Carmelite Mysticism A Primer

Paolo Miguel Cobangbang, T.O.Carm.

Teresa de Jesus Lecture Series In commemoration of the 5th Centenary of the Birth of Saint Teresa de Avila, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

(1515-2015)

About the Title

Para vos naci (born for You) came from one of St. Teresa de Jesus poems. The poem speaks of Teresas surrender to the Will of God; whatever comes her way.

Mysticism is seeking to profoundly understand the Will of God by experiencing it in our daily lives. This will be the synthesis of what Mysticism most particularly, Carmelite Mysticism is really all about.

What is Mysticism?

Harvey Egan, a Jesuit scholar on mysticism, gives us this definition of what Mysticism is.

[Mysticism] is the Christianity lived to the full, pursued to its ultimate and all-satisfying fulfilment. (Christian Mysticism: The Future of a Tradition, New York, 1984)

What is Mysticism?

This means that Mysticism is all about life experiences lived out with fulfilment. It is not really so much about experiences like visions or miracles. These (according to St. John of the Cross), are but external motivations from God to the soul in order to live according to His Will.

What is Mysticism?

Furthermore, Egan believes that:

Mysticism is the result of an unconditional response to unconditional love. The mystic wants and finds God alone, and in God finds and values everything else. What most characterizes mysticism therefore is love. (Christian Mysticism: The Future of a Tradition, New York, 1984)

What is Mysticism?

This means that in Mysticism, nobody is forced into it, nor there are strings attached. One freely gives himself to the Will of God through his daily life, and the fruit of this is the overflowing of Gods love in our daily lives.

Mysticism as a path of Purification

Teresa de Jesus and Juan de la Cruz explicitly taught that the life of Mysticism is not a bed of roses. One has to encounter the drying of the well or the darkening of the night in order for our Love of God to be purified. Human as we are, we may love God with impure intentions. God has to show us what it takes to follow Him, and in this way, the love is purified and eventually transcends our human limitations.

Notable examples:

St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, OCD (Edith Stein)

Bl. Teresa of Saint Augustine and Companions, martyrs of Compiegne

The Carmelite Mystics

Saint Teresa of Avila

Teresa Sanchez de Cepeda y Ahumada

Born: March 28, 1515

Died: October 4, 1582

Reformer of the Carmelite Order

Founded 17 communities of friars and nuns

Author: Autobiography, The Interior Castle, The Way of Perfection

Saint John of the Cross

Juan de Yepes y Alvarez Born: 1542 (exact date

debatable) Died: December 14, 1591 Reformer of the Carmelite

friars Prior, rector and

confessor Author: Ascent to Mount

Carmel, Dark Night of the Soul, The Spiritual Canticle

Carmelite mysticism

The mysticism of Carmel revolves around the life of the soul in union with God.

For Teresa, Prayer is an integral part of Mysticism. It is a passageway towards complete union with God. Therefore, methods on how to pray are important for the soul to reach perfection.

For John, our love of God must be purified by the trials, both internal and external, and from these purification stem out a proper discernment of our concupiscence.

Teresas Mysticism: Prayer

Teresa gave allusions on Prayer for two reasons:

So that she can explain properly her teachings on prayer; and

So that it will be easier to monitor ones progress towards union with God

Teresas Mysticism: Drawing Water

Teresa introduced her teaching on prayer with the allusion of drawing water from a source (i.e. a well). There are four (4) ways of drawing water:

Directly from a well;

With the use of a windlass (or a crankshaft);

Drawing water from irrigation ; and

Directly getting water from the rain

Teresas mysticism: Drawing Water

WATER is an allegory of the graces God gives to the soul. Our soul is likened to a garden, and the flowers that bloom are the merits and external fruits of the graces. God is the owner of the garden, and we are the stewards. The water we use to water the plants come from the owner; and from this springs forth the flowers adorning the Divine majesty.

Drawing directly from the well

Teresa explains that the neophyte soul takes from God the divine consolation manually by drawing water from a well. The well envisioned here is a small hole on the ground with water at the bottom of the hole. The soul draws it with much effort, and sometimes it seems that Gods consolation is as scarce as the water from the bucket that is thrown in the well.

Drawing directly from the well

The soul is like this during the first stage. We are making much effort in gathering the graces through our vocal prayer. Sometimes we receive consolation from God (i.e. answered prayers, enlightenment, etc.) but there will be times that there is just utter silence. Teresa says that one should continue praying in the midst of silence, because that will lead to the second manner of drawing water.

