The Interior Castle

Preface to The Interior Castle: A Modern Translation, by Peter Northcutt

Teresa de Cepeda y Ahumada was born in 1515 in the Spanish city of Ávila. From her early years, Teresa displayed a profound fascination with faith, which was instilled in her by her devout parents, particularly her mother. She was especially interested in the stories of saints, and at age seven Teresa embarked on a mission with her younger brother, Roderigo, aiming to die for their faith in Africa. Their quest was thwarted, however, when their uncle intercepted them just outside the city and returned the aspiring young martyrs to their less-than-pleased parents. This early passion for spiritual pursuits set the stage for a life marked by profound mystical experiences and a relentless journey towards a deeper relationship with God.

As a teenager, after initially resisting the thought of religious life because of typical concerns like boys and fashion, a visit with her pious uncle and a fear of arranged marriage motivated Teresa to become a nun. At the age of 20, she entered the local Carmelite convent. Here Teresa faced not only the challenges of cloistered life but also severe illness. During her sickness, she read about contemplative prayer and began to experience religious ecstasy for the first time, ascending through the various stages of prayer that she would later describe in her writings as the prayers of “recollection,” “quiet,” and “union,” among others. You will read more about these kinds of prayers in this book.

As she spent more time in prayer, her devotion increased and she began practicing severe mortifications of the flesh, depriving her body of physical comforts. Concerns arose among Teresa’s friends that her newfound knowledge might have diabolical origins rather than divine. However, her confessor at the time assured her of the divine nature of her contemplative path. Eventually, Teresa’s reputation for deep, mystical experiences grew, not in small part due to her frequent raptures – some of which caused her to levitate. Embarrassed by this, she told her sisters to hold her down whenever she started to rise. Teresa also became convinced that Jesus Christ had appeared to her in bodily form, leading to visions that started in 1559 and persisted for over two years. One notable vision was called the “transverberation,” in which a seraph repeatedly pierced her heart with a golden lance, causing intense spiritual and bodily pain. In her autobiography, she wrote:

In his hand, I saw a long spear made of gold, and at its tip, there appeared a small flame. It seemed as if he was occasionally thrusting it into my heart, piercing through my very core. When he pulled it out, it felt like he was drawing out my insides as well, leaving me ablaze with a fierce love for God. The pain was incredibly intense, making me groan; however, the sweetness of this overwhelming pain was so extraordinary that I couldn't desire to be free from it.

For the rest of her life, this experience – captured by Bernini's famous sculpture, the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa – motivated her to imitate Christ’s life and suffering.

Teresa’s increasing devotion eventually began to clash with the spiritual laxity of her convent, where frequent visits from high-ranking individuals disrupted the contemplative atmosphere. Disturbed by these intrusions that hindered the solitude she felt was necessary for prayer, she intervened. With the help of St. John of the Cross, author of Dark Night of the Soul, she founded a reformed Carmelite convent to address the carelessness she observed. This newly established Discalced Carmelite order emphasized poverty and enforced a stricter rule of conduct. These reforms brought attention to the convent, and Teresa’s thoughts on prayer began to spread. Her spiritual director eventually instructed her to write several books, and at the age of 62, she wrote her most well-known book on prayer, The Interior Castle.

Teresa begins her book with an illustration – one that eventually became the title. She says the human soul is like a “magnificent castle, made of a single diamond.” This crystal castle has many rooms inside, each one leading to the next. These rooms, categorized into seven “mansions,” depict a sequential spiritual journey, beginning with the first rooms of spiritual infancy and culminating in the final mansion where the soul experiences true union with God. As Teresa says, “In the center, at the heart of it all, lies the principal chamber where God and the soul share their most intimate communion.” It is only through prayer, Teresa asserts, that we can enter into this castle within ourselves and experience the gifts God has for us in each room.

Teresa splits the seven mansions of the soul into two main categories: the first three mansions, which represent “discursive” prayer, and the last four, which represent “infused” prayer. Everyone begins their journey in the outer courtyard of the castle, unaware even that they have a soul to enter into, but eventually through discursive prayer enter into the initial mansions. This discursive prayer, also known as “meditation,” involves the mind actively thinking about God. This often means spiritual reading as the springboard into these thoughts. As St. Padre Pio says, “Through the study of books one seeks God; by meditation one finds Him.” So, in these first three mansions of discursive prayer, the individual can in large part determine their own spiritual progress; the more effort they put into prayer, the deeper their experience with God.

