Moradas sextas, Capítulo 5. Prosigue en lo mismo, y pone una manera de cuando levanta Dios el alma con un vuelo del espíritu en diferente manera de lo que queda dicho. - Dice alguna causa por que es menester ánimo. - Declara algo de esta merced que hace el Señor, por sabrosa manera. - Es harto provechoso.
The Sudden Flight of the Spirit
Teresa introduces a second kind of rapture, a sudden flight of the spirit that seizes the soul with overwhelming force, leaving it powerless to resist.
1. There's another kind of rapture—or a flight of the spirit, as I call it—which, though it's all one in substance, feels very different within; because sometimes, very suddenly, you feel so swift a movement of the soul that the spirit seems to be caught up with a speed that puts a great deal of fear in you, especially at the beginning; and that's why I was telling you that great courage is needed for the one to whom God is going to grant these favors, and even faith and trust and a deep surrender that our Lord may do with the soul whatever He wills. Do you think it's a small disturbance for a person to be fully in her senses and then find her soul carried off—and we have even read of some cases where the body goes with it—without knowing where she is going, what or who is carrying her, or how?1 For at the beginning of this momentary movement there isn't so much certainty that it is God. 2. So is there any way to resist? Not at all; on the contrary, it's worse. For I know of someone for whom it seems God wants to make the soul understand that, since she has so many times placed herself in His hands with such great earnestness, and has offered herself to Him entirely with such complete willingness, she should understand that she no longer has any claim on herself—and she is carried off with a markedly more forceful motion. And she would already resolve to do no more than a straw does when amber lifts it, if you've ever watched that, and to leave herself in the hands of the One who is so powerful, for she sees that the wisest course is to make a virtue of necessity.23 And since I spoke of the straw: this great Giant of ours, so powerful, snatches the spirit away.4
The Mighty Wave of God's Power
Teresa compares the rapture to a powerful wave that lifts the soul like a little boat, and urges souls who receive such favors to respond with gratitude and service.
3. It seems as if that pillar of water we spoke of — I think it was in the fourth dwelling, though I don't remember clearly — which used to fill so gently and mildly, that is, without any movement at all: here this great God, who holds back the springs of the waters and doesn't let the sea leave its bounds, has unleashed the springs that fed this pillar of water; and with a great surge, a wave rises so powerful that it lifts the little boat of our soul high up.✦ And just as a ship cannot — nor is the pilot powerful enough, nor all those who steer it — make the waves, if they come in fury, leave it where they want, much less can the interior of the soul stay where it wants, or make its senses or faculties do more than they've been commanded; for here no notice is taken of the exterior.5 4. It's true, sisters, that just writing this down keeps filling me with awe at how the great power of this great King and Emperor shows itself here—what must it be like for someone who actually goes through it! For my part, I think that if His Majesty were revealed to those who are so lost in the world the way He reveals Himself to these souls, then even if it weren't out of love, fear would keep them from daring to offend Him. Oh, how bound those must be who have been warned by such a lofty path to strive with all their strength not to anger this Lord!6 For His sake I beg you, sisters—those of you to whom His Majesty has granted these favors or others like them—not to grow careless and do nothing more than receive.7 Look: whoever owes much must pay much.
Courage and Humility in the Face of Grace
Teresa explains that great courage and humility are needed to bear the weight of God's favors, and shares a consoling story of a soul who received Christ's Passion as a gift.
5. For this, too, great courage is needed — it's something that daunts the soul terribly. And if our Lord didn't give it to her, she would always go about in great affliction. For looking at what His Majesty does with her and then turning to look at herself — how little she serves for what she's bound to do, and that little bit she does full of faults and failings and slackness — she finds it better, so as not to keep remembering how imperfectly she does any work (if she does any), to try to forget it and bring her sins before her and cast herself into God's mercy, asking that, since she has nothing with which to pay, His pity and mercy, which He has always had for sinners, may make up for what she lacks.8 6. Maybe He'll answer her the way He answered someone who was deeply distressed in front of a crucifix at this very point, thinking she'd never had anything to give God or leave behind for Him: the Crucified One Himself said to her, consoling her, that He was giving her all the pains and hardships He had endured in His Passion, so that she could take them as her own and offer them to His Father. That soul was left so consoled and so rich—as I've understood from her—that she can't forget it; rather, every time she sees herself so wretched, remembering it, she's left encouraged and consoled. I could tell some of these things here—since I've dealt with so many holy people of prayer, I know many of them—but so you don't think it's about me, I hold myself back.9 This one seems to me of great benefit, so that you may understand how pleased our Lord is that we know ourselves and always try to look and look again at our poverty and misery, and that we have nothing we haven't received. So then, my sisters, for this and for many other things that come to a soul the Lord already has at this point, courage is needed; and in my opinion, for this last more than for anything, if there is humility.10 May the Lord give it to us, for who He is.11
The Vision of Another Region
Teresa describes how the soul seems to leave the body and enters another region, receiving imaginary and intellectual visions of saints and angels.
