Conceptions of The Love of God - Chapter 6 Discussion - St. Teresa of Avila - Teresa of Jesus - On the Canticle of Canticles - On the Song of Songs

Discussion of  Chapter 6                            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 6              Summary  or Highlights               ░░░░░░░░░░░░  █ Our Lady Perfectly Shows          What Takes Place      Between God and the Bride              ░░░░░░░░░░░░  █ The Bride's Transformation      ▀ Initially,  She Thinks That          She Has Received All Possible Graces.     ▀ But God Has More Graces To Bestow          ■ Growth in  Love          ■ Divine Union           ■ Growth in             Virtue, Faith,  and Detachment          ■ Spiritual Wisdom                 ■ Desire to Labor and Suffer for God             ▪ Enabled Through                  Fortitude, Courage, and Patience           ▪ Enabled Through                  the Consolations of Love             ░░░░░░░░░░░░  █ St. Teresa Teaches      ▀ God Grants Graces            According to His Will           According to What Each Needs           ■ One can't Aquire or Merit               these Graces           But can Dispose Oneself to Graces          ■ Yet, It is not for us to set limits               to a Lord so great,            Who longs to confer His graces.       ▀ Ruminate on the Canticle's Words

█ Our Lady Perfectly Shows             What takes place      between God and the Bride        "Who is she that cometh forth . . .                bright as the sun ?"                                 [ Canticle 6: 9 ]         "O my Lady !          How perfectly Thou showest us          what takes place             between God and the Bride,          according to the words of the Canticles!"                          [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #8 ]               By her "Fiat"         she showed us               - complete conformity                 of her will                    to the Will of God,              - Love, Detachment, and Faith.                  "She asked the angel :              'How shall this be done ? '           and when he answered :              'The Holy Ghost                   shall come upon thee,                         and                the power of the Most High                   shall overshadow thee',           she debated no more about it.'  "                            [Luke 1:35]                            [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #8 ]          "And Mary said:             Behold the handmaid of the Lord;             Be it done to me                    according to thy word."                                   [Luke 1:38]          "Draw me:             We will run after thee                  to the odour of thy ointments.             The King hath brought me                   into His storerooms:              We will be glad and rejoice in Thee                       [ Canticle 1:4 ]            I sat down under His shadow,                   Whom I desired:                        [ Canticle 2:3 ]          "He brought me into the cellar of wine,             He set in order, charity in me."                        [ Canticle 2:4 ]             "My Beloved to me, and I to Him"                           [ Canticle 2:16 ]

█ The Bride's Transformation      "The soul         which our Lord has thus caressed !"                             [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #4 ]          ▀  Initially, She Thinks          That She Has Received              All Possible Graces.         "Now that the bride is               resting beneath the shadow           that she desires          what more remains               for which a soul...can wish,           except that she may never lose               what she possesses ?          There seems to her nothing left                for which to long"                     [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #1 ]       ▀ But God Has More Graces To Bestow        "yet there is still far more              for our most holy King to bestow.         Nor does He ever              cease filling the heart              that can hold more."        "God is not content to measure His gifts             by our petty desires."                                                     [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #1 ]           "When God favours a soul              with these ...divine graces...          (it)  is always detected later on               by the effects,           as are also divine favours           which have resulted from              God thus drawing near the soul,           for...              the virtues are too vigorous                         and               the love too ardent           to remain concealed.                                                                                [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #13 ]       "While we do not know               for what more we could ask,           His Majesty never wearies               of giving us fresh favours.           Not contented with having united               such a soul to Himself,           He begins to caress it and               reveals His secrets to it.                          [Way of Perfection:                            Ch. 32: #11 ]     ■ Growth in  Love            "...dilates the heart"                         [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #2 ]                  "The bride exclaims:               'He brought me                   into the cellar of wine,               He set in order charity in me'. "                              [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #3 ]                             "God bestows on souls                    either a great zeal                        for serving Him,                     or ardent charity for others,               rendering them too inebriated                    to feel the severe trials               through which they pass."                         [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #3 ]                "A great deal is implied                    by the bride's declaring              that "she was brought               into the cellar of wine,"              from which she emerged                    endowed with inestimable riches."                         [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #3 ]               "By the ordinance of God             (the soul) becomes one                    with the Lord of love,                   Who is God Himself.                          [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #5 ]                     "Love is an arrow shot by the will             which, if                    aimed with all its force,                    freed from all that is earthly,                                   and                    directed solely towards God,              must wound His Majesty                     in good earnest.              