# Guarding the Senses ## _Blessed Are the Clean of Heart..._" I grew up seeing terrible images of violence on the front covers of cheap “vespertino” (afternoon) newspapers. Newspaper salesmen would walk up to cars and hold them out, and the front pages would also hang outside storefronts. You could not avoid them. Graphic scenes of death and suffering were displayed for all to see, including little children. Those images did not stay on the paper. They entered my memory and left their mark. The memory and the imagination are powerful gifts from God. The Carmelite saints understood this very well. St. Teresa of Ávila compared the soul to a castle made of crystal and warned: _“But around the castle are many reptiles and wild animals which enter by the senses.”_ (_[[tj-interior-castle-ccel|Interior Castle]]_, First Mansions, ch. 1, 8). St. John of the Cross said: > _“The soul must not set its eyes upon things that are not helpful to it, nor let the memory go about gathering such things; for this only hinders the recollection and purity of the soul.”_ (_[[jc-dark-night-toc|Dark Night of the Soul]]_, Book I, ch. 3, 3) This is why, for me, the news cycle is so dangerous for the interior life. It thrives on outrage and fear. When those feelings are paired with images and words, and the adrenaline of stress, that has a powerful and lasting influence not only on our minds but also on our souls. We are called to guard our senses, not to hide from the truth, but to be careful and discerning about what we allow into the garden of the mind. What seeds are planted there will bear fruit, for good or ill. > _“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”_ (Phil 4:8, NRSVCE) What does guarding our senses mean? It can mean refusing to watch violent news footage that will add nothing to our prayer life or understanding of the issue. It may mean being careful not to click on the next enraging headline. It may mean choosing our news sources carefully or not letting YouTube run wild, unimpeded on our phones. This does not mean ignoring suffering in the world. We pray, we help, we mourn. But we need a pure heart that can effect change from a place of peace and charity. We do not need to jump in with the reptiles and the shadows. To guard the senses, we need to choose recollection, silence, and Christ above all. That is the only way the light from inside the castle, that is God dwelling in our soul, can shine unclouded. # Resources ## Healing Prayer to the Holy Spirit Holy Spirit, come down and reclaim my body which was consecrated to Thee at my baptism, filling my entire dimensive quantity, from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet. Fill my faculties with Thy presence, my senses, memory, imagination, cogitative power, common sense power, intellect, will and appetites. Take up Thy residence in all aspects of my body and soul, leaving no place unfilled, closing off any doors, caves or portals to the demons, driving them to the foot of the Cross of Jesus Christ, never to return again. Heal me of the wounds of NN. (_Name the wounds_). In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. ## Commissioning Prayer My guardian angel, under thy intellectual and volitional protection I place my body. I ask thee to illumine my mind and refrain my appetites. I ask thee to strengthen my cogitative power, my memory and my imagination. Help me to remember the things I should and not remember the things I should not. Help me to associate the things I should and not to associate the things I should not. Give me good clear images in my imagination. I ask thee to drive away all the demons that might affect me while I sleep (or throughout the course of the day). (Help me to sleep and, if thou should deem it prudent, direct my dreams. Help me to arise refreshed). Amen. Shortened from: [[commission-of-the-care-of-body-and-soul|Commission of the care of soul and body]] See also: - [[prayer-to-protect-faculties|Deliverance prayer to protect faculties]] - [[prayer-for-purification|Purification Prayer]] - [[16-guard-of-the-senses|Divine intimacy meditations - guard of the senses]] - [[20250906-carmel-senses-faculties|Research on interior senses]] - 🎧 [Commission of the Care of Body and Soul (With Music)](https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/alittlepilgrim/episodes/Commission-of-The-Care-of-Body-and-Soul-With-Music-e2src1a) - 🎧 [Commission of the Care of Soul and Body (Intercessory Version)](https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/alittlepilgrim/episodes/Commission-of-the-Care-of-Soul-and-Body-Intercessory-Version-e2ug3qi) - 🎧 [Healing Prayer (No Music)](https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/alittlepilgrim/episodes/Healing-Prayer-No-Music-e2vb6vr) - 🎧 [Healing Prayer (With Music)](https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/alittlepilgrim/episodes/Healing-Prayer-With-Music-e2vb79f) Next up (maybe): - Guarding the tongue - (or text) in the age of social media - Fighting the good fight - like the modern martyrs