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==Mysticism== {{Quote box | width = 20em | bgcolor = #FFE0BB | align = right | salign = right | quote = The prayer ''Nada te turbe'' (Let nothing disturb you) is attributed to Teresa, having been found within her breviary:<ref group=web>{{cite web |title=Nada te turbe|url=https://hymnology.hymnsam.co.uk/n/nada-te-turbe |website=Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology |access-date=26 January 2021}}</ref> {{poem quote | text = Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing make you afraid. All things are passing. God alone never changes. Patience gains all things. If you have God you will want for nothing. God alone suffices.<ref>{{cite book | last=Kirvan | first=John J. | year=1996 | title=Let Nothing Disturb You: A Journey to the Center of the Soul with Teresa of Avila | pages=14–15 | publisher=Ave Maria Press}}</ref> | source = Teresa of Ávila}}}} {{See also|Christian contemplation}} The ultimate preoccupation of Teresa's mystical thought, as consistently reflected in her writings, is the ascent of the [[Soul (spirit)|soul]] to God. Aumann notes that "the grades of prayer described in ''The Life'' do not correspond to the division of prayer commonly given in the manuals of spiritual life", due to the fact that "St. Teresa did not write a systematic theology of prayer".{{sfnp|Aumann|1982|p=362}} According to Zimmerman, "In all her writings on this subject she deals with her personal experiences [...] there is no vestige in her writings of any influence of the [[Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite|Areopagite]], the [[Church Fathers|Patristic]], or the [[Scholasticism|Scholastic]] Mystical schools, as represented among others, by the [[Friends of God|German Dominican Mystics]]. She is intensely personal, her system going exactly as far as her experiences, but not a step further."{{sfnp|Zimmerman|2012}} Teresa describes in the ''Interior Castle'' that the treasure of heaven lies buried within our hearts, and that there is an interior part of the heart which is the centre of the soul.<ref name=":0" /> ===Four stages as described in the ''autobiography''=== In her autobiography she describes four stages,{{sfnp|Herzog|Schaff|Hauck|1908|p=413}} in which she uses the image of watering one's garden as a metaphor for mystical prayer:{{efn|See: ''The Autobiography'' Chs. 10–22}} * The first, ''Devotion of the Heart'', consists of [[mental prayer]] and meditation. It means the withdrawal of the soul from without, [[penitence]] and especially the devout [[Meditations on the Life of Christ|meditation]] on the passion of Christ (''Autobiography'' 11.20). * The second, ''Devotion of Peace'', is where human will is surrendered to God. This occurs by virtue of an uplifted awareness granted by God, while other faculties, such as memory, reason, and imagination, are not yet safe from worldly distraction. Although a partial distraction can happen, due to outer activity such as repetition of prayers or writing down spiritual things, the prevailing state is one of quietude (''Autobiography'' 14.1). * The third, ''Devotion of Union'', concerns the absorption-in-God. It is not only a heightened, but essentially, an [[religious ecstasy|ecstatic]] state. At this level, reason is also surrendered to God, and only the memory and imagination are left to ramble. This state is characterized by a blissful peace, a sweet slumber of at least the ''higher soul faculties'', that is a consciousness of being enraptured by the love of God. * The fourth, ''Devotion of Ecstasy'', is where the consciousness of being in the body disappears. Sensory faculties cease to operate. Memory and imagination also become absorbed in God, as though intoxicated. Body and spirit dwell in the throes of exquisite pain, alternating between a fearful fiery glow, in complete unconscious helplessness, and periods of apparent strangulation. Sometimes such ecstatic transports literally cause the body to be lifted into space.