Moradas quintas, Capítulo 4. Prosigue en lo mismo, declarando más esta manera de oración. - Dice lo mucho que importa andar con aviso, porque el demonio le trae grande para hacer tornar atrás de lo comenzado.
The Dove's Flight and the Author's Humble Confession
Teresa acknowledges the reader's curiosity about the soul's journey, confesses her own limitations in writing, and humbly dedicates her work to her sisters.
1. It seems to me you're eager to see what becomes of this little dove and where she settles, since it's clear now that it isn't in spiritual consolations or in earthly pleasures: her flight is higher than that.1 And I can't satisfy this desire of yours until the last mansion—and even then, may it please God that I remember it or have a chance to write it; because almost five months have passed since I began this until now; and since my head isn't fit to go back and read it over, everything must be coming out in a jumble, and maybe I've said some things twice. Since it's for my sisters, it doesn't much matter.2
A Comparison for the Prayer of Union
Teresa promises to clarify the prayer of union through a comparison, noting that the soul-butterfly has not yet found its true rest.
2. I still want to explain more clearly to you what this prayer of union seems to me to be. As best my mind can manage, I'll offer a comparison; afterward we'll say more about this little butterfly, which doesn't settle down (though it always bears fruit by doing good to itself and to other souls), because it hasn't found its true rest.3
The Spiritual Betrothal: A Marriage Analogy
Teresa introduces the concept of spiritual betrothal, using the sacrament of marriage as a crude but clarifying analogy for the soul's union with God.
3. You've no doubt heard many times that God betroths Himself to souls spiritually. Blessed be His mercy, that He is willing to humble Himself so far! And even though it may be a crude comparison, I can't find another that makes clearer what I mean than the sacrament of marriage.4 For although it is in a different way—because in what we are dealing with there is never anything that is not spiritual (this bodily side is very far off, and the spiritual consolations and delights the Lord gives are a thousand leagues from the pleasures that those who marry are meant to have)—for it is all love with love, and His workings are utterly pure and so delicate and gentle that there is no way to put them into words; yet the Lord knows very well how to make them felt.56
The Glimpse of the Spouse and the Danger of Carelessness
Teresa explains that the prayer of union is a brief, secret glimpse of the Spouse that leaves the soul deeply in love, but warns that carelessness can lead to losing everything.
4. It seems to me that the union still doesn't amount to spiritual betrothal; rather, just as here on earth, when two people are about to get engaged, people talk about whether they're well matched and whether both want it, and even about them seeing each other so that each can be more pleased with the other—so here, since the agreement is already made and this soul knows very well how good it is for her and is determined to do her Spouse's will in everything, in every way she sees will please Him, and His Majesty, who well understands whether that's true, is likewise determined toward her—and so He grants this mercy: He wants her to understand more, and that they should come to see each other, as people say, and He should join her to Himself.7 We can say that this is so, because it happens in a very brief time. There is no further give and take there—only the soul’s seeing, in a secret way, who this Spouse is that she is to take; because through the senses and faculties she could in no way understand in a thousand years what she understands here in a very brief time. But such is the Spouse that from that single sight alone He leaves her more worthy that they should come to join hands, as people say; because the soul is left so in love that she does what she can on her part so this divine betrothal may not fall apart.8 But if this soul is careless and sets her affection on anything that isn't Him, she loses everything, and the loss is as great as the favors He keeps granting—and far greater than can be exaggerated.
The Devil's Attack on the Betrothal
Teresa urges souls to avoid occasions of temptation, as the devil fiercely attacks the soul before the betrothal is complete.
5. So for that reason, Christian souls — you whom the Lord has brought this far — for His sake I ask you not to grow careless, but to stay clear of occasions of temptation. Even in this state the soul isn't yet strong enough to put itself into them the way it can after the betrothal is complete, which belongs to the dwelling we'll speak of after this one. For the communication was no more than a glimpse, as they say, and the devil will go about with great care to attack it and turn this betrothal aside. Later, once he sees the soul wholly surrendered to the Bridegroom, he doesn't dare as much, because he's afraid of her; and he has learned from experience that if he ever does try it, he comes away with a heavy loss, and she with still greater gain.
