134: St Teresa of Avila 13/16: Fraternal Charity

Even if the position of fraternal love is not prominent on the list of theological graces, St Teresa places if first in her book. (see Way of Perfection chapters 4-7 and Interior Castle V,3). It forms, together with the two other virtues she highlights - detachment and humility - the indispensable trio that ensures a solid foundation for a fruitful prayer life. As she does for the two other virtues, St Teresa presents not not only a spiritual way of practising them, but a heroic way to do so. Hence her style of presentation is more radical, aimed at promoting perfection, as the title of the book illustrates: 'Way of Perfection'. By comparison with many other authors, Teresa delves more deeply into our minds and hearts, in order to dispose us to progress spiritually to the best of our ability, with the ultimate aim of reaching union with Jesus.

This process, to say the least, hardly leaves us unscathed! With spiritual finesse, the Saint unmasks what is deep within the soul yet barely discernible to the the average spiritual person! Holiness she reveals is not the for the faint-hearted! Strong courage, a fighter's spirit and powerful determination are some of the characteristics Teresa invites her reader to embody, not to mention aiming for and achieving the highest thoughts and ideals (see Way of Perfection, chapter 23).

- Resolve, sisters, that it is to die for Christ, and not to practise self-indulgence for Christ, that you have come here. (Way of Perfection, chapter 10)

- [...] commit yourselves wholly to God, come what may. What does it matter if we die? (Way of Perfection, chapter 11)

- Now, daughters, you have looked at the great enterprise which we are trying to carry out. What kind of persons shall we have to be if we are not to be considered over-bold in the eyes of God and of the world? It is clear that we need to labour hard and it will be a great help to us if we have sublime thoughts so that we may strive to make our actions sublime also. (Way of Perfection, chapter 4).

In sum Teresa advises that our overriding characteristic should be the courage to face our inner truth and then to be true to it.

Here a closer examination of her approach and an example to reinforce our findings would greatly enhance our understanding of Teresa.

It cannot be more vigorously emphasized that to exercise fraternal love is fundamental in Spiritual Life! God gave us two commandments - the first encompassing an all-embracing love of God (Matthew 22:37-39) - on which everything, the Law and the Prophets, hinges (Matthew 22:40). The second commandment is said to be 'similar' to the first: your shall love your neighbour as yourself (Matthew 22:39). One can assume, then, that it is absolutely normal for the second commandment to be prominent in the journey towards sanctification. As mentioned in a previous chapter, Christ cannot be cut into two parts, where we express interest in the Head of the Body, namely, Jesus of Nazareth, while we neglect his Mystical Body, namely, our brothers and sisters. Christ cannot be loved on the one hand, when, on the other hand, we reject Him and sadden Him by wronging a brother. The love of Christ, received and treasured during the Prayer of the Heart, must imbue our actions afterwards and become progressively refined during daily intercourse with our brothers. Incontrovertibly, love of our neighbour is part of the three indispensable virtues that summarise the Gospel and which elevate and purify us, in order to receive Christ more worthily within our hearts.

St Teresa's way of presenting the three virtues, consequently, becomes more elevated and gains in unusual intensity. Her aim now becomes to uplift us toward a purer practice in prayer embedded in greater spiritual awareness. Why would she do so? The reason becomes evident when we show determination in following Christ, for relatively soon we begin to feel his invitation to love, help and serve our brothers as He reveals himself to us in them. However, at this stage we lack sufficient self-awareness, being as yet at the beginning of the journey, and our way of loving is still very weak, feeble and quite imperfect! One could say with St Paul that the old man (Romans 6:6; Ephesians 2:15; 4:22-24; Colossians 3:9-11) in us is still alive and well and playing his usual tricks misleading us, thereby influencing our way of exercising the new virtue of Love. The capacity of the old man's influence is very limited and limits our way of loving.

The main purpose of Teresa's Way of Perfection is to speak about supernatural 'contemplation'. She issues a clear warning to the reader, namely, that God can be approached in two ways: one is through the means of the old man, and the other is to through the new man's ones. The beginning of our spiritual journey revealingly concerns this inability to love perfectly, and St.Teresa tries her utmost to highlight the impact of the old man on the practice of the virtues! She strongly advises against practising these willy nilly, in the hope of being successful. Rather she urges the reader to exceed their known limits, in order to awaken in the individual a fully functional new man. In this way Teresa stresses and only in this way, can the acts of love be purer and please Jesus-God who wants to give Himself to us.

