Have you ever been in a castle? We visited one many years ago and I remember thinking my house isn’t even as large as their servant’s quarters here. 😊 It was majestic and super large with so many rooms. I must share with you a book that I am reading called The Interior Castle by St. Teresa of Avila. The castle that we visited wouldn’t even be large enough for the servant’s quarters in her description of the Interior Castle.
You may know that she is considered a Doctor of the Church because of her interaction with Jesus and the ecstasies she experienced. Her writings gave us incredible insights that help us find and develop a deeper relationship with God. This incredible book gives us images that will feed your spiritual fire and curiosity.
I wish to give you some of my tidbits or takeaways from her book which will not do it justice but an ever so slight sense of it. She will capture you with her images of the Interior Castle which will surprise you as it has me, as well as the meanings she wishes to communicate to us for our good.
There are many mansions, rooms, and treasures in the Interior Castle beyond the ability of fully putting into print. There are many ways to enter as well. The gateway is prayer. But this prayer is not just the rote prayer we may quickly say in our busy times. Rather it is our prayer that is fully contemplating every word, who it is that we are praying to and what we are praying. She says that occasional praying is like entering the Castle through the basement. When we fix our eyes on Christ and the Saints we find true humility, the proper disposition in our prayer.
Goodness comes from the waters of grace, only from God. There is great importance in persevering and having endurance in prayer. The devil will attack all the more but souls that practice prayer consistently receive grace in avoiding the vipers and perils. God is patient when he sees perseverance in our praying.
The devil works to distract us in sins of pride where we focus on ourselves. We are distracted with the delusion of overrating worldly things, treasures, desires and contemplating on how others live so much better than ourselves. We have concerns about how we look to others, how we sound, how we act. We have concerns on our personal failures and fears, and the force of worldly habits and the work of the devil seek to derail us. We have what God calls a warped self-knowledge. Reason knows that in being outside the Castle there is no Spiritual Value.
The Interior Castle takes us on a journey of discovery that proves to change our lives. The first room helps us learn of true self-knowledge and then sets us onto other mansions.
Ahh! But the third Mansion and then...! Experiencing the mastery over the worldly… His Peace! This is only the beginning.
Can we hardly wait for the conclusion of her book?
You can find The Interior Castle in print and in audio. I hope you will take advantage of it and share it with others.
Let us all Shine Like the Son! God bless you.