{{sfn|Clissold|1982|pp=63–64}} This state may last as long as half an hour and tends to be followed by relaxation of a few hours of swoon-like weakness, attended by the absence of all faculties while in union with God. The subject awakens from this trance state in tears. It may be regarded as the culmination of mystical experience. Indeed, Teresa was said to have been observed [[levitation (paranormal)|levitating]] during [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]] on more than one occasion.{{sfn|Clissold|1982|pp=63–64}} ===The seven mansions of the Interior castle=== The ''Interior Castle'' is divided into seven mansions (also called dwelling places), each level describing a step to get closer to God. In her work, Teresa already assumed entrance into the first mansions by [[prayer]] and [[Christian meditation|meditation]]. The purgative stage, involving active prayer and [[asceticism]]:<ref group=web name="CS_seven">Catholic Strength, [https://catholicstrength.com/tag/the-seven-mansions-of-teresa-of-avila/ ''The Seven Mansions'']</ref> * The first mansion begin with a [[soul]]'s state of [[divine grace|grace]], but the souls are surrounded by [[sin]] and only starting to seek God's grace through [[Humility#Christianity|humility]] in order to achieve perfection. * The second mansions are also called the ''Mansion of the Practice of Prayer'' because the soul seeks to advance through the castle by daily thoughts of God, humble recognition of God's work in the soul and ultimately daily prayer. * The third mansions are the Mansions of Exemplary Life characterized through [[divine grace]] and a [[Charity (virtue)|love]] for God that is so great that the soul has an aversion to both mortal and venial sin and a desire to do works of charitable service to man for the ultimate glory of God. The prayer of acquired recollection belongs to the third mansion.{{sfn|Aumann|1982|p=366}} The illuminative stage, the beginning of mystical or contemplative or supernatural prayer:<ref group=web name="CS_seven"/> * The fourth mansions are a departure from the soul actively acquiring what it gains as God increases his role. In this mansion, the soul begins to experience two types of supernatural prayer, namely the ''Prayer of Supernatural (or passive) Recollection'' and ''The Prayer of Quiet'';<ref group=web name="CS_seven"/> * The fifth mansion is ''The Prayer of Union'', in which the soul prepares itself to receive gifts from God; Unitive stage:<ref group=web name="CS_seven"/> * The sixth mansion is the betrothal (engagement) of the soul with God can be compared to lovers. The soul spends increasing amounts of time torn between favors from God and from outside afflictions. * The seventh mansion is the spiritual marriage with God, in which the soul achieves clarity in prayer ===Nine grades of prayer=== ====Overview==== The first four grades of Teresa's classifications of prayer belong to the ascetical stage of spiritual life. These are vocal prayer, meditational or mental prayer, affective prayer, and acquired or natural recollection.{{sfnp|Poulain|1908}}{{sfnp|Aumann|1980}}<ref group=web name=CC_Nine_Grades/> According to Augustin Poulain and Robert Thouless, Teresa described four degrees or stages of mystical union, namely the [[prayer of quiet]], full or semi-ecstatic union, ecstatic union or ecstasy, and transforming or deifying union, or spiritual marriage (properly) of the soul with God.{{sfnp|Poulain|1908}}{{sfnp|Thouless|1971|p=125}} While Augustin Poulain and Robert Thouless do not mention the ''Prayer of Supernatural (or passive) Recollection'' as a separate stage,{{sfnp|Poulain|1908}}{{sfnp|Thouless|1971|p=125}} Aumann discerns infused contemplation as a separate stage in the fourth mansion of the ''Interior Castle''.{{sfnp|Aumann|1980}}<ref group=web name=CC_Nine_Grades/> Together, these "five grades are infused prayer and belong to the mystical phase of spiritual life".{{sfnp|Aumann|1980}}<ref group=web name=CC_Nine_Grades/> Thomas Merton disagrees on a fine-cut distinction between acquired contemplation and the prayer of quiet, noticing the Carmelite tendency of systematization, whereas Teresa herself was just describing her personal experiences.{{sfnp|Merton|2008|p=245-246}} Commenting on Teresa's writings and the scholarly discussions on the precise stages, [[Thomas Merton]] comments: "with all these divisions and distinctions, comings and goings and varieties of terms, one tends to become impatient with the saint".