7. So, returning to this sudden snatching away of the spirit: it happens in such a way that it truly seems to leave the body, and yet on the other hand it's clear this person isn't left dead; at least she can't say, for a few moments, whether she's in the body or not. It seems to her that she has been altogether in another region very different from this one we live in, where another light is shown to her so different from the light here that if she spent her whole life crafting it along with other things, it would be impossible to reach them.12 And it happens that in an instant so many things are shown to her all at once that if she worked for many years arranging them with her imagination and thought, she couldn't manage one part in a thousand. This is not an intellectual vision, but an imaginary one, seen with the eyes of the soul far better than we see here with the eyes of the body, and without words some things are made clear to her; I mean, if she sees some saints, she knows them as if she had spent a great deal of time with them.13 8. At other times, along with the things she sees with the eyes of the soul, other things are shown to her by intellectual vision—especially a multitude of angels with their Lord; and without seeing anything with the eyes of the body, through a marvelous knowledge I won't know how to describe, what I'm speaking of is presented to her, and many other things that aren't meant to be told. Anyone who goes through them and has more skill than I do may perhaps know how to make them understood, though it seems very hard to me. Whether all this takes place while she is in the body or not, I won't know how to say; at least I wouldn't swear that she is in the body, nor that the body is without a soul.
The Sun of Justice and the Fruits of Rapture
Teresa ponders whether the soul's higher part can be lifted like a ray from the Sun of Justice, and lists the three lasting fruits: knowledge of God's greatness, humility, and contempt for earthly things.
9. I've often wondered whether, just as the sun stays in the sky and its rays have such force that, without the sun moving, they quickly reach us here—whether the soul and the spirit, which are one and the same as the sun and its rays, can, while the soul remains in its place, by the force of the heat that comes to it from the true Sun of Justice, have some higher part go out beyond itself. Anyway, I don't know what I'm saying. What is true is that with the swiftness of a bullet leaving a gun when fired, there rises inside a flight—I don't know another name to give it—which, though it makes no noise, makes a movement so clear that it cannot be a fancy at all; and far outside herself, to the full extent of her understanding, great things are shown to her; and when she comes back to herself again, she is left with such great gains, and holds all earthly things in so little account compared with what she has seen, that they seem like garbage to her; and from then on she lives among them with deep distress, and she sees nothing among the things that once seemed good to her that can make her care about them at all.14 It seems the Lord has wanted to show her something of the land she is going to, like those the people of Israel sent to the promised land who brought back signs, so that she can endure the hardships of this very hard road, knowing where she is going to rest. Although something that passes so quickly won't seem to you to be of much profit, the benefits it leaves in the soul are so great that, unless it is through the one who experiences it, their value cannot be understood. 10. From this, it's clear that this doesn't come from the devil. It's impossible for it to come from one's own imagination, nor could the devil present things that leave such an effect—a sense of peace, calm, and spiritual profit in the soul—especially three things to a very high degree: knowledge of the greatness of God, because the more we see of it, the more we are given to understand.15 Second: self-knowledge and humility from seeing how so low a thing, compared with the Creator of such greatness, has dared to offend Him and does not dare look at Him; third, holding all the things of earth of very little account, except those that can be put to the service of so great a God.16
The Bridegroom's Jewels and the Need for Courage
Teresa concludes that these visits are jewels from the Bridegroom, engraved on the soul's memory, and reiterates the need for courage, ending with a prayer of praise.
