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Interior Castle, as the author states, "discusses the beauty and dignity of our souls; makes a comparison by the help of which this may be understood; describes the benefit which comes from understanding it and being aware of the favours which we receive from God; and shows how the door of this castle is prayer."
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Interior Castle, by St. Teresa of Avila, is one of the saint’s writings that is filled with spiritual insight, charm, and breathtaking closeness to God. Her castle is the God within, and there are outward mansions that must be penetrated to get to this inner treasure. Each mansion is a deepening of one’s knowledge of God, and a step further away from one’s capture by externality and the world. She describes these inward steps, and leads one onward to union with God (or God carries one onward – at first it is our efforts, than it is God’s). Beautiful and illuminating.
The Interior Castle (or The Mansions as it is known in Spain) compares the soul to a castle filled with many rooms. Each room is an aspect or stage of the soul, and one can progress into and out of each room. The more into the center of this castle one goes, the more his soul is conformed to the will and ways of God. It is the most interior chamber of this castle in which God dwells. The book describes the soul’s way of making it to this chamber. St. Teresa focuses her work towards the nuns of her convent, and because of her personal relationship with them, the book is written in her typical conversational tone and humility. She only loosely adheres to the analogy of a castle. However, it contains several morsels of enlightened spiritual knowledge and insight. The principles that are expounded by Teresa testify to her intimacy with the Creator. She spends a great deal of time on mortification and prayer. Written in 1577, it still contains spiritual wisdom that can be applied today to both Catholics and Protestants.
Teresa of Avila was a Carmelite nun living in the 1500s who wrote the “Interior Castle” (known as “The Mansions” in her native Spain) at the request of her confessor. A mystic who communed intimately with God, she had experienced a vision of “a most beautiful crystal globe, made in the shape of a castle, and containing seven mansions, in the seventh and innermost of which was the King of Glory, in the greatest splendour, illuming and beautifying them all. . . outside the palace limits everything was foul, dark, and infested with toads, vipers and other venomous creatures.” This castle became Teresa’s metaphor for the soul. “Interior Castle” explores each of the seven mansions in great detail. Her intended audience were the sisters who made up her cloistered religious community, however her insights offer much to the world at large.
Teresa wrote reluctantly and felt that she had little to offer that had not already been said. She believed that “Our Lord will be granting me a great favour if a single one of these nuns should find that my words help her to praise Him a little better.” She focuses on the beauty of the soul and laments that we spend so much attention on our physical body and so little on the divine spark that is within.
Teresa focuses on gaining self-knowledge, but not in the way we in the 21st century interpret that term. For her, self-knowledge means coming to know the soul within. It means understanding our dependence on God and gaining humility by acknowledging that we are nothing without Him. The route to self-knowledge and entry into the interior castle comes through prayer and meditation. As one progresses through the mansions, one comes to know and long for God more and more and to reject the world and its attractions. Teresa encourages the beginner in prayer “to labour and be resolute and prepare himself with all possible diligence to bring his will into conforming with the will of God.” She also offers encouragement: “If, then, you sometimes fall, do not lose heart or cease striving to make progress, for even out of your fall God will bring good.”
As one makes her way ever deeper into the heart of the castle, increased spiritual consolations and trials become par for the course. Many (perhaps even most) do not reach the most inner mansions in this lifetime. Teresa is quick to point out, however, that “the Lord gives when He wills and as He wills and to whom He wills, and as the gifts are His own, this is doing no injustice to anyone.” Indeed she cautions her readers to never believe that they deserve any gift that the Lord bestows upon them, nor should we set out to obtain any consolations or mystical experiences because “the most essential thing is that we should love God without any motive of self-interest.”
Teresa was truly granted amazing gifts of insight and experience from God. While we may not share in her experience, “Interior Castle” offers a unique perspective into the divine within each of us. It offers a portrait of our souls and invites us into a deeper relationship with God.
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This was a hard book to read due to MY expectations. I was expecting details where St. Teresa gives almost none. One realizes why in the long run, simply that to give the details of HER experience would limit your thoughts on how God would interact with you. Yet, it is frustrating to read this and realize that she could be telling us so much more in regards to what she has been shown by God. I rate it 5 stars though because in the end one realizes that to find out what she knows, YOU are going to have to tread a likewise path…no freebies here. Therefore St. Teresa (really the Holy Spirit) is telling you no more than you need to know to become interested in following the path, and subsequently trodding that path. For those of us who are so used to getting on the Net and finding the easy way to solve a puzzle…well, God doesn’t publish the Cheat Codes….
Interior Castle is a marvelous treatise on prayer, where the soul is likened to a castle in which are housed many mansions, or levels, of prayer. Teresa, known to have experienced ecstacies, was clearly devoted to Jesus Christ and this work is evidence of that. How powerful her words are coming from humble hands and mind! Each mansion is a step in further strengthening the soul to receive Christ’s light and grace.
This may seem like heavy reading to some, but I have found Teresa easier to read than other Carmelite mystics. Interior Castle is definitely required reading if you are interested in Catholic mysticism.