Drawing with the use of a windlass

A WINDLASS is a wheel where a dipper with a string is attached. The windlass acts as a pulley for easier and less fatiguing access to water. The windlass is lowered whenever one gets water from a well; and one brings the dipper up by cranking the waterwheel.

Drawing with the use of a windlass

Teresa says that the soul starts to recollect itself and come into quiet, thereby obtaining the graces one needed. It is supernatural, because it surpasses the vocal form of prayer, and the graces and consolations one receives from this form is far beyond answered favors. This is the initial start of contemplation.

Drawing water from irrigation

This is where one has abundant supply of water in one reservoir, and when the plants are needed to be watered, one simply has to lift the barrier from the reservoir so that the water may run into the whole field by a stream.

Drawing water from irrigation

Teresa explains that in this form and method of prayer, one surpasses the worldly experience of prayer and reaches the mystical experience of prayer. One sees the consolation of ecstasies, levitations, bilocations, etc. because the soul is in close union with God. The soul is still conscious with the world he is living in, but whenever he submits himself to deep prayer, he receives these kinds of consolations.

Drawing water from the rain

One needs no further effort. The plants are watered by the drops of rainwater from the sky. Not even the hands of the gardener touch the soil of the garden. He simply watches as the fields yield with flowers coming from the copious rain.

Driving water from the rain

The soul is in perfect union with God. The worldly consolations nor the supernatural occurrences as a result of deep prayer are no longer of any concern to the soul. Here, the soul unceasingly sings How lovely are Thy Tabernacles, Lord God of Hosts! (Ps. 84)

A note on distractions

Teresa said that distractions are okay. One has to acknowledge its presence and seek the help of God. In this way, distractions become a part of your prayer, and it will eventually seep into your contemplation till such a time that this distraction will no longer be a disturbance.

Teresas Mysticism: The Interior Castle

Teresa uses the allusion of a castle in one of her writings to describe the souls journey toward intimate union with God. This is useful also for the beginners in contemplation.

Mansion 1

In this mansion, the soul is in the state of grace, but is surrounded by sin. The soul seeks mercy from God in his humility. This is the initial part of the journey towards perfection.

Mansion 2

The soul is in a transition from the humbling experience of Gods mercy to the dedication to remain in the state of grace through thoughts of God, surrendering to His will and daily prayer. Teresa calls this the Mansion of Practice of Prayer.

Mansion 3

Because of the graces the soul receives from God through Mansion 2, the soul now has this discernment and fear of what real sin is, and not just a vain scruple. The soul is filled with Gods grace thereby leaving more room for perfection.

Mansion 4

Since the soul is already pure from the thoughts of sin and the concupiscence thereof, the soul starts to have close union with God. God sees that the soul had greatly improved and he does what God wishes him to do.

Mansion 5

The soul in this mansion prepares to receive gifts from God because the mission of the soul in Mansion 4 was accomplished. The soul here begins to receive gifts from God (vide: third way of drawing water). The soul is in spiritual betrothal with God.

Mansion 6

The soul is in the last stage before total and intimate union with God. The soul begins to detach ones self from the things of the world and from the external manifestations of the grace of God (i.e. ecstasies, etc.).

Mansion 7

The soul is in perfect union with God. (vide: 4th way of drawing water)

Johns Mysticism: The Dark Night of the Soul

John believes that intimate union with God does not only rely on prayer but on how we relate with this world we live in. Sensitivity with how we feel is very important.

There will have a time that as we journey with God towards perfect union with Him, the skies grow dark and the way too foggy and bleak for us to see our way through. This is the DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL.

Why Dark Night?

John states three reasons: The soul is no longer desirous of the things of this

world, nor is consoled by them. This is called Dark Night of the Senses.

The second reason has something to do with the road taken: faith. Not that this is a denial of the tenets of faith, but rather, we do not understand something that we cannot see (mainly because the darkness of our human frailty has engulfed us.

The third reason is the destination, God. Since we cannot understand faith, the possibility of seeing Gods face as our consolation grows bleak. This is the Dark Night of the Soul.

Not for the neophyte

John of the Cross teachings are for those who have mastered the contemplative life. They are now living the life of union with God; but we are still humans and because of our concupiscence, we are still having a hard time seeing God face-to-face.

