Season 8: "Let Us Pray"(Day 5): Interior Castle by St Teresa of Avila(Mansion 4 cont..)| Fr Sony CMI

in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit father We Praise You GL you worship and glorify you thank you Father for this wonderful us thank you father for bringing us together School of prayer to teach us Lord to lead us Lord to Enlighten us Lord and giving us the grace to have a deeper relationship with you oh Jesus wash us with your preious spirit and fill us with your Holy Spirit oh holy spirit please under the session into your hands please under father son in your hands pleas all participants Vis all the people who will be watching through YouTube thank you Lord for giving us this technology and thank you for giving us all the resources oh holy spirit pour out pour out your wisdom Upon Us Enlighten our minds to understand give us the grace Lord to obey your word give us a Grace Lord to obey your Inspirations Lord we pray this in Jesus name amen let us all unmute and pray this prayer together heavenly father in the name of Jesus Heaven father in the name of Jesus cover us with the blood of your son cover the blood of heavenly father in the name of [Music] Jesus Jesus build a wall of fire around us us heavenly father in the name of Jesus Jesus let your angels en Camp around us day and night let your angels let us under all our physical and spiritual senses and repeat this prayer Lord Wash Me with Your Precious Blood PR BL and fill me with your Holy Spirit and me with your Holy Spirit Lord Wash Me with Your Precious Blood Lord Wash Me with Your BL and fill me with your Holy Spirit Lord Wash Me with Your Precious Blood Lord and fill me with your holy spirit with your Holy Spirit Dear Mother Mary we conct our lives into hands session into hands father into hands pray with us and pray for us to be filled with the Holy Spirit All Saints Angels pray for us let us pray through together ha Mary [Music] [Music] amen Hail Mary full of grace the Lord amen all the glory be to the father and to the Son and the Holy Spirit begin to your father in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit amen amen so we are in the fourth Mansion uh still so just continue with what we discussed yesterday um see when today also we heard about uh spiritual gifts but I think there is a little bit of a difference when he say about there are two words which I told you to keep in mind one is consolations and the second is um spiritual gifts uh or Sweetness in prayer Sweetness in prayer may be the second consolations and Sweetness in prayer consolation is an experience of a confirmation or a presence of the Lord given to us when we work hard in prayer for example we celebrate a mass preparing ourselves we meditate on the word of God for long hours we conduct a way of the Cross meditate on it or we conduct an Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament saying prayers from the books etc etc so we work hard on the certain uh things of prayer with our mind and intellect and will we we have that decision to do the prayer with our will and mind we work on the prayer and God grants us a consolations keep that in mind that is the thing when he when she means about favors or gifts not exactly the gifts of the holy spirit which we have in mind but later on she is beginning to say at a later stage we will be given the gifts of the holy spirit as well but not at this um Mansion of four so the second thing she mentions is in the prayer of quiet without any effort from our part God immediately gives us this experience of consolation um that is a an ineffable gift of God so just keeping those two two things in mind we look at the text which is there lack of knowledge causes many sufferings lack of knowledge about these spiritual journey Etc causes many sufferings she says we do not think if there is anything more to know you know sometimes we are happy with whatever we received in the sacraments or in the see after the uh confirmation you know we don't receive many a time it happened to the Catholics I think after the confirmation nobody went to um church for studying about spirituality Etc so there is we we normally think that there is nothing more to know you know the next time we go for a our wedding in the in the parish and done there is nothing more to know second point there we do not know how to ask those who know and what to ask you know if at all there are people in the world who knows about it we do not know how to ask those who know and what to ask also we do not know with regard to the spiritual journey or uh uh spiritual uh height we need to we need to go Etc third point there is we also comp without because there is no knowledge about these We complain about interior trials one complaint uh complaint we have is oh there is no experience prayer there is no joy in prayer so I don't do the prayer no and that that point is the last one fourth is melancholy or depression depression and loss of Health some people who continues you know the same similar prayers without knowing that there is yet another world of communion with the Lord there is no knowledge about this communion so they are in depression they are in Melancholy they are in loss of health so they completely