The Interior Castle or The Mansions

197 Pages·01.672 MB·English

by  St. Teresa of Avila

The Interior Castle or The Mansions
Author(s): Teresa of Avila, St.
Zimmerman, Benedict (Editor)
Publisher: Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classics Ethereal Library
Description: Interior Castle is the work of 16th century Carmelite nun and
Christian mystic St.Teresa of Avila. She wrote Interior Castle
as a spiritual guide to union with God. Her inspiration for the
work came from a vision she received from God. In it, there
was a crystal globe with seven mansions, with God in the
innermost mansion. St.Teresa interpreted this vision as an
allegory for the soul's relationship with God; each mansion
represents one place on a path towards the "spiritual mar-
riage"--i.e. union--with God in the seventh mansion. One
begins on this path through prayer and meditation. She also
describes the resistance that the Devil places in various
rooms, to keep believers from union with God.Throughout,
she provides encouragements and advice for spiritual devel-
opment. Beyond its spiritual merit, Interior Castle also con-
tains much literary merit as a piece of Spanish Renaissance
literature. A spiritually challenging book, Interior Castle stands
on par with other great works of this time, such as Dark Night
of the Soul.
Tim Perrine
CCEL Staff Writer
i
Contents
Title Page 1
Note 3
Introduction 4
Preface 17
The First Mansions 19
Chapter I. Description of the Castle 20
Chapter II. The Human Soul. 24
The Second Mansions 31
Chapter I. War. 32
The Third Mansions 38
Chapter I. Fear of God 39
Chapter II. Aridity in Prayer 43
The Fourth Mansions 48
Chapter I. Sweetness in Prayer. 49
Chapter II. Divine Consolations 55
Chapter III. Prayer of Quiet 59
The Fifth Mansions 68
Chapter I. Prayer of Union 69
Chapter II. Effects of Union 75
Chapter III. Cause of Union 80
Chapter IV. Spiritual Espousals 85
The Sixth Mansions 89
Chapter I. Preparation for Spiritual Marriage 90
Chapter II. The Wound of Love 97
Introductory Note to Chapter III by the Editor 101
Chapter III. Locutions 104
ii
Chapter IV. Raptures 111
Chapter V. The Flight of the Spirit 118
Chapter VI. Spiritual Jubilation 123
Chapter VII. The Humanity of Our Lord 129
Chapter VIII. Intellectual Visions 136
Chapter IX. Imaginary Visions 141
Chapter X. Intellectual Visions Continued 147
Chapter XI. The Dart of Love 150
The Seventh Mansions 155
Chapter I. God's Presence Chamber 156
Chapter II. Spiritual Marriage 161
Chapter III. Its Effects 166
Chapter IV. Martha and Mary 171
Epilogue 178
Subject Index 180
Indexes 189
Index of Scripture References 190
Index of Pages of the Print Edition 192
iii
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iv
Title Page
Title Page

THE INTERIOR CASTLE
1
OR
THE MANSIONS
By
St. Teresa of Avila
Translated from the Autograph of St. Teresa of Jesus by
The Benedictines of Stanbrook
Revised, with Notes and an Introduction, by the
Very Rev. Fr. Benedict Zimmerman, O.C.D.
PRIOR
Third Edition with Additional Notes
Thomas Baker, London
[1921]
Nihil Obstat: Dom Michael Bar-
rett, O.S.B.
Censor Deputatuus

Imprimatur:   Edward
Apostolic Adminis-
trator
Birmingham,
Oscott.
February 24, 1921

1
Title Page
DEDICATED TO
The Martyred Daughters of St. Teresa,
The Blessed Martyrs of Compiegne, France,
by the Descendants of Their Fellow Prisoners.
Stanbrook Abbey
Day of the Beatification
May 27, 1906
2
Note
Note
NOTE
IN this new edition the wording has been revised and condensed, chiefly with a view
to rendering the translation more pregnant. Only one passage (VI. Mansion, ch. v. r 3) has
been substantially changed, in conformity with an explanation received from a high authority.
It is admittedly a very difficult passage which appears to have been misunderstood by nearly
all translators; but it is gratifying to notice that the new French translation by the Carmelite
nuns of Anderlecht agrees with our interpretation. The editor is under an obligation to that
translation for several interesting facts embodied in the Introduction and in the notes to
the text.
B. Z.
WINCANTON
December25, 1911
5
3
Introduction
Introduction
THE
INTERIOR CASTLE
7
OR
THE MANSIONS