Not for the neophyte

John uses the image of a mother and a child: the mother, during the initial years of the child, assists him in walking, feeding, grooming, etc. As the child grows, the grasp of the mother loosens and the child must discover the world by himself, even by the means of accidentally hurting himself.

Not for the neophyte

The soul then at first seek the good of the things he does. But as time goes by and as he matures, the soul transcends from those pleasurable things of these consolations and eventually develop virtue.

Carmeli ad alto vertrices (Let us go up to the Mount of Carmel)

If Teresa visualizes the souls journey to God as one would explore the castle with mansions (moladas) in it, John envisions our journey as climbing the arduous mountain of Carmel, where sometimes, we slip as we climb, we get lost But God is our refuge, and Mary, Queen, Ornament and Mistress of the mountain will show us the way.

The Seven Deadly Sins as imperfection

The seven deadly sins in the spiritual life of a soul is manifested according to Saint John of the Cross in how the soul receives the consolations given by God. Imperfections are part of our concupiscence and in itself are not sins, but to wallow into the pit of our imperfection is as Saint Alphonsus de Liguori says called TEPIDITY.

The Seven Deadly Sins as imperfection

The soul of a person starting to ascend Carmel (an allusion of the life of spiritual journey towards union with God) is highly attached to the senses. As such, our concupiscence prevents us from ascending towards perfection.

Spiritual Pride

John explains that the soul feels proud of his achievements in the spiritual life. He who is spiritually proud usually finds himself an authority in spiritual life. He takes upon himself the role of spiritual director, except that this should not be the case because of his inexperience. His basis was the temporary and fleeting sensual experience of the divine. Relying on the foretaste than on the real thing is the root of this pride.

Spiritual Avarice (Greed)

The soul tends to be addicted to the consolations. He prays and contemplates for the wrong reasons, so that he can savor the taste of consolations. The principal aim of a greedy soul is not to see God, but to see the light emanating from his glory.

Spiritual wrath (anger)

The wrathful soul is gravely angered when the consolations ceases to exists, and when his faults in the spiritual reals are revealed to him by inspiration of by his superiors. He harbors hatred against them, and even questions the capability of God to give consolations. He grows impatient and frustrated because it seems that consolations are not so abundant.

Spiritual gluttony

Just like spiritual avarice, the soul tries to get his sticky hands on all the consolations he can get the thing is that the externals he is after. He gathers all the indulgences he can get in his pious exercises for the wrong reasons. He collects sacramentals and receive the sacraments in a fanatic pious disposition.

Spiritual envy

The soul is envious of the spiritual progress of other souls, and will strive to get even or surpass the spiritual progress of others.

Spiritual lust

Although not very often manifested, the soul is aroused by the sensual manifestation of consolations given by God. The soul finds pleasure in crying in the confessional or making prayer rituals that look like the soul is in ecstasy. Some experts in mysticism even are in agreement that impure acts are actually hidden by pious dispositions.

Spiritual sloth

The soul refuses to walk towards union with God. Since the soul is already complacent with his present state, he wishes not to go on further and contents himself to savoring the scraps of mysticism. He refuses to hear sermons or confess and be directed.

Dark Night: a cure for imperfections

The Dark Night takes from these imperfect souls the pleasures of the mystical life, thereby letting them experience the barrenness of the imperfections. There are two types of purgation (purifications):

DARK NIGHT OF THE SENSES

DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL

Dark Night of the Senses

The soul is filled with the love of self because he feels that the consolations given by God are worthy of his merits as a mystic. God then as john would put it turns off the sweet waters of consolation thereby leaving the soul feeling destitute and lonely. Johns allusion to this is a child walking with an aid of an assistant, but feels strange after the assistant lets go of the little child as he walks alone.

Be warned!

Spiritual aridity and desolation is not necessarily an ultimate sign of progress in the contemplative life. It may be a result of our lukewarmness and tepidity. This is curable by undergoing spiritual direction (i.e. having your faults pointed out by a trusted spiritual director).

Signs if aridity is the dark night of just imperfections

1. The soul does not find SENSUAL PLEASURE in the things of God.

2. the memory is ordinarily centred upon God, with painful care and solicitude, thinking that it is not serving God, but is backsliding, because it finds itself without sweetness in the things of God.

3. the soul can no longer meditate or reflect in the imaginative sphere of sense as it was wont, however much it may of itself endeavour to do so. (John of the Cross, Dark Night of the Soul)