaction
as it enjoys now
in the depths of its will.
For other kinds of happiness in life,
it seems to me,
touch only the outward part of the will,
which we might describe
as its rind"
"The will simply loves,
and
no effort needs to be made
by the understanding"
The Will
is associated with
- the heart and its desire:
- who/what one loves and
- its attachments
is associated with
- the heart and its desire:
- who/what one loves and
- its attachments
The Will is attached to God
in the Prayer of Quiet
▲ The Mind (Intellect, Understanding, Thought)
"At other times
the mind seems
to be settled in its own abode
and
to be remaining there
with the will as its companion.
"...tries to occupy itself
with only one thing"
[ See Luke 10:42 below]
[ See Luke 10:42 below]
But "It may come about
▫ that the soul is enjoying
the highest degree of quiet,
and
▫ that the understanding has soared
so far aloft
that what is happening to it
seems not to be going on
in its own house at all"
"it really seems to
be a guest
in somebody else's house,
looking for other lodgings,
since
its own lodging
no longer satisfies it
and
it cannot remain there
for long together"
"...cannot cure
this wandering of the mind"
"it even seems to be (God's) will
that the soul should work a little,
though so quietly
that it is hardly conscious of doing so.
What disturbs it
is the understanding"
"the understanding...(the thoughts)
wanders off
after the most ridiculous things
in the world
♦ Her Advice:
"when the will finds itself
in this state of quiet,
it must take no more notice
of the understanding
than it would of a madman,
for, if it tries to draw
the understanding along with it,
it is bound
to grow preoccupied and restless,
with the result
- that this state of prayer will be
all effort and no gain
and
- the soul will lose
what God has been giving it
without any effort of its own.
♦ "it should lose all thought of itself"
and
"He, Who is at its side,
will not fail to see
what is best for it.
If it begins to strive with its mind
so that the mind may be
apprised of what is happening
and thus
induced to share in it,
(and drawn along with it)
it will be quite unable to do so,
and
the soul will perforce
lose the milk
and
forgo that Divine sustenance"
"the understanding
(or, to put it more clearly,
the thought)
wanders off
after the most ridiculous things
in the world
♦ she should
laugh at it
and
treat it as the silly thing it is,
and
remain in her state of quiet.
For thoughts will come and go,
but the will
- is mistress and all-powerful,
and
- will recall them without your
having to trouble about it.
♦But if you try
to drag the understanding
back by force,
you lose your power over it,
which comes from
your taking and receiving
that Divine sustenance,
and
neither the will
nor the understanding will gain,
but both will be losers.
There is a saying
that, if we try very hard to grasp all,
we lose all;
and
so I think it is here".
"because, if we begin
to tax our brains
by making up long speeches,
the will
may become active again".
▲ The Memory
has no desire
to busy itself with more:
▲The Memory and The Mind
The Mind [Intellect,Understanding,Thought]
At times,
"they both see
that this is the one thing needful
and
that anything else will unsettle them".
But, "often...these other two faculties
( The Memory and
The Mind [Intellect,Understanding,Thought] )
are of no help to you"
▲When all three faculties work together
it is wonderful.
The harmony is like that
between husband and wife:
if they are happy and love each other,
both desire the same thing;
▓ Unity of the active life with the contemplative
Occasionally, during this Prayer of Quiet,
God grants the soul another favour
When this quiet (Prayer of Quiet) is
felt in a high degree
and
lasts for a long time...
the peace could be of such long duration.
Sometimes it goes on
for a day, or for two days...
They see clearly
• that their whole self is not
in what they are doing,
but
▲ • that the most important faculty is absent
--namely, the will,
which is united with its God--
and
• that the other faculties are left free
to busy themselves with His service.
For this they have much more capacity
at such a time,
though when attending to worldly affairs
they are dull and sometimes stupid.
▲ "It is a great favour
which the Lord grants to these souls,
for it unites
the active life
with
the contemplative.
At such times they serve the Lord
in both these ways at once;
the will,
while in contemplation,
is working without knowing
how it does so;
the other two faculties
are serving Him
as Martha did.
Thus Martha and Mary work together."
"...that as the soul experiences
such satisfaction in this Prayer of Quiet,
the will must be
almost continuously united with Him
Who alone can give it happiness."
St. Teresa seems to be saying that by this grace:
The two aspects of Mary and Martha
are joined together in one's day to day lives;
rather than remain as two separate persons
as illustrated by the Gospel account of:
- Mary
who sat at the foot of Jesus,
who sat at the foot of Jesus,
listening to His words
- while her sister, Martha,
busied herself
busied herself
with meal preparation and hospitality services
to Jesus and the other guests.
In this way she describes
how the contemplative aspect of Mary of Bethany,
(sister of Martha and Lazarus)
is combined with the active aspect of Martha,
(sister of Mary and Lazarus)
as one interacts with the world in everyday life.
She is referring to the simultaneous experience
of the Contemplative prayer state (Mary)
of the Contemplative prayer state (Mary)
while engaged in one's everyday activities (Martha).
