 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. Visit 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 four of The Commentaries series on The Interior Castle. I'm Father Timothy Reid. And after making our way through the first mansions of The Interior Castle last time in this podcast, we will examine the second mansions of The Interior Castle. Now, this section on the second mansions is the shortest section of the book and only contains one chapter, but there is so much good information here as these second mansions must be passed through to grow in one's relationship with our Lord. Now, keep in mind that these first three mansions that we're currently working through detail what is achievable through a person's own efforts to grow in holiness and a life of prayer, with the help of God's grace, of course. So these first three mansions are really a time of testing, most especially a testing of our love for God and our trust in His grace and a testing of our perseverance, in particular our perseverance in prayer. Now, as for the second mansions, St. Teresa begins this chapter with a description of souls who have reached this point, and she does this by noting the differences of those who have entered the second mansions as compared to those in the first. These are helpful distinctions that help us gauge our own process, especially since it seems that so many Christians get stuck and settle for staying right here in the second mansions. Teresa tells us that those in the second mansions are people who have already begun to practice prayer and who desire not to stay in the first mansions. So these are people who want to make progress in the spiritual life. However, they nonetheless are lacking in the resoluteness necessary to not turn back because they often fail to avoid near occasions of sin. We're still weak at this stage. Nevertheless, Teresa says that these folks have received a great deal of mercy in that they often attempt to escape the snakes and poisonous creatures and understand the necessity of doing so. So they're people who want to be better. St. Teresa also compares those in the first mansions to deaf mutes, while those in the second mansions are able to hear the Lord but cannot yet speak. So still more effort is required of those in the second mansions to mature in the spiritual life. Those in the second mansions are still involved in the things of the world and falling into sin and rising again, but our Lord loves these souls and desires that we love Him and seek His company in return. Thus, the Lord calls to those in the second mansions, most generally through words uttered by pious people, by sermons or good books and in many other such ways. Sometimes He calls souls by means of sickness or troubles or by some truth He teaches them during prayer, for tepid as they may be in seeking Him, yet God holds them very dear. You see, God never takes His eyes off of us, and He is keen that we advance. To this end, St. Teresa also mentions how patient our Lord can be in waiting for souls to respond to Him, especially when He sees a soul exhibiting perseverance. So we shouldn't be upset if we don't respond to our Lord as we should. We should simply pray for an increase of grace from our Lord, and we should take heed of the good counsel we receive from the good books, from edifying homilies and the good example and advice of others who are more advanced than we are. Now let's talk a little bit about spiritual warfare. The second mansions are a difficult place full of many challenges, and so God's grace is particularly necessary at this stage, especially as spiritual warfare really ramps up here. I mean, this is not an easy place to be in the spiritual life. In fact, St. Teresa tells us that perseverance is very necessary in the second mansions because as she says, the devils now fiercely assault the soul in a thousand different ways. She says it is in the stage that the devils set on us the reptiles, that is to say, thoughts about the world and its joys, which they picture as unending. They remind us of the high esteem men held us in, of our friends and relations. They tell us how the penances which souls in this mansion always begin to wish to perform would injure our health and find the evil spirits place a thousand impediments in the way. While we may not realize what's going on, in his jealousy and hatred for mankind, the evil one and his demons tempt the souls here with a thousand different obstacles to get them to turn back. And so the souls in the second mansions have to wrestle considerably with the temptation to return to the first rooms. And reason can be an enemy here by making the things of the world seem more valuable than they really are. The devil can very subtly pray upon our imagination to make us think very reasonable things like, I don't have time to pray. I need to work more or my kids really need my attention. Or to be able to fulfill the demands of my particular vocation. I need sleep more than I need to go to adoration or to daily mass. Yet God doesn't leave us on our own. And our Lord ensures that the souls here are reminded of the shortness of life and of how we are all going to die and be forgotten someday. Now it's in this stage of the spiritual life that we also have to learn how to master our emotions. Whereas our emotions may entice us to return to the first mansions as we grapple with the challenge of making progress in the spiritual life and contend with the wiles of the devil, our will and our intellect help our soul to move forward. Especially as we realize the goodness of the Lord, the vanity of temporal goods and the falseness of the world. And we have to be humble because vanity can be our downfall. As St. Teresa puts it, Oh my God, how the force of worldly habits and the example of others who practice them ruin everything. Truly, there are many trials for the souls in these mansions. And furthermore, St. Teresa writes, If the devil especially realizes that a soul has all it needs in its temperament and habits to advance far, he will gather all hell together to make the soul go back outside. And so my friends, we have to be vigilant. Understanding that the devil is like a roaring lion seeking whom he can devour. And we have to turn to the Lord for his help and his mercy. St. Teresa also counsels being in touch with folks who are more spiritually advanced as they can be a great help to us. And she says that the soul must always strive with all its might not to be conquered. In fact, St. Teresa tells us, If the devil sees it staunchly determined to lose life and comfort and all that he can offer rather than return to the first mansion, he will the sooner leave that soul alone. So in other words, with God's grace, the devil can be beaten back. We don't have to be as prey. Of course, St. Teresa has a lot of advice to give in this chapter seeing how precarious is state the souls at this stage are in. For example, she encourages her readers not to think about spiritual consolations at this point in their journey through the interior castle. Those will come later. In the second mansions, one must be ready to endure dryness and to do so without complaining about it. Those in the second mansions must be willing to embrace the cross to suffer for our Lord and to be grateful for whatever favor the Lord does grant. And so in short, there has to be this spiritual toughness about us. Souls here must also trust God and seek to be united with His will and not presume to know what's best for themselves. She states the aim of the person beginning to pray has to be to conform one's life with God's will. You see, it's in conformity with God's will that spiritual perfection lies. And the person who practices this most perfectly will receive from God the highest reward and is the farthest advanced on the right road. And so we have to ask ourselves, do I actively seek God's will? And if I have a sense of God's will in some matter, do I readily unite my will to His? Or do I ever fight Him? Am I willing to say no to myself and my own desires in order to say yes to God? St. Teresa also encourages her readers not to be discouraged if one should fall. We must always strive to advance despite whatever setbacks we have. Remember, God will always bring some good out of our setbacks. And He allows setbacks so that we can learn better how to guard ourselves in the future and to test our contrition for our offenses against Him. St. Teresa presents very clearly that the second mentions can be places of great struggle, especially because of the disordered ways we live our lives before entering the castle. One must make a radical decision to follow Christ no matter what the cost. Have you made this decision yet? Moreover, there will be many temptations that entice us to leave the castle after entering it. This battle for our souls is fierce and continues even beyond the outer mansions. The devil does not want us to advance. But we don't have to be his victims. God's grace, His power, and our life can be overcome. We just have to constantly seek recourse in God and not allow ourselves to become discouraged or to turn back. Truly, my friend, St. Teresa makes it clear that all who enter the second mansions must be determined not to be conquered. Cowards or lazy people will not find St. Teresa's writing to their liking. So let's renew ourselves in courage. Knowing that if we are in the second mansions, this is not a time to seek consolations from God but to seek the God of consolations. It's a time of battle, a time of perseverance, most especially in prayer. That concludes our podcast for day 4. Next time, we'll begin looking at the third mansions of the interior castle. And with that in mind, 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. May God bless you. And may St. Teresa intercede for you. May God bless you.