​This is one of the longest chapters in the book. There is a reason for this. One cannot make progress in the spiritual life unless one knows the enemy. This enemy does not want our progress. The devil hates God and therefore those who strive to love God. If we do not wake up each day and live our day knowing that we are entering into a spiritual battleground – then we will have many pitfalls and possibly be overcome by giving up the fight – not knowing that we were even in a battle!
St. Teresa did not view the devil as some mysterious, malicious power but a living being. She knew him on a personal level. In this chapter we will learn from her experience and her teaching about the nature and the power of the devil, the frequency and the modes of his intervention in the spiritual life, the means of discerning his presence and of resisting his attacks.

1. NATURE AND POWER OF THE DEMONS

The demons are fallen angels. They are created by God with an intellect and a will. They were formed by God with different levels of power and light and all were destined to participate in His life for all eternity in Heaven. They were given a trial of their love and servitude to God. Lucifer led in the rebellion of not serving God and many followed. They were cast from Heaven and found themselves for eternity in the hatred of God, deprived of the sovereign Good and of infinite Love.
To these angels which are now evil spirits filled with hatred for God, God had given permission to intervene in the world. Since they are pure spirits, Satan and his angels can dominate the inferior world of matter and the senses. The devil knows the laws and reactions of the world. He can move them to action and use them intelligently for his own ends. It must be known that the fallen angels cannot penetrate into the higher faculties of the soul unless the will gives one entry. The spiritual relations of the soul with God are for them an impenetrable mystery. But by means of sensible impressions and images that are presented to the intellect and the will and have normally an influence on their activity, the devil can intervene indirectly in the activity of the soul and the spiritual life. These can be so subtle and so rapid that the soul can be easily deceived and not suspect the activity of an evil spirit.
St. Therese of the Child Jesus relates that the mysterious illness from which she suffered at the age of nine, was produced by the devil who, she said, wanted to take revenge on her for the great harm that her family was to do to him in the future.

1. INTERVENTION OF THE DEVIL IN THE SPIRITUAL LIFE

The parable of the Kingdom of God likened to a sower sowing his field shows us the ways of the devil, his activity always on the alert to counterfeit the divine activity and destroy it, his skill in profiting by darkness to hide himself and the divine patience that permits the devil’s action to develop at the same time as the work of grace.

1. Frequency of the Intervention of the devil

Fr. Marie Eugene mentions that at evening prayer of Compline, the words of St. Peter are said each evening, “Be sober, be watchful! For your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goes about seeking someone to devour.” Father mentions how this is repeated in prayer each night to remind us of the urgency of this exhortation because it is constant.  The hatred of the demons is violent and always on the alert; they use any and every occasion to impede the action of God in souls. The demons moreover are numerous, their resources are various; no one can prudently think himself safe from the attacks. Such is the opinion of St. Teresa, she speaks of the devil throughout her writings and at every stage. She says: “As the devil’s intentions are always very bad, he has many legions of evil spirits in each room to prevent souls from passing from one to another, and as we, poor souls, fail to realize this, we are tricked by all kinds of deceptions. The devil is less successful with those who are nearer the King’s dwelling-place.” Interior Castle, p. 210 After the sixth Mansions, the devil becomes less dangerous to the soul. This is because the soul has already undergone many trials in the previous Mansions and has proven faithful to God and to prayer. The devil is very active in the lower Mansions so that the soul does not reach this height but gives up. Remember, the evil spirits do not know what is going on in the soul – they can only see the exterior – the times of prayer, the Masses gone to, the frequenting of the Sacraments, etc. The action of the devils against souls eager for perfection is normal and frequent. St. Teresa says, “ When the devil sees that the soul’s character and habits are such that it is ready to make further progress, all the powers of hell will combine to drive it back again.” Interior Castle, p. 215 “He works like a noiseless file.” Interior Castle, p. 211

1. Manner and Purpose of the Action of the Devil

The devil, our enemy, tries to bring souls to evil by temptation, to hinder them in their progress to God by disturbing and deceiving them.