A brief interjection regarding St. Paul would be useful here. Even if St Teresa does not directly use St Paul's expression 'new man' and 'old man', the real difference between imperfect spiritual love and perfect/pure spiritual love is found in the differing modalities and their effects in the human being of the 'old' and 'new' man. It is to St John of the Cross that we owe the full explanation of this difference. He makes a shrewd analysis of the seven mortal sins transposed onto the equivalent seven spiritual sins, encouraging us to discover that it is not enough to love God, but that, even more so, it is necessary to evaluate how we love Him: hence the expression 'imperfections of the beginner'. (See Dark Night Book 1, Chapters 1-7)

St Teresa invites us to love in an oblative detached manner and to do so likewise with everyone else, for the sake of the Lord. This new and radical way of loving our neighbour seduces God and powerfully increases his action in us during the Prayer of the Heart. It is breathtaking to realise that the more we do what is pleasing to God, the more He loves us, evoking in Him nothing less than an irresistible desire to give himself to us – like a magnetic force, God cannot resist being attracted to us! St John of the Cross confirms in the following extract, that we can almost impel God to love us more when we practise fraternal love:

God does not establish His grace and love in the soul but in proportion to the good will of that soul’s love. He, therefore, that truly loves God must strive that his love fail not; for so, if we may thus speak, will he move God to show him greater love, and to take greater delight in his soul. In order to attain to such a degree of love, he must practice those things of which the Apostle speaks, saying: “Charity is patient, is benign: charity envies not, deals not perversely; is not puffed up, is not ambitious, seeks not her own, is not provoked to anger, thinks not evil, rejoices not upon iniquity, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (Spiritual Canticle A 10,11 and B, 13,17)

The Lord himself underlines this strategic element of spiritual life: If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him (John 14:23; 21). It is like a new wave of love that originates in God, and ends in us! This might seem astonishing, but this is one of the most important secrets of the Saints. We know that God loves us, that God is Love, but here we see it is something concrete, palpable, it is really received, poured into us! The love of God for us is the starting point of the Prayer of the Heart: a new love that God has toward us!

One can say that the entire book of the Way of Perfection is the illustration of this verse of St John: If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make Our home with him. This Teresa skilfully depicts in in the following manner:

The first part of the book shows our need to learn how to keep Jesus' word by practising in as perfect a way as possible and by the grace of God, the three virtues that please God most. The effect following on from this, initiates the start of the Prayer of the Heart: My Father will love him. Finally, pure contemplation can occur in the Prayer of the Heart when as a result: we will come to him and make Our home with him. Indeed, in its complete form, this verse shows us the link between the practice of the evangelical virtues and the new transformed love given to us during the Prayer of the Heart. To receive a new transformed love from the Father and the Son, and to receive this coming of the Father and the Son into us - does this not embody the Prayer of the Heart? Here it is patently obvious that there is a deep and intimate link between the virtues practised during our daily activities and the Prayer of the Heart.

Let us take an example in order to illustrate the difference between the two loves, the imperfect one and the perfect one. Accordingly, even if love is an act of the will, when we love our emotions are directly involved. Initially, however, they are not yet purified, transformed and totally moved by God. As a consequence, without our being aware of it, we make preferences in our way of loving: we do not love as God loves. God loves because He is Love: He comes out of himself, He gives himself to us without making any distinction between the good and the bad. He gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike”(Matthew 5:45). God does not find the motivation or the reason to love us within us, but within himself. By contrast, we human beings merely at the beginning of our journey, fail to act with such perfection, for to love in this way does not come easily to us. If, for example, in the workplace or in a religious community there are ten colleagues or brothers: we often find that with one or two we, quite spontaneously, have things in common, or whose company we really enjoy and desire to frequent more, all quite spontaneously, with another one or two, we find that we are not inclined to enjoy their presence, and our attitude towards the rest could is average normality. These three different reactions are spontaneous, natural, normal to have and not blameworthy by any means.These inclinations can in no way be considered sinful. But, if we surrender to this natural reaction and if our action is influenced by it, as a consequence the tendency to spend increasing time with the persons with whom we are in accord will result, so that we might neglect or even avoid the ones with whom we have no affinity or even dislike. Can this be to love as God loves? Ironically our way of loving leads to our being caught in the trap of our own superficial making. While it is evident that we all agree that we should love our neighbour, we deceive ourselves and do not necessarily acknowledge that our act of love is stained by a great weakness. It is therefore good to encourage detachment, especially of our instinctive preferences, to concentrate on overcoming our defects by the grace of God and to deliberately choose to love this or that person whom we actively dislike, by finding even more profound reasons to do so: to love because this individual has been created, loved and saved by God, because he or she deserves to be loved as God loves....

The Growth of Love

Of necessity, now, some questions arise: what is the relationship between the love of neighbour and the curve of our spiritual growth? Does love grow? Does love have a limit?

The love that binds us to God and the love that binds us to our neighbour is the same love - it is nothing less than the Holy Spirit! The closer we grow towards God, the more closely are we united to Him, and the more our love toward our neighbour is deepened, purified and enlarged, to embrace, finally, the whole world. Our spiritual life reflects this in an enhanced growth, where an acute awareness of our poverty, our weakness and the miserable state or our soul becomes increasingly manifest, but where, simultaneously, our appreciation of the infinite mercy of God becomes daily more apparent. As a consequence, there is a rising tide of Mercy and Compassion in our heart, this becoming instinctively translated into prayer.