11. These are the jewels the Bridegroom begins to give his bride, and they're of such great value that she won't leave them poorly guarded; for these visits remain so engraved in the memory that I believe it's impossible to forget them until she enjoys them forever — unless that were for her very great harm; but the Bridegroom who gives them to her is powerful enough to give her the grace not to lose them.17 12. So, returning to the courage that's needed — does it seem to you such a light thing? For it truly seems that the soul is parting from the body, because it sees itself losing its senses and doesn't understand why. The One who gives everything else must give her this courage too.18 You'll say this fear is well repaid. That's just what I say. May the One who can give so much be praised forever. May it please His Majesty to give us what we need so that we may deserve to serve Him. Amen.19
Read the original Spanish
1. Otra manera de arrobamientos hay, o vuelo del espíritu le llamo yo, que aunque todo es uno en la sustancia, en el interior se siente muy diferente; porque muy de presto algunas veces se siente un movimiento tan acelerado del alma, que parece es arrebatado el espíritu con una velocidad que pone harto temor, en especial a los principios; que por eso os decía que es menester ánimo grande para a quien Dios ha de hacer estas mercedes, y aun fe y confianza y resignación grande de que haga nuestro Señor del alma lo que quisiere. ¿Pensáis que es poca turbación estar una persona muy en su sentido y verse arrebatar el alma y aun algunos hemos leído que el cuerpo con ella) sin saber adónde va, qué o quién la lleva o cómo? ; que al principio de este momentáneo movimiento no hay tanta certidumbre de que es Dios.
2. Pues ¿hay algún remedio de poder resistir? - En ninguna manera; antes es peor; que yo sé de alguna persona que parece quiere Dios dar a entender al alma que, pues tantas veces con tan grandes veras se ha puesto en sus manos, y con tan entera voluntad se le ha ofrecido toda, que entienda que ya no tiene parte en sí, y notablemente con más impetuoso movimiento es arrebatada; y tomaba ya por sí no hacer más que hace una paja cuando la levanta el ámbar, si lo habéis mirado, y dejarse en las manos de quien tan poderoso es, que ve es lo más acertado hacer de la necesidad virtud. Y porque dije de la paja, este nuestro gran gigante y poderoso arrebata el espíritu.
3. No parece sino que aquel pilar de agua que dijimos -creo era en la cuarta morada, que no me acuerdo bien-, que con tanta suavidad y mansedumbre, digo sin ningún movimiento, se henchía, aquí desató este gran Dios, que detiene los manantiales de las aguas y no deja salir la mar de sus términos, los manantiales por donde venía a este pilar del agua; y con un ímpetu grande se levanta una ola tan poderosa, que sube a lo alto esta navecica de nuestra alma. Y así como no puede una nave, ni es poderoso el piloto, ni todos los que la gobiernan, para que las olas, si vienen con furia, la dejen estar adonde quieren, muy menos puede lo interior del alma detenerse en donde quiere, ni hacer que sus sentidos ni potencias hagan más de lo que les tienen mandado, que lo exterior no se hace aquí caso de ello.
4. Es cierto, hermanas, que de sólo irlo escribiendo me voy espantando de cómo se muestra aquí el gran poder de este gran Rey y Emperador; ¡qué hará quien pasa por ello! Tengo para mí, que si los que andan muy perdidos por el mundo se les descubriese Su Majestad, como hace a estas almas, que aunque no fuese por amor, por miedo no le osarían ofender. Pues ¡oh, cuán obligadas estarán las que han sido avisadas por camino tan subido a procurar con todas sus fuerzas no enojar este Señor! Por El os suplico, hermanas, a las que hubiere hecho Su Majestad estas mercedes u otras semejantes, que no os descuidéis con no hacer más que recibir. Mirad que quien mucho debe, mucho ha de pagar.
5. Para esto también es menester gran ánimo, que es una cosa que acobarda en gran manera; y si nuestro Señor no se le diese, andaría siempre con gran aflicción; porque mirando lo que Su Majestad hace con ella y tornándose a mirar a sí, cuán poco sirve para lo que está obligada, y eso poquillo que hace lleno de faltas y quiebras y flojedad, que por no se acordar de cuán imperfectamente hace alguna obra, si la hace, tiene por mejor procurar que se le olvide y traer delante sus pecados y meterse en la misericordia de Dios, que, pues no tiene con qué pagar, supla la piedad y misericordia que siempre tuvo con los pecadores.