Examples of the Betrothal's Fruit and the Need for Vigilance
Teresa cites examples of souls who fell from high states through the devil's cunning, contrasts them with the fruitfulness of saints like Ursula, Dominic, Francis, and Ignatius, and laments the scarcity of souls who seek God's honor today.
6. I'm telling you, daughters, I've known people who had risen very high and reached this state, and through the devil's great subtlety and cunning he won them back for himself—because all hell has to join forces for that, since, as I often say, they don't lose just one soul, but a great multitude. He already has experience with this; for if we look at the multitude of souls God brings to Himself through one person, we have much reason to praise Him for the thousands the martyrs converted—a young woman like Saint Ursula!9 Well then—how many the devil must have lost through Saint Dominic and Saint Francis and other founders of Orders, and how many he is losing now through Father Ignatius, who founded the Society! For it's clear regarding all of them—as we read—that they received similar favors from God.10 What was this but that they tried not to lose, through their own fault, a betrothal so divine?11 Oh my daughters! —for this Lord is as ready to grant us favors now as He was then, and in some ways He is even more in need of our wanting to receive them, because there are few who look after His honor, just as there were then.
The Deception of Self-Love
Teresa warns against the great deception of self-love and prays for light to avoid falling into darkness.
We love ourselves a great deal, and we're shrewd enough not to lose what's rightfully ours.12 Oh, what a great deception! May the Lord give us light, by His mercy, so we don't fall into such darkness.
Two Questions: How Can a Surrendered Soul Be Deceived?
Teresa poses two questions: how a soul surrendered to God's will can be deceived, and how the devil can enter a soul so close to the sacraments, using Judas as a warning.
7. You might ask me, or find yourselves wondering, about two things: first, if the soul is so focused on God's will as I've said, how can it be deceived, since it doesn't want to do its own will in anything? The second: how can the devil enter in such a dangerous way that your soul is lost, when you are so withdrawn from the world and so devoted to the sacraments and in the company—we might say—of angels, since by the Lord's goodness all of you have no other desires than to serve him and please him in everything?13 As for those already caught up in the world's distractions, that's not surprising.14 I say that in this you're right—God has shown us abundant mercy; but when I see, as I've said, that Judas was in the company of the Apostles, always dealing with God himself and hearing his words, I understand that there's no security in this.
The Devil's Subtle Path and the Need for Watchfulness
Teresa answers the first question by explaining how the devil gradually undermines the soul through small compromises, and answers the second by noting that no enclosure is impenetrable, and that God may allow such trials to test the soul.
8. Answering the first point, I say that if this soul always clung to God's will, it's clear she wouldn't be lost. But the devil comes with great subtlety, and under the appearance of good, he gradually unhinges her in small matters of that will and draws her into things he makes her think aren't bad. Little by little, he darkens her understanding, cools her will, and makes self-love grow in her, until from one thing to another he draws her away from God's will and toward his own.✦ From this, the second point is answered: there is no enclosure so tightly closed that he cannot enter, nor any desert so remote that he doesn't go there. And I'll tell you something else as well: perhaps the Lord allows it to see how that soul behaves—the one He wants to set as a light for others. For it's better that at the beginning, if she's going to turn out base, she should be so then, rather than when she would harm many.
The Safest Diligence: Prayer, Self-Distrust, and Virtue
Teresa recommends constant prayer, self-distrust, and careful examination of one's growth in virtues as the surest safeguards, and assures that God gives interior warnings to protect the soul.