For the human being who has reached, as it is termed, this Union with Christ (Spiritual Marriage, Seventh Mansions of the Interior Castle), St Teresa repeatedly underlines the fact that it is a great act of mercy to remember in our prayers all those who are enslaved in grave or mortal sin, those who are in the First Mansions of the Castle. The action of the Holy Spirit within us now reveals itself in an enlarged capacity to gather our brothers and sisters into our hearts.

As one can see, during the Prayer of the Heart God purifies our love for our neighbour, elevates it, transforms it, and in tandem, our daily life offers us opportunities to love our neighbour as God desires. In consequence our capacity for love is enlarged, attracts God into our heart and draws Him with irresistible force to give himself increasingly to us!

Believe me, sisters, the soldiers of Christ - namely, those who experience contemplation and practise prayer - are always ready for the hour of conflict. They are never very much afraid of their open enemies, for they know who they are and are sure that their strength can never prevail against the strength which they themselves have been given by the Lord: they will always be victorious and gain great riches, so they will never turn their backs on the battle. (Way of Perfection, chapter 38)

A brief comparison with this and a comment made by St. Therese of Lisieux endorses this complementary action of love. This Saint remarked, that from her youth, she was very impressed by a passage of St John of the Cross where he says that exercising love is of utmost importance hastening our journey to the fullness of Love and Transformation in Jesus:

With what longing and what consolation I repeated from the beginning of my religious life these other words of St. John of the Cross: 'It is of the highest importance that the soul practice love very much in order that, being consumed rapidly, she may be scarcely retained here on earth but promptly reach the vision of her God face to face.' (Yellow Notebook, 27.7.5)

In fact a reading of Manuscript C of the Story of the Soul would greatly benefit the aspiring practitioner of the Prayer of the Heart, as it includes different examples and advice offered by Therese on the love of our neighbour.

133: Teresa of Avila 12/16: Detachment

As we have seen in a former chapter, in her book of formation, Way of Perfection, St Teresa considers that there are three essential virtues that are the foundation of the Prayer of the Heart: humility, love of one another and detachment. The Saint invites us to practise them in a 'heroic' way in order to trigger the flow of the Grace of God and to have a deeper prayer life. The reason for giving prominence to these three virtues, over many other virtues, is to be found in the Gospel. If we examine them more closely, we will find that all these virtues are intimately connected to the human being and most especially to the Evangelical Counsels. The human being we know has a spirit, a soul (heart, emotions) and a body (senses), but significantly these, simultaneously, mirror the identical rule of life summed up in the the Evangelical Counsels, later to absorbed in the vows of Religious. Thus 'obedience' requires 'humility' of the spirit, 'chastity' teaches us to have a pure 'heart', transformed emotions are required in order to love one's neighbour, as does a 'poverty' that 'detaches' us from all material goods and makes us free for the service of the Kingdom.

Just as it is impossible to separate 'spiritual life', or 'interior life', from the rest of our anthropological structure and our daily life, so too is it impossible to separate 'the prayer of the heart' from a 'prayer life'. This would indicate that there should not be any dichotomy between the time dedicated to prayer (and how it is spent) and the rest of the day! A deep bond exists between the two that cannot be dissolved. An apt example is that of the relationship of the artesian wells: all communicate with each other, support each other, but if this does not occur the very existence of each may be jeopardised. Juxtapose this relationship onto a person's daily life, if Christ figures only vaguely in daily life, the impact on the time dedicated to prayer will be felt in no uncertain terms.

The meeting with Christ the Head comes about during prayer, while an encounter with Christ 's Mystical Body occurs during daily life. But Christ's head and Christ's body are one and indivisible. Therefore Christ, whole and entire, Head and Body, is present to us during prayer. The disassociation of the two parts of his being is impossible, especially pertinent where we refer to 'his body' when his mystical body takes on concrete form in our brothers and sisters. Through this mystical body, the entire Christ remains undeniably present to us as well during the day, outside of moments of prayer! Given this fact it would be illogical to embrace one part of Christ – the Head – and ignore the other. A 'schizophrenic life', is not an option or even worse, if the reader permits the expression, it is impossible to 'behead' Christ. St Teresa is absolutely adamant about preserving the unity of our life. Ironically, however, there are some who desire Christ, but do not desire to be involved with the rest of his Body: the brethren, the Community, the Church – a ludicrous assumption in trying to separate the inseparable!

Detachment

It cannot be denied that our heart can effortlessly become attached to material good of every kind. Even health is a material good. This in turn engenders having recourse to considering purely human means to fulfil our aspirations. What fails to enter this thought process is that when God calls, when Jesus calls, it is not possible to delay our response! It is imperative there be no delay because of the nature of the caller! Almighty God is the one who is calling, and He deserves an immediate and complete response.

In the Way of Perfection, St Teresa shows us how, when God's call is answered, it should be done with vigilance with regard to 'detachment' from material goods. Too easily does our weak human heart seeks support, help, consolation, human means, in the hope that with these means there will be a decided improvement! This is mere temptation says St Teresa of Avila. She is as radical as Christ in the Gospel (see Matthew 6:16 onward). A plethora of questions arise from this radical view: Where is our Faith in God's Providence? Are we really being called by our faith? Is He not God? Is He incapable of providing us with all that is necessary for us? Why the change of role?