When it has pierced God Himself,                    Who is Love,              it rebounds,                    having won the precious prize...                            [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #5 ]            "O soul beloved by God !"            "His Majesty                    raises you to this state                         and                    utters such tender words                         as He often addresses                    to the Bride in the Canticles                    — as for instance:                    "Thou art all fair, O my love!"                              [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #9 ]            "and              could (God)  bear to withhold Himself                    from one              who wholly gives herself to Him ?                             [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #9 ]            "The King 'set in order                     charity within me' "                             [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #13 ]              What marvellous "order",                    love sets in such a soul !                                   [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #11 ]            "Such a person always                 helps other souls              even when not intending to do so.              As for the love borne for enemies,                     it would be incredible              unless proved by facts.              The soul's love for God                    has grown so boundless               as to constrain it                     beyond the limits endurable                     by human nature,                          and,               realising that she                     is fainting                          and                     at the point of death,               such a person exclaims :             "Stay me up with flowers,            Compass me about with apples:                 because I languish with love."                           [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #13 ]  ■ Divine Union           "The extreme affection borne                  for (the soul)  by the King                  Who has raised it to this sublime state             must unite its love to Himself ...             These two loves have now become               but one,                                                      the love of the soul having become             truly incorporated               with that of God.                               [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #11 ]           "Since 'My Beloved is to me                      and           I to my Beloved'            who will strive                  to separate and extinguish                 two such ardent flames ?             It would be labour lost,             for they are now one.                        [Exclamations Or Meditations                           Of  The Soul On Its God.                           St. Teresa of Avila                          Ch. 15: #7 ]        ■  Growth in          Virtue, Faith, and Detachment           "The great benefits                   thus gained by the soul              are demonstrated                  by the after-effects,              by the virtues,                   lively Faith,                         and                contempt of the world gained.                         [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #6 ]           "His Majesty is here                   enamelling the gold             which He has                   refined by His gifts                          and                  tested in                         a thousand different ways...            to prove the quality                  of its love for Him."                      [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #10 ]           God "sets the soul in order            that it may know                   how to please Him...           without the mind being aware of it.            Yet later on the intellect recognises                  the fact on discovering            that the soul is                   enamelled                           and                   set with the jewels and pearls                           of the virtues.               Then in its astonishment,                    it might well exclaim:              'Who is she that cometh forth...                    bright as the sun ?'  "                                [ Canticle 6: 9 ]                                              [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #11 ]             "O true King !               Well may the Bride call Thee                     by this name,               for in a single moment               Thou canst so endow and fill                     the soul with riches               that it enjoys them for evermore.               What marvellous 'order',                    love sets in such a soul !"                                   [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #11 ]            "Finally,               - the virtues are now stronger...                 - Now, too, the humility of the soul                     is much greater and deeper"                               [Life: Ch. 17: #4 ]      ▪ Detachment            "The King "set in order                     charity within me,"                               and               He so sets the soul in order               that                     - all love for this world quits it,                     - self-love changes into self-hatred                               and                     - affection is felt for kindred                           solely for the sake of God."                               [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #13 ]    ■ Spiritual Wisdom           "The soul,                without knowing how,            learns such marvellous truths            that it is beside itself,            as the Bride says in the words:                "He set in order charity in me ! "                               [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #4 ]                 "The wisdom of God here                - supplements                    what is lacking in the soul                         and               -  so ordains matters               that (the soul) gains                    extraordinary graces"                              [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #7 ]  ■ Desire to Labor and Suffer for God       "St. Teresa vehemently              longed for the sight of God,         yet she wished to live              in order to suffer for Him...                   'Yes, for I desire to preserve my life         in order              to serve God                     and              to suffer for Him.'  "                        [Conceptions: Ch. 7:                           Foot Note #4 ]       "Stay me up with flowers !"                    [Canticle 2: 5]          "the Bride is begging            that she may perform great works               in the service of God                 and               her neighbour"                         [Conceptions: Ch. 7: #4 ]             "Their one thought is              to serve and please God..              to gratify Him            by helping...their neighbour               in order that they may profit his soul                 [Conceptions: Ch. 7: #6 ]                        "Indeed, she sincerely               desires…crosses   ...          For as she no longer cares               for her own pleasure,               but solely for pleasing God,           she delights in imitating,               in some degree,           that most painful life led by Christ.                    [Conceptions: Ch. 7: #9 ]         ▪ Suffering is Enabled Through            Fortitude, Courage, and Patience           "when a person asks our Lord                   to give him some means              of meriting and suffering for Him,                  although he does not ask for                   more than he thinks he can bear, ...                 His Majesty,            Who is able to increase our strength,                  repays the resolve to serve Him             by sending him so many trials                         [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #1 ]                    "He gave me                   such fortitude and patience            that I am astonished...                  how I bore these crosses,             which I would not change                   for all the treasures of the world.                          [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #1 ]                   "If they are weak,             the first thing our Lord does                  is to infuse courage into them              so that they may fear no trials.                          [Way of Perfection: Ch. 18: #1 ]           "Stay me up with flowers,             Compass me about with apples"                         [Canticle 2: 5]           "By means                  of these 'flowers' and 'apples'             God strengthened her weakness"                        [Conceptions: Ch. 7:                           Foot Note #4 ]          St. Teresa said that           by the words,                  "Stay me up with flowers",          the Bride seemed                  "to ask to be 'sustained...                   to seek for life           that you may render some service to Him                  to Whom you are conscious                  you owe so vast a debt."                           [Conceptions: Ch. 7: #1]    ▪  Suffering is Enabled Through         the Consolations  of Love           "Our Lord has shown                   the great favour              of putting them, during prayer,                   into this state              of sacred inebriation                and suspension                            of the faculties.                            [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #6 ]           "The King ...wishes her                   to drink                       and                    to be intoxicated with              all the wines                that are in the storehouse of God"                         [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #4 ]                    "God guides those He loves                   by the way of afflictions;            The dearer they are to Him,             the more severe are their trials...               Then His Majesty is obliged                   to give them some refreshment.             Water would not be enough;                  it must be wine.            Inebriated with this draught from God             they become                   unconscious of their pain                         and                   enabled to sustain it.             Thus one rarely finds                   true contemplatives             who are not valiant                   and resolved to suffer.                             [Way of Perfection:                                Ch. 18: #1 ]           "The soul is not even                   awake enough to love...             Blessed is the sleep,                   and              happy the inebriation,              which make the Bridegroom supply                   what the soul cannot do.              He "sets" it in such wonderful "order"              that, though all its powers are...asleep,                  love remains active.                         "There is no obstacle                  in the senses or powers...              either in the understanding              or the memory              nor does the will assert itself.'                                       [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #5 ]           "the two faculties              (Intellect and Imagination/memory)             begin                   to drink deep, and                   to perceive the taste                       of this divine wine...              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:                (the soul)  undoes itself utterly,                in order that it may give itself                     more and more to Me:                 it is not itself that then lives,                 it is I.                          [Life: Ch. 18: #18 ]            God "sees             that the Bride is                   quite lost to herself,                   bereft of her senses                         for love of Him,                                 and             that the vehemence of this affection                  has deprived her                         of the power of thought,             so that she may love Him better"                    [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #9 ]          "The intellect cannot attain so far                  as to grasp it...            during this time,                  which never lasts long              but passes quickly."                             [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #11 ]          "From what can be observed...            such souls are transported                   out of  themselves;             Yet afterwards if questioned...             they cannot describe it....                     nor could they understand,                         this operation of love.                         [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #6 ]          "Stay me up with flowers,             compass me about with apples:             because I languish with love."                        [Canticle 2: 5]          "By means                  of these 'flowers' and 'apples'             God...rendered life pleasant to her,                  although she was sick of love.                         [Conceptions: Ch. 7:                           Foot Note #4 ]

