 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. Tan commentaries.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 to The Commentaries series on the Interior Castle. I'm Father Timothy Reed and today is day three of our podcast. Last time we talked about the first chapter of the first mentions of the Interior Castle in which we talked a little about the magnificence of the human soul and the importance of prayer. Today we will look at the second chapter of the first mentions of the Interior Castle. Now, after using the first chapter of this section on the first mentions to discuss how people actually get into the Interior Castle, Teresa begins the second chapter with a discussion of mortal sin. Recall from last time how interested St. Teresa is in the human soul and the brilliance it possesses in being the dwelling place of God. She is mesmerized by the beauty of a soul in the state of grace. But for a soul in mortal sin, she writes, no night can be so dark, no gloom nor blackness can compare to its obscurity. Suffice it to say that the sun in the center of the soul which gave it such splendor and beauty is totally eclipsed, though the spirit is as fitted to enjoy God's presence as is the crystal to reflect the sun. In addition to describing the other darkness of the soul in mortal sin, St. Teresa draws some very necessary conclusions, namely that, as she says, while the soul is in mortal sin, nothing can profit it. None of its good works merit any eternal reward. So if you're in mortal sin, any works of charity you may do will not help you get to heaven. Have you ever thought about that? No matter how many good works you do, if you're in a state of mortal sin, they don't really matter. And the reason for this is that since the soul is separated from God by the gravity of its sin, its good works do not proceed from God, who is the one who makes our virtue virtuous. And therefore, if our good works don't proceed from God, our actions cannot be pleasing to him. Now, you might remember that I intimated in the very first podcast that St. Teresa got into a little trouble with the Spanish Inquisition over her autobiography, the book of her life. So to avoid trouble with this book, she never names herself by name when describing mystical experiences, but rather she refers to herself in the book whenever she says, I know a person. So in this vein, God gave St. Teresa the grace of showing her what a soul in mortal sin was like. So she writes, I knew a person to whom our Lord revealed the result of a mortal sin and who said she thought no one who realized its effects could ever commit it but would suffer unimaginable torments to avoid it. And then she goes on just a little later. In a state of grace, the soul is like a well of limpid water from which flow only streams of clearest crystal. Its works are both pleasing to God and man, rising from the river of life, besides which it is rooted like a tree. Otherwise it would produce neither leaves nor fruit, for the waters of grace nourish it, keeping it from withering from drought and cause it to bring forth good fruit. But the soul by sinning withdraws from this stream of life and growing beside a black confetted pool can produce nothing but disgusting and unwholesome fruit. Now this is something very important for us to consider. Now let's keep in mind what the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches. In paragraph 1855 of the Catechism, we read, mortal sin destroys charity in the heart of man by a grave violation of God's law. It turns man away from God, who is his ultimate end and his beatitude, by preferring an inferior good to him. In 1861, we read, mortal sin is a radical possibility of human freedom, as is love itself. It results in the loss of charity and the privation of sanctifying grace, that is, of the state of grace. If it is not redeemed by repentance and God's forgiveness, it causes exclusion from Christ's kingdom and the eternal death of hell, for our freedom has the power to make choices forever with no turning back. However, although we can judge that an act is in itself a grave offense, we must entrust judgment of persons to the justice and mercy of God. Now St. Teresa teaches that even though the sun in the center of the soul does not lose its beauty and splendor, being in mortal sin is like having a black cloth over it, and our souls lose their beauty and splendor. So of course St. Teresa counsels her daughters, for whom she is writing this book, to avoid mortal sin at all costs, and she also mentions two graces that she received in this revelation from God. The first, a fear of offending him, and the prayer to bake him to keep him from falling. And second, a mirror of humility, for she saw that nothing good enough springs from ourselves, but comes from the waters of grace, near which the soul remains like a tree planted beside a river, and from that sun which gives life to our works. So, the upshot here for our St. is that she began to understand how we can do nothing good of ourselves, but only with God's grace. So as a result, whenever she did some act of charity, she would immediately praise God and not think of herself at all. Can we say the same? When we manage to do something truly charitable? Or overstop for a moment and consider, how scared are you of mortal sin? Do you fear it and flee it as you should? Do you recognize how terrible sin really is? And