This book was simply beautiful. I can't believe how clever and modest was the author. Reading this book was a real treat for me. ( )

Heretical translation written by a Jew. This book should be discarded.

I have just finished reading ‘The Interior Castle’, otherwise known as ‘The Mansions’, by the Spanish Carmelite Nun, mystic and Doctor of the Church St. Teresa of Avila.

The book proved to be more than worthy of the spiritual classic label that it has earned. It is one that I will return to again and again for inspiration.

The book is at one and the same time both easy to read and difficult to read. I would suggest that for those just beginning their spiritual journey it may prove very abstract. Even for those of us further along the spiritual path it can prove challenging, with themes, motifs and experiences which may be totally unfamiliar to us. You don’t know what you don’t know, and yet even the later chapters can fuel the imagination and provide motivation. I certainly found it a helpful guide and, whilst being unable to discern exactly where in the mansion I am, I came away with a renewed sense of spiritual direction.

I also benefitted from reading ‘The Fire Within’ by Fr. Thomas Dubay before venturing into the Interior Castle. It helped me immensely in understanding the context and themes of St. Teresa’s writing and her connections with her younger Spiritual Director St. John of the Cross, whose 'Dark Night of the Soul' I plan to read next.

Anyway, back to this book.

The Interior Castle is a metaphor for our soul. According to Teresa of Avila, our soul is like a single diamond in which there are many rooms. At the centre of the Castle is where the King (Jesus) resides. The soul has great dignity and beauty and is a paradise in which God takes great delight. Teresa asks, “what do you think a room will be like that is the delight of a King so mighty, so wise, so pure and so full of all that is good?”

We enter the Interior Castle, Teresa says, through prayer and mediation. Our destination is the centre of the castle where the most “secret things pass between God and the soul”. This is the interior journey. Teresa goes on to say, “You will have read certain books on prayer which advise the soul to enter within itself: and that is exactly what this means.”

So, the Interior Castle is really a book about prayer and what the 12 step programmes call ‘conscious contact with God’.

Prayer can be separated into two categories, ascetic and mystical.

In ascetic prayer we initiate interaction with God through vocal prayer and meditation. This is also called “purgative prayer” because of the cleansing effect on our lives. The first three mansions of the Interior Castle cover this material.

In mystical prayer, God drives the activity. Teresa writes about this in Mansions four through seven. This form of prayer can itself again be divided into two categories, illuminative prayer and unitive prayer.

Through illuminative prayer God enlightens our will and understanding. Teresa explains this in the fourth mansion. In mansions five through seven Teresa writes about unitive prayer, which leads us to a deep and intimate relationship with Christ “where the most secret things pass between God and the soul.”

Unitive prayer covers two thirds of the Interior Castle and is the focal point of the book.

I found the book at one and the same time revealing, interesting and inspiring. I am very much a ‘head’ Christian and have been aware for some time of a need to counterbalance this with a development of my spiritual life. The idea of having an intimate, inner relationship with Christ excites me. ( )

28 MARZO 1515 nasce Santa Teresa d’Avila Religiosa e dottore della Chiesa (1515 - 1582) Una levitazione ben riuscita Mistica, scrittrice, riformatrice santa, primo Dottore donna della Chiesa cattolica. Alcune pagine de Il castello interiore, il suo capolavoro dottrinale, sono state recentemente rappresentate in teatro: in lei passione, libertà interiore, determinazione e preghiera sono una cosa sola.

A 20 anni entra, contro il volere del padre, nel Carmelo de la Encarnación di Avila e diventerà una delle figure più importanti della Riforma cattolica. Teresa d’Avila è una donna decisa, intelligente, affascinante, riesce a trascinare le persone anche nelle scelte più estreme. Una donna dal grande carisma, capace di amministrare monasteri e di discutere diplomaticamente con i potenti. Anche quando la sua misteriosa e terribile malattia sembra stia vincendo, Teresa continua a essere allegra, ad amare la musica, la poesia, la lettura e la scrittura.

È una educatrice severa e intransigente, ma anche negli anni della clausura più rigida si schiera sempre contro le pene corporali. Il capitolo più misterioso della sua vita appartiene al periodo delle visioni e delle estasi. Viene vista levitare, cadere in delirio e restare come morta, proprio come la raffigura Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Teresa dice di aver sentito le parole di Gesù, di averlo visto fisicamente, di aver parlato con lui. Dio le chiede il compito più grande: riformare l’ordine dei Carmelitani che ha perso l’antica austerità.

Teresa da quel momento diventa il nemico, una religiosa scomoda per carmelitani e gerarchie ecclesiastiche. La sua nuova regola è la povertà assoluta; non smette di dirlo in ogni occasione: è una grande fortuna non avere attaccamento per i beni terreni, un ordine povero è molto più libero e pericoloso rispetto a uno ricco di beni e quindi esposto al ricatto.

Le accuse di eresia per Teresa e i suoi seguaci non mancano, ma l’obiettivo verrà raggiunto: nasce l’ordine dei Carmelitani e delle Carmelitane Scalze, un ordine austero, di grande spiritualità. Dopo la sepoltura il suo corpo sarà riesumato e fatto a pezzi perché ogni monastero desidera avere una parte della Santa. Allegra, nonostante i dolori fisici, amante di musica, poesia, letteratura... e anche scalza. ( )

Beautiful book. Must read ( )