In the Gospel, to aid our journey towards detachment, Christ invites us not to invert values and to keep our hearts pure, detached from material goods: seek first the kingdom of God... namely, if a person possesses goods, let him live in a detached way as if he had none:

But this I say, brethren, the time has been shortened, so that from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none; and those who weep, as though they did not weep; and those who rejoice, as though they did not rejoice; and those who buy, as though they did not possess; and those who use the world, as though they did not make full use of it; for the form of this world is passing away. But I want you to be free from concern. (1 Corinthians 7:29-32)!

St Paul says it indeed, he who learned to live in abundance and in poverty: I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. (Philippians 4:12)

The Lord even before St. Paul said: seek first the Kingdom of God and its justice and all the rest (to which we easily become materially attached) will be given to you, in addition (Mt 6:33). He never states: first do this and then do that! He says: do this and only this, will all your energy, with all your heart! The tone is decidedly radical and has a quality and a purity that are vital components for our hearts as we go about our daily lives! What is at stake is our faith in God's Call, in the God who calls, and therefore in the Providence of the one who is Father, in his real presence, action and intervention in the world, in our life - the fact that He by himself takes care of even a single hair that falls from our head:

Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 'Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.' (Matthew 10:28-31).

The overriding advantage of Christ's statement is to show that once we are freed from 'what pagans seek', as the Gospel says (Matthew 6:32)), we abandon all to God, and to God only! This most assuredly comprises the essence of the First Commandment and its radical requirement as proclaimed by Jesus: you shall love, that is, you will give yourself to your God with all your heart, all your energy, all your thoughts. The first commandment comes first, indicating that it asks us to give everything! Thereafter, nothing is left in us, except God. That detachment is included in the First Commandment can emphatically be deduced from this, for if we give 'all' the energy of our heart, it would be impossible to dedicate time and effort to any attachment whatsoever! However, this might appear 'too radical' to some! But this begs the question as to our heart and in whose image and likeness it is made. Is it made in the image of material goods or in the image of God himself? Who is normally the only person who should dwell in our heart? God! Added weight is given to this for it is not only St Teresa who states this, but it is also to be found in the Holy Scriptures. In addition, we know that detachment is fully represented in the Gospel – with the two other virtues – in order to keep our heart free to love, free to give itself totally and solely to God.

God does not desire other gods (idols) in our heart!

It is true that if a little attention is paid to St Teresa's life an awareness rapidly grows that she is a true 'entrepreneur'. In truth she dealt with many earthly concerns - not that she was attracted to them, but because it was part of her mission as a founder. It is really striking to witness the the spirited way she interacted with the world! She founded many monasteries, and in order to do so she counted on the Providence of God. She even requested her nuns remain poor and that they count only on God's Providence. She required that they engage in some form of work, and to do so in an intelligent way in order ensure their products would attract buyers and so provide for their needs! The combination of all these elements in her, it must be noted however, is precise, well proportioned, and all this from Above! This purity she alludes to remains her constant guide, and she never accepts diluting it, changing it or diminishing it! This purity is but another face of detachment.

Another facet of her thinking must now be examined, for Teresa's sole concern was to serve the Lord in the best possible way. What did “best way” mean for St Teresa? It would be opportune here to return briefly to her second conversion at thirty-nine years of age and to the powerful spiritual life that blossomed in her from that moment onwards! Two profound lessons can be learned from this conversion and they are intertwined: she learned first of all that if she offered herself totally to God, then He would in turn offer himself to her totally and, moreover, that the abundant graces which would then ensue would be significant testimony to this! The fundamental lesson bears repetition here: God cannot be deceived in any way whatsoever! Expressed differently it stresses that one cannot offer oneself half-heartedly. We remain free undeniably, and He will never force us to give ourselves to Him, but, when doing so we must not dupe God! Another factor is also at play here, for it is God who desires to offer himself, totally and without reservation – one simply has to gaze at Him as He hangs on the Cross.... The profound lesson Teresa finally grasped was that a true and sincere offering to God would result in an abundance of graces being received. Her life after this discovery is a living testimony of how to attain the goal of union with the Lord and the fulness of Charity.

Who is Jesus? He is the Lord! This is the question Teresa's wit replies to so readily: 'The Lord of all money and of all who possess money'. (Way of Perfection 2:2). These words reveal how profoundly her discovery has imbued her very being, for she has learned that she cannot go to Him relying on her own human thoughts and plans. Decidedly not! The means of her approach to God need to be as elevated as the Person with whom she is interacting. Thus, if Jesus wants a monastery, Teresa trusts He will be able to provide the necessary means, her part in this being only to be attentive to his way of doing things, and not to force Him to follow her designs - after all, she has realised He is the Lord not only of heaven, but of all the earth as well! The mission for Teresa and for her nuns, as well as for the life they have to lead entailed, ever more from now on, fidelity to Christ 'in spirit' down to the minutest material detail. In fact, when she founded the new monasteries she indicated to the tiniest detail how things should be done, in order, also, to teach observance of even the smallest detail.