1. Temptation

Temptation is rarely the exclusive work of the devil. He uses his knowledge of the dominant tendencies of a soul and his power over the senses in order to intensify a pleasure, to quicken a desire, to make a solicitation more attractive and more actual, so that it will invade the field of conscience and win the consent of the will. St. Teresa mentions often of the obstacles that the devils create in order to keep the soul from advancing toward God.

1. Disquiet of soul

Disquiet brings a soul to a halt, at least for a while, and makes it hesitate as to the course to be taken. This interior disquiet can so envelop the soul in darkness that it becomes an easy prey to the wiles and strategy of the evil one. With beginners, he instigates all sorts of anxieties about sacrifices to be made, about the future, loss of health, etc. St. Teresa states in the Interior Castle, p. 214: “For here the devils once more show the soul these vipers – that is the things of the world – and they pretend that earthly pleasures are almost eternal; they remind the soul of the esteem in which it is held in the world, of its friends and relatives, of the way in which its health will be endangered by penances… Oh Jesus! What confusion the devils bring about in the poor soul, and how distressed it is, not knowing if it ought to proceed farther or return to the room where it was before.”
We see even in the writings of St. John of the Cross in his Dark Night, he states: “As the devil sees that he cannot succeed in thwarting them in the depth of the soul, he does what he can to disturb and disquiet the sensual part, to which he is able to attain – now by means of afflictions, now by terrors and fears, with intent to disquiet and disturb the higher and spiritual part of the soul by this means, with respect to that blessing which it then receives and enjoys. At other times, when the spiritual communication is not made in any great measure to the spirit, but the senses have a part therein, the devil more easily succeeds in disturbing the spirit and raising a tumult within it, by means of the senses, with these terrors.”
It is also mentioned here that the devils can cause disquiet among a group of souls, a society, a community, a parish, etc. This was expressed by St. Teresa when she explains the turmoil that the devil stirred when she started the Reform. She as well as the community were agitated by her first convent, St. Joseph of Avila, The devil had guessed the importance of the work that was beginning and his zeal for destroying it appears to us today well justified.

1. A liar and the father of lies

Disquiet is a preparation. It creates an atmosphere favorable to the decisive action of Satan, in the same way as recollection precedes and prepares one for the action of God. St. Teresa calls him “a lover of lies and a lie himself.” Dissimulation and lies are the means that he could not do without; they constitute his whole strategy of attack. In order to ensure every chance of success for his simulation, he depends on the tendencies of the soul and its desires, giving an evil the appearances of the particular spiritual good desired by the soul. The devil gives consolations which will feed the spiritual greediness of a soul, urging it to excesses in exercises of piety and in mortifications; or, at least, will make it find the aridities that follow spiritual joy, so painful that it will be discouraged. St. Teresa speaks of a false humility that paralyzes the soul and withdraws it from perfection. The devil does not fail to counterfeit the supernatural graces of God. There are few extraordinary favors that do not have a counterfeit.
In the Living Flame by St. John of the Cross, he points out how the devil, “ takes his stand, with great cunning, on the road which leads from sense to spirit, deceiving and luring the soul by means of sense, and giving it sensual things, as we have said, so that it may rest in them and not escape from him.”
                                                                                               
 

1. MEANS OF RECOGNIZING THE ACTION OF THE DEVIL

Counsels from St. Teresa that will help to discover the interventions of the devil in the spiritual life:

1. In doubt – it is better to be mistrustful and to wait. This will not harm the soul if it is under the action of God because it will find in this struggle a means of showing its virtue

and of making progress.
 

1. The first fruit that indicates the action of the devil is the lie. The false angel of light cannot for long sustain his role without betraying himself in some contradiction.
2. The intervention of the devil could not produce in the soul the effects of peace and humility that the action of God brings. Jesus said, “Learn from Me for I am meek and humble of heart.” The devil, the enemy of God and deprived of Him, produces the contrary effects.