6. Quizás le responderá lo que a una persona que estaba muy afligida delante de un crucifijo en este punto, considerando que nunca había tenido qué dar a Dios ni qué dejar por El: díjole el mismo Crucificado, consolándola, que El le daba todos los dolores y trabajos que había pasado en su Pasión, que los tuviese por propios, para ofrecer a su Padre. Quedó aquel alma tan consolada y tan rica, según de ella he entendido, que no se le puede olvidar; antes cada vez que se ve tan miserable, acordándosele, queda animada y consolada. Algunas cosas de éstas podría decir aquí, que como he tratado tantas personas santas y de oración, sé muchas; porque no penséis que soy yo, me voy a la mano. Esta paréceme de gran provecho para que entendáis lo que se contenta nuestro Señor de que nos conozcamos y procuremos siempre mirar y remirar nuestra pobreza y miseria, y que no tenemos nada que no lo recibimos. Así que, hermanas mías, para esto y otras muchas cosas que se ofrece a un alma que ya el Señor la tiene en este punto, es menester ánimo; y a mi parecer, para esto postrero más que para nada, si hay humildad. Dénosla el Señor, por quien El es.
7. Pues tornando a este apresurado arrebatar el espíritu, es de tal manera que verdaderamente parece sale del cuerpo, y por otra parte claro está que no queda esta persona muerta; al menos ella no puede decir si está en el cuerpo o si no, por algunos instantes. Parécele que toda junta ha estado en otra región muy diferente de en ésta que vivimos, adonde se le muestra otra luz tan diferente de la de acá, que si toda su vida ella la estuviera fabricando junto con otras cosas, fuera imposible alcanzarlas. Y acaece que en un instante le enseñan tantas cosas juntas que en muchos años que trabajara en ordenarlas con su imaginación y pensamiento no pudiera de mil partes la una. Esto no es visión intelectual, sino imaginaria, que se ve con los ojos del alma muy mejor que acá vemos con los del cuerpo, y sin palabras se le da a entender algunas cosas; digo como si ve algunos santos, los conoce como si los hubiera mucho tratado.
8. Otras veces, junto con las cosas que ve con los ojos del alma, por visión intelectual se le representan otras, en especial multitud de ángeles con el Señor de ellos; y sin ver nada con los ojos del cuerpo, por un conocimiento admirable que yo no sabré decir, se le representa lo que digo y otras muchas cosas que no son para decir. Quien pasare por ellas, que tenga más habilidad que yo, las sabrá quizá dar a entender, aunque me parece bien dificultoso. Si esto todo pasa estando en el cuerpo, o no, yo no lo sabré decir; al menos ni juraría que está en el cuerpo ni tampoco que está el cuerpo sin alma.
9. Muchas veces he pensado, si como el sol estándose en el cielo, que sus rayos tienen tanta fuerza que no mudándose él de allí, de presto llegan acá, si el alma y el espíritu, que son una misma cosa como lo es el sol y sus rayos, puede, quedándose ella en su puesto, con la fuerza del calor que le viene del verdadero Sol de Justicia, alguna parte superior salir sobre sí misma. En fin, yo no sé lo que digo. Lo que es verdad, es que con la presteza que sale la pelota de un arcabuz cuando la ponen el fuego, se levanta en el interior un vuelo que yo no sé otro nombre que le poner), que aunque no hace ruido, hace movimiento tan claro que no puede ser antojo en ninguna manera; y muy fuera de sí misma, a todo lo que puede entender, se le muestran grandes cosas; y cuando torna a sentirse en sí, es con tan grandes ganancias y teniendo en tan poco todas las cosas de la tierra para en comparación de las que ha visto, que le parecen basura; y desde ahí adelante vive en ella con harta pena, y no ve cosa de las que le solían parecer bien, que le haga dársele nada de ella. Parece que le ha querido el Señor mostrar algo de la tierra adonde ha de ir, como llevaron señas los que enviaron a la tierra de promisión los del pueblo de Israel, para que pase los trabajos de este camino tan trabajoso, sabiendo adónde ha de ir a descansar. Aunque cosa que pasa tan de presto no os parecerá de mucho provecho, son tan grandes los que deja en el alma que si no es por quien pasa, no se sabrá entender su valor.
10. Por donde se ve bien no ser cosa del demonio; que de la propia imaginación es imposible, ni el demonio podría representar cosas que tanta operación y paz y sosiego y aprovechamiento deja en el alma, en especial tres cosas muy en subido grado: conocimiento de la grandeza de Dios, porque mientras más cosas viéremos de ella, más se nos da a entender. Segunda razón: propio conocimiento y humildad de ver cómo cosa tan baja en comparación del Criador de tantas grandezas, la ha osado ofender ni osa mirarle; la tercera, tener en muy poco todas las cosas de la tierra, si no fueren las que puede aplicar para servicio de tan gran Dios.
