Teresa of Avila: The Second Dwelling: Lectio Divina

A 24-minute audio guided meditation with an excerpt from The Second Dwelling by Teresa of Avila, in the contemplative Christian tradition.

Teresa of Avila's feast day is on the 15th of October, so I wanted to revisit her words in meditation this week.

I have selected a few phrases from the Mirabai Starr translation of the Interior Castle that caught my attention.

Teresa pictured the soul, the inner self, as a castle which was comprised of many dwellings. At the centre of the soul, in what she refers to as the seventh dwelling, the Spirit of God resides or dwells or abides.

Teresa describes the pilgrim's journey in prayer through these interior "dwellings" in her book The Interior Castle, a journey which ultimately brings the pilgrim to the centre of her own soul and union with God. It is important to remember that this journey isn't linear, that we are all sliding back and forth through various "dwellings" at various times, with the hope that the general trajectory of our lives is towards greater intimacy with both ourselves and God.

In no way should these selected lines be seen as a summary of the whole of Teresa's concept of "the second dwelling", but just a few passages from the chapter that landed deeply with me.

I pray that they will draw you into the heart of God, and that Love will speak to you as you pray.

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What hope do we have of finding rest outside of ourselves if we cannot be at ease within?

Peace, Peace, Christ says, my friends. He often urged peace upon his own disciples. If we don't cultivate peace at home we will not find it in alien places.

Trust more in the mercy of God and less in your own judgement.

The door to this (interior) castle is prayer. It is ridiculous to think that we can enter Paradise without first entering ourselves! We must get to know ourselves, reflect on our limitations, acknowledge our gratitude for God, and solicit his mercy.

Christ, who is love, says: No one gets the Father except through me. He also says: He who sees me sees my Father. If we never look at him or reflect on what he has given us, and the death that he endured for us, then I can't imagine how we will come to know him or do good works in service of him. What is faith without works? And what are works without connection to the goodness of Christ? Who will awaken us to love the Beloved?

And so we must pray without ceasing and leave temptation behind.

"

From The Interior Castle of St Teresa of Avila, translated by Mirabai Starr, pages 62-64.

I would like to clarify my thoughts on the line "Trust more in the mercy of God and trust less in your own judgment", as I think it could be read in a harmful way. This line is offered in the context (that I've not included here) of the temptations and attractions of things that take us away from the Beloved. I personally hear this to mean that we are invited to trust less in our critical self-judgement, for example negative thoughts about our inherent self-worth. I think she is also referring to our 'judgements' about the kind of habits and attachments we form to things that may salve for a moment but create more problems in the long run.

I know that some of us have been taught not to trust the voice of our own true self, to shut down the voices of our preferences and inner knowing. This is not what Teresa is advocating and the line should not be read in this way. There is a discernment in knowing when an inner voice of love or the true self is speaking within, versus the voice of fear, pride, or condemnation. If you have any personal questions about this please take this to your spiritual director or a friend with whom you feel safe disclosing inner questions.

Blessings!!

Contemplative at Home offers guided meditative prayer – space to slow down and listen to the truth that is being born out of God’s love for you today – drawing on Ignatian spirituality and at times, Lectio Divina.

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Meditation and shownotes written and spoken by Lissy Clarke, music by Pete Hatch, editing by Kristy B Lust. Photo by David Clode on Unsplash. We send our audio through Auphonic which uses AI software to mix the levels. We are otherwise AI-free.