 

1. HOW TO COMBAT THE ACTION OF THE DEVIL

1. Arms for fighting the devil

The first condition for triumphing over the devil is not to give in to excessive fear. He is an enemy with power and cleverness but we must not forget his deficiencies, his ignorance of the supernatural world, his powerlessness to enter into the higher faculties of the soul, his status as a reprobate which allows him only temporary victories and leaves him eternally conquered! As soon as he senses our fear of him – he can win the victory. We must trust in the fact that God is all powerful and allows these confrontations here on this earth to try us and to draw us closer to Him. Grace is sufficient. God will always help us when we call out to Him and He has given us so many helps. We can pray and fast. This is in Scripture. We can make acts of faith and humility – a world the devil does not know. We can use Holy Water, a sacramental that St. Teresa relied on often when in need. We can ask our guardian angel and St. Michael for assistance. Most importantly, we can turn to Our Queen and Mother who is appointed to crush his head. She will throw Her Mantle over us and protect us when we call out Her Name.
A testimony from St. Teresa from her Life p. 205, “From long experience, I have learned that there is nothing like holy water to put devils to flight and prevent them from coming back again. They also flee from the Cross, but return; so holy water must have great virtue. For my own part, whenever I take it, my soul feels a particular and most notable consolation. In fact, it is quite usual for me to be conscious of a refreshment which I cannot possibly describe, resembling an inward joy which comforts my whole soul. This is not fancy, or something which has happened to me only once; it has happened again and again and I have observed it most attentively.” “And so we all used to carry a little gourd of holy water, suspended to our cincture, and she wanted to have hers.”
 

1. Tactics

We must use the arms mentioned above to combat the evil spirits but we must not desire the struggle or seek it. We are to focus on traveling toward our goal and loving God with our whole hearts, minds and souls and when we encounter evil along the path, it is only then that we engage in warfare. An excellent strategy is one of flight which shelters the soul from the attacks, blows and tricks of the devil. One accomplishes this by moving through faith and humility into the supernatural regions where the devil has no entrance.

1. The exercise of faith or anagogical acts

St. Paul to the Ephesians mentions an armor that the Christian must put on for the spiritual combat stating: “Put on the armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood but against the principalities and the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness on high. Therefore take up the armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and stand in all things perfect. Stand, therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having your feet shod with the readiness of the gospel of peace, in all things taking up the shield of faith with which you may be able to quench all the fiery darts of the more wicked one.” Eph. 6:11
In the Dark Night, St. John confirms this by stating that the white vestment of faith protects the soul from the devil. Faith lifts the soul above the domain of the senses, over which the devil can exercise power, and introduces it into the supernatural world which he cannot enter. By the soul lifting itself to God, it is protected from the temptation of the devil. We must immediately send acts of faith to God when the soul begins to be tormented. Once this becomes a habit, flight from the enemy will be spontaneous and will have beneficial results.

1. Humility

In order to escape the ruses of Satan, St. Teresa recommends especially the virtue of humility. This virtue seems to enjoy a sort of immunity because Satan is pride. She confidently states that the devil can do no harm to a soul that is humble. She states, “God will not permit him to deceive a soul which has no trust whatever in itself.” Satan is fixed in an attitude of pride by his revolt against God. Everything the devil always does bears the visible mark of pride. St. Teresa’s definition of humility is simply – Truth. God is the Creator and we are the creatures. All honor and glory belong to the Creator – we are merely unprofitable servants bought with the Blood of Jesus. We belong to Him – therefore – He can do with us as He wishes and we owe Him everything. Everything good was achieved by God’s grace and our cooperation.
The Chapter ends with the understanding that God allows the evil one to tempt us and try us in our lives in order to strengthen us, to prove us, to humble us, to increase our merits, to make our virtues more pure and strong, and to make our progress toward Him more rapid.
 