{{sfnp|Merton|2008|p=241-242}} Aumann synthesizes Teresa's writings into nine grades of prayer:{{sfnp|Aumann|1980}}{{sfnp|Aumann|1982}}<ref group=web name=CC_Nine_Grades/> {| class="wikitable" | Threefold classification || ''The Life'' || ''Interior Castle'' || Nine grades |- | rowspan=4 | Ascetic | rowspan=4 | Devotion of the Heart | rowspan=3 | First mansions |1. vocal prayer |- |2. [[mental prayer]] or prayer of meditation |- |3. affective prayer |- | Second and third mansions |4. prayer of simplicity, or acquired contemplation or recollection |- | rowspan=2 | Illuminative | rowspan=2 | Devotion of Peace | rowspan=2 | Fourth mansions |5. infused contemplation or recollection |- |6. prayer of quiet |- | rowspan=3 | Unitive | rowspan=1 | Devotion of Union | Fifth mansions |7. prayer of (simple) union |- | rowspan =2 | Devotion of Ecstasy | Sixth mansions |8. prayer of conforming or ecstatic union |- | Seventh mansions |9. prayer of transforming union. |- |} ====Ordinary prayer or ascetical stage==== =====Mental or meditational prayer===== Mental prayer is a form of [[prayer]] "performed without aid of any particular formula."{{sfnp|Simler|2009}} It is distinguished from vocal prayers, "prayers performed by means of a given formula",{{sfnp|Simler|2009}} Prayer is mental when the thoughts and affections of the soul are not expressed in a previously determined formula.<ref group=web>[http://www.ewtn.com/library/SPIRIT/MENTAL.TXT Leen, Edward, ''Progress Through Mental Prayer'']</ref> According to Teresa of Ávila, mental prayer is meditational prayer, in which the person is like a gardener, who, with much labour, draws the water up from the depths of the well to water the plants and flowers.{{sfnp|Wynne|1911}}{{sfnp|Lehodey|1912|p=13}} According to Teresa of Avila, mental prayer can proceed by using vocal prayers in order to improve dialogue with God.{{sfnp|Teresa of Ávila|2007|p=141}} According to Lehodey, mental prayer can be divided into meditation, more active in reflections, and contemplation, more quiet and gazeful.{{sfnp|Lehodey|1912|p=5}} ===== Natural or acquired contemplation – prayer of simplicity ===== For Teresa of Avila, in natural or acquired contemplation, also called the prayer of simplicity{{efn|name=prayer_of_simplicity|Catholic Dictionary: ''Prayer of simplicity'': "Meditation replaced by a purer, more intimate prayer consisting in a simple regard or loving thought on God, or on one of his attributes, or on some mystery of the Christian faith. Reasoning is put aside and the soul peacefully attends to the operations of the Spirit with sentiments of love."<ref>Catholic Dictionary: ''Prayer of simplicity'', [https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/dictionary/index.cfm?id=35703 Catholic Dictionary: ''Prayer of simplicity'']</ref> }} there is one dominant thought or sentiment which recurs constantly and easily (although with little or no development) amid many other thoughts, beneficial or otherwise. The prayer of simplicity often has a tendency to simplify itself even in respect to its object, leading one to think chiefly of God and of his presence, but in a confused manner.{{sfnp|Poulain|1908}} In the words of Saint [[Alphonsus Maria de Liguori]], acquired contemplation "consists in seeing at a simple glance the truths which could previously be discovered only through prolonged discourse": reasoning is largely replaced by intuition and affections and resolutions, though not absent, are only slightly varied and expressed in a few words. Similarly, Saint [[Ignatius of Loyola]], in his 30-day retreat or [[Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola|Spiritual Exercises]] beginning in the "second week" with its focus on the life of Jesus, describes less reflection and more simple contemplation on the events of Jesus' life. These contemplations consist mainly in a simple gaze and include an "application of the senses" to the events,<ref name="spirex">{{Cite web|url=http://spex.ignatianspirituality.com/SpiritualExercises/Puhl|title=Louis J. Puhl, S.J. Translation – The Spiritual Exercises|website=Ignatian Spirituality|access-date=7 March 2017|archive-date=18 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210318033614/http://spex.ignatianspirituality.com/SpiritualExercises/Puhl|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{rp|121}} to further one's empathy for Jesus' values, "to love him more and to follow him more closely".