█ St. Teresa Teaches    ▀  God Grants Graces           According to His Will          According to What Each Needs          "O Sovereign Mercy              which we could never buy              unless God gave us                   the purchase-money !"                                    [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #4 ]               "But nothing is known of              how the soul obtains these gifts"                              [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #6 ]         "Our Lord                knows for                   what everybody is suited,                           and                gives each one                    what is best for her soul,                   for His own glory,                         and                   for the good of her neighbour.                                   [Way of Perfection:                                      Ch. 18: #1 ]           "I think the Prayer of Union                    is the 'cellar'             in which our Lord places us                    when and how He chooses,              but we cannot enter it                   through any effort of our own.              His Majesty alone                    - can bring us there                            and                    - come into the centre of our souls.                                  [Interior Castle: Mansion 5:                                   Ch. 1: # 10 ]     ■ One can not              Aquire or Merit these Graces        But can 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]        "...our Lord seldom                grants such favours          unless a soul has passed                through long years of suffering.                                  [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #12 ]        "These souls have                - longed for His love                             and                - striven to please Him in every way...                  by many years of                         meditation                             and                         search for their Bridegroom,                             and                - are thoroughly weary of the world.                             [Conceptions: Ch. 5: #3]        "In order to declare His wondrous works               more clearly,           He will leave us no share in them           except                - complete conformity                    of our wills to His                             and                - abandonment of all things"                            [ Interior Castle: Mansion 5:                               Ch. 1: # 10 ]        "I believe that           He only bestows this grace on those               whom He takes entirely for His own.                            [ Interior Castle: Mansion 5:                             Ch. 2: # 11 ]        "All is done for us by Thee,          Who dost but ask us              to give our wills to Thee          that we may be plastic as wax                in Thy hands."                            [ Interior Castle: Mansion 5:                               Ch. 2: # 12 ]        "Let us            ▪ renounce self-love and self-will,                ▪ care for nothing earthly,            ▪ do penance,            ▪ pray,            ▪ mortify ourselves,            ▪ be obedient,                  and            ▪ perform all the other good works                   of which you know.  ...                Die as the silkworm does           when it has fulfilled the office                   of its creation,                   and             you will see God ...                   in this kind of union."                                  [Interior Castle: Mansion 5:                                    Ch. 2: # 5 ]          "If only they would imitate                   in some degree             the humility of the most blessed Virgin !"                                             [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #8 ]      ■ Yet, It is not for us to set limits               to a Lord so great,         Who longs to confer His graces.                                   [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #12 ]             "...there are exceptions"                                  [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #12 ]             "except in the case of people to whom                our Lord gives some special call,                     like St. Paul"                                  [Conceptions: Ch. 5: #3]             "I remember                how God gave in three days                     such great graces               that they lasted year after year,                           and                that...continued to make progress"              "Another person received the same graces                     in three months..."                 "I have seen others                who were long                     before they obtained this favour"                              [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #12 ]             "Thus it is with our Lord's favours.                To one He gives                     a little of the wine of devotion,                to another, more,                to another still He gives so full a cup                    that the spirit begins to rise                        above self and sensuality                        and all earthly things.                               [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #3 ]            "With God time has no limits                         and               in a single moment               He can raise a soul                     to the most sublime state...              His Majesty has the power                     to do all He wishes                         and               He wishes to do much for us."                 [Interior Castle: Mansion 6:                   Chapter 11: #1]     ▀ Ruminate on the Canticle's Words      "O souls who practise prayer,             ruminate upon these words !"                             [Conceptions: Ch. 5: #2 ]      "As for other souls,         each one             - can interpret these words for herself,                   in the sense                   in which God wishes her                        to take them,                               and             - can easily ascertain whether                   she has received any graces                corresponding to the words of the bride:                "He set in order charity within me."                               [Conceptions: Ch. 6: #8 ]      "He is the Manna             Who knows how to take         whatever flavour we (need)'                   "In how many manners            we can feed our souls on Him ! "                         [Conceptions: Ch. 5: # 2]       "serving every man's will,             it was turned to what every man liked."                                     [Wisdom 16: 21]

End of the Discussion of                                Conceptions of The Love of God                              Chapter 6                     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"