9. The diligence that seems most sure to me (after always asking God in prayer to keep us in His hand, and thinking continually how, if He leaves us, we'll at once be in the depths—as is the truth—and never trusting in ourselves, since that would be folly) is to go about with special care and watchfulness, looking at how we're doing in the virtues: whether we're improving or declining in anything, especially in love for one another, in the desire to be regarded as the least, and in ordinary things; for if we look into this and ask the Lord to give us light, we'll soon see the gain or the loss. Don’t think that when God brings a soul this far, He lets go of her hand so quickly that the devil doesn't still have plenty of work to do. His Majesty cares so much that she not be lost that He gives her a thousand interior warnings in many ways, so that the harm cannot be hidden from her.15
Forward Movement and the Promise of the Sixth Dwellings
Teresa concludes that the soul must always press forward, for love is never idle, and announces the transition to the sixth dwellings, where the soul will see the great mercies God bestows on His brides.
10. In short, let this be the conclusion: we should always try to keep moving forward, and if we aren't, let's walk with great fear, because without a doubt the devil wants to make us take some fall; for it isn't possible that, having come so far, one would leave off growing—love is never idle—and so that will be a very bad sign. For a soul that has sought to be the bride of God Himself, and has already dealt with His Majesty and reached the point already described, must not lie down to sleep. And so that you may see, daughter, what He does with those He already holds as His brides, let's begin to treat of the sixth dwellings, and you'll see how little everything we can serve and suffer and do amounts to in preparing ourselves for such great mercies. It may be that our Lord has ordained that they should order me to write this so that, with our eyes fixed on the prize and seeing how boundless His mercy is—for He wants to communicate Himself and show Himself like this to mere worms—we may forget our little earthly pleasures and, with our eyes fixed on His greatness, run on, set on fire with His love.✦
A Prayer for Divine Assistance and a Final Exhortation
Teresa prays for the Holy Spirit's guidance in writing, expresses her desire for God's glory, and concludes with a longing to serve the Bridegroom without fault.
11. May it please Him that I manage to explain something of such difficult things; for if His Majesty and the Holy Spirit don't move the pen, I know well that it will be impossible. And if it isn't going to be for your good, I beg Him not to let me succeed in saying anything; for His Majesty knows that my desire, as far as I can understand myself, is nothing else than that His name be praised, and that we strive to serve a Lord who rewards like this even here on earth—from which we can understand something of what He will give us in heaven, without the interruptions, hardships, and dangers that exist in this sea of storms.16 Because if we didn't have to lose Him and offend Him, it would be a rest if life never ended until the end of the world, so we could keep working for so great a God and Lord and Bridegroom.17 May it please His Majesty that we merit to do Him some service without so many faults as we always have, even in good works. Amen.
Read the original Spanish
1. Paréceme que estáis con deseo de ver qué se hace esta palomica y adónde asienta, pues queda entendido que no es en gustos espirituales ni en contentos de la tierra: más alto es su vuelo. Y no os puedo satisfacer de este deseo hasta la postrera morada, y aun plega a Dios se me acuerde o tenga lugar de escribirlo; porque han pasado casi cinco meses desde que lo comencé hasta ahora; y como la cabeza no está para tornarlo a leer, todo debe ir desbaratado y por ventura dicho algunas cosas dos veces. Como es para mis hermanas, poco va en ello.
2. Todavía quiero más declararos lo que me parece que es esta oración de unión. Conforme a mi ingenio pondré una comparación; después diremos más de esta mariposica, que no para (aunque siempre fructifica haciendo bien a sí y a otras almas), porque no halla su verdadero reposo.
3. Ya tendréis oído muchas veces que se desposa Dios con las almas espiritualmente. ¡Bendita sea su misericordia que tanto se quiere humillar! Y aunque sea grosera comparación, yo no hallo otra que más pueda dar a entender lo que pretendo que el sacramento del matrimonio. Porque aunque de diferente manera, porque en esto que tratamos jamás hay cosa que no sea espiritual (esto corpóreo va muy lejos, y los contentos espirituales que da el Señor, y los gustos, al que deben tener los que se desposan, van mil leguas lo uno de lo otro), porque todo es amor con amor, y sus operaciones son limpísimas y tan delicadísimas y suaves, que no hay cómo se decir, mas sabe el Señor darlas muy bien a sentir.
