Contemplative Haven: Like Purgatory on Earth (A Snippet from the 6th) 
Like Purgatory on Earth (A Snippet from the 6th)
In the final chapter of the Sixth Mansions, St. Teresa gives an account of the state of the soul just prior to its being brought into the last of the Mansions.
The soul has generally received many favours by this time, usually over a number of years, although St. Teresa tells us that because God has no limitations, “He can raise a soul to the highest point here mentioned in a single moment.”
The favours bestowed on the soul cause more pain than joy at this point. The soul, continually learning more about God’s greatness, experiences longing, love and desire for Him to such a degree and with such intensity, that the unfulfillment of complete union is almost unbearable.
St. Teresa again describes the smouldering fire within the soul - how the soul is interiorly burning. It is hypersensitive to its inability to totally enjoy the Lord, and all it takes is a “mere fleeting thought” or a remark overheard about “death’s long tarrying” for the soul to feel as if it has been struck a blow, or wounded by an arrow of fire (as discussed in an earlier post). The wound is deep, but, “not, I think, in any region where physical pain can be felt, but in the soul’s most intimate depths.” St. Teresa describes how the senses and faculties are enraptured when this occurs, except in whatever way allows the soul to experience this pain and distress, a distress of the soul so powerful that one will cry aloud.
This suffering of the soul, says St. Teresa, “resembles that of souls in purgatory”. It involves “great peril of death”, leaving “the limbs quite disjointed, and, for as long as it continues, the pulse is as feeble as though the soul were about to render itself up to God.”
Although the soul may have spent nearly a lifetime in abandonment to God, that is not now the case. All the soul knows now is that, “she is absent from her Good”, and the only question becomes, “why should she wish to live?” The soul finds itself in a “strange solitude”, with no companions on earth, desiring only His companionship in heaven. One feels suspended, “unable either to come down and rest anywhere on earth or to ascend into Heaven.” The soul experiences an intolerable, unquenchable thirst.
What is really happening here, just prior to entering the Seventh Mansions? We must remember that what will occur in the Seventh Mansions, the Spiritual Marriage, is the highest possible spiritual state attainable while in the body. For a soul who has attained to this spiritual level, a purification similar to that which occurs in Purgatory must take place. St. Teresa tells us, “It is well that great things should cost a great deal, especially if the soul can be purified by suffering and enabled to enter the seventh Mansion, just as those who are to enter Heaven are cleansed in purgatory. If this is possible, its suffering is no more than a drop of water in the sea.”
This type of distress of the soul comes and goes, and as St. Teresa recounts, can last anywhere from fifteen minutes to three or four hours. There is no way of, “dispelling the distress until the Lord Himself dispels it for her. This He does, as a general rule, by granting her a deep rapture or some kind of vision, in which the true Comforter comforts and strengthens her so that she can wish to live for as long as He wills.”
At this point, souls have reached the heights of suffering but not the heights of joy, for they are about to be brought into the Seventh Mansions, where, “He repays them for everything at once.”
The soul has generally received many favours by this time, usually over a number of years, although St. Teresa tells us that because God has no limitations, “He can raise a soul to the highest point here mentioned in a single moment.”
The favours bestowed on the soul cause more pain than joy at this point. The soul, continually learning more about God’s greatness, experiences longing, love and desire for Him to such a degree and with such intensity, that the unfulfillment of complete union is almost unbearable.
St. Teresa again describes the smouldering fire within the soul - how the soul is interiorly burning. It is hypersensitive to its inability to totally enjoy the Lord, and all it takes is a “mere fleeting thought” or a remark overheard about “death’s long tarrying” for the soul to feel as if it has been struck a blow, or wounded by an arrow of fire (as discussed in an earlier post). The wound is deep, but, “not, I think, in any region where physical pain can be felt, but in the soul’s most intimate depths.” St. Teresa describes how the senses and faculties are enraptured when this occurs, except in whatever way allows the soul to experience this pain and distress, a distress of the soul so powerful that one will cry aloud.
This suffering of the soul, says St. Teresa, “resembles that of souls in purgatory”. It involves “great peril of death”, leaving “the limbs quite disjointed, and, for as long as it continues, the pulse is as feeble as though the soul were about to render itself up to God.”
Although the soul may have spent nearly a lifetime in abandonment to God, that is not now the case. All the soul knows now is that, “she is absent from her Good”, and the only question becomes, “why should she wish to live?” The soul finds itself in a “strange solitude”, with no companions on earth, desiring only His companionship in heaven. One feels suspended, “unable either to come down and rest anywhere on earth or to ascend into Heaven.” The soul experiences an intolerable, unquenchable thirst.
What is really happening here, just prior to entering the Seventh Mansions? We must remember that what will occur in the Seventh Mansions, the Spiritual Marriage, is the highest possible spiritual state attainable while in the body. For a soul who has attained to this spiritual level, a purification similar to that which occurs in Purgatory must take place. St. Teresa tells us, “It is well that great things should cost a great deal, especially if the soul can be purified by suffering and enabled to enter the seventh Mansion, just as those who are to enter Heaven are cleansed in purgatory. If this is possible, its suffering is no more than a drop of water in the sea.”
This type of distress of the soul comes and goes, and as St. Teresa recounts, can last anywhere from fifteen minutes to three or four hours. There is no way of, “dispelling the distress until the Lord Himself dispels it for her. This He does, as a general rule, by granting her a deep rapture or some kind of vision, in which the true Comforter comforts and strengthens her so that she can wish to live for as long as He wills.”
At this point, souls have reached the heights of suffering but not the heights of joy, for they are about to be brought into the Seventh Mansions, where, “He repays them for everything at once.”
posted by Gabrielle at 11:42 PM
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