Chapter XXVIII

Describes the prayer of recollection and lays down rules for practising it. [Escorial: begins to teach how to recollect the mind.]¹

1. 'Who art in heaven.' Where this 'heaven' is. 2. How God makes His heaven in our soul. 3. It is false humility not to recognise this. 4. The prayer of recollection. 5. Its advantages. 6. Exterior signs of recollection. 7. Result of practising recollection. 8. How it helps our progress. 9. The interior palace. 10. How to treat our Divine Guest. 11. How He dilates our soul. 12. What He asks of us in return.

'Who art in heaven.'

1. Do you suppose it is of little consequence whether or not you know what this heaven is, and where you 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 dwells² 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.³ It is of no slight importance for a soul given to wandering thoughts to realise this truth⁴ 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 to take wings to find Him, but have only to seek solitude and to look within ourselves. You need not be overwhelmed 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 I 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. Be convinced of your need of realising that God dwells within you, and that you may remain there with Him.⁵

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',⁶ 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 otherwise 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 themselves 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 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 therefore 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 recollection, which may be more or less, is not very great. In the beginning it requires a painful effort, for the body claims its rights, not understanding that its rebellion 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 recollected 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 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.

9. I wish you to understand this prayer thoroughly: as I told you, it is called the prayer of recollection.⁷ Let us realise that we have within us a most splendid palace⁸ 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.⁹ 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 understand well that we have within us an incomparably greater treasure than anything we can see around us. 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,¹⁰ I should not 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 fill a thousand worlds should enclose Himself within so narrow a compass!¹¹ 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 dismayed at seeing that a thing so petty as itself can contain One Who is infinite, He does not manifest Himself¹² until, by degrees, He has dilated it as far as is requisite for it to contain all that He intends¹³ 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 whatever 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 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 ourselves entirely to Him. This is an undoubted truth which I insist upon so often because of its great importance. 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 condescension 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.

Footnotes

1. Valladolid edition, ch. xxx.; Escorial, ch. xlvi. ↩

2. Castle, M. i. ch. ii. 8. ↩

3. 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. 1. ↩

4. Life, ch. xiv. 7, 8; ch. xviii. 20. ↩

5. Life, ch. xiv. 2, sqq. Rel. viii. 3, 23. ↩

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

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

8. Castle, M. i. ch. i. 2, sqq. ↩

9. Castle, M. ii. ch. i. 1-4. ↩

10. 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 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. ↩

11. Life, ch. xviii. 17. ↩

12. Castle, M. vii. ch. i. 9-12. ↩

13. Castle, M. iv. ch. i. 5; ch. ii. 5. ↩