4. Paréceme a mí que la unión aún no llega a desposorio espiritual; sino, como por acá cuando se han de desposar dos, se trata si son conformes y que el uno y el otro quieran, y aun que se vean, para que más se satisfaga el uno del otro, así acá, presupuesto que el concierto está ya hecho y que esta alma está muy bien informada cuán bien le está y determinada a hacer en todo la voluntad de su Esposo de todas cuantas maneras ella viere que le ha de dar contento, y Su Majestad, como quien bien entenderá si es así, lo está de ella, y así hace esta misericordia, que quiere que entienda más y que -como dicen- vengan a vistas y juntarla consigo. Podemos decir que es así esto, porque pasa en brevísimo tiempo. Allí no hay más dar y tomar, sino un ver el alma, por una manera secreta, quién es este Esposo que ha de tomar; porque por los sentidos y potencias en ninguna manera podía entender en mil años lo que aquí entiende en brevísimo tiempo; mas como es tal el Esposo, de sola aquella vista la deja más digna de que se vengan a dar las manos, como dicen; porque queda el alma tan enamorada, que hace de su parte lo que puede para que no se desconcierte este divino desposorio. Mas si esta alma se descuida a poner su afición en cosa que no sea El, piérdelo todo, y es tan grandísima pérdida como lo son las mercedes que va haciendo, y mucho mayor que se puede encarecer.
5. Por eso, almas cristianas, a las que el Señor ha llegado a estos términos, por El os pido que no os descuidéis, sino que os apartéis de las ocasiones, que aún en este estado no está el alma tan fuerte que se pueda meter en ellas, como lo está después de hecho el desposorio, que es en la morada que diremos tras ésta; porque la comunicación no fue más de una vista -como dicen- y el demonio andará con gran cuidado a combatirla y a desviar este desposorio; que después, como ya la ve del todo rendida al Esposo, no osa tanto, porque la ha miedo, y tiene experiencia que, si alguna vez lo hace, queda con gran pérdida y ella con más ganancia.
6. Yo os digo, hijas, que he conocido a personas muy encumbradas, y llegar a este estado y con la gran sutileza y ardid del demonio, tornarlas a ganar para sí; porque debe de juntarse todo el infierno para ello, porque, como muchas veces digo, no pierden un alma sola, sino gran multitud. Ya él tiene experiencia en este caso; porque, si miramos la multitud de almas que por medio de una trae Dios a sí, es para alabarle mucho los millares que convertían los mártires: ¡una doncella como Santa Ursula! Pues ¡las que habrá perdido el demonio por Santo Domingo y San Francisco y otros fundadores de Ordenes, y pierde ahora por el Padre Ignacio, el que fundó la Compañía! , que todos está claro -como lo leemos- recibían mercedes semejantes de Dios. ¿Qué fue esto, sino que se esforzaron a no perder por su culpa tan divino desposorio? ¡Oh hijas mías! , que tan aparejado está este Señor a hacernos merced ahora como entonces, y aun en parte más necesitado de que las queramos recibir, porque hay pocos que miren por su honra, como entonces había.
Querémonos mucho; hay muy mucha cordura para no perder de nuestro derecho. ¡Oh, qué engaño tan grande! El Señor nos dé luz para no caer en semejantes tinieblas, por su misericordia.
