# Session 12 # Overall Understanding of one’s Spiritual Journey within the Context of Church, Order, Community, Family and Work OCDS Constitutions 32: _The central object of the process of formation in the Secular Order is to_ _prepare_ _the person to_ _live the_ _charism_ _and spirituality_ _of Carmel_ _in its following of_ _Christ, and in_ _service to its mission._ In preparation for this session, each participant (the candidates and the formator) is to select a passage from the Interior Castle that spoke to their heart and inspired a positive change. Each is to reflect on: “How has this year of formation affected me — who I am and where I am at in my journey? How has it changed my attitudes and the way I interact with others? What has changed in my prayer and in my relationship with God?” Each person is to prepare a short talk on the passage they chose and share why it was important to them. This is to be done more as a conversation among friends than a formal presentation. After the personal sharing, and as time allows, the formator guides a discussion of the following concepts and their impact upon the participants’ lives. **It** **is** **not** **necessary** **to** **discuss** **every** **concept or to take them in the order given.** **Note to the formator:** The goal for this year has been for the candidates to internalize and try to live these concepts. While mature Carmelites should be able to converse about them, more learning happens through personal example than through spoken word. There is not to be any sort of “oral test” or “final exam.” # “Take-away” Concepts from This year’s Exploration of the Interior Castle 1. The call to contemplation: God’s invitation to share His Divine Life with every person is persistent and undeniable. 2. We are the temple of God: God dwells in every person and keeps them in existence (substantial union). 3. Who we are: the human person has a marvelous capacity for God (transformation and union of likeness/participation). 4. The Christ-centeredness found in Teresa means that for her, faith and the Christian life are not founded on abstractions or philosophies but on the special existence of a person in history who is called Jesus Christ. He is the center of life; without Him, the Christian life loses its meaning. 5. Self-knowledge is crucial in every stage of prayer: “…knowing ourselves is something so important that I wouldn’t want any relaxation ever in this regard, however high you may have climbed into the heavens…” (IC I.2:9). 6. True self-knowledge is rooted in the parallel knowledge of God. Humility is the virtue that links knowledge of self with knowledge of God. 7. The spiritual journey, although sustained by grace, demands great determination and every possible effort to bring one’s will into conformity with God’s will. This conformity requires detachment, humility, and perseverance in prayer and virtue. 8. Love does not consist in great delight but in desiring with strong determination to please God in everything. 9. When spending time with God in prayer, the important thing is not to think much but to love much. Discursive prayer is not an end in itself, but a means of lifting the mind, heart, and soul to God, opening oneself to the gift of contemplation, should God choose to give it. 10. Prayer has an ecclesial value: “This is the reason for prayer, my daughters, the purpose of this spiritual marriage: the birth always of good works, good works” (Interior Castle Seventh Mansion, 4:6). **Note to the Council:** The following needs to be completed well before the discernments begin; it may be divided into two or more sessions, if needed. It is important to have special sessions with the Formation Director for candidates in their third year of Formation II. # Bibliography St. Teresa of Avila, *[[tj-interior-castle-ccel|The Interior Castle Study Edition, ICS Publications, 2010 or second edition, 2020 (page numbers differ)]]*. Ahlgren, Gillian T.W., _Entering Teresa of Avila’s Interior Castle. A Reader’s Companion_, Paulist Press, 2005. Alvarez, Thomas, OCD, _St. Teresa of Avila, 100 Themes on Her Life and Work._ ICS Publications, 2011. *[[pursuits-texts/04-formation-and-liturgy/legislation/05-03-constitutions|Constitutions of the Secular Order of the Teresian Carmel]]*, June 16, 2003. _The_ _Collected_ _Works_ _of_ _St._ _John_ _of_ _the_ _Cross_, ICS Publications, 1991. _The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila_, Vol. One, ICS Publications, 1976 Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, *[[gaudium-et-spes-00|Gaudium Et Spes]]* --- Next: [[pursuits-texts/04-formation-and-liturgy/handbooks/formation-II-b-handbook/tj-ic-guide-12c|Interior Castle Handbook Special Session with The Formation Director for Candidates In Their Third Year of Formation II: Called To Holiness — The Definitive Promise In The Secular Order of the Discalced Carmelites]] --- **Source:** Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, *Formation II Year B: The Interior Castle (The Seven Dwelling Places)* (US National Formation Program, 2024).