I. Nevertheless, my daughters, I will try to tell you

about the prayer of quiet, as I have heard it explained or as our Lord has been pleased to make me understand it — perhaps in order that I might teach you. Here God seems to show us that He has heard our petition, and He begins to give us His kingdom in this world, so that we may truly “ hallow ” and bless “ His name,” and try to make others do the same. However, as I
1 Valladolid edition, ch. xxxiii. ; Escorial, continuation of ch. lii. and ch. liii.
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CHAP. XXXI.] PRAYER OF QUIET.
said, I have written elsewhere about the prayer of quiet,* so I will do little but touch on the subject here. This prayer is a supernatural state to which no effort of our own can raise us, because here the soul rests in peace — or rather, our Lord gives it peace by His presence, as He did to the just man, Simeon. Thus all the faculties are calmed, and in some manner, in no way connected with the exterior senses, the spirit realises that it is close to its God, and that if it drew but a little nearer to Him, it would become one with Him by union. This is not because such a person sees Him, either with the corporal or spiritual sight. Thus the holy Simeon, while bearing in his arms the glorious Infant, poor and wrapped in swaddling-clothes and followed by a procession of only two attendants, might more easily have taken Christ for the child of indigent parents than for the Son of the heavenly Father. But the Babe Himself gave the old man light to recognise Him, as He enlightens the soul to recognise Him during the prayer of quiet. It cannot tell how it knows Him, yet it feels sure it is in that “ kingdom,” or at least, near the King from Whom the kingdom is to come. So reverential is the awe felt by such a soul that it dares, ask nothing of God.
2. This state resembles a swoon, both exterior and interior, so that the exterior man (or as I will call it,
2 Life, ch. xiv. and xv. Concep. ch. iv. Castle, M. iv. ch. i, 4, 5 ; ch. ii. 3-8 ; ch. hi. 7.
198 THE WAY OF PERFECTION. [CHAP. XXXI.
the body,” lest some simpleton among you may say she does not know what exterior ” and “ interior ” mean) does not wish to move, but rests like a traveller who, having nearly come to his journey’s end, stops so that he may start again refreshed, for the strength of the soul is now double what it was. The body feels enjoyment while the spirit is supremely satisfied and so delighted at finding itself near the fountain, that before even tasting the water, its thirst is quenched, and there seems nothing left to desire. The faculties are reluctant to stir ® ; all action seems to impede their loving God — yet they are not entirely lost, for they can, and do realise, by peaceful contemplation, in Whose Presence they ar^. Two of them are free ; the will alone is captive, and, if capable of feeling pain at this time, can only do so at the thought that it will regain its liberty. The mind centres itself on one thing only and works but little, and the memory tries to remember nothing else, for both see that this is “ the one thing needful,” and that anything else disturbs them. At such a time, people wish the body to remain motionless ; they think its movement would destroy their repose, therefore they dare not stir. Speaking troubles them : they spend an hour in saying one Pater Noster : being very close to God, they know that He understands them by signs. They are in the palace, and near their King, and they
3 L,ife, ch. XV. i,
CHAP. XXXI.] '' HALLOWED BE THY NAME.’’ I99
perceive that here on earth He is beginning to bestow on them His ‘‘ kingdom.”
3. At times they shed a few tears, not sadly, but with extreme sweetness : their only wish is that the name of God may be ‘‘ hallowed.” They seem no more to belong to this world — they neither wish to look at, nor to listen to aught but God : nothing troubles them, nor does it seem as if anything ever could do so again. In short, while the prayer of quiet lasts, the soul is so in- toxicated with delight and joy that there no longer seems anything left to long for, and it would gladly cry, with St. Peter, “ Lord, let us build here three tabernacles ” ! *
4. Occasionally during the prayer of quiet, God bestows on the soul another grace that is difficult to understand by any one who has not experienced it. Any among you who -have done so, will recognise it at once, and will be very glad to know what it is. I believe God often gives this favour with the other. When the quiet is great and lasts long, I think the will must be held fast in some way, or such peace could not be pro- tracted. Sometimes, although we cannot understand why, it lasts for one or two days. I am speaking here of souls raised to this degree of prayer. They are con- scious that their attention is not entirely given to what- ever they may be doing, but that the chief factor— that
^ St. Matt. xvii. 4 : “ Doming, . . . faciamus hie tria taber- nacula.”
