The Interior Castle

First Mansion — Self-Knowledge and Entry into the Castle

The Interior Castle (El Castillo Interior, or Las Moradas) was written by St. Teresa of Ávila (1515–1582), a Spanish Carmelite nun and Doctor of the Church, in 1577. In this masterwork of Christian mysticism, Teresa describes the soul as a castle of clear crystal or diamond, with many rooms — the dwelling places or Mansions (Moradas) — at whose centre God Himself abides. The soul's spiritual journey is a movement through these seven Mansions toward God at the heart of the castle.

The First Mansion — Self-Knowledge

Chapter I — The beauty and dignity of our souls; how there are many Mansions in the castle of the soul

I thought of the soul as resembling a castle, formed of a single diamond or a very transparent crystal, and containing many rooms, just as in heaven there are many mansions (John 14:2). Now if we think carefully over this, sisters, the soul of the righteous man is nothing but a paradise, in which, as God tells us, He takes His delight. What a room must that be, think you, in which so powerful a King, so wise, so pure, and so full of all that is good, can take His delight? I find nothing with which to compare the great beauty of a soul and its great capacity.

Before going further I want you to consider what it will mean to this castle — how beautiful and how resplendent — when it is clean and filled with light; and what it will mean to it when it is darkened, as it is when the soul is in sin. There is no darkness more deep, no element more murky and black, than a soul in sin. For God Himself, the Sun of righteousness, Who gave it all its brightness and beauty, is absent from it as entirely as He would be from a mirror darkened by being breathed upon.

Chapter II — How entrance into the first Mansions is obtained; the importance of self-knowledge

The gate by which to enter this castle is prayer and meditation. I do not say merely mental prayer or vocal prayer, for if it is prayer at all it must be accompanied by reflection. Without reflection on Who we are speaking to, what we are asking, and who is asking — it is not prayer. Self-knowledge is the most important thing in the spiritual life: so important that I would never have you neglect it.

However elevated the soul may be, let it never put aside self-knowledge, for we must never take our eyes from ourselves. If a person enters the first Mansions, let him know himself well; let him consider what a favor God has done him in bringing him there at all; and how truly he deserves to be in hell. This consideration of our wretchedness not only does not harm the soul, but it leads it upward.

Notice that I say we should avoid getting bogged down in self-knowledge and trying to plumb the depths of our sins. Once we have made our general confession, God does not want us to fix our eyes on the dark parts of ourselves in such a way that we lose heart and fail to press forward. Let us set our eyes on Christ, our Good; and from Him we shall learn true humility — greater than comes from our own abasement.

Second and Third Mansions — Prayer and Perseverance

The Second Mansion — Perseverance in Prayer

In the second Mansions are souls who have already begun to practice prayer and who realize the importance of not remaining in the first. They have not yet given up worldly pleasures — they have not wholly abandoned them — but they begin to have good desires, and sometimes, though but rarely, they put them into practice. They begin to use prayer as their weapon.

These souls have neighbors, relations, and companions who are in the first Mansions. Devils, in fact, place before them all manner of worldly pleasures, saying that they have enough of God and ought not to make such strange sacrifices, that they will ruin their health, that they will not be able to do what they were meant to do in the world. I know what a great mercy God shows to anyone He brings to the second Mansions; and I believe He shows an even greater mercy in keeping him there.

The Third Mansion — Life of Ordered Virtue

Those who have passed into the third Mansions have a great desire not to offend God; they guard themselves carefully even against venial sins; they love doing penance; they spend hours in recollection; they use their time well; they practice works of charity. Their lives are well ordered. This, surely, is a high state! And yet it is not without its dangers.

The danger of this dwelling-place is that the soul can become too contented with its own goodness. When God sends such souls some trial — a difficult person to deal with, an illness, a loss of their reputation — they bear it with little equanimity. They feel that they have been serving God well and He has repaid them unkindly. They feel sorry for themselves. They are generous with God — but only on their own terms.

The soul in the third Mansion needs to hear Our Lord's word to the rich young man: "If you would be perfect, go and sell what you have" (Matt. 19:21). In the heart this means: renounce your attachment to self-will, to your own way, to your own comfort. The soul that does this willingly will advance rapidly into the fourth Mansions and beyond.

Fourth Mansion — The Prayer of Recollection and Quiet

The Fourth Mansion — Supernatural Prayer Begins

Chapter I — The difference between consolations and spiritual delights; the prayer of recollection

To explain this I want to use a comparison of which I have often thought. You have heard of two troughs, or basins, which can be filled with water. There is one kind which is filled by means of many channels and the labor of man; and there is another trough which is filled at the very source of the water, at the spring itself — so that it fills without any noise. When this second basin is full, a great stream flows from it. No skill is needed here, and no labor.

Well, by means of these two basins I want to describe the two kinds of spiritual experience. Consolations — contentment and satisfaction — come at the end of meditation or vocal prayer; they are produced by our own efforts. But spiritual delights begin in God and end in the soul; and they overflow in such a way that the outward man also experiences what the inner man enjoys.

Chapter II — The prayer of quiet; the suspension of the faculties

In the prayer of quiet, the will is captive, and God holds it subject. Only the will is in captivity; and if it is to have any part in its own bliss, it must not attempt to move, for if it moves it will disturb the quiet. The memory and understanding may roam about on every side, and they will often be a great trial; do not concern yourself about this. Leave the mill: do not try to control the waters of a mill that is not moving, for the work is already being done.