The above-mentioned interaction if expressed as a spiritual formula in real terms would be as follows: if you take care of Him, He will take care of you! After all the nuns are the Brides of the King for a real and true reason. The Gospel is the first place where this concept is outlined and it is applicable to all! The challenge is simply to try it: seek first the Kingdom of God, that is, put all one's energy into searching for Christ, into the gift of oneself and into the reception of his graces. Seek first the kingdom of God, and its justice. The Carmelite nuns do work as everyone does, working being an obligation as the Scriptures say: whoever doesn't want to work shouldn't eat (2 Thessalonians 3:10). Simultaneously however, this work is totally submitted to the essential enterprise: “to serve God in a specific way”, “to be faithful to their vocation” - nothing less than to “seeking the Groom”. Obviously it is sensible to use common sense when doing this work and not produce goods that are useless and not saleable. Using sound judgment when planning an enterprise is is not merely the preserve of the few! However, more important is the fact that it is eminently obvious where the “absolute” lies for them – and it is not in the work! It is the Lord who should be always the first to be served.

St. Teresa, through her works, can urge us to sample her philosophy and this, in turn, will reveal the substance of the the Providence of God. In all fairness, however, this philosophy does not originate with Teresa, but rather with Christ, with the Gospel, the Apostles' way of life: many before her lived in the same way and many after her will be doing the same! 

“I repeat that this consists mainly or entirely in our ceasing to care about ourselves and our own pleasures, for the least that anyone who is beginning to serve the Lord truly can offer Him is his life. Once he has surrendered his will to Him, what has he to fear? It is evident that if he is a true religious and a real man of prayer and aspires to the enjoyment of Divine consolations, he must not [turn back or] shrink from desiring to die and suffer martyrdom for His sake. And do you not know, sisters, that the life of a good religious, who wishes to be among the closest friends of God, is one long martyrdom? I say "long", for, by comparison with decapitation, which is over very quickly, it may well be termed so, though life itself is short and some lives are short in the extreme. How do we know but that ours will be so short that it may end only one hour or one moment after the time of our resolving to render our entire service to God? This would be quite possible; and so we must not set store by anything that comes to an end, least of all by life, since not a day of it is secure. Who, if he thought that each hour might be his last, would not spend it in labour?” (Way of Perfection chapter 12)

It would now be fitting to conclude with a number of profound questions to ask ourselves: Where is my heart truly to be found? Into what do I put my energy? What (or Who) comes first in my life? Is there purity in the way I act? Am I detached from material goods? What is my “enterprise”? What do I seek? What do I value most in my life, the value that guides me in everything? Would not the search for answers entail a full and honest enactment of St. Teresa's way of perfection...?

80: What is holiness? #3

“Imagination” and “faculties”

In our journey toward holiness there are pitfalls and needs for discernment. In the following paragraph, saint Theresa of Avila mentions the difference between the “faculties” and the “imagination”. What does she mean by that? and how can learning this difference affect our understanding of real holiness?

“I like the way in which some souls, when they are at prayer, think that, for God's sake, they would be glad if they could be humbled and put to open shame - and then try to conceal quite a slight failure. Oh, and if they should be accused of anything that they have not done - ! God save us from having to listen to them then! Let anyone who cannot bear trials like that be very careful to pay no heed to the resolutions he may have made when he was alone. For they could not in fact have been resolutions made by the will (a genuine act of the will is quite another matter); they must have been due to some freak of the imagination. The devil makes good use of the imagination in practising his surprises and deceptions, and there are many such which he can practise on women, or on unlettered persons, because we do not understand the difference between the faculties and the imagination, and thousands of other things belonging to the interior life. Oh, sisters, how clearly it can be seen what love of your neighbour really means to some of you, and what an imperfect stage it has reached in others! If you understood the importance of this virtue to us all you would strive after nothing but gaining it.” (Interior Castle, V,III,10)

This passage is taken from saint Theresa’s book “The Interior Castle”, Fifth Mansions, chapter III, paragraph 10. This chapter is of great importance because it addresses the pitfalls of “illusion” and “spiritual pride” in spiritual life, and in our journey toward holiness. (see the whole chapter here)

In spiritual life, striving toward holiness, what is important to achieve for us is a good healthy will, i.e. a healthy virtue. “Virtue” is a “good habit”. A “habit” comes from the “repetition of good acts” (i.e. loving your neighbour). Having a Spiritual Life means that on a daily basis one practises - amongst other things - hours of “prayer of the heart”. If the Prayer of the heart is not accompanied by “lectio divina” (i.e. putting into practise with our will the will of God), we end up entering in deeper and deeper illusions: thinking that we are growing, thinking that by the fact of practising the “prayer of the heart” we are close to God, we are spiritually fine, we are saints.

“thinking that” means fooling myself, imagining something that doesn’t exist. One can lie to himself to the point of starting to believe his own lies. In order to do that one uses his imagination. Today, we easily consider imagination as a “faculty” of the soul.