200 THE WAY OF PERFECTION. [CHAP. XXXI.
is, the will — is wanting. I believe that it is united to God, leaving the other powers free to attend to His service. The latter are more apt than ever for this, but are dull and at times even imbecile concerning worldly affairs. God grants a great favour to these souls, for the contemplative and active life are here combined. Thus the whole being serves Him, for the will, while wrapped in contemplation, works, without knowing how, and the other two powers share Martha’s labour — thus Martha and Mary toil together.® I knew some one whom our Lord often raised to this state. She could not understand it, and questioned a great con- templative, who told her that such a thing was quite possible and indeed had happened to himself. From the soul feeling such entire satisfaction, I believe that during most of the time the prayer of quiet lasts, the will must be united to Him Who alone can satisfy it.
5. Perhaps it would be well to give some advice to those to whom God, solely out of His beneficence, has granted this prayer. This, I know, has been the case with some among you. Firstly, souls feel this joy, and though they do not know where it came from and see that they could not gain it for themselves, yet they are tempted to imagine they can retain it, and even try to do so by holding their breath. This is absurd — we cannot
® Life, oh. xvii. 6. Rel. viii. 6. Concep. ch. vii. 4. Castle, M. yii. ch. i. 14 ; ch. iv. 17, Way of Perf. ch. xvii. 4.
CHAP. XXXI.]
DISTRACTIONS.
201
make the day break, nor can we stop night from coming on. This prayer is no work of ours : it is supernatural and utterly beyond our control. The surest way to prolong it is to recognise that we can neither diminish nor add to it, and, unworthy as we are, we can but receive this grace with thanksgiving — and this, not by daring to utter many words, but like the publican, by only raising our eyes.
6. It is well to seek solitude, so as to give place to our Lord, and to allow Him to do His work. We may occasionally make a gentle aspiration, as one blows a candle that is going out in order to rekindle it, though, if it had been burning brightly, our breath would only have extinguished it. I think we should ignite it gently, for by straining our minds to compose long sentences the will might be disturbed. Pay great attention to the following piece of advice. You will often find that you cannot aid yourselves with either of the other powers : while the soul is immersed in peace the imagination is so distracted that it seems to take no part in what is passing in the house, but to be merely lodging in it as a stranger. Being unhappy at home, it looks for some other dwelling, not knowing how to enjoy this repose. Perhaps this only happens in my case, and other people do not suffer in the same way.® Sometimes — I am only speaking of myself — I long to die, so hopeless is it to attempt to control my thoughts. At other times, ® Castle, M. iv. ch. i. 8-13. Life, ch. xv. 10 ; ch. xxx. 19.
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the mind seems settled at home and stays with the will. When the three faculties concur, this state resembles heaven. It may be compared to a loving married couple who are happy together and who both wish for the same things, but a bad husband makes his wife very wretched.
7. Mark well what I say, for it is most important. When the will enjoys this quiet, it should take no more notice of the understanding than it would of an idiot. If it tries to force the imagination to keep it company, it will perforce be preoccupied and disturbed, and in a state of painful struggle : thus, instead of profiting, the soul will lose what God was giving it without its having made any effort. Think well over the comparison which I am about to make — our Lord suggested it to me in this very state of prayer and it explains my meaning very clearly. The soul is here like a babe at the breast of its mother, who, to please it, feeds it without its moving its lips.’ Thus it is now, for the soul loves without using the understanding. Our Lord wishes it to realise, without reasoning about the matter, that it is in His company. He desires that it should drink the milk He gives, and enjoy its sweetness, while acknowledging that it is receiving a divine favour, and that it should delight in its own happiness. He does not require the soul to know how it enjoys this, nor what it is enjoying, but to forget itself. He Who is beside it will care for its highest interests.
^ Concep. ch. iv. 6. Castle, M. iv. ch. iii. 9.
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CHAP. XXXI.] DIFFERENCES.
Any effort made to constrain the mind to take part in what is passing will result in failure and the soul will be forced to lose the milk — that is, the divine nourishment.
8. The prayer of quiet differs from that of union,® in which the spirit is entirely united to God. In the latter, the soul does not even swallow the nourishment, which, without its knowledge, God Himself places within it. During the former prayer, He appears to wish the soul to work a little, although with so much ease as hardly to be conscious of any labour. My meaning will be clear to any one who has enjoyed this degree of prayer, if she reads this attentively : what I say is important, although to others it may seem only jargon. In this state the mind disturbs the soul, which is not the case when there is union of the three faculties. Their Creator then sus- pends them, the delight He bestows on them keeping them occupied without their being able to understand why. Therefore during this prayer of union, which is a peaceful and supreme content of the will, together with a feeling of repose, the soul cannot decide with certainty what it enjoys, although recognising the immense difference between this and all earthly pleasures. To possess the whole world, with all its delights, would not bring such happiness to the interior of the will, for, as it appears to me, all the joys of this life only reach the exterior of the will, or its rind, as we may call it.
