Transverberation

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rivera01

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I just finished reading the 10th and 11th chapters of the 6th Mansion of the Interior Castle of St. Teresa of Avila. It left me a little scared to read the suffering ensued by the wound of love and in order to enter into the 7th mansion, this wound of love is necessary in order to obtain the soul’s union with God. St. Teresa describes the pain that the soul feels, because of the wound of love, as the Purgatory the soul goes through here on Earth, but it can last between 3-4 hours.

What left me thinking is that if the degree of suffering that the wound of love causes is dependent on the amount of reparation our souls need to do for our sins. I understand why this purgation needs to happen, but as I have mentioned, it has left me a little scared. This does not mean that I am going to give up in my spiritual life, but just have lots to chew on for the time being.
 
This was one individual saint’s experience. God does not guide souls to Him in the same way at all. You need to read such things objectively and realize that God’s path for you may well be very different, as it is for the vast majority of people. By no means was Teresa laying out a “blueprint” of what all souls go through to reach God.
 
Yes, I agree and understand that and she made that really clear in the 6th mansion. I realize that not everyone will have this experience, but this still leaves my question unanswered.

We will all need to go through some type of purgation in the passive purgation stage, albeit may not be to the same degree as St. Teresa. But does the degree of purgation relative to the reparation for our sins.
 
Your question is still unclear. You stated, “But does the degree of purgation relative to the reparation for our sins.” Do you mean, “Is the degree of purgation relative to the reparation for our sins?” In other words, does God purge us just enough to cleanse all our sins before we can encounter Him? The answer is yes. He is a merciful and just judge; He does not inflict punishment on us for more sins than we have committed. We can, in addition, through our choice co-operate with Him to accept suffering in atonement for the sins of others, but that’s a separate thing.
 
While I have not read St. Theresa’s Interior Mansions, I do find corollaries in other approaches to the Divine Union. Please correct me if I am wrong.

It does not seem that St. Theresa is speaking of a physical or emotional pain which is externally felt or sensed. Instead, it seems that it is instead a purgatorial pain of intense longing. When man supernaturally touches God, even for but a moment, there is a withdrawl felt as that Love is veiled again. It is an emotional pain of separation likened to a child being separated from a loving mother for long periods of time or a person not being able to communicate with their spouse for years on end. It is the longing of a soul in purgatory reaching out with the entirety of his or her own being to God and yet being made to wait as that longing purges away their sins.

Some who have been granted insight into the state of the soul in purgatory have said that it is this ultimate pain of longing which purifies the soul. The suffering we experience on hearth to purify ourselves is a gift for those who do not experience that constant soul-deep ache of longing through supernatural grace.

I hope this helps.

God Bless,
Ben
 
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