I. Do you suppose it is of little consequence whether

or not you know what this heaven is, and where you
^ Valladolid edition, cb, xxx. ; Escorial, ch. xlvi.

176

THE WAY OF PERFECTION. [CHAP. XXVIII.

must seek your most holy Father ? I assure you that
it is most important for restless minds not only to know
this, but to realise it by experience, for it is a most
efficient means of concentrating the thoughts, and of
recollecting the soul. You know that God is everywhere,
which is most true. Now, the place in which the king
dwells ^ is called his court : so, wherever God dwells,
there is heaven, and you may feel sure that all which
is glorious is near His Majesty.

2. Remember what St. Augustine tells us — I think
it comes in his Meditations : how he sought God in
many places and at last found the Almighty within
himself.* It is of no slight importance for a soul given
to wandering thoughts to realise this truth, ^ and to see
that it has no need to go to heaven in order to speak
to the eternal Father or to enjoy His company : nor
is it requisite to raise the voice to address Him, for He
hears every whisper, however low. We are not forced

2 Castle, M. i. ch. ii. 8.

2 This quotation is from a medieval book bearing the title
Soliloquia of St. 'Augustine, which was translated into Spanish
from the edition of Venice of 1512, and published, together with
the Meditations and the Manuale (hence St. Teresa’s mistake)
at Valladolid in 1515 and again at Medina del Campo in 1553,
and at Toledo in 1565. The passage alluded to occurs in chapter
xxxi. St. Teresa quotes it also in her Life (ch. xl. 10) and in
the Interior Castle, M. iv. ch. iii. 3, and St. John of the Cross
quotes another passage from the same work in the Ascent of
Mount Carmel, bk. i. ch. v. i,

* Life, ch. xiv. 7, 8; ch. xviii. 20.

r

CHAP. XXVIII.] FALSE HUMILITY. I77

to take wings to find Him, but have only to seek solitude
and to look within ourselves. You need not be over-
whelmed with confusion before so kind a Guest, but,
with utter humility, talk to Him as to your Father :
ask for what you want as from a father : tell Him your
sorrows and beg Him for relief, realising, at the same time,
that you are unworthy to be called His daughter.

3. Lay aside a certain reticence which some people
maintain towards Him, under the impression that it is
humility. Humility would not lead you to refuse a
favour from the king, but would make you accept and
take pleasure in it, although you recognised how little
it was your due. What humility ! I receive in my
house the Lord of heaven and earth. Who comes to
show me kindness and to talk to me, and, because of
my humility, I neither answer nor remain with Him,
nor accept His gifts, but go away and leave Him alone !
And though He allows me, and even bids me, to ask Him
for wealth, yet through humility I remain in my poverty,
and even permit Him to depart because He sees that 1
want resolution to speak to Him. Practise no such
humility, my daughters, but address Him sometimes as
a Father or as a Brother, or again as a Master or as your
Bridegroom : sometimes in one way and sometimes in
another, for He will teach you what He wishes you to do.
Do not be foolish : remind Him that He has promised
to be your Bridegroom, and treat Him as if He were.

12

178 THE WAY OE PERFECTION. [CHAP. XXVlll.

Be convinced of your need of realising that God dwells
within you, and that you may remain there with Him.®

4. Although only vocal, yet this kind of prayer rivets
the thoughts much more quickly than any other kind,
and has many advantages. It is called “ recollection,” ®
because by its means the soul collects together all the
faculties, and enters within itself to be with God. The
divine Master thus comes more speedily than He other-
wise would to teach it and to grant it the prayer of
quiet. For, being retired within itself, the spirit can
meditate on the Passion and can there picture in its
thoughts the Son, and can offer Him to the Father,
without tiring the mind by journeying to find Him on
Mount Calvary, or in the garden, or at the column.

5. Those who are able thus to enclose themselves within
the little heaven of their souls where dwells the Creator
of both heaven and earth, and who can accustom them-
selves not to look at anything nor to remain in any
place which would preoccupy their exterior senses,
may feel sure that they are travelling by an excellent
way, and that they will certainly attain to drink of the
water from the fountain, for they will journey far in a
short time. They resemble a man who goes by sea, and
who, if the weather is favourable, gets in a few days

® Escorial edition, ch. xlvii. Begins to explain the prayer
of recollection.