​TERESIAN ASCETICISM – Chapter 6
 
Fr. Marie Eugene begins this chapter reminding us of the quote of St. Teresa that she makes to her parents when she returns from fleeing to the area of Spain where the Moors were persecuting the Christians and says: “To see God – we must die.” This chapter is about how we are to give up ourselves to Christ and His Church. We must proceed through this chapter knowing that God is all powerful, all knowing and all loving. He is able to supply all our needs. He does not like mediocrity. He wants us to give Him our all. “Thou shall love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul and with thy whole mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment.” Matt. 23:35-38. As much as we try to tell ourselves that this is impossible; we must remember that God has demanded it of us and if He demands it – He can supply all that we need. We must have faith and believe this. He wants us to obtain that same intense love which He has for us and He cannot just give it to us – we must SHOW Him that we truly seek it and want it. We must labor for it!
We find in the Way of Perfection, Chapter 12: “Prayer cannot be accompanied by self-indulgence.” This self-indulgence shows God that we are truly not serious about being with Him. This chapter tells us that in order to arrive at perfect union with God, we must submit to an energetic and absolute asceticism. In order for this asceticism to be efficacious and proportionate to human strength, it will have to be adapted to that strength and progressive. Therefore, we will cover Absolute Asceticism, Adapted Asceticism and Progressive Asceticism.

1. ABSOLUTE ASCETICISM

We find that in many places of her writings, but especially in the first twenty chapters of the Way of Perfection, St. Teresa explains in detail the virtues to be practiced and the sufferings to be borne. The virtues spoken of are: poverty, charity, humility, detachment from one’s family and from one’s self. She says that we must have an absolute character: “Keep your eyes fixed upon your Spouse.” She says that unless we are willing to suffer what our daily duty brings, we shall never accomplish anything. She advises that we fear nothing and commit ourselves wholly to God – no matter what. Here we must be aware that everything that is received in our day is either allowed by God or willed by God. Know that He can make good of ALL things! Even if we do not understand it with our human minds – it may come to us later down the road of life or we may never understand certain trials until we stand before Him on Judgement Day. The main things is to surrender to Him and know that He loves us and wants to bring us to Himself – come what may!
Teresa continues to ask her sisters to endure all without complaining. She says that generosity is necessary from the very beginning of the spiritual life. This is difficult on its own. We must pray for the graces necessary to understand what it was that Jesus endured for us in His Life, Passion and Death. We are called to take up our cross and follow after Him. “Many never manage to finish their course because they do not “embrace the Cross from the beginning.” (Life, Ch. 11) “The aim of all my advice to you in this book is that we should surrender ourselves wholly to the Creator, place our will in His hands and detach ourselves from the creatures.” (Way of Perfection, Ch. 32)
It is stressed that St. Teresa does not mean to condemn people to Hell who do not abide by her advice. She merely states that one will remain in the lower parts of the mansions if we do not strive for more. One cannot make it to the summit of contemplation without labor. When one deceases from this life, one dies at different stages of spiritual growth. Our eternal happiness will be experienced differently by everyone according to his surrender and embracing of his own particular cross. She says in the Seventh Mansion that we must be branded with the sign of the Cross.
St. John of the Cross is of the same mindset. In his book, The Ascent of Mt. Carmel. He states that there are three ways open to the beginner. First, is the way of the soul that is led astray, and follows the search for the goods of earth: liberty, honors, knowledge and comfort. The Second is called the way of the imperfect and leads towards the goods of heaven; glory, sanctity, joy, wisdom; but because it seeks them, the soul finds them less abundantly and it does not scale the mountain of perfection. The third way is going straight to the summit where there is a narrow path on which the Saint has written four times over; “nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing.” This path leads to the fullness of the gifts of God to the banquet of divine Wisdom. This is interpreted in the following way: “In order to arrive at having pleasure in everything, desire to have pleasure in nothing. In order to arrive at possessing everything, desire to possess nothing. In order to arrive at being everything, desire to be nothing. In order to arrive at knowing everything, desire to know nothing.” Ascent, Book 1 Ch. 13. In plain language – God will provide – do not worry – just surrender!
It is clear that the slopes of Carmel are steep and we are advised not to concentrate on the road traversed or how high or hard it is to climb but to contemplate on Our Lord Jesus Christ – our ultimate goal - union with Him. Our only support to get there is the staff that is the cross. “If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.” Matt. 16:24  ----  There is no other way than the way to Calvary! “Did not the Christ have to suffer these things before entering into his glory?” Luke 24:26. The disciple is not above his Master. The world hated me and it will hate you. They will persecute you as they have persecuted me…I am sending you forth as sheep among wolves.” Matt. 10. We try to forget that Christ announced no other victory than that of the Cross on Calvary. If someone comes to you, preaching an easy doctrine, even if he were an angel and worked miracles to support it, do not believe him. Put your trust in austere penance and detachment from all things.” St. John of the Cross Maxim 124
Fr. Marie Eugene beautifully reminds us that to find the immolated Christ we can go to the Eucharist. The Eucharist gives us the superabundant life of the Christ Who does not die and announces to us through His Passion, His sufferings, the necessity of participating in His sacrifice, of completing what is lacking to His Passion for the application of His merits to our souls.
 