The most important faculties of the soul, at least for Theresa of Avila are: Mind, Will and Memory. She is following an Augustinian division, as saint John of the Cross as well (while saint Thomas Aquinas will use only: Mind and Will). These are called “rational faculties”, i.e. the faculties of the rational soul (opposed to the animal soul), the higher part of the soul.

Listening to God in order to discover His Will for us, and putting, with our will, His Word and His Will into practise is a key issue in spiritual life. This is why I always stress on the fact that we have always to practise together “lectio divina” and “Prayer of the heart” (but obviously not in the same hour), they are the two legs we use in order to walk. As you can see, the mechanism of the Prayer of the heart is the Action of God in a supra-conscious area in us: the spirit. We can’t see the roots of our being (i.e. the spirit). They are real, but hidden like the roots of a tree. During the Prayer of the heart we are not supposed to see or to feel anything (“seeing” and “feeling” happen in the conscious part), because the Action of God is happening deep in us. And even if we feel or see something (in the conscious part), we don’t have to pay attention to it. We need to remain in the general attitude of love, having our heart/spirit immersed in Jesus. This means that our mind and our imagination are left alone, free, and potential victims of the illusions of the devil. Since we are practising the prayer of the heart, the Devil can try to convince us that we reached the heights of holiness. He can then divert our attention from Lectio divina (thus creating a weakness in our faculties: mind and will). So the time spent in “Prayer of the heart” can make us the pray of the Devil.

Obviously saint Theresa doesn’t use the expression “lectio divina”, but in the end of the day she gives us its real contents, the core of what is needed: we need to love our neighbour and if we don’t do so, we shouldn’t fool ourselves, thinking that we reached the goal of spiritual life. Saint John in his first letter gives us the same warning: how can you pretend to love God whom you don’t see (or feel) (Prayer of the heart) and not to love your neighbour that you see?! (see 1John..,..) There is a big difference between illusion (just the work of imagination) and a human mind and a human will that listen to the Will of God and put it into practise.

On top of that, and she says it in this beautiful chapter III: if we do love our neighbour, the love that God pours in us during the prayer of the heart will increase a lot. Saint John of the Cross will mention this Golden Rule as well in his Spiritual Canticle (See Spiritual Canticle, A, 12,11; Living Flame of Love, I,6,34).

In another place, she says: if you practise the prayer of the heart and don’t work on growing in virtues (activating the mind and the will, according to the Will of God) you’ll remain like dwarfs (spiritual dwarfs, i.e. very weak).

One of the tactics the Devil uses with spiritual persons is to convince them (to fool them) that they reached the Goal (union with God or so), and by doing that, they stop making their efforts of growth, real growth, especially in loving their neighbour – the result is going backward. Living in illusion is a very good tactic of the devil for more spiritual persons. This is why, from the first lines of the Fifth Mansions, saint Theresa of Avila mentions the spiritual illusion: “the Devil appearing like an Angel of light” (quote from saint Paul). Obviously the Devil changes his tactics and adapts them to the spiritual level of the person. He won’t tempt the spiritual person with something clearly evil. On the contrary, now that the person is determined to reach God, the Devil will tempt her with “the appearance of Good”. A fake “good thing”: he tries to convince the person that he/she is with God, that he/she reached Him… “yeyyyyy, now rest and enjoy”. He then won.

Theresa of Avila, as a real Master of Spiritual life, has to warn us about this temptation. And in order to discover it, one of the most important elements of discernment is to be able to distinguish between an act of will from anything else like: feelings, emotions, imagination… i.e. illusions. While an act of the will is real, free, voluntary, any feeling, emotion, imagination is more of a passive, receptive state that doesn’t necessarily involve any change in us, any use of our will.

Therefore, discernment and discipleship (through Spiritual Direction) are vital in certain stages. Seeking Advice/Discernment is an implicit act of proclamation of the Incarnation: God is present amongst us and wants/loves to speak to us through our Spiritual Director (but watch out, we need to choose the right one, because the “spiritual son” will be like the “spiritual father” says the Catechism, quoting saint John of the Cross. There is no magic here.). See Ascent of Mount Carmel book 2 chapter 22, second part.

Important remark: As we can see here, imagination (which is considered as a faculty), can be the easy pray of the Devil. Of course, what saint Theresa of Avila means by “imagination” could be explained as well as an act of the mind (producing thoughts) with no practical application (no implications for the will). Like the one who reads, reads and reads spiritual books and ends up by believing that he reached the state he is reading about. Reading can have a “hypnotic” effect on him (with the help of the Devil). But, but: there is a difference between this illusion and convincing ourselves, strengthening our desire and willingness to serve God, setting high goals, and motivating ourselves with great thoughts: in her writings, saint Theresa invites us on the contrary to motivate ourselves by setting high goals and widening the horizon of our mind. Something will come out of “many good desires”, while nothing will come out from not harbouring “high goals” and “good desires”. In fact, saint Theresa of Avila is very modern: nowadays we do hear a lot about the role of visualisation in order to achieve high, complicated goals/acts. You run it first in your mind: you visualise it. The brain (neurological paths) is then activated accordingly and creates new paths and, by repeating the visualisation, you strengthen these new paths and will be able to put what you visualised into practise. This is not “illusion” or ill imagination, or fooling ourselves. On the contrary, this is opening the way for the mind and will in order to achieve new directions given by God. Saint Theresa of Avila is not jeopardising imagination and creativity, on the contrary; she is warning us of a false “imagination” that doesn’t lead anywhere.