<ref name=spirex/>{{rp|104}} Definitions similar to that of Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori are given by Adolphe Tanquerey ("a simple gaze on God and divine things proceeding from love and tending thereto") and Saint [[Francis de Sales]] ("a loving, simple and permanent attentiveness of the mind to divine things").<ref name="Inner">[https://books.google.com/books?id=8Y2gX6JQr-4C&pg=PA24 William Johnston, ''The Inner Eye of Love: Mysticism and Religion''] (Harper Collins 2004 {{ISBN|0-8232-1777-9}}), p. 24</ref> Natural or acquired contemplation has been compared to the attitude of a mother watching over the cradle of her child: she thinks lovingly of the child without reflection and amid interruptions. The ''[[Catechism of the Catholic Church]]'' states: {{blockquote|What is contemplative prayer? St. Teresa answers: 'Contemplative [sic]{{efn|Mental prayer, "oración mental", is not contemplative prayer.{{sfnp|Wallenfang|Wallenfang|2021|p="B. Mental Prayer or the Prayer of meditation"}}{{sfnp|Hollenback|1996|p=535}}{{sfnp|Wyhe|2008|p=174}}}} prayer [oración mental] in my opinion is nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us.' Contemplative prayer seeks him 'whom my soul loves'. It is Jesus, and in him, the Father. We seek him, because to desire him is always the beginning of love, and we seek him in that pure faith which causes us to be born of him and to live in him. In this inner prayer we can still meditate, but our attention is fixed on the Lord himself.<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p4s1c3a1.htm Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2709] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801003944/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p4s1c3a1.htm|date=August 1, 2016}}</ref>}} ====Infused or higher contemplation – mystical union==== According to Hardon, infused contemplation is "A supernatural gift by which a person's mind and will become totally centered on God. Under this influence the intellect receives special insights into things of the spirit, and the affections are extraordinarily animated with divine love. Infused contemplation assumes the free co-operation of the human will."<ref name="MCD">[http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/dictionary/index.cfm?id=34205 John Hardon, ''Modern Catholic Dictionary'']</ref> According to Poulain, it is a form of [[Henosis|mystical union with God]], a union characterized by the fact that it is God, and God only, who manifests Himself.{{sfnp|Poulain|1908}} According to Poulain, mystical grace may also manifest as visions of the humanity of Christ or an angel or revelations of a future event, and include miraculous bodily phenomena sometimes observed in ecstatics.{{sfnp|Poulain|1908}} In Teresa's mysticism, infused contemplation is described as a "divinely originated, general, non-conceptual, loving awareness of God".<ref name=Dubay>[https://books.google.com/books?id=AsyveSH9P-kC&pg=PT92 Thomas Dubay, ''Fire Within''] (Ignatius Press 1989 {{ISBN|0-89870-263-1}}), chapter 5</ref> According to Dubay: {{Blockquote |It is a wordless awareness and love that we of ourselves cannot initiate or prolong. The beginnings of this contemplation are brief and frequently interrupted by distractions. The reality is so unimposing that one who lacks instruction can fail to appreciate what exactly is taking place. Initial infused prayer is so ordinary and unspectacular in the early stages that many fail to recognize it for what it is. Yet with generous people, that is, with those who try to live the whole Gospel wholeheartedly and who engage in an earnest prayer life, it is common.<ref name="Dubay"/>}} According to [[Thomas Dubay]], infused contemplation is the normal, ordinary development of [[Christian meditation|discursive prayer]] (mental prayer, meditative prayer), which it gradually replaces.