1. ADAPTED ASCETICISM

In this explanation of adapted asceticism, it is brought to our minds that we are all of different temperaments and circumstances. For asceticism to be effective, it must be adapted to temperament in order to attain to the dominant tendency that is to be destroyed. (knowledge of self) It is wise to search for learned spiritual direction in order for the soul to be directed with precise counsels particularly good for that soul. It is difficult to obtain spiritual direction today because we have so few priests and they are so over-burdened today. There is a book written by Fr. Thomas Dubay that treats on Spiritual Direction. One can use it as a self-guide or as a supplement with a Spiritual Director. This book is: Seeking Spiritual Direction; How to Grow the Divine Life Within. Fr. Dubay is a Marist priest but completely imbued with Carmelite Spirituality. The purpose of his book is to guide people who would otherwise stray from the path that leads to the summit of contemplative prayer. It is highly recommended for all of us to use. As we search for direction in today’s Church, we must realize that St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila are doctors on prayer for the universal Church and that their mystical science is for ALL TIMES. Truth does not change – times do change but the way to the summit has not. We must keep this in mind or we could stumble along the path. Know that even an incremental visit to a director in times of doubt is better than nothing at all. One should seek guidance and encouragement, if possible – even among fellow laymen when necessary.

1. PROGRESSIVE ASCETICISM

In the book of her Life, St. Teresa talks about how when things became repetitious and she felt that even though some practices were not wrong in themselves, she felt that they were sufficient to spoil all her efforts. It could be that she felt a little stagnant in her love and it was at this time that she would seek advice from an advisor.
The asceticism that tends to absolute detachment must proceed progressively, by degrees; if not, it will fail completely. A prudent and enlightened director must regulate this progress by considering the actual strength of a soul. Know that God is a God of love and compassion. He has the most perfect patience and will tenderly guide your soul to Him. He is not forceful but gentle towards your needs which He knows best. We must have profound trust in Him!
It is stressed that a time for making resolutions is critical to growth and progress. It is not recommended in this book, but it is in our Rule that we are asked to take time out each year for a retreat; possibly the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. The Miles Christi priests do offer retreats throughout the year for both men and women which last an entire weekend but are profitable for the soul to advance in its generosity with God.
 