Here, “imagination” and “mind” are very close. You can almost repeat what saint Theresa said this way: “because we do not understand the difference between the mind and the will…” i.e. we don’t see that thinking about something is not yet doing it. Saint Paul says is bluntly: the good I want to achieve (what my mind sees and knows as “good”) my will doesn’t put it into practise! My will is still ill, not transformed into the will of God. Mind and will are divided.

In other words, it connects with what saint James says in his letter: faith is not enough! Believing is good, it opens us and connects us with God in order to receive His Holy Spirit. But a faith that doesn’t have real applications, that doesn’t spring in real practical acts, remains an illusion. In other words: you may have the Holy Spirit at the reach of your hands, but if you don’t put into practise His Will, then He remains at your door and never really enters. You are fooling yourself.

I hope this helps.

76: Questions on the Union with God

When shall we start to pay attention to “bearing fruits”?

1- Question: During the first lesson of the First level Course, you said that the fruits come after the Union with Jesus. "Union with" Jesus is like when a tree reaches maturity, so after that stage the tree is supposed to start to bear fruits. Or, union with Jesus is like marriage and after marriage one has children. My question is: while we are in the state of purification (in order to reach “Union with Jesus”) could she start paying attention to “bearing fruits”? The fear is that the fruit will not be really fruit, because the self who is giving that fruit is not pure yet... So shall we refrain from giving fruits, thinking that we are still in the purification phase?

1- Answer: It depends what you call “fruits”. If you mean by “fruits” the time “after union the union with Jesus” (Spiritual Marriage), then you are right: there is a difference between one act made after Union and all the acts made before. Saint John of the Cross says about that: “an act of pure love [i.e. made after purification] is more precious in the eyes of God and the soul, and more profitable to the Church, than all other good works together [made before], though it may seem as if nothing were done” (Spiritual Canticle B, Stanza 29, Introduction) because the act after union is “informed” (the form is given by) the Holy Spirit. Of course, saint John of the Cross’ statement is quite strong, and it should push us to do all what we can in order to grow. This is exactly what saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus did when she read that passage.

But, under another angle, “purification” is a sacred work and should be considered as a goal in itself (through it, we reach the union); it is of course an intermediate goal. The phase of purification can perfectly be considered as a “fruit”. Each step in the phase of purification is a “fruit”.

From day one, through Listening to the Daily Word of God, we are listening and putting into practise the Daily word received. The real fact of putting into practise this Word is in itself a Fruit, a fundamental fruit, a real change, a real step ahead, and this happens right from day one. And if we do not do it, there is no need to dream of any spiritual future. This is the condition sine quae non in order to reach the further different phases of purification and the later steps.

So maybe, it would be better to have one more understanding of the concept of  “fruit”. “Loving our neighbour” for instance doesn’t wait until we reach the union with Jesus – oh no!! But, certainly, the quality of our love after union is way different/better. But, mind you, if we don’t start from day one to love our neighbour, we will never reach union. So there is an effort made in order to grow (ascending curve) and there is a more direct effort made in order to bear direct fruits. Each, in its own timing is vital, essential and non-negotiable.

What about sins and weaknesses?

Salvation

2- Question: Even after Salvation (Jesus work on the Cross), what about the sins and weaknesses in us that are forming obstacles to return to that real human being (the original likeness of God)? i.e. how can we understand the relationship between Salvation and actual sins?

2- Answer: The deep analysis of the spiritual journey shows us that there are real changes in the human being. Bad habits stop from existing, sins stop,… (I mean serious sins). When the Power of the Resurrection of Jesus enters in us, real change starts to happen. Otherwise, there is no growth, there is not transformation, there is no purification. The very definition of purification is brought to us from the understanding of a real change: an old “form” in us is taken away by the Holy Spirit, and a holier “form” is brought instead, replacing it. A real change happens, therefore sins and weaknesses (that are sins) do tend to disappear, starting from the lower ones (more materialistic).

Mind you, many Christians don’t believe in real change, they don’t believe that a real change can occur in them. We don’t change our nature, or our character and temperament, but sins do disappear. If the human being on earth doesn’t change, this wouldn’t be real Christianity; this wouldn’t be the message of the Gospel. Some Christians do believe that once Jesus covers us with His Blood that’s enough and this compensates for anything we do later; i.e. we remain as we are, roughly. This is a wrong understanding of the application of Salvation to us. All the Christian Masters of Spiritual Life do state clearly that the human being changes, and they describe the steps of this deep inner (and external) change.