11. Estas son las joyas que comienza el Esposo a dar a su esposa, y son de tanto valor que no las pondrá a mal recaudo; que así quedan esculpidas en la memoria estas visitas, que creo es imposible olvidarlas hasta que las goce para siempre, si no fuese para grandísimo mal suyo; mas el Esposo que se las da, es poderoso para darle gracia que no las pierda.
12. Pues tornando al ánimo que es menester, ¿paréceos que es tan liviana cosa? ; que verdaderamente parece que el alma se aparta del cuerpo, porque se ve perder los sentidos y no entiende para qué. Menester es que le dé el que da todo lo demás. Diréis que bien pagado va este temor. Así lo digo yo. Sea para siempre alabado el que tanto puede dar. Plega a Su Majestad, que nos dé para que merezcamos servirle, amén.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Job.38.8-Job.38.11;Ps.104.9;Jer.5.22;Prov.8.29 — and he shut up the sea with doors, when it burst forth, issuing from the womb; Job.38.9 — when I made cloud its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band Job.38.10 — and I shattered upon it my decree, and I set a bar and doors; Job.38.11 — And I said, 'Thus far you shall come, and no farther; here your proud waves will be stayed.' Ps.104.9 — You set a boundary they shall not cross, nor shall they return to cover the earth. Jer.5.22 — Do you not fear me? declares the LORD. Do you not tremble before me? I placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, a perpetual decree that it cannot pass. Though its waves toss, they cannot prevail; though they roar, they cannot pass it. Prov.8.29 — When he set the sea its boundary, so that the waters would not pass his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
Notes
- 1 ↩Source has an unmatched closing parenthesis after "el cuerpo con ella)"; sense taken as a parenthetical aside that the body sometimes goes with the soul.
- 2 ↩«ámbar» is amber attracting straw by static force, Teresa's natural-philosophy image for irresistible seizure; kept as amber, not modernized away.
- 3 ↩«ya no tiene parte en sí» rendered as no longer having any claim on herself (self-abandonment), not as mere psychological selflessness.
- 4 ↩«este nuestro gran gigante y poderoso» is Teresa's figure for God continuing the amber-and-straw image; Giant kept capitalized as a divine epithet.
- 5 ↩Spanish potencias rendered as faculties (Teresa's memory, understanding, and will), not as vague powers.
- 6 ↩"avisadas por camino tan subido" rendered as "warned by so lofty a path" (instruction/awakening through an elevated mystical way); "avisadas" can also mean made aware/put on notice.
- 7 ↩"mercedes" rendered as "favors" (divine mystical gifts); "mercies" is also possible in traditional English.
- 8 ↩"quiebras" rendered as "failings" (breaks/breaches in the work); "cracks" or "lapses" are also possible.
- 9 ↩Idiom meaning to restrain oneself / check oneself; rendered as 'I hold myself back.'
- 10 ↩Refers especially to the hard last point just named: knowing one's poverty and having nothing of one's own to offer except what Christ gives.
- 11 ↩Feminine object pronoun most naturally resumes 'humildad' from the previous sentence.
- 12 ↩«toda junta» rendered as «altogether» (the soul as a whole), not as a mere gathering of parts.
- 13 ↩Kept Teresa's technical pair «visión intelectual» / «visión imaginaria» as «intellectual vision» / «imaginary vision» (standard mystical vocabulary), not as ordinary imagination.
- 14 ↩Source has a stray closing parenthesis after poner in "que le poner), que aunque"; translated as the intended relative clause without inventing a missing opener.
- 15 ↩Spanish operación here means the interior spiritual working/effect left in the soul, not merely outward activity; rendered as "effect" for modern readability.
- 16 ↩propio conocimiento is Teresa's standard term for self-knowledge before God; kept as "self-knowledge," not mere introspection.
- 17 ↩"no las pondrá a mal recaudo" is an early modern idiom for leaving something in bad/insecure safekeeping; rendered as "won't leave them poorly guarded" (the bride carefully keeping the jewels of these visits).
- 18 ↩Spanish le is ambiguous in isolation; from s2 the gift in view is ánimo (courage). Rendered explicitly as 'this courage' to keep the antecedent clear.
- 19 ↩Object of dé is elliptical in the Spanish ('nos dé para que…'); rendered as 'what we need' for the implied grace/means that makes worthy service possible.
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