leave prayer and this danger I think has happened to many of the Evangelical uh prayer groups I have an ex experience you know when I did my PhD it was a Pentecostal Pastor from the UK who came to uh my uh thesis presentation he was the external supervisor for that presentation so after the presentation everything went well um we I was invited by my my supervisor in the college for a meal because it was successful they normally give a meal this man was also there from the UK so we had some discussion about and the the sentence or the phrase interior Castle came to my mind and I said about that to my supervisor uh and immediately this Pentecostal Pastor took it up he what is interior Castle he said then he mentioned that there is no knowledge about him about interior Castle the communion of the Lord uh in going deep interiorly into my own soul and knowing the Lord and few years back also I came across this uh news from the various media that there is a coming back from Pentecostal churches to the Catholic Church uh come home website coming home websites were there so many and I heard that time was that uh at least one Pastor was coming to the Catholic Church during uh those times I I didn't verify it or anything but this was so the point I'm trying to make here is with lack of knowledge can cause us so many sufferings in our spiritual journey and we may live completely we may be out of prayer completely and this happened to many um people in the past uh so that is something she says in continuously saying in a chapter four I mean Mansion four and she says in the prologue also she says there is there was a knowing there was a noise in her head and many gushing rivers of noise of many gushing Rivers Waters are rushing downward many little birds and whistling sound in the upper part of the brain where she says upper part of the brain is part where the soul is staying human soul is staying on the upper part of the brain she says this this does not hinder my prayer or my talks but the soul is completely taken up in its quiet love desire love desired and clear knowledge faculties of the soul is in suspension of Prayer of quiet uh these words you may not understand but I'm I will repeat that when she had this uh noise in the upper part of the brain and like a gushing of rivers Waters ring Waters rushing down many little birds whistling sound in the upper part of the brain um this seemed a powerful movement of the spirit on a high higher level and she said even if there is this noise and all it didn't hinder her prayer it didn't block her prayer or her conversations also the noise was going on while she was still in absorved in prayer but the soul was completely taken up in its quiet she says the soul was completely taken up in the quiet means the soul felt completely unified with uh the soul of uh the holy spirit in its suspension of Prayer of quiet suspension means all the faculties of the Soul you know what are the faculties of the Soul knowledge is a faculty of the soul will is a faculty of the Soul all these faculties of the Soul were in suspension when the soul was United with the uh the father in prayer um just in bracket as you see there she she was able to distinguish between various faculties in coming Mansions she will be giving more details so without going further I will request you to have a look at what we heard now uh it may be too alien to us I think many for many of us this conversation may be too alien to us but at the same time are you able to comprehend what I just shared with you now but I have a question yeah so uh this noise in the head of many gushing rivers and Waters is it literally to be taken as it is or is it like the other voices that we have in our mind like you know in our head sometimes we have like different things coming is it related with that or is it it's to be taken literally as it is see all all these many gushing Rivers waters are rushing downward many little birds whistling sound later on she'll be explaining it but all these uh symbolize certain moving of the spirit as she said um this seems a powerful movement of the spirit so many of these symbols which positively contribute to the moving of the or represent the moving of the spirit are to be seriously considered in comparison with all the other negative noises we may hear am I answering you yes Father yes got it okay anything else okay I'll go forward now let us strive to go forward to reach our innermost Chamber Of the Soul she says and just a second where no one will taunt us she says she heard the bir bride saying in Song of Songs 81 and two um let us keep that for a moment uh don't take a song uh Song of Songs 81 and two now but be ready with it please J and be ready with it let us try to go forward to reach our innermost chamber of Soul where no one will taunt us this is an important aspect she is sharing um she says there is a battle going on uh in our soul as to go forward or backward there's a battle going on within our mind whether what we experience in the world is real or what we experience internally is real so as we heard in one and two the soul is suffering because there's an internal call from the Lord but since we are happy with the external experiences of