Order Study Quarter II

THE CENTRUMS 1973-1974

The Order study of Saint Teresa will be to chart the interior journey of the disciplined life.

In the second quarter of the year 1968­69 an exhaustive charting of the Interior Castle was done as well as being the Order study for two full quarters in that year. The charts of the whole book and of the seven mansions will be made available to the Congregations. These charts will be examined and refined in light of the Order's study of the Other World charts, the St. John studies, and the Sanctification triangles

The method for Saint Teresa will be to analyze the spirit journey with the methods which were found effective in the study of Saint John of the Cross. Saint Teresa's analogies and practical hints for living in a religious order are important clues for the Order's "turn to the world."

In order to being a 20th century description of the phenomenon of the spirit journey, each seminary time will conclude by writing a paraphrase of the key sections. These paraphrases will be given to the Research centrum, who will compile the Order's work on the Interior Castles. Each ecclesiola will need to appoint a scribe for the quarter

STUDY METHOD: Wednesday Preparation

I. Chart the assigned section of a mansion by paragraph, including summary sentences for each section of the chart and for the whole section.

II. List analogies for this mansion. "It is like..."

A. Saint Teresa's

B. Others

1. Literary

2. Historical

3. Contemporary

4. Other World

III . Paraphrase the assigned section in each mansion.

SEMINAR METHOD (90 minutes)

I. Lecturette (5 min.)

A. Overview of the seven mansions

B. Brief context of this mansion in the total Spirit Journey

II. Chart (20 min.)

A. Go over the chart of the mansion locating tonight's selection

B. Get out the corporate chart of the assigned selection from the group.

III. Corporate Study (40 min.)

A. List the key analogies Teresa uses and get out your own. Discuss the great thoughts, feels and resolves here.

B. Ground the sections of the chart using the study preparation work on analogies.

IV. Paraphrase(25 min.)

A. Read several paraphrases. Get quick responses.

B. Indicate how paraphrase should be changed and assign two people to refine the paraphrase and turn in.

What Events took place during the time when St. Teresa lived?

Spanish Inquisition Renaissance Jacques Cartier in Canada John of the Cross Don Quixote ­ Cervantes Luther Galileo 50 years previously Columbus discovered America Leonardo de Vinci Spanish Armada (1588) Pit and Perdulum (written later) describes this period Spain at height of conquest Counter­Transformation Vasco de Gama BaIboa John Cabot Cortez, Pizarro Coronado Pirateering

Copernicus Medicci Family Jamestown (16O7) Printing Press­­Cutenburg St. Augustine Magellan Shakespeare (1592 ­ Hamlet) Phillip the Second Jesuits/Colleges (Cambridge, Oxford) Music of Palestrina English language solidifying Protestant reformation Michaelangelo Peasants Wars (revolt) Erasmus­­Holland (writer) Calvin Spencer (The Fairie Queen) Teresa read Augustine's Confessions Controversy order reform & controversy Sir Francis Drake

Teresa's dates: b. Mar. 28, 1515; d. Oct. 15, 1582.

What trends did you see going on?

Individual freedom and creativity Pol. tyrant/ Cul. ally/ Eco. collapse and shift Real humanism (belief in man) blossoming Scientific breakthrough Discovery of new land Loss of sense of divine right of kinds Split in church and state From land to sea TURMOIL ­ breaking through of the new Man worth studying about

New excitement ­­ new sights Emerging vision of globe (round) Church crisis Interior reflection Early medicine ­ scientific investigation Disaster and treachery Towns (walled cities) emerging History emerging as way you relate to present Man's conscience over against law (Thomas More) New moralism emerging

What would a God lecture in the 16^th Century look like?

EXTERNAL SITUATION: New reality ­ from 2 to 3 dimensions Physical expansion This world come alive INTERNAL CRISIS: Man­centeredness Restlessness/dissatisfaction/yet fear How is man significant

ESCAPE: Push into legalism/look for certainty Far­fetched fads/hedonism Urge to rationalize Retreat to history for stability Subjectivism (own exp. Of nature) EXISTENTIAL QUESTION What is worth striving after What is real?/ What can I trust What is human life about?/ What guides me?

