Contemplative Haven: Seventh Mansions (Part 3 of 3) 
Seventh Mansions (Part 3 of 3)
Lord, What Wilt Thou Have Me To Do?
As with the stages of prayer throughout each of the Mansions, the benefit of attaining the Spiritual Marriage can only be seen by the effects and the fruits.
St. Teresa outlines eight main effects of the Spiritual Marriage: self-forgetfulness; a great desire to suffer, but only if it is God’s will; interior joy when persecuted along with a love for enemies; a great desire to live in order to serve Him; no desire for favours and consolations and no more raptures, transports or flights of the spirit; a marked detachment; no aridities or interior trials; and caution, through humility, concerning the possibility of slipping back into sin. St. Teresa wishes to make it clear that all of these effects are not necessarily present in the soul at all times, and for this reason she refers to them as being “habitually present”.
But why does the Lord give the soul so many favours and consolations along the journey, finally bringing it into the Transforming Union, the Spiritual Marriage? Is it simply to give a soul the glory and joy of being One with the Lord? No, says St. Teresa. She wants no one to believe that, “He does it simply to give these souls pleasure.” She tells us that she is certain that it is to strengthen the soul, so that one is able to imitate Christ’s sufferings: “For His Majesty can do nothing greater for us than grant us a life which is an imitation of that lived by His Beloved Son.” In the Transforming Union the soul is, “made one with the Strong”, and shall “gain strength through the most sovereign union of spirit with Spirit.”
St. Teresa refutes the notion that souls who have reached the heights of contemplation spend the rest of their lives simply enjoying the Lord for their own peace and personal fulfillment. She writes, “…the only repose that these souls enjoy is of an interior kind; of outward repose they get less and less, and they have no wish to get more.”
Why are they getting less and less outward repose? Here is perhaps the startling answer, the reason why the soul has undergone this steady stream of strengthening in contemplative prayer: not for our enjoyment, says St. Teresa, “but for the sake of acquiring this strength which fits us for service.”
St. Teresa tells us, “…if the Lord makes His special abode in the soul…its whole thought will be concentrated upon finding ways to please Him and upon showing Him how it loves Him. This, my daughters, is the aim of prayer: this is the purpose of the Spiritual Marriage, of which are born good works and good works alone.”
But has not the soul surpassed this requirement now, of performing service, since it has reached the heights of contemplation? Have we not been taught to imitate Mary rather than Martha – Mary, who is said to have chosen the better part?
Yes, says St. Teresa, we are to imitate Mary, but that is not the whole of it, for “…Martha and Mary must work together when they offer the Lord lodging, and must have Him ever with them, and they must not entertain Him badly and give Him nothing to eat. And how can Mary give Him anything, seated as she is at His feet, unless her sister helps her? His food consists in our bringing Him souls, in every possible way, so that they may be saved and may praise Him for ever.”
Martha’s service, although well intended, was not performed in full union with the Lord. Mary’s contemplation, her union with the Lord, had not yet born fruit. It is only after the Spiritual Marriage that both Martha and Mary will be brought to perfection. It is only after the Transforming Union that one's personal contemplative Mary will bear fruit, a spiritualized Martha-like service. The better part will be elevated to the best.
Is it any wonder that the Catholic church believes there is a universal call to contemplation, for the result of the Transforming Union is nothing less than the fulfillment of the Great Commandment, perfect contemplation resulting in perfect service: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, and love your neighbour as yourself. The Lord brings the soul to the heights of contemplation for one purpose only, to make the soul One with the Lord, so that it can imitate Christ by pouring itself out for others.
St. Teresa asks how we know when people truly become spiritual. This is her answer:
“It is when they become the slaves of God and are branded with His sign, which is the sign of the Cross, in token that they have given Him their freedom. Then He can sell them as slaves to the whole world, as He Himself was sold.”
As with the stages of prayer throughout each of the Mansions, the benefit of attaining the Spiritual Marriage can only be seen by the effects and the fruits.
St. Teresa outlines eight main effects of the Spiritual Marriage: self-forgetfulness; a great desire to suffer, but only if it is God’s will; interior joy when persecuted along with a love for enemies; a great desire to live in order to serve Him; no desire for favours and consolations and no more raptures, transports or flights of the spirit; a marked detachment; no aridities or interior trials; and caution, through humility, concerning the possibility of slipping back into sin. St. Teresa wishes to make it clear that all of these effects are not necessarily present in the soul at all times, and for this reason she refers to them as being “habitually present”.
But why does the Lord give the soul so many favours and consolations along the journey, finally bringing it into the Transforming Union, the Spiritual Marriage? Is it simply to give a soul the glory and joy of being One with the Lord? No, says St. Teresa. She wants no one to believe that, “He does it simply to give these souls pleasure.” She tells us that she is certain that it is to strengthen the soul, so that one is able to imitate Christ’s sufferings: “For His Majesty can do nothing greater for us than grant us a life which is an imitation of that lived by His Beloved Son.” In the Transforming Union the soul is, “made one with the Strong”, and shall “gain strength through the most sovereign union of spirit with Spirit.”
St. Teresa refutes the notion that souls who have reached the heights of contemplation spend the rest of their lives simply enjoying the Lord for their own peace and personal fulfillment. She writes, “…the only repose that these souls enjoy is of an interior kind; of outward repose they get less and less, and they have no wish to get more.”
Why are they getting less and less outward repose? Here is perhaps the startling answer, the reason why the soul has undergone this steady stream of strengthening in contemplative prayer: not for our enjoyment, says St. Teresa, “but for the sake of acquiring this strength which fits us for service.”
St. Teresa tells us, “…if the Lord makes His special abode in the soul…its whole thought will be concentrated upon finding ways to please Him and upon showing Him how it loves Him. This, my daughters, is the aim of prayer: this is the purpose of the Spiritual Marriage, of which are born good works and good works alone.”
But has not the soul surpassed this requirement now, of performing service, since it has reached the heights of contemplation? Have we not been taught to imitate Mary rather than Martha – Mary, who is said to have chosen the better part?
Yes, says St. Teresa, we are to imitate Mary, but that is not the whole of it, for “…Martha and Mary must work together when they offer the Lord lodging, and must have Him ever with them, and they must not entertain Him badly and give Him nothing to eat. And how can Mary give Him anything, seated as she is at His feet, unless her sister helps her? His food consists in our bringing Him souls, in every possible way, so that they may be saved and may praise Him for ever.”
Martha’s service, although well intended, was not performed in full union with the Lord. Mary’s contemplation, her union with the Lord, had not yet born fruit. It is only after the Spiritual Marriage that both Martha and Mary will be brought to perfection. It is only after the Transforming Union that one's personal contemplative Mary will bear fruit, a spiritualized Martha-like service. The better part will be elevated to the best.
Is it any wonder that the Catholic church believes there is a universal call to contemplation, for the result of the Transforming Union is nothing less than the fulfillment of the Great Commandment, perfect contemplation resulting in perfect service: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, and love your neighbour as yourself. The Lord brings the soul to the heights of contemplation for one purpose only, to make the soul One with the Lord, so that it can imitate Christ by pouring itself out for others.
St. Teresa asks how we know when people truly become spiritual. This is her answer:
“It is when they become the slaves of God and are branded with His sign, which is the sign of the Cross, in token that they have given Him their freedom. Then He can sell them as slaves to the whole world, as He Himself was sold.”
posted by Gabrielle at 11:25 AM
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