 Welcome to The Commentaries, a podcast series from Tan in which you'll learn how to read and understand history's greatest Catholic works from today's greatest Catholic scholars. In every series of The Commentaries, your expert host will be your personal guide to not just read the book, but to live the book, shining the light of its eternal truths into our modern darkness. TanCommentaries.com to get your copy of the book and to subscribe for access to all the great reading plans, new episodes, bonus content, and exclusive deals for listeners of The Commentaries. Welcome back. This is day 18 of The Commentaries series on St. Teresa Vavilas Interior Castle. I'm Father Timothy Reed from Charlotte, North Carolina. Today, we come to the final chapters of the Interior Castle by examining chapters 3 and 4 of the Seventh Mansions. So this is the time of spiritual marriage between our Lord and the soul that has journeyed this far. There is true union here. Souls in the Seventh Mansion have hit the summit of the spiritual life and yet, as we learned last time, despite these lofty mystical heights, souls in the Seventh Mansions are more down to earth, more concerned with everything pertaining to the service of God. And the soul is even more attentive to not offending God in any way. So with that said, let's jump into chapter 3. Now here, once again, St. Teresa is at pains to express how the soul, spiritually married to our Lord, now lives a new life, a life of complete union with Christ. As St. Paul said to the Galatians, it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. Now as for the effects or fruits of this prayer of spiritual marriage, Teresa lists them as forgetfulness of self, a willingness to suffer, interior joy and time of persecution and love for persecutors, desire to serve God, detachment from all things, and no fear of the devil's interventions. In forgetting itself, the soul now works solely for God's honor and glory. It doesn't neglect its exterior duties, but it sees that it can really accomplish nothing on its own. As for suffering, the soul isn't disturbed by it. If God desires the soul to suffer, it willingly does so. If not, then the soul does not worry about not suffering as it did before. Now interestingly, as St. Teresa was writing these very pages, she was enduring terrible sufferings exteriorly, specifically the wrongful arrest and imprisonment of her dear friend and confidant, St. John of the Cross, which happened in December of 1577. And yet despite the anxiety she feels for St. John of the Cross, she remains tranquil. Teresa explains if others persecute souls at this stage, these souls accept it and willingly forgive them, even having compassion for their persecutors and recommending them to God. Now again, we have to ask ourselves, how do we feel about those who hurt us or persecute us? Are we quick to forgive? Are we so quick to work actively for their good as souls in the Seventh Mansions are? In reading about the effects of spiritual marriage, especially as regards those whom we might consider our enemies, we are shown where the bar of virtue really is. When our Lord says in His Sermon on the Mount, to be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect, this is what He wants from us. So as we study these Seventh Mansions, we can see the summit of virtue and holiness to which we are called. We see what perfection in this life looks like. Now very interestingly, St. Teresa notes that there is some amount of competition between the desire to die and be with God on the one hand. And the willingness to live and serve and glorify God here on earth. She writes in paragraph five, Not only have they ceased to long for death, but they wish for a long life and most heavy crosses if such would bring ever so little honor to our Lord. Thus if they knew for certain that immediately on quitting their bodies, their souls would enjoy God, it would make no difference to them. Nor do they think of the glory enjoyed by the saints and long to share it. Such souls hold that their glory consists in helping in any way, him who was crucified, especially as they see how men offend against him and how few detached from all else care for his honor alone. So rather than the urgent longing to die and be with God that souls in the sixth mansions experience, here St. Teresa sounds like St. Paul as he wrote to the Philippians, and this is from the first chapter of that letter. St. Paul wrote, My eager expectation and hope is that I shall not be put to shame in any way, but that with all boldness now as always Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death, for to me life is Christ and death is gain. If I go on living in the flesh, that means fruitful labor from me, and I do not know which I shall choose. I am caught between the two, I long to depart this life and be with Christ for that is far better, yet that I remain in the flesh is more necessary for your benefit. The point here is that these souls are also detached from everything, and no longer seek consolations to life because they have God within themselves, and their only desire is to be occupied with something that benefits a soul. Teresa says, The soul in the seventh mansion feels neither aridity nor any interior troubles, but only a constant tender recollection of our Lord whom she wishes to praise unceasingly. Moreover, the soul has no fear of the devil's counterfeits. There is just simply this abiding union with our Lord, and the soul desires only to surrender itself to God. The soul is almost always calm and there is no dryness. When she says in paragraphs 8 and 9, Nothing is here perceived by the senses or faculties, but his majesty reveals himself to the Spirit, which he takes to be with himself in a place, where I doubt not the devil dares not enter, nor would our Lord ever permit him. All the graces here divinely bestowed on the soul come, as I said, through no action of its own, except its total abandonment of itself to God. St. Teresa then continues, It is thus, with this temple of God, this mansion of his where he and the soul