In St. Teresa of Avila’s masterwork “The Interior Castle” when talking about the seventh dwelling place, she is describing Spiritual Marriage:
For just as in heaven, so in the soul His Majesty must have a room where He dwells alone. Let us call it another heaven. It’s very important for us, sisters, not to think the soul is something dark.
For those not in a state of grace, she describes this as a “dark prison.” I love how she goes from talking about the highest levels of sanctity this side of heaven to considering those not in a state of grace. Here, prayer is the opposite of the Pharisees prayer when comparing himself to the tax collector.
Let us take special care, sisters, to beg this mercy of Him and not be careless, for it is a most generous alms to pray for those who are in mortal sin. Suppose we were to see a Christian with his hands fastened behind his back by a strong chain, bound to a post, and dying of hunger, not because of lack of food, for there are very choice dishes beside him, but because he cannot take hold of the food and eat, and even has great loathing for it; and suppose he sees that he is about to breathe his last and die, not just an earthly death but an eternal one. Wouldn’t it be a terrible cruelty to stand looking at him and not feed him? Well, then, what if through your prayer the chains could be loosed? The answer is obvious. For the love of God I ask you always to remember in your prayers souls in mortal sin.
What struck me is that this specific love of neighbor is easy to talk about as just an ideal, but not put into actual practice. Those you disdain, you do not pray for, because you have torn away their humanity with your own self-righteousness.
I thought about St. Teresa’s special wonder and delight after the hard work of navigating the politics and the planning of establishing a new foundation. That delight when a bishop or priest has established the Tabernacle in the new foundation and Mass is first said there. Jesus’ presence in this way radically changes everything. She desires this same light to be lit in all of us as Temples of the Holy Spirit. What was once dark, can be another heaven.
Reference: St. Teresa of Avila’s “The Interior Castle: Study Edition 2nd Edition”, ICS Publications
