154Found. ch. iv. 8. 155St. Matt. xx. 16: ‘Multi enim sunt vocati, pauci vero electi.’ 156Maneant singuli in cellulis suis, vel juxta eas, die ac nocte in lege Domini meditantes et in orationibus vigilantes.’ (Carmelite Rule). 157St. Matt, xiii. 46. 158’The reason why there are so few contemplatives is that there are so few persons who wholly withdraw themselves from transitory and created things’ (Imitation, bk. iii. ch. xxxi. 1).
See also Way of Perf. ch. xvi. 5. Life, ch. xi. 2-4; xxii. 18, 19. 159Way of Perf. ch. xxv. 1. Life, ch. xvi. Rel. I. i; viii. 7. 160Life, ch. xvii. 2. 161According to St. Thomas, angels—whether good or bad—do not know the thoughts of man unless they become manifest by some exterior sign. S. Theol. I. q. lvii. art. 4. See also St. John of the Cross, Dark Night, bk. II, ch. xxiii. 2, 5. 162Mansion iv. ch. i, 5. 163Life, ch. viii. 15. 164Life, ch. xviii. 16. 165Life, ch. xx. 13, 24. 166Philippus a SS.
Trinitate, l.c., pars iii. tr. i. disc. iv. art, 2, where he adds some further signs. Anton. a Sp. S., l.c., tract. i. no. 116 and 117. 167’The soul does not see the good Master who teaches it, although clearly conscious of His presence.’ (Concept. ch. iv. 3.) 168 ’There are three ways in which God is present in the soul. The first is His presence in essence, not in holy souls only, but in wretched and sinful souls as well, and also in all created things; for it is by this presence that He gives life and being, and were it withdrawn at once all things would return to nothing.
This presence never fails in the soul. The second is His presence by grace, whereby He dwells in the soul, pleased and satisfied with it. This presence is not in all souls; for those who fall into mortal sin lose it, and no soul can know in a natural way whether it has it or not. The third is His presence by spiritual affection. God is wont to show His presence in many devout souls in divers ways, in refreshment, joy and gladness.’ (St. John of the Cross, Spiritual Canticle, stanza xi. 2.)
’In every soul, even that of the greatest sinner in the world, God dwells and is substantially present.
This way of union or presence of God, in the order of nature, subsists between Him and all His creatures; by this He preserves them in being, and if He withdraws it they immediately perish and cease to be. And so, when I speak of the union of the soul with God, I do not mean this substantial presence which is in every creature, but that union and transformation of the soul in God by love which is only then accomplished when there subsists the likeness which love begets.’ (St. John of the Cross, Ascent, bk. ii. ch. v. 3.)
Fr.
Gracian, Peregrinacion de Anastasio (Burgos, 1905), p. 171. 169Life, ch. xviii. 20. Rel. ix. 17; xi. 8. St. Teresa was so deeply impressed by the ignorance of this priest that she very frequently referred to it. 170Cant. i. 3: ‘Introduxit me rex in cellaria sua.’ Castle, M. v. ch. i. Way of Perf. ch. xviii. I. Concep. ch. iv. 4-8; v. 5; vi. 7; vii. 2-5. Life, ch. xviii. 17. 171Cant. iii. 2: ‘Per vicos et plateas quæram quem diligit anima mea.’ 172St.
John, xx. 19. 173Way of Perf. ch. xxv. 3. 174Col. iii. 3: ’Vita vestra est abscondita cum Christo in Deo.’ Gal. ii. w: ‘Vivo autem, jam on ego; vivit vero in me Christus.’ 175Way of Perf. ch. xxxi. i 1. 176St. Teresa must have been thinking of this simile when she chose ‘butterflies’ as the pseudonym for her nuns in her letters at the time when she was obliged to be cautious on account of the troubles of the Reform. 177Life, ch. xviii. 16. 178Life, ch. xviii. 5-7. 179Rel. ix, 11. 180Way of Perf. ch. xviii. 1-4.
Castle, M. vi ch. i. 3, sqq. M. vii. ch. iv. 7. 181Fifth Mansions, ch. i. 10. 182Cant. ii. 4. ‘Introduxit me in cellam vinariam, ordinavit in me caritatem.’ 183St. Luke xxii. 15: ‘Desiderio desideravi hoc pascha manducare vobiscum, antequam patiar.’ 184This friend is, of course, St. Teresa herself. See Life, ch. xiii. 14; xxxii. 9. Way of Perf. ch. i. 3. Castle, M. vii. ch. i. 5, 6. Excl. x. 9. 185Life, ch. vii. 18. Way of Perf. xli. 8. 186Life. ch, vii. 21. 187Found. ch. v. 10. ‘These shall not attain to the true liberty of a pure heart, nor to the grace of a delightful familiarity with Me, unless they first resign themselves and offer themselves a daily sacrifice to Me: for without this, divine union neither is nor will be obtained.’
(Imitation, book iii. ch. xxxvii. 4.) 188Philippus a SS. Trinitate, l.c., p. iii. tr. i, disc. ii. art. 4. 189St. John xi. 35, 36: ‘Et lacrymatus est Jesus. Dixerunt ergo Judæi: Ecce quomodo amabat cum.’ 190Fourth Mansions, ch. i. 5. Fifth Mansions, ch. i. 7. 191Way of Perf. ch. xvii. 2. 192Jonas iv. 6, 7: ‘And the Lord God prepared an ivy, and it came up over the head of Jonas, to be a shadow over his head, and to cover him, for he was fatigued; and Jonas was exceeding glad of the ivy.
But God prepared a worm, when the morning arose on the following day: and it struck the ivy and it withered.’ 193St. John xvii. 22, 23: ‘Ut sint unum, sicut et nos unum sumus. Ego in eis, et tu in me: ut sint consummati in unum.’ Way of Perf. ch. xxxii. 6. 194Way of Perf. ch. ix. i, 2. 1951 St. John iv. 20: ‘Qui enim non diligit fratrem suum quem videt, Deum quem non videt quomodo potest diligere?’ 196Way of Perf. ch. xviii. 5. 197Way of Perf. ch. vii. 4. 198Way of Perf. ch. iv. 3; vii. 4. 199Compare: ‘habebit fructum in respectione animarum sanctarum’ (Breviar.
Rom. Ant. ad Laudes de Com. Virg.); ‘quasi apis argumentosa Domino deservisti’ (Ibid. Feast of St. Cæcilia.) 200Life, ch. xviii. 201Way of Perf. ch. xxxi. 10. 202Phil. a SS. Trinit. l.c. p. iii. tract. i. disc. ii. art. 2. 203Contrast with this paragraph what the Saint says in her Life, ch. xix. § 8. 204Life, ch, xxxvi. 26; xxxix. 14. Found. ch. i. 1-4. 205Way of Perf. ch. i, 2; xiii. 3. Found. ch. i. 3. 206Life, ch. xix. 9. 207Life, ch. xix. 7. 208Rel. ix. 19.
Source: Interior Castle (CCEL)