7. Podréisme preguntar o estar con duda de dos cosas: la primera, que si está el alma tan puesta con la voluntad de Dios como queda dicho, que ¿cómo se puede engañar, pues ella en todo no quiere hacer la suya? La segunda, ¿por qué vías puede entrar el demonio tan peligrosamente que se pierda vuestra alma, estando tan apartadas del mundo y tan llegadas a los sacramentos y en compañía -podemos decir- de ángeles, pues por la bondad del Señor todas no traen otros deseos sino de servirley agradarle en todo? ; que ya los que están metidos en las ocasiones del mundo, no es mucho. Yo digo que en esto tenéis razón, que harta misericordia nos ha hecho Dios; mas cuando veo -como he dicho- que estaba Judas en compañía de los Apóstoles, y tratando siempre con el mismo Dios, y oyendo sus palabras, entiendo que no hay seguridad en esto.
8. Respondiendo a lo primero, digo que si esta alma se estuviese siempre asida a la voluntad de Dios, que está claro que no se perdería; mas viene el demonio con unas sutilezas grandes, y debajo de color de bien vala desquiciando en poquitas cosas de ella y metiendo en algunas que él le hace entender que no son malas, y poco a poco oscureciendo el entendimiento y entibiando la voluntad y haciendo crecer en ella el amor propio, hasta que de uno en otro la va apartando de la voluntad de Dios y llegando a la suya. De aquí queda respondido a lo segundo; porque no hay encerramiento tan encerrado adonde él no pueda entrar, ni desierto tan partado adonde deje de ir. Y aun otra cosa os digo, que quizá lo permite el Señor para ver cómo se ha aquel alma a quien quiere poner por luz de otras; que más vale que en los principios, si ha de ser ruin, lo sea que no cuando dañe a muchas.
9. La diligencia que a mí se me ofrece más cierta (después de pedir siempre a Dios en la oración que nos tenga de su mano, y pensar muy continuo cómo, si El nos deja, seremos luego en el profundo, como es verdad, y jamás estar confiadas en nosotras, pues será desatino estarlo), es andar con particular cuidado y aviso, mirando cómo vamos en las virtudes: si vamos mejorando o disminuyendo en algo, en especial en el amor unas con otras y en el deseo de ser tenida por la menor y en cosas ordinarias; que si miramos en ello y pedimos al Señor que nos dé luz, luego veremos la ganancia o la pérdida. Que no penséis que alma que llega Dios a tanto la deja tan a prisa de su mano, que no tenga bien el demonio que trabajar, y siente Su Majestad tanto en que se le pierda, que le da mil avisos interiores de muchas maneras; así que no se le podrá esconder el daño.
10. En fin, sea la conclusión en esto, que procuremos siempre ir adelante, y si esto no hay, andemos con gran temor, porque sin duda algún salto nos quiere hacer el demonio; pues no es posible que, habiendo llegado a tanto, deje ir creciendo, que el amor jamás está ocioso, y así será harto mala señal. Porque alma que ha pretendido ser esposa del mismo Dios y tratádose ya con Su Majestad y llegado a los términos que queda dicho, no se ha de echar a dormir. Y para que veáis, hija, lo que hace con las que ya tiene por esposas, comencemos a tratar de las sextas moradas, y veréis cómo es poco todo lo que pudiéremos servir y padecer y hacer para disponernos a tan grandes mercedes. Que podrá ser haber ordenado nuestro Señor que me lo mandasen escribir para que, puestos los ojos en el premio y viendo cuán sin tasa es su misericordia, pues con unos gusanos quiere así comunicarse y mostrarse, olvidemos nuestros contentillos de tierra y, puestos los ojos en su grandeza, corramos encendidas en su amor.