CHRIST JESUS IN THE TERESIAN PRAYER
St. Teresa suggests that in order for mental prayer to be fruitful, we must first examine our conscience, confess our sins and sign ourselves with the Cross. Then, she asks that we look for the best companion to pray with and this is Jesus Himself.
She says: “ Believe me, you should stay with so good a Friend for as long as you can before you leave Him. If you become accustomed to having Him at your side, as if He sees that you love Him to be there and are always trying to please Him, you will never be able, as we put it, to send Him away.” Way of Perfection p. 107-108
This method is for all and it is helpful at all stages in bringing Christ into our lives. She states that this method should be the beginning, the middle and the end of prayer. It is a safe road until the Lord leads us to other methods which are supernatural. She says that everyone must make his prayer with the person of Christ until God raises the soul higher.(seventh mansion)
She explains that we do not have to have an imagination that pictures Him present. We only need to use our faith, our belief that He is near and this is sufficient. She says that this gaze of faith is always possible.  She says: “If words do not fail you when you talk to people on earth, why should they do so when you talk to God. Do not imagine that they will – I shall certainly not believe that they have done so if you once form the habit.” Way of Perfection p. 109
She says that in all the states of the spiritual life one must return to the humanity of our Lord and never withdraw from it as long as grace does not lead us elsewhere. In this she could invoke the authority of Christ: For the Lord Himself says that He is the Way; the Lord also says that He is light and that no one can come to the Father save by Him; and he that seeth Me seeth my Father! John 14:6
In other words, the humanity veils the divinity only for those who, like the apostles before the Ascension, are timid in faith. For those, on the contrary, who believe firmly in the divinity and have already reached higher stages of prayer, following the example of the Blessed Virgin, the sacred humanity brings a help to that faith.
The Word became incarnate in order to save us and to also put Himself within our reach, to adapt His teaching to the duality of our nature which is made up of body and spirit. Jesus dwelt among us, embodied in this nature.
 
 
St. Teresa states: “We are not angels and we have bodies. To want to become angels while we are still on earth.. is ridiculous. As a rule, our thought must have something to lean upon, though sometimes the soul may go out from itself and very often may be so full of God that it will need no created thing to assist it in recollection. But this is not very usual when we are busy, or suffering persecutions or trials, when we cannot get as much quiet as we should like, and at seasons of aridity, we have a very good friend in Christ.” Way of Perfection p. 140
We can only progress in prayer by using the mediation of Christ. This mediation is more especially necessary after the contemplative graces of the fourth Mansions. If the soul does not then go back to Christ, it will not find liberty of spirit and will make no progress.
“I believe myself that this is the reason why many souls, after succeeding in experiencing the Prayer of Union, do not make further progress and achieve a very great spiritual freedom.” Life, Ch. 22 p. 138
The error they make, we can guess, is to abandon Jesus Christ and they will certainly not go higher.
“At any rate, I can assure them that they will not enter these last two mansions; for if they lose their Guide, the good Jesus, they will be unable to find their way; they will do well if they are able to remain securely in the other Mansions.” Mansion VI, p. 305
Fr. Marie Eugene points out the practices of little St. Therese. She liked to meditate on the Infant Jesus in the crib, or being carried up to Heaven in the arms of Jesus. Also, she would meditate on the holy wounds of the Holy Face of Jesus. This was the “elevator” that lifted her soul quickly to the summit of the mountain as she had hoped and longed for.
THEOLOGICAL JUSTIFICATION
Fr. Marie Eugene points out that in the early paradise, our first parents, endowed as they were with the supernatural gift of grace, talked familiarly with God and attained to Him without an intermediary. Their sin separated them from God and left between divinity and humanity an impassable abyss.
God then put into effect a new plan to replace the one that sin rendered ineffectual. In this new plan, the Incarnate Word is the universal and unique Mediator. God, Who had created everything by His Word, decrees that all will be restored by the Word Incarnate.  According to the word of Scripture, He has been made “a Priest forever according to the order of Melchisedech”. Heb. 7:17
During the course of His public life, our Lord revealed and explained progressively His mediation: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”John 14:6  By Him alone the divine light and grace can descend here below; by Him alone we have access to the throne of the Father of light and mercy.
Most beautifully, Fr. Marie Eugene explains that His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity can be found in the Eucharist. “I am the bread of life…He who eats My flesh and drinks My Blood has life everlasting. Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood you shall not have life in you.” John 6:48-55  The words are clear: one can have life ONLY by communion with Jesus Christ. He states that the other sacraments themselves have efficacy only by their relation to the Holy Eucharist; such as Baptism, which has efficacy only by the vow of the baptized to receive the Eucharist. --- Holy Communion transforms. Jesus comes as a conquerer to transform us into His light and His charity. “I am the vine, you are the branches… If anyone does not abide in me, he shall be cast outside as the branch and wither; and they shall gather them up and cast them into the fire…without Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5-6
All our supernatural life is linked to our union with Jesus Christ. Separated from Him, we are nothing. This unity is the reason for the Incarnation and the Redemption – it is vital for our souls and for the Church. The Church is Christ diffused in His members. By this holy humanity of Christ, the Word lays hold on and draws after Him all men who let themselves be taken captive by His grace.
The whole Christ extended and complete is placed, by His unity with the Word, under the eternally fruitful paternity of the Father of light and mercy; and with Him breathes forth the Love that is the Holy Spirit Who, as Spirit of the Father and the Son, becomes in consequence the Spirit of the Church and ours.
Such is the plan of God that envelops us, and the design that He wants to realize in us and by us. We shall belong to Christ Jesus or we shall not have supernatural life.
Fr. Marie Eugene ends the chapter by describing that St. Teresa leads us in the Interior Castle by way of Jesus. The first three mansions are fixed untiringly on the good Jesus. The fourth and fifth mansions manifest the Wisdom of the Word. The sixth mansion shares in the sorrowful mysteries of Christ while waiting until it participates in the triumph of His Life in the transforming union of the seventh mansion.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, pray for us!