Mind you: the inclination/tendency to sin is not a sin. Let me explain that: if I see a lovely chocolate pudding, yummy, I’ll feel a certain natural inclination/attraction toward it. This is not yet a sin! Baptism doesn’t remove that inclination to sin, it is left in us for the spiritual warfare that will generate real growth and change.

Same for the case of weaknesses that are not sins, or character/temperament. One must read the great saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus who revolutionised Spiritual Life and Spiritual Theology. (Even if we read correctly saint John of the Cross we will find the same teaching.) She introduced the possibility of having errors, faults (fautes) that are not sin, and that don’t sadden God. Making this difference is subtle but important.

More than that: spiritual growth (purification) doesn’t generate in us greater strength, but greater weakness. Jesus says in the Gospel: “blessed who is poor in spirit” and to saint Paul who was asking him to remove a “thorn” from his flesh, thinking that that would be “perfection”: I rejoice and work in your weakness – this means: you’ll remain weak, and therefore my Grace will work better in you, so you don’t lean on your new strength but on my Grace. This is a different take on Perfection. We should renew our understanding of “perfection”, “holiness”, the real goal we are seeking.

We are heading toward a spiritual growing discovery of our weakness, and a growing spiritual experience of the Mercy of God.

As you see: Many understandings, many elements of spiritual life, will be put upside-down, during our spiritual growth.

Are there sins after Union?

3- Question: After the Union with Jesus, is there still a sin in the phases after?

3- Answer: God is Freedom. Jesus is God. When a person reaches Union with Jesus, one doesn’t have less freedom, but more freedom. Certainly the person is transformed in God, in Jesus, but this doesn’t deprive the person from his/her freedom. Remember Adam: he was close to God, in the beginning, and he still sinned.

King Solomon's idolatry

When saint Theresa of Avila speaks about the union with Jesus she mentions the example of Salomon (who started well his spiritual life, but ended very badly, worshiping the gods of his foreign wives) just to show us that nobody is exempt from the possibility of sinning (God forbid of course).

During this lifetime we have a body, we have freedom, we can perform acts: therefore we can sin. This is why Jesus said that we need to persevere “till the end”, and that nothing is guaranteed. Of course nobody wants to sin, neither Jesus nor us. This is why as well we need the final perseverance and we need to remain in the Grace of God till the end and we ask it in the Hail Mary: “pray for us, …, in the hour of our death. Amen”

What is perfection?

4- Question: Can we picture the Union with God?

4- Answer: Jesus explains to us some aspects of the Union with God when He says: ””You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? 48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Mt 5:48)

What is perfection? According to Jesus words, perfection is to love both your friends and your enemies. Love is coming from an inner abundance, springing from our heart. The one who believes in Jesus opens himself to the Abundance of Spirit flowing out of God. Accepting Jesus’ Gift (the Holy Spirit) transforms our heart. The Holy Spirit puts Jesus in the centre of our heart. So we can say: “its not me who lives, but Jesus lives in me” (st Paul) and acts through me and with me.

Jesus has His Heart opened all the time, and springing of Holy Spirit, unconditionally, to everybody. For this reason one of the most common images used to translate this openness, unconditional abundance is the Sun. Jesus is our real Sun, giving his rays all the time.

The perfection of God is a perfection of Love. “Love is to give oneself.” This Perfection of God’s nature bears in it “abundance” and “unconditional” love. The very nature of God is to give, unconditionally. God loves because He is Love. He finds the reason to love in Himself (not in us). The power of love, this capacity to love, this springing unconditional abundance is what characterises the very nature of God, his holiness and his perfection.

We often tend to imagine perfection in an esthetical way, like a Greek statue, with no errors in its forms, proportions, beauty, expression, and numbers. While we are called to change our vision of God’s perfection and holiness.

This is essential, in order to be able to “imagine” or “picture” the perfection and holiness we are called to reach. “Union with God” is union with the One who is abundant, who loves unconditionally, and who finds in Himself an endless source of Love. He is the one who encompasses every being in the bosom of his Mercy. He is the “most low” (and not the “most high”), since His Being (Love), brings Him to the lowest parts of humanity (like the water of the rain that trickles down the high mountain).

Perfection won’t then be striving toward the strongest, the most powerful, the highest, etc. perfection according to the true God is: “going down”, humility, Love, Compassion, Mercy.

The greater in Mercy, is the one who is more united to God. The greater in patience, is the more united to God.

The greater in humility and understanding, and excusing his brothers and sisters is closer to God.

The one who receives in his heart everybody, unconditionally, is the one who has been transformed into God.

Perfection is not a competition to win the highest mountain climb. It is not either the most aesthetic movement in our acts. It is to have our heart full with the Love of God and love not with our own strength, but God’s.

Perfection is letting God transform our heart into His Heart, so we can be and act like Him.

The one who believes will have streams of Living Water (Holy Spirit) coming out of his bosom (John). Streams of Mercy, of Love, of Compassion to his brothers and sisters.