Conceptions of The Love of God - Chapter 5 Discussion - St. Teresa of Avila - Teresa of Jesus - On the Canticle of Canticles - On the Song of Songs

Discussion of  Chapter 5                                  of the          Conceptions of The Love of God                   S. Teresa of Jesus      of the Order of our Lady of Carmel                                     St. Teresa of Avila            From the Book,      "Minor Works Of St. Teresa       Conceptions Of The Love Of God       Exclamations, Maxims And Poems"

Conceptions of The Love of God           Discussion of Chapter 5    █   Summary  or Highlights  █ Lessons from the Bride  █ What the Bride Said    ▀ 'I  Sat Down'      ▀  'Under His Shadow'           ▀  'His Fruit was Sweet to my Palate.'       ▀  'The Apple Tree'     ▀  'Comfort Me with Apples'     ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░  █ 'He is the Manna          Who knows how to take          whatever flavour we (need)'       God Grants Graces          According to His Will         According to What Each Needs     ▀ Dispose oneself to Graces       ■ Prayer       ■ Detachment    ▀ God Grants Graces           for Special Needs

  

Canticle	Verse
1:2 (1)	Let Him kiss me    with the kiss     of His mouth: for Thy breasts are     better than wine
2:3	As the apple tree    among the trees     of the woods, so is my Beloved    among the sons. I sat down     under His shadow, Whom I desired:    and  His fruit was sweet     to my palate.
2:4	He brought me     into the cellar of wine, He set in order     Charity in me.
2:5	Stay me up with flowers,  Comfort me with apples: because I languish     with love.
2:16	My beloved to me,     and  I to him
6:3	I to my Beloved,     and  my Beloved to me
7:10	I to my Beloved,     and  His turning is     towards me.

█ Lessons from the Bride     "Let us learn from this blest soul,             drawn to the divine mouth                        and             fed at these heavenly breasts,        ▪ What we should do,                        and        ▪ How we must speak and behave,        if our Lord should ever bestow on us                so great a favour."                           [Conceptions: Ch. 5: #1]  █ What the Bride Said:      'I sat down under His shadow           Whom I desired,                  and       His fruit was sweet to my palate.'                                  [ Conceptions: Ch. 5: # 1]                                  [ Cant 2:  3 ]  ▀ 'I sat down'                   "They do indeed              'sit down'                    and               rest in the truth,           seeking               neither comfort, quiet               nor rest          except where they know               these are really to be found.            Resting 'under the protection              of the Almighty',                         they desire no other. "                          [ Conceptions: Ch. 5: # 3]             "He that dwelleth in the aid                      of the most High,                shall abide under the protection                      of the God of Heaven"                         [ Psalm 91: 1]                         [ Conceptions: Ch. 5: #3:                            Foot Note #5 ]                     ▀  'Under His Shadow'           "I sat down under His shadow          Whom I desired"        Regarding this, St. Teresa writes:            "This may well be called                   the 'shadow' of the Divinity,               for we cannot see it clearly                   here below,              but only veiled               beneath this cloud,                   until the radiant Sun,                   by means of love,               sends out a message                   making known to the soul             that His Majesty is near"                                  [Conceptions: Ch. 5: # 5]            "I think the Holy Ghost must here                   be the Medium            between God and the soul,               inspiring it                  with such ardent desires               that it becomes ignited                  by the divine fire               to which it is so close."                              [Conceptions: Ch. 5: # 5]            "I remember               how The angel said                  to our most blessed Lady:                  'The power of the Most High                      shall overshadow thee. ' "                                [Conceptions: Ch. 5: #2]                 "The Holy Ghost                      shall come upon thee,                             and                    the power of the most High                      shall overshadow thee                              [Luke 1:35 ]            "How heavenly is this shadow ! "                             [Conceptions: Ch. 5: # 2]            "How safely the soul                    must feel protected               when God shows it                    this immense grace !"                             [Conceptions: Ch. 5: # 2]                   "He shall say to the Lord:                     Thou art                          my protector,                                and                           my refuge:                       my God, in him will I trust.                                 [ Psalm 91: 2  ]                     He will overshadow thee                           with his shoulders:                                 and                       under his wings                            thou shalt trust.                                 [ Psalm 91:  4 ]               "Happy he who deserves              to shelter beneath this shadow"                              [Conceptions: Ch. 5: # 3]            "The spirit feels itself utterly              surrounded and protected                      by a shadow"                               [Conceptions: Ch. 5: # 4]            "a cloud of the Godhead                from whence the soul receives              such a delicious influence                and dew"                             [Conceptions: Ch. 5: #4]  ▀  'His fruit was sweet to my palate.'           [ Interior Peace ]                                                                        "I sat down under his shadow,              whom I desired:                     and        his fruit was sweet to my palate."                                [ Conceptions: Ch. 5: # 1]                                [ Cant 2:  3 ]       Regarding this, St. Teresa writes:         "Such a person need not                endeavour to raise her hand,                    or                stand to reach the fruit                                  [Conceptions: Ch. 5: #4]          This peace is so deep...            the powers being                so soothed and quiescent           that the will is disinclined                to admit of any thought"                                 [Conceptions: Ch. 5: #4]         "she need not make use              of the reason (intellect)"                                [Conceptions: Ch. 5: #4]               "for here the soul simply enjoys,                without any work of the faculties"                                [Conceptions: Ch. 5: #4]          "Thou didst feed thy people...                bread from heaven             prepared without labour;                    having in it               all that is delicious"                                   [Wisdom 16: 20]           "No effort is needed here             to suspend the thoughts:             In fact,             it has died entirely to this world,                to live                      more truly than ever in God...                  to abide                  more entirely in God.                      [ Interior Castle: Mansion 5:                        Ch. 1: # 3 ]         "The two faculties                (intellect/reason and Imagination)            begin               to drink deep, and                to perceive the taste                      of this divine wine,               they give themselves up                with great readiness,            in order to be the more absorbed:            They follow the will,                and            the three rejoice together."                 "God, from time to time,            drawing them to Himself.                          [ Life: Ch. 18: #17 ]                "Our Lord said to me:             'in order that (the soul) may                  give itself  more and more to Me:              It is not  itself  that then lives,              it is I.' "                           [ Life: Ch. 18: #18 ]  ▀  'The Apple Tree'        "As the apple tree          among the trees of the woods,          so is my beloved among the sons."                                   [ Cant 2:  3 ]         Regarding this, St. Teresa writes:           "And again she                 calls Him an "apple tree,"                       and                 says                 "His fruit is sweet to my palate."                                    [Conceptions: Ch. 5: #2]           "for our Lord gives her               the apple from the tree             to which she compares her Beloved,                 already picked                          and                even assimilated."                                [Conceptions: Ch. 5: #4]           "this divine apple-tree                bows its branches             so that...the soul                   - may gather its fruit                         by considering                              Christ's marvels,                                   and                              the multitude of mercies                                   He has shown,                                              and                   - may see and taste the fruit                     that our Lord Jesus Christ                          produced by His Passion,                     when with wondrous love,                         He watered the tree                               with His precious blood.                                   [Conceptions: Ch. 5: #5]  ▀  'Comfort  me with apples'       "Stay me up with flowers,          Comfort  me with apples:             because I languish with love."                                    [Canticle 2: 5 ]        Regarding this, St. Teresa writes:             "The Bride told us                that the Bridegroom                      thus supported her               when she was new                       to the divine mercies."                            [Conceptions: Ch. 5: #6]            "Now...              He makes her capable                  of receiving still greater gifts,              maintaining her with "apples,"               for He wishes her to understand                   that she must work and suffer."                            [Conceptions: Ch. 5: #6]  ▀  Let him kiss me           with the kiss of his mouth:       for thy breasts are            better than wine                              [ Canticles 1:2 ]               "The Bride told us...               that she joyed in the nourishment                      from His breasts"                               [Conceptions: Ch. 5: #6]