• Life, ch. xiv. 2, sqq. Rel. viii. 3, 23.

CHAP. XXVIII.] SIGNS OP RFXOLLPCTtON. I79

to the end of a voyage which would have taken far
longer by land. These souls may be said to have already
put out to sea, and though they have not quite lost
sight of terra firma, still they do their best to get away
from it by collecting their faculties.

6. If this recollection is genuine it is easily discerned,
for it produces a certain effect that I cannot describe,
but which will be recognised by those who know it from
personal experience. The soul seems to rise from play
— for it sees that earthly things are but toys — and there-
fore mounts to higher things. Like one who retires into
a strong fortress to be out of danger, it withdraws the
senses from outward things, so thoroughly despising
them that involuntarily the eyes close so as to veil
from the sight what is visible, in order that the eyes of
the soul may see more clearly. Those who practise this
prayer almost always keep their eyes shut during it.
This is an excellent custom for many reasons, because
one thus forcibly prevents oneself from looking at earthly
things. This restraint is only required when one first
begins to practise this prayer : later on a strong effort
would be needed to open the eyes. The soul appears
to gather strength and to dominate itself at the expense
of the body, which it leaves lonely and enfeebled, and
thereby gains a stronger empire over it.

7. At first these signs are not apparent, as the recol-
lection, which may be more or less, is not very great.

l8o THE WAY OF PERFECTION. [CHAP. XXVIII.

In the beginning it requires a painful effort, for the
body claims its rights, not understanding that its rebel-
lion is suicidal. Yet, by persevering in the habit for
several days, and by controlling ourselves, the benefits
that result will become clear. We shall find that when
we begin to pray, the bees will return to the hive and
enter it to make the honey, without any effort on our
part, for our Lord is pleased to reward the soul and the
will by this empire over the powers, in return for the
time spent in restraining them. Thus the mind only
requires to make them a sign that it wishes to be recol-
lected and the senses will immediately obey it and retire
within themselves. Although afterwards, they may
wander again, still it is a great thing to have conquered
them, for they go forth as captives and servants and
cannot do the mischief they did before. When the
will recalls them they return more quickly, until, after
they have re-entered a number of times, our Lord
is pleased that they should settle entirely in perfect
contemplation.

8. Pay great attention to what I have said, for though
it may seem obscure, yet any one who practises it will
understand it. Since we can thus make the journey
by sea, and it is imperative for us to lose no time over
it, let us consider how to accustom ourselves to such a
good habit. Souls are thereby delivered from many
occasions of sin, and are more easily inflamed by the

CHAP. XXVIII.] INTERIOR PALACE. l8l

fire of divine love, for as they are near this fire, any
little spark that reaches them will, with but a mild blast
of the understanding, at once ignite them. Exterior
hindrances being removed, the soul is alone with its
God and is predisposed to take fire.

g. I wish you to understand this prayer thoroughly :
a's I told you, it is called the prayer of recollection.’
Let us realise that we have within us a most splendid
palace,* built entirely of gold and precious stones —
in short, one that is fit for so great a Lord — and
that we are partly responsible for the condition of this
building, because there is no structure so beautiful as
a soul filled with virtues, and the more perfect these
virtues are the more brilliantly do the jewels shine.®
Within this palace dwells the mighty King Who has
deigned to become your Father, and Who is seated on
a throne of priceless value — by which I mean, your
heart.

10. At the first glance you may think that such a
simile to explain this truth is far-fetched, yet it may
prove very useful to you, for we women are not learned,
and must make use of every means in order to under-
stand well that we have within us an incomparably
greater treasure than anything we can see around us.

’’ Escorial, ch. xlviii. Makes a comparison and suggests a
way of accustoming the soul to retire within itself.

® Castle, M. i. ch. i. i sqq. » Castle, M. iii. ch. i. 4.

i82

THE WAY OF PERFECTION. [CHAP. XXVIII.

