Teresa of Avila and the gift of prophecy

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I attended several events organized by the Charismatic renewal and they highly encouraged people to ask for one of the extra-ordinary gifts of the spirit through laying on of hands. Especially the gift of prophecy was encouraged.

Doesn’t this contradict the writings of St Teresa of Avila?

In her Interior Castle 6.9 she warns souls that when they learn or hear that God is giving souls extraordinary graces, “you must never ask or desire Him to lead you by that road.” She goes on to explain why: First, it shows a lack of humility; second, one leaves self open to "great danger because the devil needs only to see a door left a bit ajar to enter; third, “when a person has a great desire, he convinces himself he is seeing or hearing what he desires.” She adds that there are many holy people who have never had such things, and others who have them, and are not holy. This of course agrees with the warning of Our Lord Himself in Mt 7:22-23.
 
No it doesn’t contradict St Theresa of Avila’s writings

St Paul in the Bible in the new Testament, writes exactly as they are telling you,
"Seek the higher gifts.

I wish you all spoke tongues more than me.

Pray to God for the gift of interpreting tongues so as to pray with understanding.

He who has a tongue edifies himself but he who prophecies edifies others.

Quieten not tongues nor detest the one who prophecies

Seek the higher gifts."

(He then does mention that love is the most powerful gift, rightly so, but not before mentioning that people should ask God for what God will give.)

Charisms are:
Healing, prophecy, word of knowledge, word of wisdom, tongues, interpretation of tongues, discernment of spirits,

St Theresa of Avila is mentioning not to ask for things that are above the charisms,
Such as Stigmata, such as apparitions of the Virgin Mary or of the saints,
St Theresa of Avila is talking about deep deep graces that only chosen mystics of the church were given, such as St Padre Pio.

But the charisms, as St Paul wrote, as the early church experienced from Pentecost, and as the current church is experiencing under the charismatic renewal, the charisms are for the building up of the church and are to be used (Pope Francis, Pope Benedict, and Pope John Paul II said this and it’s written in the Catechism too, 🙂
Pope Francis when he was Bishop of Argentina was head of the charismatic renewal in Argentina.
The Catechism clearly states, charisms are to be used for the building up of the church. 🙂
 
But both charisms (which can be asked for) and mystical gifts (which cannot be asked for,) must be submitted.to a holy priest spiritual director, or bishop, to approve.

As St Theresa advised, a Catholic cannot believe any private Revelation unless approved by a holy priest spiritual director. Then satan can never trick the person, and the person cannot fool themselves.

This goes for the charisms too.
The Catechism says “The charisms must be submitted to the church.”
 
As Mary explained, St. Teresa was speaking about not desiring extraordinary supernatural gifts, such as visions, which she mentioned in the paragraph just before the one you quoted. But this is not the same as desiring authentic charisms, most notably prophecy.

Maybe you are misunderstanding the way St. Paul was referring to the gift of prophecy. This is not the foretelling of future events, which in itself would be very wrong to desire. It is a gift that God sends under a special interior anointing (unction). The recipient of God’s inspiration recognizes that this is meant for the uplifting, encouraging, edification, exhortation, etc., of another. In this respect, the scripture is true, “One sows, another reaps – BOTH rejoice together in the harvest.” Indeed, when the person obeys the Spirit and gives the “prophecy” to the intended listener, there is often a special blessing that is perceptible in one’s spirit. It may be given in a community prayer meeting, or privately, depending upon how God sends the message.

I hope this is helpful to you.
 
We should not strive for extraordinary mystical phenomena.

A good supplement to reading St. Teresa of Avila is venerable Fr. Marie-Eugene (of the Child Jesus)'s two volumes on the spiritual life. Fr. Marie-Eugene was a Discalced Carmelite friar, and from what I remember about talking with the friars a few months ago, there is talk of beatifying him next year. It would be a nice addition to Bl. Elizabeth of the Trinity’s canonization.

Vol. I – I Want to See God
Vol. II – I Am a Daughter of the Church

Unfortunately, I left my volumes at the Discalced Carmelite monastery in Washington D.C., so I can’t quote for you what he said.
 
Sirach2 said:
As Mary explained, St. Teresa was speaking about not desiring extraordinary supernatural gifts, such as visions, which she mentioned in the paragraph just before the one you quoted. But this is not the same as desiring authentic charisms, most notably prophecy.

Maybe you are misunderstanding the way St. Paul was referring to the gift of prophecy. This is not the foretelling of future events, which in itself would be very wrong to desire. It is a gift that God sends under a special interior anointing (unction). The recipient of God’s inspiration recognizes that this is meant for the uplifting, encouraging, edification, exhortation, etc., of another. In this respect, the scripture is true, “One sows, another reaps – BOTH rejoice together in the harvest.” Indeed, when the person obeys the Spirit and gives the “prophecy” to the intended listener, there is often a special blessing that is perceptible in one’s spirit. It may be given in a community prayer meeting, or privately, depending upon how God sends the message.

I hope this is helpful to you.
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👍 Excellent. Prophecy seems to be the most misunderstood of the charisms. In my experience, it strictly relates to the building up of the Church. Thus, we may never see the effects of our evangelization and encouragement - which is good, as we risk being “puffed up” as Saint Paul rightly noted elsewhere.
 
Thank you for your answers. I think and also experienced that practicing the charisms are very helpful in ministering to others. I was just wondering, perhaps a difficult question, if one after receiving laying on of hands, starts to notice that he occasionally starts to receive a word of knowledge, does this mean that one received the charism of prohecy or can someone have a word of knowledge or picture without having received the charism?
 
moonlight87 said:
I was just wondering, perhaps a difficult question, if one after receiving laying on of hands, starts to notice that he occasionally starts to receive a word of knowledge, does this mean that one received the charism of prohecy or can someone have a word of knowledge or picture without having received the charism?
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I’m thinking of the scripture in Luke Chapter 9:
49 “Master,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.”
50 “Do not stop him,” Jesus said, “for whoever is not against you is for you.”

If you recall, the disciples had not yet been baptized, nor confirmed, nor had they received the Eucharist. So they were just ordinary men who were given authority to evangelize and confirm their message by the signs that followed. Many who believe in God, yet who are not formally empowered to exercise a charism through laying on of hands, can be sensitive to the working of the Spirit.

Our non-Catholic brethren who love the Lord and follow His Spirit may also be gifted in this way.
 
Sirach thanks for answering my question. Great answer 🙂
Anthony v thanks for your book recommendation. These books look wonderful.
 
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