A theology of grace in Teresa of Avila's Interior Castle

Spiritual Life, Fall 2003 by Zuger, Susan

Although pitying these poor, unfortunate souls-"Let us say no more, then, of these paralysed souls, who, unless the Lord Himself comes and commands them to rise, are like the man who had lain beside the pool for thirty years: they are unfortunate creatures and live in great peril"-Teresa concentrates, instead, on those who do eventually enter, but who are very much absorbed in worldly affairs. Concerning these souls, she notes realistically that "they commend themselves to Our Lord and they think about the state of their souls, though not very carefully." Because they are full of preoccupations, "they pray only a few times a month" and as a rule are thinking the whole time about their preoccupations, "for they are very much attracted to them, and, where their treasure is, there is their heart also."14

Letting Go

Because the soul will be called upon to let go of all the things it once thought important, Teresa says it is very difficult to enter and remain in the castle. She says:

At this early stage, as the soul is still absorbed in worldly affairs, engulfed in worldly pleasure and puffed up with worldly honors and ambitions, its vassals, which are the senses and the faculties given to it by God as part of its nature, have not the same power, and such a soul is easily vanquished.15

Because once the soul has committed to the effort and begins to grow in grace, many wonderful things begin to take place. Teresa then exhorts the soul to be brave and to move into the first rooms of the castle.

Teresa spends much time explaining the suffering that will occur for the soul as it moves through these first rooms. The soul will not be allowed to retain the things that once made it feel good about itself, at least not in the same way as before. As the radiance of God's truth shows the soul who it really is, the soul is filled with dismay that it could ever have thought so highly of itself. Intelligence, talent, popularity, and success, which it once thought so necessary, fall away like scales as it sees that those things are not the things God requires, nor do they make one worthy in God's eyes. Teresa demonstrates that everything is turned upside down in the castle. The soul sees clearly that it is not good because of anything it has become or because of any good works it has been able to accomplish. It begins to see that a humble love is all that matters. In the light of this prayerful understanding of its true self, there is an appreciation of what Jesus may have meant when he said, "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the gates of heaven."16

In this state of grace, it can see that being rich in anything is actually detrimental to the soul. One can be rich in many things, of course. A soul may be rich in relationships and think that this is a good thing and a much-deserved reward. When it sees the truth of itself through God's eyes, it will see how it has deceived and manipulated others so that it might take pride in having many friends. Or perhaps the soul is very talented in some area or has found that learning comes very easily. It convinces itself that these are gifts from God so that it can still feel holy. It even tells itself that God would want it to develop and use these gifts. This is true, perhaps, because it has been gifted in some special way, but this gift is not safe for the soul until it has been redeemed through God's grace: "To him who has been given much, much will be expected."17