Mansions of spiritual consolations (Christianity)

These mansions are beautiful, filled with exquisite things and near God. Petty faults and temptations are seldom encountered here and when they are they may be good for the soul by keeping it alert to the possibility of temptation by greater evil. They also keep the soul from being constantly absorbed.

In these mansions the imagination is quite active. Imagination is not the same as understanding and can cause a great deal of torment. Things which are not bad may be worried about and the soul is sent in pursuit of them wasting its time. These obstacles to prayer are no reason to quit.

While it is a weak will, nature and the devil that cause these trial neither the will nor understanding can stop them. They are to be lived with.

In these mansions spiritual sweetness may be encountered which is result of work. They can be gained through human skill, by meditating, fatiguing the understanding and the soul is filled with joy. These worldly joys have their source in nature, and are quite noisy and while they do not enlarge hearts, they can lead to God.

Spiritual consolations, which are different from spiritual sweetness, come from God directly and bring great peace, quiet and sweetness which are not felt by the body at first. The interior is dilated. This is not union but being absorbed by God and the person who recognizes these graces and does not turn back is greatly blessed. They cannot be strove for because they come from love of God without self interest, this effort lacks humility, preparation is the desire to suffer and to follow Christ not to gain consolations, God is in no way obligated to give them and striving is in vain.

The person may experience an interior shrinking or gradual retiring within oneself. The response should be to give praise. While some advocate silencing all thought, reason and understanding, this is potentially harmful, the effort may encourage thought, and it distracts from remembering the honour and glory of God. It is best to try without forcing to stop discursive reasoning and not stop all thought and understanding. This kind of prayer of recollection enlarges the heart, gives more freedom to serve God, grants confidence in being destined to be with God, and releases from the fear of physical harm when doing penance. These consolations are so great that earthly desires are gradually withdrawn from.

The dangers in these mansions include the need to avoid all occasions for offending God. Some people become so physically weak that as soon they receive these consolations they fall into a stupor and when every they experience joy return to the stupor. They then believe they are making progress while, in fact, they are making fools of themselves. Finally, some souls will find that they cannot handle the physical strain of these experiences and should stop.

The fourth of seven mansions of the soul's progress described by St Teresa of Avila.