Pleasures bodily Pleasures Etc uh we or the the our our our spiritual soul will be suffering because Soul knows that what is inside and God is to be sought after at the same time our Bly desires and she later on says her own um sins uh hindered her blocked her from going further so she says when we travel further we will reach a space where no one will taunt us no one will taunt us or no one will disturb us or can we take a Song of Songs 8 1 and two now Song of Solomon father yeah oh that you were like a brother to me who nursed at my mother's breast if I met you outside I would kiss you and no one would despise me I would lead you and bring you into the house of my mother and into the Chamber of the one who bore me I would give you spiced wine to drink the juice of my pomegranates yeah beautiful reading um see the last sentence of no one would despise me even if I that you were like a brother to me who nursed at my mother's breast if I met you outside I would kiss you and no one would despise me so this is about the complete uh connection between a human soul and the soul of the Holy Spirit the the God God the father's Soul God the father's spirit and when I will have that communion in my mother's chamber no one would despise me nobody will be there to disturb my peace she says and um the second verse chapter 8 uh 2 I would lead you and bring you into the house of my mother and into the Chamber of the one who bore me I will would give you spiced wine to drink the juice of my pomegranates so this is uh repeatedly coming in St John of the Cross as well as in the is of AA when uh the the the soul should be traveling further into innermost chamber of the human soul and find The God Who is present there and that communion is that we should wish for Okay so now I'm reading further in this text which is given here interior battles are more Fierce than any other if we find peace elsewhere there is no peace inside there is no peace inside and vice versa you know if we have peace inside even if there is a lot of disturbance going on outside we'll be all right so what she says is when we go deep into ourselves the other day there was this lady in a uh CSR where I am now in chalaki in she said her husband was in the hospital and uh everybody she he went for a checkup and everybody thought that immediately after getting a checkup she he went into a coma and everybody thought that doctor was unhappy and he was going to die but she said in public with to all of us in the prayer meeting father there was I was really calm there was really a calm overpowered me when I was there this is what uh we mean interior uh battles are won by her she found peace internally so she was abiding in the Lord and with that abiding whatever disturbance from outside did not taunt her did not disturb I'm reading further the Mysteries make fun of the Soul she says she makes use of that sentence the miseries make fun of the Soul you know because uh we with the prayer is important the most important thing we understand but uh when the miseries come sometimes we uh internally are Disturbed so there are so many people who are internally Disturbed so that is a fun that is making fun of the Soul prayer Lord bring us to the place where these Mysteries will not ta us and she's praying also she says let us pray Lord bring us to the place where these Mysteries will not Taun us can I ask you to repeat after me Lord lord lord lord bring us to the place bring us bring us to the place where these Mysteries will not taunt us where will not taunt us yeah so that will be a way of going inside our own soul and find peace there when we are in communion with the Lord and she says even if even in this life the Lord frees the soul from these Mysteries when it reaches the last dwelling place so that means in the seventh Mansion if you travel further even in this world while we are in the world itself we'll get the we'll be freed from the Mysteries um see this is a a small little Basin which she says two two uh two uh basins or vessels she says one is a vessel which is placed at the center of the soul and the second is a vessel which is placed far out uh of our soul far away from our soul and she again coming back to the two phrases which I said earlier consolation uh because God grants us consolation with after our own effort you know hard work in prayer so many hours we spend you know reciting prayers etc etc so God really grants us consolation that is the vessel Which is far outside but uh the in the prayer of KET we get sweetness which is uh received by our own soul straight from the center of the Soul Direct L into our our own soul and that is the two comparisons uh she make she makes um I'm going further after she will be explaining what they are little more uh clearly these two basins are filled with water in two different ways she says one is you know aquaduct aquaduct you may have seen aquaduct or big long canals artificially made by uh Olden time in olden times you know in Spain we see that in India Kerala also in different parts of India also we find aquad ducts from various sources of water we channelize the water in small canals and irrigate the uh crop wherever they are and she says the consolations are like