Contemplative Haven: Seventh Mansions (Part 2 of 3) 
Seventh Mansions (Part 2 of 3)
St. Teresa describes the Spiritual Marriage as a, “secret union [which] takes place in the deepest centre of the soul, which must be where God Himself dwells.” Through an intellectual vision, in an “instantaneous communication”, Jesus appears in the soul’s centre. The soul is filled with an indescribable delight, and Jesus shows the soul the glory of Heaven. Then:
“the soul (I mean the spirit of this soul) is made one with God, Who, being likewise a Spirit…has been pleased to unite Himself with His creature in such a way that they have become like two who cannot be separated from one another: even so He will not separate Himself from her.”
Although there had been a type of union earlier on, in the spiritual betrothal, at that time the divine companionship was intermittent, and when not in union (insofar as the soul could understand), the two parties could, “be separated and remain a thing by itself.” Not so after the Spiritual Marriage, where the soul, “remains all the time in that centre with its God.” God and the soul have become as one, and can be no more separated, says St. Teresa, than one could separate rain from a river into which it has fallen, or a stream that has entered the sea, or light that has entered a room from two different windows.
St. Teresa is reminded of St. Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians Ch. VI:17: “He who is joined to God becomes one spirit with Him.” She thinks perhaps he is referring to, “this sovereign Marriage, which presupposes the entrance of His Majesty into the soul by union.” It is at this point, St. Teresa tells us, that the little butterfly which has been flitting from Mansion to Mansion throughout this journey, finally dies, “and with the greatest joy, because Christ is now its life.”
St. Teresa speaks of the soul at this point as being, "in a state of pure spirituality, so that it might be joined with Uncreated Spirit in this celestial union."
She reiterates the Martha/Mary analogy, explaining that the Spiritual Marriage does not mean that the faculties, senses and passions will always be in a state of peace, but only the soul itself. Conflicts, trials and weariness will undoubtedly continue, but will not disturb the peace of the soul.
St. Teresa realizes how difficult this is to understand – the fact that the soul can be in complete peace after the Spiritual Marriage no matter what chaos may be going on all around it - and admits that “this ‘centre’ of our soul, or ‘spirit’, is something so difficult to describe…”. Yet she is adamant, to the point where this ever-humble, always cautious woman is capable of saying: “Think what you will; what I have said is the truth.”
Here, in the Seventh Mansions, says St. Teresa, is where God grants the bride’s request of, “Let him kiss me with kisses of his mouth!”, the first line of “The Song of Songs”. Here is part of that beautiful song/poem, from the verse called, “Love’s Union” :
I belong to my lover
and for me he yearns.
Come, my lover, let us go forth
to the fields
and spend the night among
the villages.
Let us go early to the vineyards,
and see
if the vines are in bloom,
If the buds have opened
if the pomegranates have
blossomed;
There will I give you my love.
(Eva Cassidy, singer and artist, died in 1996 of melanoma, at the age of 33)
posted by Gabrielle at 8:45 AM
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