11. Plega a El que acierte yo a declarar algo de cosas tan dificultosas; que si Su Majestad y el Espíritu Santo no menea la pluma, bien sé que será imposible. Y si no ha de ser para vuestro provecho, le suplico no acierte a decir nada; pues sabe Su Majestad que no es otro mi deseo, a cuanto puedo entender de mí, sino que sea alabado su nombre, y que nos esforcemos a servir a un Señor que así paga aún acá en la tierra; por donde podemos entender algo de lo que nos ha de dar en el cielo, sin los intervalos y trabajos y peligros que hay en este mar de tempestades. Porque, a no le haber de perderle y ofenderle, descanso sería que no se acabase la vida hasta el fin del mundo, por trabajar por tan gran Dios y Señor y Esposo. Plega a Su Majestad merezcamos hacerle algún servicio, sin tantas faltas como siempre tenemos, aun en las obras buenas, amén.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Rev.3.15-Rev.3.16 — I know your works—that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot! Rev.3.16 — So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
- ↩Phil.3.14 — I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Notes
- 1 ↩palomica: Teresa's affectionate diminutive for the soul after the silkworm transformation (elsewhere also mariposica, 'little butterfly'); rendered 'little dove' to keep the source image.
- 2 ↩poco va en ello: idiomatic 'little hangs on it / it is no great matter'; rendered as natural contemporary understatement matching Teresa's wry aside.
- 3 ↩mariposica: Teresa's affectionate diminutive for the soul-as-butterfly; 'little butterfly' preserves the diminutive tone. no para: not that it ceases activity, but that it does not come to rest / settle.
- 4 ↩Teresa uses matrimonio as an analogy for spiritual union/betrothal, not as a claim that mystical union is identical with the sacrament.
- 5 ↩Source reading 'no hay cómo se decir' looks defective (infinitive where a finite form is expected); translated as the intended sense 'there is no way to say it / put them into words'.
- 6 ↩'al que deben tener los que se desposan' read as comparison with the joys proper to those who marry (likely 'a lo que'); sense is distance between spiritual and bodily delight.
- 7 ↩"vengan a vistas" is a Spanish betrothal idiom for the formal meeting of the intended couple; rendered as "come to see each other," keeping Teresa’s "como dicen."
- 8 ↩"dar las manos" is a betrothal idiom for joining hands / pledging; kept as "join hands" with Teresa’s "como dicen."
- 9 ↩Teresa cites the Ursula legend as an example of how one soul can draw many; the traditional 11,000 companions are in view in 'los millares.'
- 10 ↩Source reads 'todos está claro'; intended sense taken as 'de todos está claro' / 'it is clear of all of them.'
- 11 ↩'Desposorio' kept as 'betrothal,' Teresa's term for the spiritual betrothal of the Fifth Dwelling Places.
- 12 ↩"nuestro derecho" is rendered as "what's ours by right" (our claim/due). Teresa's tone is ironic: self-love carefully protects its own interests rather than surrendering them to God.
- 13 ↩Reading servirley as servirle y (serve him and); the joined form is a clear orthographic join, not a separate lemma.
- 14 ↩Elliptical continuation of the previous question: no es mucho means it is no great marvel that worldly souls can be lost, not that their ruin is unimportant.
- 15 ↩"tan a prisa de su mano, que no tenga bien el demonio que trabajar": rendered as God not dropping the advanced soul so hastily that the devil would lack hard work—i.e., divine holding-power still forces the devil to labor, while God also floods the soul with interior warnings.
- 16 ↩intervalos rendered as interruptions: the gaps between consolations on earth, contrasted with uninterrupted heavenly gift.
- 17 ↩Source has redundant clitic in a no le haber de perderle y ofenderle; rendered as the clear conditional sense: if we did not face losing and offending Him.
The Interior Castle (Las Moradas / El Castillo Interior) companion
A daily portion of stillness
Chosen Portion delivers one short contemplative reading and a guided moment of silence each day — the ascent, one step at a time.
Chosen Portion is the paced doorway into this collection: it portions the dense mystical treatises into one daily reading plus guided silence, exactly as the 14-day plan teaches.
- Daily bite-sized excerpts from the contemplative classics, never a wall of text
- A built-in timed stillness practice that grows from 2 minutes to 10
- Gentle progression through the tradition — the app remembers where you are on the ascent