aquaduct through which through intellectual exercises of prayer you know we learn by heart the word of God we meditate on the word of God we recite prayers um uh all those intellectual willful prayers are like watering the garden using an aquaduct bringing water from outside and watering it but the second Basin is the prayer of KET she'll be explaining that soon these two basins are filled with water from the 18 number 18 there the water comes from the innermost center of the soul is the prayer of coet the water comes from the innermost center of the soul is the prayer of coet and she says expansion do you remember yesterday's word dilation you know he he expanded my heart expansion happens from within with the flow of heavenly water and it is like a perfume spreading from inside to permeate the whole body and she says from the soul it comes to the will it comes to the intellect and it reaches the body also from inside so it permeates to all aspects of our human person and uh she says the soul understands them in a manner clearer than anything else even if she mentions that there is a flow of water perfumes Etc she says we cannot feel it feel anything you know through our senses external senses we cannot feel anything but she says the soul understands them in a manner clearer than anything else uh even if you know intellectually we by heart or understand certain things this type of a direct experience from inside our soul when the grace is Flowing from the soul to the all the parts of the body mind and soul we comprehend that just like that you know immediate knowledge as we say the the will must be United with God's will she says the will must be United with God's will in the sense you know Our Father who art in heaven Hallowed be thy name thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven so whatever we do must be um United with God's will it is in the effects and deeds following afterward that one discerns the true value of prayer there is no better Crucible for testing prayer so she says whether one person have had this prayer of quiet or Sweetness in prayer given by God can be discerned in the effects we perform in our actions in our interaction with others Etc that okay whether we had that experience of prayer and this life experience and effects of life is a better Cru for testing prayer she says and lastly she says there are five signs for humility and humility is very very very important she says here also and when you look at these five signs if we have humility she says that we need to check with these five signs if we have humility first sign we have humility is that do not we do not think we deserve these you know through humility uh explaining that once again if we really have humility we never think that we deserve these favors the other way we think uh we don't I don't deserve these favors at all sign two that we have humility we may think that for our miserable Services something great can be obtained then there is no humility we may wrongly think that for our miserable Services you know for all what we do for the family for all that we do for others with a lot of struggle we do it and there are quite a number of people in the world like that now something great can be obtained because I'm doing this uh to to get the favor of the Lord Etc third sign we uh have humility we have desire to suffer and imitate the Lord rather than to have spiritual gifts whether we have desire to suffer and imitate the Lord rather than to have spiritual gifts is an important sign of humility the fourth sign of humility is that without these favors we can be saved you know H the Majesty is not obliged to give us these favors because we all can be saved without uh these favors given to us and the fifth sign we have humility is that water is given only to whom God wills and we know that you know we humbly ask the Lord we humbly interact with him expecting Lord if you will please grant that to me kind of an attitude so um I think that's all for today uh any question anything else to cons to to discuss now that second sign can you make it little more clear the second sign yeah that know the word you used the word miserable yeah yeah miserable in the sense like uh see some people do services for others not with a uh as if they are doing it naturally you know um in Mal we say or naturally there is an inclination for people to do Services even if naturally they do services for others and they may be doing nasty work of services to others also but if they um if they wish that oh for all what I'm doing for all the nasty work I'm doing for others I'm going to be rewarded by the Lord that type of a expectation if we keep we are we are not having humility am I explaining better yeah yeah father you are saying that you are doing something very badly and then you are expecting that you're doing very good and expecting that God will re no no no no no we are doing a very great service for another person for example I um for example there is this family nearby okay I'm just saying an example and uh they need a a house so I go out of my way to help them I know that it is a very uh difficult thing to do so I do I do a lot of service to them going to different office collecting money