are you willing, here and now, in this moment, to make a resolution to avoid mortal sin at all costs? My friends, if you ask God for the grace to flee mortal sin, never temptation arises. He will give it to you. Just ask for the grace. Now, let's keep moving through this chapter. In usual fashion, St. Teresa wanders a bit as she writes, so she has to pull herself back on course. And as she does, she makes the point that one mustn't imagine that the mansions are to be explored by going through the mansions one after the other. Our route to God, so to speak, is not necessarily linear. Rather, she says that there are rooms above and below, and that it is very important for any soul that practices prayer, whether literal or much, not to hold itself back and stay in one corner. She says, let her walk through these mansions which are up above, down below and to the sides, since God has given it such great dignity. Don't force it to stay a long time in one room. Oh, but if it is in the room of self-knowledge, how necessary this room is. So St. Teresa is telling us that we must explore in prayer, that we must allow the Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us, but we must be attentive to prayer that provides self-knowledge. When we're praying and we're getting an understanding of ourselves, we need to stay put. So, as we wander through the mansions, if we linger it should be wherever we receive knowledge of self. Self-knowledge is necessary for growing in humility, and humility is absolutely necessary for holiness. Now, as concerns self-knowledge, Teresa says, and I quote, I believe we shall never learn to know ourselves except by endeavoring to know God. For beholding His greatness, we are struck by our own baseness. His purity shows us our foulness, and by meditating on His humility, we find how very far we are from being humble. So, in other words, seeking knowledge of God helps us to see ourselves as we truly are. And as Teresa says, our understanding and will become more noble and capable of good in every way. Sometimes, however, the devil tricks us into false humility, fearing to do anything out of a sense of a lack of worthiness or getting us to focus on our own miseries. And this is self-centeredness, really, that prevents us from being free. And the remedy, according to St. Teresa, is that we should fix our eyes on Christ, our only good and honest saints. There we shall learn true humility, and our minds will be ennobled, so that self-knowledge will not make us base in cowardly. St. Teresa also warns her readers about how the devil works so hard on souls in the First Mansions to prevent them from advancing. Because we are weak in these First Mansions, it's so easy for him to have his way with us. And so this is why we must have constant recourse to our Lord, as well as to our Lady and the Saints, so that they will intercede for us and fight for us. Now she also mentions, as I've already said, how very little of the light coming from the King's chambers seems to reach the First Mansions. And while the light does shine there, we don't notice it because of all the distractions, what she calls the snakes and vipers and poisonous creatures. These are the things that prevent the soul from being aware of the light. So to advance, souls must be willing to give up unnecessary things of the world. Otherwise, advancement will be impossible. And so we must ask ourselves, to what are we attached? To what do we prefer to God? Where does our treasure really lie? How good are we at fasting and making sacrifices? Do we do these things easily and cheerfully? Where is the thought of fasting and sacrifice painful and dreadful? As she moves to the end of this section, Saint Teresa again warns readers sternly about the wiles of the devil, lest we make progress and then slip back into misery. He is cunning. So we must work to recognize him from the outset of him setting a snare for us. And ultimately, what the devil does is he attacks our charity, trying to cool our love for God and neighbor. Saint Teresa desires to help her readers understand the interior life, which she feels is so little understood. So in this beginning section, she lays out a bit of a roadmap for us through the interior castle and she provides some working principles for us to follow. First, she encourages us to avoid mortal sin at all costs so that we protect our relationship with God. We must also strive for self-knowledge and humility and avoid false humility. We must be willing to focus ourselves on God giving up the unnecessary things of the world. And she alerts us to the tactics of the devil so that we might avoid his snares. As I mentioned last time, Saint Teresa doesn't want us to lose sight of the beauty and potential for goodness the human soul possesses. God actually lives within us and makes us beautiful. So we must be aware of the possibility for darkness and the possibility for light. What is important is that we be dedicated to a life of prayer. It's important that we set aside time for mental prayer each and every day. If you don't do this, it's time to start. That brings us to the end of day three in our study of the interior castle. Thank you so much for listening. Next time we'll be discussing the second mansions. As always, let's conclude by praying together Saint Teresa's famous 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 Saint Teresa intercede for you.