Let US not fancy that the centre of our soul is empty :
God grant that none but women may overlook this
fact. If we took care to remember what Guest we
have within us, I think it would be impossible for us to
give ourselves up so much to worldly vanities and cares,
for we should see how vile they are in comparison with
the riches within us. What more do the brutes do
than satisfy their hunger by seizing on whatever takes
their fancy ? Yet how different should we be from
them, seeing that we are children of a heavenly Father !
Perhaps you will laugh at me and say that this is
obvious enough. You may be right, yet I took a long
time to realise it. Although I knew that I possessed a
soul, yet I did not appreciate its value, nor remember
Who dwelt within it, because I had blinded my eyes
with the vanities of this life. I think that, had I
understood then as I do now, that so great a King
resided in the little palace of my soul,^® I should not

“ Remember that the Word, the Son of God, together with
the Father and the Holy Ghost, is hidden in essence and in
presence in the inmost being of the soul. The soul, therefore,
that will find Him must go out from all things in will and
affection, and enter into the profoundest recollection, and all
things must be to it as if they existed not, . . , O thou soul,
most beautiful of creatures, who so earnestly longest to know
the place where thy Beloved is, that thou mayest seek Him
and be united to Him ! Thou art thyself that very tabernacle
where He dwells, the secret chamber of His retreat where He
is hidden. Rejoice, therefore, and exult, because all thy good
and all thy hope is so near thee as to be within thee ; yea, rather

CHAP. XXVIII.] SOUL DILATED. 183

have left Him alone so often, but should have stayed
with Him sometimes and not have kept His dwelling-
place in such disorder.

11. How wonderful it is that He, Who by His
immensity could hll a thousand worlds, should enclose
Himself within so narrow a compass ! “ Thus was He
pleased to be contained within the bosom of His most
holy Mother. He is Lord, therefore He is free to act,
and, loving us as He does. He accommodates Himself
to our measure. At first, lest the soul should feel dis-
mayed at seeing that a thing so petty as itself can contain
One Who is infinite. He does not manifest Himself,
until, by degrees. He has dilated it as far as is requisite
for it to contain all that He intends to infuse into it.
I say that “He is free to act,” because He is able to
enlarge this palace.

12. The chief point is that we should resolutely give
Him our heart* for His own, and should empty it of
everything else, that He may take out, or put in, what-
ever He pleases, as if it were His own property. This is
the condition He makes, and He is right in doing so :
do not let us refuse it Him. Even in this life we find

rejoice that thou canst not be without it, for lo, ‘ the kingdom of
God is within you’ (St. Luke xvii. 21).” St. John of the
Cross, Spiritual Canticle, stanza i. 7, 8.

Life, eh. xviii. 17,

12 Castle, M. vii. ch. i. 9-12.

Castle, M. iv. ch, i. 5 ; *ch. ii. 5.

184 THE WAY OF PERFECTION. [CHAP. XXVIII.

visitors very troublesome at times, when we cannot
tell them to go away. As Christ does not force our
will, He only takes what we give Him, but He does not
give Himself entirely until He sees that we yield our-
selves entirely to Him. This is an undoubted truth,
which I insist upon so often, because of its great import-
ance. Nor does He work within the soul to the same
extent when it is not wholly given to Him — indeed, I
cannot see how He could, for He likes all things to be
done suitably. But, if this palace is crowded with
common people and rubbish, how can it receive our
Lord with all His court ? It would be a great con-
descension on His part to stay even for a very short time
amid such disorder. Do you think, daughters, that He
is alone when He comes to us ? Does not His Son say,
“ Who art in heaven'' ? The courtiers of such a King
do not leave Him in solitude : they throng round Him
and pray for our welfare, for they are full of charity.
Do not imagine that heaven is like this world, where, if
a prince or prelate shows partiality for any one for some
special reason, or out of friendship, other people at
once feel jealous and abuse the poor man who has never
injured them, so that the favours he receives cost him
dear.

CHAP. XXIX.l

INDIFFERENCE.

185