Etc uh this is all a dirty work as we say you know dirty work but um at the end of the day I think oh God is going to grant me some favor because I'm I'm doing this thing to them is that is that a explaining better so it's actually purity of intention of other yeah purity of intention yes yes yes okay anything else sign five water is given to only to whom God Wills yeah but this I think uh is not what Jesus said know if anyone is thirsty let him come to me and drink yeah yeah that that's a see again first everything only only God wills it happens that is um I I don't know see father may I say something yeah please uh what is normally symbolized with the symbol of the Holy Spirit and the word of God says the wind blows where it Wills so this is this is this is not about the Holy Spirit this is not about the Holy Spirit particularly this is about uh the spiritual consolation which is granted to us by God spiritual consolation consolation is granted to us just for the sake of moving forward in the spiritual journey okay father okay yes Father yeah um when water is given to whom God Wills see it this need not be compared with the the previous quotation you know Jesus said uh anybody who is thirsty come to to me I will give that is about the Holy Spirit I think yeah it's about the spirit yeah yeah okay the see she even if she mentions the Holy Spirit few times uh this she does not directly speak about the gifts of the Holy Spirit in this four Mansion four or the Holy Spirit as such she prays as we heard yesterday yesterday she prayed to the Holy Spirit asking the Holy Spirit to speak on her behalf to the sisters so father yeah yeah so the spiritual spiritual uh yeah it's given I'm understanding now like is it correct yeah so it is given so that we go more deeper into prayer and uh get aligned to his spirit and understand to work with his Spirit how we will be able to come more spiritually closer to him yeah this question was asked by Victoria on the day one I think uh what is the purpose of uh uh this prayer of Union okay this the the the complete Union with God experiencing a a complete Union even in this life mystical Union as they say is the sorry sorry is the purpose of our life on earth and the spiritual practices so I'm going to read from uh as the same thing sorry John 14:23 Jesus answered him those who love me will keep my word and my father will love them and will come to them and make our home with them so but Jesus see this is chapter 14 in chapter 15 verse four he says abide in me as I abide in you okay see this is the beginning abide in me as I abiding in you is the beginning of our journey the end of the journey is uh 14:23 those who love me will keep my word and my father will love them and we will keep we will come to them and make our home with them you know this is uh the the Lord would uh the Lord would continuously uh come to us and if we are proven we are also proven a trustworthy friend for him only he will come and make his home with us that is almost the concept of a uh interior Castle or a mystical Union in the cite lineage uh am I answering Ramona yes yes yes yes thank you thank you I have a question uh so you spoke about the sweetness of Soul uh and you spoke of like external signs that is different but sweetness of Soul would be internally we will feel it internally so that is more that comes more with a silent prayer father like with meditation or something like that okay see and uh and she but she says that the prayer of KET is a gift from God also uh and prayer of KET happens immediately you know it is a gift from God whatever we do with our intellect whatever we do with our mind uh our will may not be always uh necessary for the prayer of quiet yes Father uh so uh for the prayer of quiet we need to quen our um like mind right meaning if we have some you know sometimes like when I sit to pray I might have I might be having a lot of thoughts coming to my mind so we need to quieten that those thoughts right is it yeah see today I think we'll stop there in the days to come we will come to know a little more about prayer of Co okay father thank you okay yes father thank you okay yeah and father regarding Victoria's question regarding that overcoming the weakness of Soul as we know that there a beautiful Revelation that praying in tongues can uh give you the strength to overcome the weakness of your soul and build yourself up also yeah yeah yeah Bible says when you pray in tongues you edify yourself yourself means your soul your soul is edified you know it's built up see see the the thing is during the time of Teresa of AA when she mentions about the gift various gifts of the Holy Spirit and all I think the practice of speaking in tongues was is not mentioned very explicitly in this so uh this is an I think later on only uh this is even if it was there it was not properly recorded or what not being used maybe at a later stage only this connections may be identified with the interior Castle mystical Union Etc and the um uh praying in tongues so father we have an added Advantage because of this gift of Tes yeah that that exactly yeah and many prayer have been after practicing I think they they we we we learn them and we develop them and uh over