<ref name="Dubay"/> Dubay considers infused contemplation as common only among "those who try to live the whole Gospel wholeheartedly and who engage in an earnest prayer life". Other writers view contemplative prayer in its infused supernatural form as far from common. [[John Baptist Scaramelli]], reacting in the 17th century against [[Quietism (Christian philosophy)|quietism]], taught that [[asceticism]] and [[Christian mysticism|mysticism]] are two distinct paths to perfection, the former being the normal, ordinary end of the Christian life, and the latter something extraordinary and very rare.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=TdaLXztTZvAC&pg=PA247 Jordan Aumann, ''Christian Spirituality in the Catholic Tradition''] (Sheed & Ward 1985 {{ISBN|0-89870-068-X}}), p. 247 and [https://books.google.com/books?id=BgNyoRwj4VkC&pg=PA273 p. 273]</ref> Jordan Aumann considered that this idea of the two paths was "an innovation in spiritual theology and a departure from the traditional Catholic teaching".<ref>Aumann, ''Christian Spirituality in the Catholic Tradition'', p. 248</ref> And [[Jacques Maritain]] proposed that one should not say that every mystic necessarily enjoys habitual infused contemplation in the mystical state, since the gifts of the Holy Spirit are not limited to intellectual operations.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=TdaLXztTZvAC&pg=PA276 Aumann, ''Christian Spirituality in the Catholic Tradition''], p. 276</ref> =====The Prayer of Quiet===== For Teresa of Avila, the Prayer of Quiet is a state in which the soul experiences an extraordinary peace and rest, accompanied by delight or pleasure in contemplating [[God in Christianity|God]] as present.{{sfnp|Teresa of Ávila|p=177}}{{sfnp|Teresa of Ávila|1921|p=104}}<ref group=web>Jordan Aumann, [http://www.catholic-church.org/grace/growing/9grades/grade6.htm Grade 6: Prayer of the Quiet] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218094613/http://www.catholic-church.org/grace/growing/9grades/grade6.htm |date=18 December 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Selected writings|last=Maria de' Liguori|first=Alfonso |author-link=Alphonsus Maria de Liguori|chapter=Prayer of Quiet|editor=Frederick M. Jones|year=1999|publisher=Paulist Press|isbn=0-8091-3771-2|page=176 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aTg754j-lt0C&dq=%22Prayer+of+Quiet%22&pg=RA1-PA176 }}</ref> According to Poulain, "Mystical union will be called spiritual quiet when the Divine action is still too weak to prevent distractions: in a word, when the imagination still retains a certain liberty".{{sfnp|Poulain|1908}} According to Poulain, in incomplete mystical union, or the prayer of quiet or supernatural recollection, the action of God is not strong enough to prevent distractions, and the imagination still retains a certain liberty.{{sfnp|Poulain|1908}} =====Full or semi-ecstatic union===== According to Poulain, "Mystical union will be called [...] full union when its strength is so great that the soul is fully occupied with the Divine object, whilst, on the other hand, the senses continue to act (under these conditions, by making a greater or less effort, one can cease from prayer".{{sfnp|Poulain|1908}} =====Ecstatic union===== According to Poulain, "Mystical union will be called [...] ecstasy when communications with the external world are severed or nearly so (in this event one can no longer make voluntary movement nor energy from the state at will)."{{sfnp|Poulain|1908}} =====Transforming union===== The transforming union differs from the other three specifically and not merely in intensity. According to Poulain, "It consists in the habitual consciousness of a mysterious grace which all shall possess in heaven: the anticipation of the Divine nature. The soul is conscious of the Divine assistance in its superior supernatural operations, those of the intellect and the will. Spiritual marriage differs from spiritual espousals inasmuch as the first of these states is permanent and the second only transitory."{{sfnp|Poulain|1908}}
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