. Luke 10: 38 Now it came to pass as they went, that he entered into a certain town: and a certain woman named Martha, received him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sitting also at the Lord's feet, heard his word. 40 But Martha was busy about much serving. Who stood and said: Lord, hast thou no care that my sister hath left me alone to serve? Speak to her therefore, that she help me. 41 And the Lord answering, said to her: Martha, Martha, thou art careful, and art troubled about many things: 42 But one thing is necessary. Mary hath chosen the best part, which shall not be taken away from her. . |
. St. Teresa's advice regarding the Prayer of Quiet: [ The Prayer of Quiet is not a continuous state. It is passive prayer in which prayer becomes less arduous because God is active while the soul receives graces. The effect is a growth of virtue and detachment. It seldom lasts even half an hour, although St.Teresa does discuss a great favor, which can be associated with the Prayer of Quiet and which last longer.* [*see the topic above, ' Unity of the active life with the contemplative"]. But once one has had the experience of having been raised by God to this prayer state, St. Teresa has this advise: ▀ If God has led one into the Prayer of Quiet: ► Acknowledge this blessed gift with Gratitude "receive it with thanksgiving" "And we can best give thanks, not with many words, but by lifting up our eyes, like the publican. [109] "if the Lord gives them what they ask for... (they should acknowledge it with gratitude and not ignore it or neglect it and not )....throw it back in His face. ► Respond and Cooperate with this grace: • "be watchful when the Lord grants you this favour. • Think what a great treasure you may be losing" "If God gives a soul such pledges, it is a sign that He has great things in store for it. It will be its own fault if it does not make great progress." "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" ► Humility Be mindful that this gift could never be earned or merited. "being most unworthy and undeserving of it" "to know what they lack and to humble themselves" ► Purity of Conscience "He will not take away all that He has given from those who live in purity of conscience". ► Detachment: "when God has shown us this favour, we shall have to forget worldly things, all of which the Lord of the world has come and cast out. I do not mean that everyone who experiences the Prayer of Quiet must perforce be detached from everything in the world; (but) They must try to become more and more detached from everything, for otherwise they will only remain where they are". "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 - centre it upon base things". "if He sees that, after He has brought the Kingdom of Heaven into its abode, it returns to earth, not only will He refrain from showing it the secrets of His Kingdom but He will grant it this other favour only for short periods and rarely" ► Prayer in Solitude "It is well to seek greater solitude so as to: • make room for the Lord and • allow His Majesty to do His own work in us. ►►During the experience of the Prayer of Quiet when the will is suspended in God in peace: ►Being attentive to the Presence of God Avoid, if possible, engaging the mind or active discursive meditation. "The most we should do is occasionally, and quite gently, to utter a single word, like a person giving a little puff to a candle, when he sees it has almost gone out, so as to make it burn again; though, if it were fully alight, I suppose the only result of blowing it would be to put it out. I think the puff should be a gentle one because, if we begin to tax our brains by making up long speeches, the will may become active again" "But there are persons --and I have been one of them-- to whom the Lord gives tenderness of devotion and holy inspirations and light on everything. He bestows this Kingdom on them and brings them to this Prayer of Quiet, and yet they deafen their ears to His voice. For they are so fond of talking and of repeating a large number of vocal prayers in a great hurry, as though they were anxious to finish their task of repeating them daily, that when the Lord, as I say, puts His Kingdom into their very hands, by giving them this Prayer of Quiet and this inward peace, they do not accept it, but think that they will do better to go on reciting their prayers, which only distract them from their purpose" • "Realize that you are doing much more by occasionally repeating a single petition of the Paternoster than by repeating the whole of it many times in a hurry and not thinking what you are saying. ►►When the Will is not suspended: (since the Prayer of Quiet is brief and not continuous) ► "be careful (to consider) how we say this prayer, the Paternoster, and all other vocal prayers, and what we ask for in them" "persons (should) not ... make so great a petition as though they were asking for nothing" . |
. EXPERIENCE St. Teresa often states that it is difficult to describe these prayer states both because of her inability to conceptualize and convey her experiences and to find suitable words to express them. She acknowledges the difficulty to understand all that she is trying to teach if one has not had the experience. "Experience will show you the truth of this; and I shall not be surprised if those of you who have none (have no experience of the Prayer of Quiet) think this very obscure and unnecessary". "But, as I have said, if you have only a little experience of it you will understand it and be able to profit by it, and you will praise the Lord for being pleased to enable me to explain it" . |
. Contemplation St. Teresa, in order to describe The Prayer of Quiet, compares it to Contemplation. In the Prayer of Quiet, The Will is suspened in God while The other two faculties, [The Mind (Intellect,Understanding, Thought), and The Memory] are often distracted and wandering but at times they may be quiet. Contemplation • "... that (state) in which the soul is wholly united with God, All three facuties are suspended/united with God [ The Will, The Mind (Intellect,Understanding, Thought), and The Memory] (God does all the work) The soul passively receives this gift and grace. It "does not even swallow its nourishment: the Lord places this within it, and it has no idea how" "when there is union of all the three faculties, since He Who created them suspends them: He keeps them occupied with the enjoyment that He has given them, without their knowing, or being able to understand, the reason" . |
. Foot Notes: [107] Moradas. The "three tabernacles" of St. Matthew xvii, 4. Mt 17: 2 And he was transfigured before them. And his face did shine as the sun: and his garments became white as snow. 3 And behold there appeared to them Moses and Elias talking with him. 4 And Peter answering, said to Jesus: Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. [109] St. Luke xviii, 13. St. Teresa apparently forgot that the publican "would not so much as lift his eyes towards heaven". Luke 18: 13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not so much as lift up his eyes towards heaven; but struck his breast, saying: O God, be merciful to me a sinner. 14 I say to you, this man went down into his house justified rather that the other: because every one that exalteth himself, shall be humbled: and he that humbleth himself, shall be exalted. . |
. For further reading... St. Teresa also discusses the Prayer of Quiet in her other writings: ▓ The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus, of the Order of Our Lady of Carmel. Written by Herself. Ch14 and Ch15 She discuss the second water: The Prayer of Quiet ▓ The Interior Castle Mansion IV http://www.ccel.org/ccel/teresa/castle2.viii.html and Mansion 4: Chapter 3: The Prayer of Quiet http://www.ccel.org/ccel/teresa/castle2.viii.iii.html . |
| . End of Discussion of Chapter 31 The Way of Perfection . |