the years I think uh this the knowledge about these prayers also have been Advantage you know it's increasing true so which are these prayers father you mean um like what are the prayers of for meditation and quietness and all yeah okay shall we look at that in the days to come yes Father yeah okay yeah book on the thoughts say that again book book ons no I I was I was away for this funeral so I will do that through um jessen today and I'll make I think I think father it is uh two keys to walking in Victory brother yes exactly yeah two key two keys to walking in Victory exactly yes correct by Brother Colin and sister Priya exactly two k two keys k k Ys yes to walking in Victory it's available on Amazon brother I'm sorry I because I was traveling and I couldn't do anything the author who's the author uh brother Colin and sister Priya Colin calano oh Colin calano yes yes and sister priia yes yes thank you sister beautiful and um yeah I did the homework for you father see this is the Holy Spirit working you know thank you mentioned that you have you are presenting a thesis and a pastor came and this interior Castle this this one came out so was your thesis connected to indan C what was the topic of thesis thesis was on online education not online education online evangelization of young people evangelization of young people using the internet yes Father yeah so that is what you're doing father I am doing now but here here father I like to add one thing father George p and one senior Holy Family sister had a discussion uh regarding the the spiritual the spiritual changes that is taking among people and all the wonderful things that happening among people and father was saying that many many years ago you have to sit and fast for 40 years 50 years to see One Vision but today because of the Holy Spirit Graces being poured out it's very easy to if you cooperate with the holy spirit it's very easy to move in the direction as s has said because of the help of the hly spirit yeah that's thing yeah see that type of connectivity should be there as as they did you know one Speaking from um mystical point of view and other speaking from Holy Spirit point of view and uh connecting them is very important these days so that should happen yeah good very easy when we cooperate with the Holy Spirit St F's life is an example where she cooperated with the Holy Spirit and she was raised up you know very powerfully in the presence but um again she she had a spiritual director or many directors and the humility she had had was enormous you know outstanding so that is what we learned today I think you know um so at times for those who have the Holy Spirit and Gifts of the Holy Spirit may be lacking in humility quite a lot and dangers may occur yes Father yes yeah father thank you so much for this PP have like really a lot of trouble and I can see the efforts you have put in and I know it's not like it's really time consuming to do all these things and you have taken the trouble so thank you so much for it and even your explanation your like the way you explained was very nice and especially today putting it in points made it even more simpler so thank you so much father and especially for using this method God bless you thank you very much and uh um I also should acknowledge before you that I don't feel like you have passed the mansion to must do mention for or anything I may not have experiences like these it is only from here further what the holy spirit will speak to me I will share with you and uh sometimes I may be wrong also uh so if I'm wrong I beg your pardon um I I am also a very feeble human creature like all of you even below you are I think because uh after interacting with you all I think you all are far more ahead in your spiritual journey um so even then you bear with me and accept me as a as a speaker thank you very much and please kindly pray continue to pray for me to with the tomorrow um we'll finish the Mansion 4 and we'll wind up this session is that okay because uh father I have a uh Retreat coming here um and few other engagements are there so uh if you tell me the time I'll be preparing little more for the next one completing uh five six and seven in the next session in the next month is that okay yes Father yes Father yes Father any more questions if anyone is not able to unmute and ask you can just put it on the chat I will read it for you today Maria I think did like that so if there are no questions we shall pray for some time then father will give us the blessing so let us all unmute and pray together hallelujah hallelujah [Laughter] Jesus prise [Music] praise praise praise praise father PR [Music] Jesus h the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ the love of God the fa father and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with us all now and always and forever amen amen amen amen let us go in peace and continue to pray for me please tomorrow also yes father thank you thank you Father so much it was a wonderful glass thank you Holy Spirit for teaching us and lighting us thank you holy spirit thank you all the glory be to the father and to the son and to the holy spirit amen praise the Lord hallelujah prise the Lord hallelujah hallelujah