MENTAL PRAYER
The foundation of the spiritual life is the twofold knowledge: to know God and to know oneself in the light of God. This is what assures our true success in the progress of perfection. In the Interior Castle, St. Teresa says that the door of entry into the castle of our soul is prayer and meditation.

1. Role of Prayer in Teresian Spirituality

“The door of entry into this castle is prayer.” This is based upon the Carmelite Rule of Saint Albert which is to live in imitation of Mary – meditating upon the law of the Lord, night and day. Those who lived as hermits on the holy mountain of Carmel in the spirit of the prophet Elias had a battle cry: “The Lord is living in whose sight I stand.” The presence of God is the haven to which the soul must return whenever its several tasks are done. St. Teresa is quoted, “All of us who wear this sacred habit of Carmel are called to prayer and contemplation – because that was the first principle of our Order and because we are descended from the line of those holy Fathers of ours from Mt. Carmel who sought this treasure, this precious pearl of which we speak, in such great solitude and with such contempt for the world.”
 
In solitary silence, we are called to habituate ourselves to live constantly in the company of the good Master who has called us.
 
St Teresa stresses that it is the mission of Carmelites to pray for the Church, to maintain within it a high level of prayer, and to teach other souls the ways of prayer. So for Carmelites, prayer is not only the means of perfection, an exercise of the spiritual life; it is the essential occupation that must fill the day. She advanced as long as she was faithful to prayer, and the periods of least fervor were marked by a relaxation in that exercise.
 
Since all Christians are called to this union with God in prayer, St. Teresa addresses all Christians when stating that mental prayer is as necessary as vocal prayer from which it cannot be separated. Mental prayer is identified with every vital movement of grace in our soul. This grace is filial and should always lead us to God.
 
She warns in her book, Interior Castle – Mansion 1, that souls can be so infirm and so accustomed to busying themselves with outside affairs that nothing can be done for them, and it seems as though they are incapable of entering within themselves at all. Therefore, it is necessary as laymen to set aside time for God – as a necessity like eating. Prayer fortifies convictions and sustains generous resolutions to work and to suffer for our salvation and others.  Prayer transforms the soul into the very image of God. This way of prayer is not a way of perfection exclusively for Carmelites but for all souls seeking God in contemplative prayer.
 

