Entering the Castle

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One

Vision of the Interior Castle

St. Teresa of Avila, a Doctor of the Church on the Spiritual Life, was asked to write a book about the different stages of growing in spiritual perfection. The result was her masterpiece, The Interior Castle. The Castle is the Castle where God dwells, the indwelling Trinity, deep inside the soul. 

The New Testament repeatedly talks about the Christian soul as the dwelling place of Father, Son, and Spirit – and so spiritual perfection is like a journey into the soul, looking for the adorable Trinity. (See John 14:23; I Corinthians 6:19).

The path to God can be described as a path inward, going from a life lived in externals (outside the Castle) to a life going through different rooms, or mansions, trying to get to the heart of the Castle, where the Divine King lives.

The question is, then, how does one begin this journey? How do you get inside the castle, and how do you make progress once you’re inside?

Two

Prayer – The Door to the Castle

Many people, says St. Teresa, spend their lives utterly without God. They give no thought to Him, they live outside His Castle and never think of entering it.

“They are not interested in entering it, and have no idea what there is in that wonderful place, or who dwells in it, or even how many rooms it has” (Interior Castle, 1st, ch. 1).

These are the people who don’t pray. They never make any spiritual progress, because they never invest any time in doing so. Teresa says, “Souls without prayer are like people whose bodies or limbs are paralyzed” (Interior Castle, 1st, ch. 1). They simply don’t move. 

The implication is clear. If you actually want to get close to God, if you want to make any progress at all, you have to pray. “As far as I can understand, the door of entry into this castle is prayer and meditation.” (Interior Castle, 1st, ch. 1).

So do you pray at all? Are you committed to prayer? If so, then you have begun your journey. If not, then you haven’t even started.

Three

Moral progression – first mansion, second mansion, third mansion

Teresa goes on to describe the first three stages, or mansions, which beginners have to get through. And nearly everyone is in these three stages for a very long time.

In the first mansion, or first stage, “souls are very much absorbed in worldly affairs; but their desires are good; sometimes, though infrequently, they commend themselves to Our Lord; and they think about the state of their souls, though not very carefully. Full of a thousand preoccupations as they are, they pray only  few times a month, and as a rule they are thinking about their occupations…”

These souls don’t like to pray, they aren’t very attracted by the spiritual life, and they have a lot of sins, vices, and demonic influences – which Teresa calls “snakes” and “reptiles” that are still clinging to them. They aren’t very far in the Castle of holiness, and they don’t really fit in yet. Still, Teresa says, “They have done a good deal by entering at all.”

In the second stage or the second mansion, souls begin to become more self-aware. They start to realize that it is important to be holy, and virtuous. They start to realize how sinful and vicious they actually are, how dangerous their situation is, and they begin to be discouraged at how often they still sin and fail, even when they try not to.

Unfortunately, these souls have still not really made the decision to be all-in, to avoid all near-occasions of sin and give everything to the Lord (Interior Castle, 2nd, ch. 1).  

And so “they have a harder time,” because they know what they should do, but really aren’t doing it yet.

Finally, in the third stage of the beginners, the soul has finally gotten serious, “they are most desirous not to offend His Majesty; they avoid committing even venial sins; they love doing penance, they spend hours in recollection; they use their time well; they practice works of charity toward their neighbors; and they are very careful in their speech and dress and in the government of their household if they have one” (Interior Castle, 3rd, ch. 1). 

If the soul can get to this point, it will be ready when God offers a supernatural encounter with Himself. Then it can easily go from a beginner who is still largely unfamiliar with God, to someone who actually knows the Lord firsthand.

In fact, Teresa says, “When I began to avoid occasions for sin and to devote myself more to prayer, the Lord began to grant me favors” (Life, ch. 23).

And there’s no reason the same might not be true for any of us.

Four

Avoiding Near Occasions of Sin

All this time, the soul must be committed to prayer if it wants to make progress. But it also must, must, must be committed to avoiding the near occasion of sin.

Teresa emphasizes this over and over. She says, “In the beginning one starts to turn away from sin and its occasions and from bad companions…” and when souls are more advanced “they will not advertently commit a venial sin; mortal sins they fear like fire” (Way of Perfection, ch. 41).

Again, “There is one earnest warning which I must give those who find themselves in this state: namely, that they exert the very greatest care to keep themselves from occasions of offending God” (Interior Castle, 4th, ch. 3). 

In her Autobiography, she calls upon her readers with such urgency, “I implore them, above all, for the love of Our Lord and for the great love with which he is continually seeking to win us back to Him, to guard against the occasion of sin.” (ch. 8). 

This is crucial to spiritual progress, be willing to cut the activities and situations that make you sin right out of your life. If you do that, and if you keep praying, then God can do wondrous things for you and with you.

Five

The Earliest Stages are the Hardest

Nobody really thinks it’s easy to become a saint. Because it isn’t. But it might be some consolation to remember that just like plenty of other worthwhile occupations, it’s hardest at the beginning.

Teresa says, “It is in those early stages that the labor is the hardest, for it is they who labor and the Lord who gives the increase; whereas in the further stages of prayer the chief thing is joy” (Autobiography, ch. 11). 

The key is not to hold back. “If we did what we could by not clinging to anything here, and turned all our thoughts and conversations towards Heaven, I certainly believe that this blessing would be very quickly given to us, provided that we were to prepare ourselves thoroughly and quickly, as some saints have done.” (Autobiography, ch. 11). 

On the other hand, when “we do not manage wholly to give ourselves up, we never receive the whole of this treasure.” (Autobiography, ch. 11.

So we have to resolve, and really resolve, to give it our all no matter how discouraging so that we can progress towards God, and save other souls in the process. 

For, as Teresa says, “If a beginner tries hard, with God’s help, to gain the summit of perfection, I think he will never reach heaven alone, but will take many others with him” (Autobiography, ch. 11).

And that’s worth working hard for!