Let the understanding cease its labor. It would be a great mistake for the soul to try to use discursive thought in this prayer. Remember that this is not the work of our hands; it surpasses our understanding, and we cannot reach it by our efforts. The best we can do is to recognize the gift as coming from God and to receive it humbly. As Saint Augustine says: "I sought Thee, O Lord, with outward eyes, and Thou wert within."

This state of prayer is a gentle drawing inward of the faculties, a withdrawal of the soul into itself to be with God. It is not a suppression of the faculties; it is rather that they cease their restless motion and repose in God. This is the beginning of what Teresa calls "supernatural prayer" — prayer that begins with God's initiative, not merely our own effort.

Fifth Mansion — The Prayer of Union

The Fifth Mansion — The Prayer of Union

Chapter I — How union begins; the silkworm

Oh, sisters! how can I make you understand the riches and treasures and delights to be found in the fifth Mansions? I think it would be better if I said nothing about those I have not reached myself, since it is so difficult to explain — and impossible for you to understand — unless you have already experienced it, in which case no explanation is needed.

I want to use a comparison to help you understand: you have heard of the wonders in the creation of silk, how from pepper-like seeds comes a creature that begins to live on mulberry leaves; and how it then weaves its own cocoon of silk, and dies within it; and then from that little creature, that was seemingly dead, a beautiful white butterfly emerges. Let us think of ourselves as silkworms. We spin the silk of good works in this life; and then, having died to ourselves in the prayer of union, we emerge entirely changed — as white butterflies. This little butterfly, now that it has left the cocoon, never finds rest in earthly things. Its home is now nowhere short of God.

Chapter II — What union is; the assurance it brings; love of neighbor

You ask what proof there is that the soul is really in this state. I believe there is one very clear sign: the soul now has a determination to suffer any trial for God — not in words, or by merely thinking about it, but in deeds. The soul that has truly been united with God has come out of the cocoon and can no longer enjoy the things it once enjoyed. Its only care is now to please God and to love its neighbor.

If you ask me how to know whether you have attained this union, the answer is this: love of neighbor. The more you advance in this love, the more you advance in the love of God also. Our Lord loves us so much that He will reward our love of others with His own love. We cannot know whether we love God — but we can know whether we love our neighbors, for love of neighbor is the surest sign of love of God (1 John 4:20).

Sixth and Seventh Mansions — Betrothal and Spiritual Marriage

The Sixth Mansion — Spiritual Betrothal and Trials

In the sixth Mansion the soul is now sorely wounded with love for its Spouse and seeks ever greater opportunity of being alone and of abandoning all that can interrupt its solitude. This is a state of great spiritual wealth, but also of great suffering. The soul receives very lofty favors — it hears the divine voice, experiences raptures and ecstasies, and is raised to heights of contemplation it has never known — yet at the same time it is assaulted by trials, interior and exterior, of a kind previously unknown.

The trials of this dwelling include: great persecution from within and without; periods of extreme darkness when God seems to have utterly abandoned the soul; temptations against faith and against the good things it has received; physical sufferings and illness; and above all, an intense longing for God that amounts almost to torment. The soul that endures these trials is being made ready for the ultimate gift — spiritual marriage.

The Seventh Mansion — Spiritual Marriage

Chapter I — The great grace of spiritual marriage

In the seventh and innermost Mansion, Our Lord brings the soul into His own dwelling before granting this grace of union; for He wishes the soul to see what is in this Mansion where He dwells. The soul is introduced into the centre of the soul where God Himself dwells, and where the three Persons of the Blessed Trinity reveal themselves in a certain intellectual vision — not as an imaginary vision but with a burning interior clarity. Here the three Persons are distinct; here each is seen and spoken with; and here they dwell permanently in the soul's interior.

This is very different from the Prayer of Union in the fifth Mansion, where the soul had no perception of the Persons; here the Trinity is clearly revealed. How is this possible? I do not know — the theologian can explain it better than I. I only know that this is true, and that the soul knows it to be so not because it is told, but because it clearly perceives it. This is spiritual marriage, for here God and the soul are united as fire and light, as water poured into a river — inseparably one, though remaining themselves.

Chapter II — The effects of spiritual marriage; the purpose of it all

The effects of this final dwelling are not raptures — these generally cease here — but a great peace and quietness, a constant awareness of the presence of the three Persons, a complete forgetfulness of self, and a great desire to suffer and to serve. The soul no longer fears death, and it desires to live only so that it may serve God. It has a great love for all souls and desires to help them enter this castle.

I wish to tell you why it is, in my opinion, that Our Lord grants these graces. It is not for the enjoyment of the soul; it is in order that it may be stronger to serve. In the end, what matters is not great delight in prayer, or even great consolations — what matters is that our works be truly good. The end of all this is that we become poor in spirit, rich in humility, and empty of self, so that the Beloved can take full possession of the castle that belongs to Him (Phil. 4:11–13).

Sisters, let us not desire delights, but the Cross; let us not seek sweetness, but to serve. Let our prayer be always that we may have something to offer Him who has given us so much. This is the purpose of prayer — indeed of the whole spiritual life — not that we may enjoy ourselves, but that we may be made capable of serving God and our neighbor with strong hands and undivided hearts.