rejoicing each other alone in profound silence, the mind need not act nor search for anything, as the Lord who created it wishes it to be at rest, and only to watch through a little chink what passes within. Though at times it cannot see this, yet such intervals are very short. I believe because the powers are not here lost, but only ceased to work, being as it were dazed with astonishment. Despite this astonishment that she describes here, ecstasies, like we read about in the six mansions, they rarely occur here, and the things that used to send the soul into rapture no longer do so, and so our saint opines that this may be either because the Spirit has at last found repose, or that it has seen such wonders in this mansion that nothing can frighten it, or perhaps because it no longer feels solitary since it rejoices in such company. In short sisters, I cannot tell the reason, but as soon as God shows the soul what this mansion contains, bringing it to dwell within the precincts, the infirmity, formerly so troublesome to the mind and impossible to get over, disappears at once. Now of course, Saint Teresa is quick to point out that all the grace is granted here can be lost if the soul withdraws from God by failing to keep the commandments. So even here, even here, in spiritual marriage, we can backslide. Yet she says in paragraph 13 that souls have an increased awareness of their sins and a fear of their weaknesses, but they have supreme confidence in God's mercy. And so the overriding sense that the soul enjoys here is peace, true peace, and it's beautiful. Now let's move into chapter four. Saint Teresa makes mention of the fact that sometimes for the sake of a soul's humility, and to help it grow in gratitude for the gifts it has received, the Lord allows a soul in the seventh mansion to suffer disturbances. So in other words, the effects of spiritual marriage aren't always present, though they usually are. But souls at this point are strong and are capable of enduring any disturbances with great determination not to deviate from God's will. But they are not free from imperfections and venial sins, and yet the sins of people in the seventh mansions are not deliberate. Although these souls do not commit mortal sins, they still could do so, and they know it. And in their great desire not to offend God, they may have some fear of unknown sins, sins that they don't recognize within themselves, and they are greatly pained by the sins of others. So Teresa says that our greatest security can be found in begging God, never to offend him. Now as for why our Lord grants these favors to souls here in the seventh mansions, Teresa says that he does it to strengthen a soul so that it might be able to imitate Christ in his sufferings. Now Teresa knows that those who are closest to Christ suffer the most. Now think about our blessed lady. No one suffered more than she did outside of her son. And Teresa explains that the willingness to suffer gives evidence that a soul's visions and contemplation are indeed from God. Ultimately though, and this is important, St. Teresa says, this is the end and aim of prayer, my daughters. This is the reason of the spiritual marriage whose children are always good works. Works are the unmistakable sign which shows these favors come from God. And so when you sum it all up, the reason why God leads a soul into these great precincts of the seventh mansions is so that they can do charitable works. And so Teresa tells us that we have to pursue the virtues because without them we are spiritual dwarfs. St. Teresa encourages her daughters to ensure that they also act on their resolutions so our actions should conform to what we say in prayer. And she continues in paragraph 12, Do you know what it is to be truly spiritual? It is for men to make themselves the slaves of God branded with his mark, which is the cross. Since they have given him their freedom, he can sell them as slaves to the whole world as he was. Humble slaves of God, not slaves to our passions. That's what we must learn to be. You see at this point prayer is not to be done now just for one's enjoyment but rather to have strength to serve. And St. Teresa uses this great analogy of St. Martha and Mary noting that both prayer and service are essential. In closing, Teresa states that we do not build towers without a foundation, for our Lord does not care so much for the importance of our works as for the love with which they are done. When we do all we can his majesty will enable us to do more every day. Isn't that beautiful? He doesn't care so much for the importance of our works but the love with which they are done. And so my friends what we need to do is practice humility, mortification, service and charity along with loving our Lord. This will please God and in kindle the fire of love in the souls of others. Now that brings us to the end of the seventh mansions. Wow what a journey. But we're not quite done yet. St. Teresa wrote a brief epilogue and we'll discuss that next time. And in next talk in the talk after we'll also do a little bit of review of all the ground we've covered in our tour of the interior castle. But that is the end of our podcast for day 18 in our study of the interior castle. Thank you so much for listening and for joining me on this journey to grow deeper in your spiritual life. Until next time let's pray together St. Teresa's prayer. Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing frighten you. All things are passing away. God never changes. Patience obtains all things. Whoever has God lacks nothing. God alone suffices. Amen. May God bless you and may St. Teresa intercede for you. This has been an episode of The Commentaries, a podcast brought to you by Tan. To follow the show study more of the greatest Catholic classics and to support the commentaries and other great free content from Tan visit tancommentaries.com to subscribe and use coupon code COM25 to get 25% off your next order including the interior castle and countless more spiritual works to deepen your interior life and to guide you to heaven.