1. What is Mental prayer

St Teresa says that mental prayer is nothing more than conversing with Him Who we know loves us – God is Love, He created us out of love. He redeemed us out of love, and has destined us to a very close union with Him. Thus mental prayer supposes supernatural love hence sanctifying grace. In order to meet with this Love that is God, we have sanctifying grace, of the same nature as God, and consequently love like Him. God-Love which is always active, calls and awaits our response. Mental prayer becomes thus an exchange of friendship between the living being such as we are and the living God who dwells in us.
Mental prayer is differentiated by the different modes of the divine action in each soul, in the variety of diversities of temperaments, the differences of age and development and in the actual dispositions of the souls who are praying.
Contact with God is established in the depths of the soul in those regions where God dwells and where supernatural love is poured out in us. In the measure that this love is strong and active, the friendly exchanged with Him will be frequent and intimate.
Mental prayer is also a personal prayer. Even in the form of public prayer, or when it is the prayer of a group in unison, it remains a solitary converse with God in each individual soul because of the soul’s intimate contact with Him.
Fr. Marie-Eugene stresses that the friendly union with God in prayer and the affectionate relations with a human friend are both inspired by love but the two loves are not in the same order. The first is supernatural and the second is natural. It is then thanks to the certitude of faith, yet through the obscurity that it leaves that we can have this friendship with God who, according to St. Teresa. “we know loves us.” That God loves us is certain; that we have contact with Him by faith is a certain truth; but supernatural penetration in God can be effected without leaving us any light, any feeling, any experience whatever of the riches that we have drawn from it. He uses the passage in the Bible about the woman who by faith reaches for the hem of the garment of Jesus knowing that she will be healed if she just touches Him. We too, with faith should be confident that when we reach out in prayer to God – He will give us His riches within our souls which we cannot see or touch. Every contact with God by faith is always efficacious!
He ends this section with a quote from St. Therese:
            “With me prayer is an uplifting of the heart; a glance towards heaven; a cry of gratitude and love, uttered equally in sorrow and in joy. In a word, it is something noble, supernatural, which expands my soul and unites it to God. Sometimes when I am in such a state of spiritual dryness that not a single good thought occurs to me, I say very slowly the “Our Father” or the “Hail Mary”, and these prayers suffice to take me out of myself, and wonderfully refresh me.”
 

1. Degrees of Prayer

 
Mental prayer which, for Saint Teresa, is the essential exercise of the spiritual life, must normally develop with it until it reaches perfection. In the book of her Life she gave a well known classification of the degrees of prayer, illustrated by the gracious comparison of the four ways of watering a garden.
 

1. Beginners in prayer are those who draw up the water out of the well which is a very laborious proceeding. They are susceptible to fatigue in their meditations. Life,xi, 66
2. By using a device of windlass and buckets the gardener draws more water with less labor and is able to take some rest instead of being continually at work. She describes the Prayer of Quiet with this degree. This state is a recollecting of the faculties within the soul so that its fruition of that contentment may be of greater delight. The faculties are not lost or asleep. The will alone is occupied, in such a way that without knowing how, it becomes captive. It allows itself to be imprisoned by God as one who well knows itself to be the captive of Him Whom it loves. Life xiv, 83
3. This third way is going to running water proceeding from a river or a spring. The Lord is now pleased to help the gardener, so that He may almost be said to be the gardener Himself, for it is He Who does everything. This state is a sleep of the faculties, which are neither wholly lost nor yet can understand how they work. Life, xvi, 96
4. This water falls from Heaven, the soul feels itself in the midst of the most profound and sweet delights, in an almost complete swoon. This water produces at times complete union, or even a flight of the spirit in which “the Lord gathers up the soul… and raises it up till it is right out of itself.” Life, xx; 119

Fr. Marie Eugene concludes with the fact that St. Teresa wrote of these degrees of prayer before she wrote the Interior Castle and before she had reached Spiritual Marriage which is when her will is united to God’s.
He states that the first three mansions in the Interior Castle cover information about the first degree. The second degree (Prayer of Quiet) and the third degree (sleep of the powers) are in the fourth mansion. The fourth degree are covered at great length in the fifth through seventh mansions.
Prayer grows in its perfection by its degree of love. Prayer then will be perfect when the soul is transformed in love and has all of its energies strong and supple, altogether attuned to the delicate touches of the Spirit of God.