Thus, in a first phase (the ascetical one, which includes the first three mansions of the interior castle), God offers the soul His ordinary grace and general help, and the initiative of advancing in the spiritual life belongs mostly to the soul, for God leaves the faculties their full independence.245 One engages in a quest for God in which meditation and attention to prayer is predominant, and one undertakes an ascetical effort, aiming to acquire recollection in prayer and to correct his exterior faults. This cooperation takes different forms throughout one's progress towards the kingdom of God, which is within (cf. As we have seen, according to the Carmelite Doctors this deification is the end of a long, difficult but in the same time beautiful journey, in which the soul answers step by step God's loving call for union and cooperates with His grace, being thus transformed “from glory to glory” (II Cor 3: 18). Thus, all Christian faithful are called to become perfect, Christ-like, deified. The word “mature” is the translation of the Greek teleios, which means perfect, accomplished. to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph 4: 13). To see if the type and size of the font used in this book are easy to read and are acceptable to you, we encourage that you download and print out a sample page.A sub-chapter of my doctoral thesis According to Saint Paul, “we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ” (Eph 4: 15), “until we all attain. Canon Surmont, Vicar General, Westminster, 22nd January 1912. This edition has been re-typeset using the text of the 1912 edition originally published by Thomas Baker, London, with an Imprimatur by Edm. Revised with Introduction and additional notes by the Very Reverend Benedict Zimmerman, O.C.D. The Interior Castle or the Mansions - Translated from the Autography of Saint Teresa by the Benedictines of Stanbrook. She takes nothing for granted, her own personal experiences are admitted only after having been fully investigated and found to be consistent one with the other, and conformable to the teaching of the Church and the words of Holy Scripture. What gives the work such high value is, that it is the result of a most searching inquiry into the various phases whereby a soul is gradually transformed into the likeness of God Himself. In the heavenly Father’s house, there are many mansions not only seven, and many paths lead to them. Teresa describes the road by which she was led, well aware that the others may be led in a different way. Her teaching on prayer has continued to inspire and guide Christians in their spiritual journeys for over four hundred years. Teresa of Avila, is one of the most popular Doctors of the Church.

St teresa of avila 7 mansions