█ 'He is the Manna        Who knows how to take        whatever flavour we (need)'                                     [Conceptions: Ch. 5: # 2]       "serving every man's will,          it was turned to what every man liked."                                     [Wisdom 16: 21]       God Grants Graces              According to His Will             According to What Each Needs       ▀ Dispose Oneself to Graces          "God, as a rule            ...nearly always...            keeps these very sublime                caresses and consolations             for those who have laboured greatly                 in His service."                                   [Conceptions: Ch. 5: #3]          ■ Prayer              "These souls have                   - longed for His love                        and                   - striven to please Him                       in every way,                  - have fatigued themselves                        by many years of                            meditation                               and                             search for their Bridegroom"                                     [Conceptions: Ch. 5: #3]            □  Ruminate upon these words                  "O souls who practise prayer,                       ruminate upon these words !                   In how many different ways                       we can picture God !                   In how many manners                   we can feed our souls on Him !                   He is the Manna                   Who knows how to take                    whatever flavour we wish to taste."                               [Conceptions: Ch. 5: # 2]                     "thou didst feed thy people                           with the food of angels,                        and gavest them                           bread from heaven                       prepared without labour;                           having in it                        all that is delicious,                           and                        the sweetness of every taste."                                   [Wisdom 16: 20]                     "For thy sustenance                       shewed thy sweetness                           to thy children,                                 and                       serving every man's will,                       it was turned to                           what every man liked."                                    [Wisdom 16: 21]               "We should often meditate upon                 how,                 when He sees                       that a soul is all His own,                       serving Him solely                                 and                       free from all self-interest,                               simply                    because He is its God                                 and                    because of the love it bears Him,                He never ceases imparting Himself                   in different ways and manners,                 befitting Him                    Who is Wisdom itself."                                   [Conceptions: Ch. 5: # 6]          ■ Detachment              "These souls...                 are thoroughly weary of the world                                  [Conceptions: Ch. 5: #3]  ▀  God Grants Graces for Special Need         St. Teresa also cites examples              when graces were granted by God         according to need or weakness:        "except in the case of people...              like St. Paul,            to whom  our Lord gives               some special call"                                 [Conceptions: Ch. 5: # 3]

End of the Discussion of                                Conceptions of The Love of God                               Chapter 5                     S. Teresa of Jesus       of the Order of our Lady of Carmel                                    St. Teresa of Avila                  From the Book,       "Minor Works Of St. Teresa        Conceptions Of The Love Of God        Exclamations, Maxims And Poems"