Entry into the last four mansions of the castle, however, is solely dependent on God’s will, as He chooses when and to whom he gives the gifts found in these rooms. These mansions are entered into through infused prayer, also known as “contemplation.” This kind of prayer is less like something you do and more like something that is done to you. Teresa places more significance on these infused experiences than the active kind of prayer, which is evident not only in her placement of them in the mansions closest to God Himself, but also in the language she uses to describe them. When introducing the fourth mansion, she says that “in order to make rapid progress and reach the mansions we aspire to enter, it’s not so essential to think much as it is to love much.”

In describing this infused contemplation, Teresa becomes her most mystical. Her tone changes from extreme humility to overwhelming joy, using analogies in a desperate attempt to describe experiences that can’t be put into words. She explains spiritual consolations, likening them to spring water that fills a basin continuously and silently. She compares the prayer of recollection to a butterfly emerging from a cocoon. In the sixth and seventh mansion she uses erotic language to explain the union she feels with God, as this kind of intimacy is the highest comparison earth has to offer. In reading Teresa’s account, it becomes clear that this passive yet passionate communion with God is her ultimate joy.

These contemplative experiences include things that might sound unbelievable to our modern sensibilities, such as raptures, ecstasies, and visions. If it’s any consolation, they sounded unbelievable to many of Teresa’s peers and superiors as well, at least at first. But eventually her friends came to see the legitimacy of her experiences, just as you might as well. It is her humble, practical perspective on them that reassures the reader that this woman was more holy than hysterical. She continually advises us not to strive for these mystical experiences because they can’t be induced by our effort, and she even provides a surprisingly pragmatic guide on discerning God’s voice from that of our imagination or the devil. And to top it off, she ends the book by grounding the entire discussion in love for our neighbor. “This,” she says, “is the ultimate purpose of prayer, my daughters. This is the reason for spiritual marriage, whose children are always good works. Works are the unmistakable sign that these blessings come from God.” So, according to Teresa, deep union with God is not given just for the pleasure it brings, but instead so that it will ultimately motivate us to serve our Lord and the people around us.

It is this combination of spiritual experience, humility, and pragmatism that makes The Interior Castle a classic of Christian literature. Quaker theologian Richard Foster calls it “one of the finest books on prayer in the Christian tradition.” Philosopher Dallas Willard says, “Teresa is an absolute master of the spiritual life and possesses an amazing depth and richness of spiritual theology… You can put what she says to the test.” And in today’s western world of rampant rationalism, we believe her mystical perspective is needed now more than ever. As Teresa herself says in this book, it’s good to at least know God gives these kinds of gifts, even if He doesn’t give them to us personally.

To ensure this book continues its immense influence, we at Modern Saints have breathed new life into the classic text, writing a faithful, fresh translation based on a popular English translation from the early 1900’s. Our goal was to create the book that would have been published had it been originally written in the 21st century. Here are the three basic ways in which this book was adapted:

• Sentence structures and vocabulary were altered to better suit modern readers,

• Paragraphs were broken up or consolidated for clarity,

• And, while nearly a word-for-word translation, short bits of text were added or removed intermittently to help the flow of reading or to provide necessary context.

The result of these adaptations is a fun and fresh reading experience void of needless struggle, allowing you to focus not on wading through archaic language but on soaking in the experiences of a spiritual master.

We should note that there are several English translations of The Interior Castle available. While we believe our translation is the most easily readable, there are more academic translations that provide deep analysis of the text. If you are interested in further study, we recommend the study edition written by Kieran Kavanaugh, OCD, which we found very helpful in our translation process.

As you can probably tell from this introduction, The Interior Castle will be one of the most unusual books you read this year, especially if you are unfamiliar with Christian contemplation. Teresa’s devotion and connection to God may even feel intimidating at times. But no matter where you are in your spiritual journey, you will find invaluable takeaways from this book; Willard advises readers to approach it “as if you were mining for treasure.” For example, it may convince you that you can, indeed, progress further along your own spiritual path. Or it may reassure you that even experienced Christians go through times of temptation and dryness. Or perhaps most importantly, it will illustrate to you the beauty and value of the human soul, that each person on the planet has within them an eternal, radiant castle. 

So, although Teresa’s experience may feel foreign at times, I pray you see that the same God who enraptured her heart is the same God who is gently calling you to Himself. Because in the end, The Interior Castle is a love story – your own love story. The King is drawing you, His bride, away from daily distractions and into the innermost mansion of your soul where He alone resides.