How does Teresa fit in?

Own autobiography in street language

She was unlettered/originality

Dealing with existential question (what be I?)

Religious in midst of secular

Strong individual

Romanticism transformed (imagery of the day)

Humility in individualism

Refocused space issue from center of universe­center of being

Brother a wealthy Spanish conquistador who wrote her letters from Latin America

"Great" Teresa ­­ not the more popular St. Teresa of Southern France who was also known as "Little Teresa" or "Little Flower"

What is a soul?

Conscious relationship to life

Your interior

Incredibly beautiful

Center of consciousness

Connecting rod to All That Is

Essence of being within yourself

Ground of your being

When have you experienced soul?

Hand separate from me yet me.

That part of you which takes in the awe

Vitality Be being fully

Who are people of Soul?

Kahlil Gibran (motivity)

Nikos Kazantzakis

Everyone

ORDER STUDY INTERIOR CASTLE

Quarter II, 1973­74 St. Teresa

1. As the analogy is fairly complex, either the pedagogue needs to prepare a grid of the fountains and basins and of associated happenings with each part; or, be prepared to draw the data from the group illustrating on the board.

2. Some 2 X 2 chart of the illustrations for each fountain, allowing dialogue aimed at comparing the two types of experiences is needed.

3. Pedagogy needs to be on top of basic structure of analogy, dynamics of facilities, dynamics of soul, and Teresa's running witness to the truth of what she says.

4 WHERE THE GROUP SPUN:

little shepherd boys­grid

satisfaction through own skill

when experience interior dilation ­ ineffable blessings

1. WHERE PEOPLE NEEDS ENABLE GROUP TO GET OUT INSIGHTS AND STRUGGLE WITH ISSUES:

deep secrets in self that cannot fathom

difference between humility and detachment

6. OTHER SPIN: What is the reality being described by this analogy?

Humans are receptacle or containers which are infused or become full.

Two dynamics: one is human and one is "of God" or divine which brings or allows us to arrive at

knowledge of God (Teresa is consolation) and participate in his being.

Reality is relatedness: active/passive.

Try to gain insight and "unpreparing".

How a human being meets the mystery ­­ midst of life.

1. Symbols: insights ­­ life (struggle)

(2) Mystery: everywhere ­­ life In the midst of a breakthru to the meaning of life, a man experiences himself as experiencing only a minuscule portion of reality and yet is consoled, that there is more to experience and says yes to being limited.

ORDER STUDY INTERIOR CASTLE

Quarter II, 1973­74 St. Teresa

EXPLANATION/IMAGES

In the ongoing experience of life, every person experiences or can experience a strange vitality or peace that seems to come from without and permeates to his inner being. Sometimes this experience can happen by means of life's wonder by using devices of our human rationality, for example carefully created and used Psalm conversation can unlock the deeps and enable awe to break loose in a group. Or other times in the midst of everyday living, I can decide to stand present in the deeps to the wonder that is already there to be seized at each moment; when I do, new life, peace in the midst of struggle, rushes into me. For example when I say YES to the excitement of the future, in these dread­full times, I am given new possibility living in the here and now.

EXPERIENCE

Everyone in the 20th century can experience fulfillment. This experience arises in the midst of expansion of inner space as new worlds are broken open and embraced. It is attended by increasing sense of relatedness to all that is, and a grateful acknowledgment of the manifold blessings in the midst of nitty­gritty mundane events of life. Fulfillment which originates within the interior deeps is not caused by senses, but it does activate the senses. It is not, in the first instance, a doing experience, although doing may be present. For example, an art museum director who sees the possibility of his art impacting the local community with styles, designs, and imagery from across the globe and through history might experience fulfillment.

STANCE

Like tiny ants, we creatures experience our not knowing and the fact that all our knowing amounts to nothing at all. Like Freshman college students, we discover that our knowledge is only a minuscule part of all of life. In this we are present, more than at other times, to the knowing which is otherwise secret or hidden from us, and this may manifestly increase our style of detachment and openness which is the treasure.