® Life, ch. xvii. 5, 6.
204 THE WAY OF PERFECTION. [CHAP. XXXI.
9. When any of you find yourselves in the high state of the prayer of quiet, — which, as I said, is manifestly supernatural, — if the mind, or to speak more clearly, the imagination, wanders about after the greatest nonsense in the world, laugh at it, treat it as a lunatic and main- tain your own peace.® Thoughts will come and go, but here the will is mistress and recalls them without your troubling yourselves in the matter. If you try to control them by force you will lose your power over them, which comes from the divine nourishment within you, and neither the one nor the other will gain, but both will be losers. As the proverb says : “ Grasp at too much and you will catch nothing,” and this seems the case here. Experience will bring my meaning home to you ; without it, what I have told you may well seem superfluous and obscure. However, a very little ac- quaintance with it will make my words clear ; they may help your souls, and you will thank God for having enabled me to explain the matter. We need a great deal of experience to understand this until we have read about it : afterwards we easily comprehend it. To conclude with, it may be affirmed that when the soul
® “ Everybody is not so distressed and assaulted by these weaknesses as I have been for many years. . . . The thing is inevitable, therefore do not let it disturb or distress you, but let the mill clack on while we grind our wheat ; that is, let us continue to work with our will and intellect ” {Castle, M. iv, ch. i. 12).
CHAP. XXXI.] DETACHMENT. 205
is raised to this prayer, the Father has granted its request and His “ kingdom ” has “ come ” to it on earth.
10. O holy prayer ! wherein, unwittingly, we crave so great a good ! What a blessed petition to make ! This, sisters, is the reason I want us to say the Pater Noster and other prayers with care, and to think about what we ask for in them. Most certainly, when once God has shown us this favour, we ought to forget all worldly things, for the Lord of the whole earth has come and cast them forth. I do not mean that all who have enjoyed the prayer of quiet must necessarily be detached from everything in this world ; but I wish them to know what they ought to be, and to try to mortify themselves in every way, otherwise they will stop here. They should not ask for so precious a gift as if it were worthless, and if God grants it them, let them not throw it back at Him.
11. God shows, by bestowing these pledges on the soul, that He designs it for great things. The fault will be its own if it does not make great progress. How- ever, if He sees that, after He has set within it the kingdom of heaven, it returns to this world, not only will He desist from revealing to it the mysteries of His kingdom, but He will only show it the former favour at rare intervals and for a short time. I may be mistaken, but I have both seen and known that this occurs. I believe that the reason why so many persons fail to become thoroughly spiritual
Castle, M. iv. ch. ii. 7 ; M. v. ch. ii. 4, 5 ; ch. iv. 2, 9.
2o6 the way of perfection. [chap. XXXI.
is that they do not worthily respond, by their actions, to this signal grace by preparing themselves to re- ceive it again. They withdraw from our Lord’s hands their will, which He considered His property : as they centre their affections on base things. He seeks other souls whose love for Him is so fervent that He can grant them even more sublime favours. Still, He does not altogether deprive the former persons of what He gave them, provided they keep a good conscience.
12. There are many souls (and I was among their number), whom God moves to devotion and visits with holy inspirations and light “ to know the worthlessness of all earthly things, and on whom He finally bestows His kingdom in this prayer of quiet. Yet these souls close their ears against Him because they prefer to speak and to hurry through a number of vocal prayers as if a task had been set them to say a certain amount every day. Thus, when our Lord puts His kingdom into their possession, by means of the prayer of quiet and interior peace, they will not accept it, but think they can do better by reciting prayers which distract their attention. Do not imitate them, my sisters, but be attentive when God gives you this grace ; think what a priceless treasure you would lose, and be assured that you had far better say one petition of the Pater Noster from time to time than repeat the whole prayer mechanically and hurriedly, Castle, M. iv. ch. ii. 6.
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CHAP. XXXII.] god's will.
over and over again. He to Whom you speak is very near you — He cannot fail to hear, and I believe that in this way we truly praise and “ hallow ” His name. Now that you are the inmates of His house, you glorify Him with stronger love and desire ; indeed, it seems as if you could not choose but serve Him. I advise you to be very careful about this, as it is of the utmost importance.