The Benedictines of Stanbrook desire to ex-
press their gratitude to the very Rev. Benedict 8
Zimmerman for having kindly revised the
translation of the ‘Interior Castle’ and also
for the Introduction, Notes, and Index which
he has added to the book.
INTRODUCTION 9
SAINT TERESA began to write the Interior Castleon June 2, 1577, Trinity Sunday, and
completed it on the eve of St. Andrew, November 29, of the same year. But there was a long
1
interruption of five months,   so that the actual time spent in the composition of this work
was reduced to about four weeks—a fortnight for the first, and another fortnight for the
second half of the book. The rapidity with which it was written is easily explained by the
fact that the Saint had conceived its plan some time previously. On January 17, 1577, she
had written to her brother, Don Lorenzo de Cepeda, at Avila: ‘I have asked the bishop—Don
Alvaro Mendoza—for my book (the Life) because I shall perhaps complete it by adding
those new favours our Lord has lately granted me. With these one may even compose a new
work of considerable size, provided God grants me the grace of explaining myself; otherwise
2
the loss will be of small account.’   She never asked for permission to write anything, but
waited until she received a command from her superiors, which, in this case, came from
Father Jerome Gracian, superior of the Discalced J. Carmelites of the Provinces of Andalusia
10
1 Castle, Mansions v. ch. iv. I.
2 Letters of St. Teresa, Vol. ii.
4
Introduction
3
and Castille, and from Don Alonso Velasquez, canon of Toledo, afterwards bishop of Osma.  
The Saint was not in good health at the time; she repeatedly complains of noises in the head
and other infirmities, but, worst of all, she was weighed down by troubles and anxieties
resulting from the action of the superiors of the Order and of the Papal Nuncio against the
nuns and friars of the Reform. Matters became even more serious when, in October, the
nuns of the Incarnation of Avila proceeded to the election of a new prioress. Notwithstanding
the prohibition of the provincial, fifty-five electors recorded their votes in favour of the Saint
and were immediately declared excommunicated. The whole work of the Reform seemed
on the brink of ruin, the Saint, as well as all her friends, was in disgrace, subject to obloquy
and ill-treatment.
No trace of these trials is to be found in the Interior Castle. Saint Teresa possessed the
power of concentration of thought in a marvellous degree. The early mornings and late
evenings were devoted to the composition of the book, while the rest of the day was taken
up by the affairs of the Order. Mother Mary of the Nativity, a member of the community
4
of Toledo, where the book was begun, declared afterwards,   that she often saw her writing,
generally after Holy Communion, her face resplendent, with such rapidity and so absorbed
in her occupation that she seemed undisturbed by, and in fact quite unconscious of, any 11
5
noise that was made. Mother Mariana of the Angels   reports having heard from the same
witness, that entering her cell one day to deliver a message, the holy Mother was just begin-
ning a new sheet of her book. While taking off her spectacles to listen to the message she
was seized by a trance in which she remained for several hours. The nun, terrified at this,
did not stir, but kept her eyes steadily on the Saint. When she came to, it was seen that the
paper, previously blank, was covered with writing. Noticing that her visitor had discovered
3 The French Carmelite nuns in their new translation, Œuvres complètes de Sainte Thérèse, t. vi, Introduction,
p. 5, quoting the Año Teresiano, t. vii ad 7 July, and Father Gracian’s Dilucidario, as well as his additions to
Ribera, show the exact share of Fr. Gracian and Dr. Velasquez in the preliminaries of this work.
4 Fuente, Obras de Santa Teresa de Jesus. Edit. 1881, Vol. vi, p. 278.
5 Ibid. p. 178. A somewhat similar incident is reported by Mother Anne of the Incarnation (Ibid. p. 213), but
it appears to be wrongly brought into connection with the composition of the Castle. The nun in question had
belonged to the convent of St. Joseph at Segovia at an earlier period, but there is no evidence that St. Teresa
visited this place in the course of the six months during which she composed this work. The Bollandists, indeed,
maintain that it was commenced at Toledo, continued at Segovia and completed at Avila (n. 1541), but their
sole authority for including Segovia is the passage in question, which, however, must refer to some other work
of the Saint. The sister, passing St. Teresa’s door, saw her writing, her face being lit up as by a bright light. She
wrote very fast without making any corrections. After an hour, it being about midnight, she ceased and the light
disappeared. The Saint then knelt down and remained in prayer for three hours, after which she went to sleep.
5