Foundational Documents
The Words of St. Tesesa Avila
Since Frannie Rose often mentions St. Teresa as if the Doctor of the Church supports her approach to the spiritual life I have included some more lengthy quotes to show that not only did St. Teresa speak against the suspension of the intellect but states that it is actually a hindrance.
"One preparation for listening to Him, as certain books tell us, is that we should contrive, not to use our reasoning powers, but to be intent on discovering what God is doing in the soul; for, if His Majesty has not begun to grant us adsorption, I cannot understand how we can cease thinking in any way which will not bring us more harm than profit, although this has been a matter of continual discussion among spiritual persons. For my own part, I confess my lack of humility, but their arguments have never seemed to me good enough to lead me to accept what they say. One person told me of a certain book by the saintly Fray Peter of Alcantara, which would certainly have convinced me, for I know how much he knew about such things; but we read it together, and found that he says exactly what I say, although not in the same words...God gave us our faculties to work with, and everything will have its due reward; there is no reason, then, for trying to cast a spell over them - they must be allowed to perform their office until God gives them a better one." (Interior Castle, Fourth Mansion, III, pp.87-89, Garden City: NY, Image Books)
"Taking it upon oneself to stop and suspend thought is what I mean should not be done; nor should we cease to work with the intellect, because otherwise we would be left like cold simpletons and be doing neither one thing nor the other. When the Lord suspends the intellect and causes it to stop, He Himself gives it that which holds its attention and makes it marvel; and without reflection it understands more in the space of a creed than we can understand with all our earthly diligence in many years. Trying to keep the soul’s faculties busy and thinking you can make them be quiet is foolish."
"And I say again, even though it may not be understood, this effort to suspend the intellect is not very humble. Although there may be no fault, there is no lack of a penalty; labor will be wasted, and the soul will be left with some little frustration, as in the case of a person who when about to leap forward is pulled back by someone else. For now, seemingly, it has used its energy and finds that it hasn’t achieved what it wanted to achieve with it. And whoever desires to observe will see in the small gain that results this tiny lack of humility I mentioned….It seems to me I have explained this matter, but perhaps I’ve only made it clear to myself. May the Lord by means of experience open the eyes of those who read this." (Teresa of Avila, The Book of Her Life, 12-5, in The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, vol. 1, trans. Keiran Kavanaugh and OtilioRodriguez (Washington D. C.: ICS, 1976), 12-5, 87-88.)
There are two Vatican documents which all Catholics should read and correctly understand as it relates to the teachings of Frannie Rose.
Recommended Source for Spiritual Direction
Likewise, it would also be beneficial for one to be familiar with the critiques that have been written against others who espouse similar ideas, especially Thomas Keating. A highly recommended site for spiritual direction for those interested in this subject that is faithful to the magisterium is Spiritual Direction (dot) com.
Frannie Rose Vs. Vatican Documents
Frannie teaches that in order to make space for God through meditation one must clear the mind of everything we have been taught about God. This method basically leads the participant to question and abandon God's Revelation through the Church so that they can be indoctrinated with Frannie's New Age teachings.
Frannie has stated: "We have to be emptied of what we think we know about God." "...in order to fully experience God you have to let go of what you have been taught." Frannie includes in this what we have been taught by the Church. She wants people to ignore what the Church has taught about God and wants us to completely empty our minds and listen to a spirit speak to us, as if God is going to tell us something different than what Christ has said through his Church. Her method presumes that the Church does not teach the revelation of God and refers to it as "...traditional religion very set in the old ways of doing things...". She presumes that this spirit that she listens to and teaches others to listen to is the proper, and direct revelation of God.
However, this manner of emptying the mind of God's revelation, and moving away from Christ, is not the way one ought to interpret the mystics to mean when they speak of “emptying” oneself. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in their Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on Some Aspects of Christian Mediation puts it this way:
"Therefore, one has to interpret correctly the teaching of those masters who recommend "emptying" the spirit of all sensible representations and of every concept, while remaining lovingly attentive to God. In this way, the person praying creates an empty space which can then be filled by the richness of God. However, the emptiness which God requires is that of the renunciation of personal selfishness…”
In the following paragraph the document becomes more explicit on this point:
“As St. Ignatius says in the Spiritual Exercises, we should try to capture "the infinite perfume and the infinite sweetness of the divinity" (n. 124), going forward from that finite revealed truth from which we have begun. While he raises us up, God is free to "empty" us of all that holds us back in this world, to draw us completely into the Trinitarian life of his eternal love. However, this gift can only be granted "in Christ through the Holy Spirit," and not through our own efforts, withdrawing ourselves from his revelation.""
Likewise, the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, in their document Jesus Christ, The Bearer of the Water of Life: A Christian Reflection on the "New Age” states:
“All meditation techniques need to be purged of presumption and pretentiousness. Christian prayer is not an exercise in self-contemplation, stillness and self-emptying, but a dialogue of love, one which “implies an attitude of conversion, a flight from 'self' to the 'You' of God”.”
The Church makes certain that whatever is to be meant by contemplation in this manner will never involve the emptying of our minds of divine revelation. Frannie’s error consists in her rejection of the uniqueness of the Christian Revelation as the fullness of Truth as subsisting in the Catholic Church. Rather she contends that the mind can’t know anything about God. In this radical, extreme apophaticism, there is nothing that can be affirmed about God, except perhaps what she is told by this spirit. She proposes whatever the mind thinks it knows must be emptied because it will only hinder our hopeful encounter with the voice of God. Her religious indifferent perspective leads her to think of religion of any kind as a mere vehicle to God, rejecting the unique Incarnation of God in the person of Jesus Christ, and His establishment of the Church as the pillar and foundation of the Truth. Contrary to this Frannie states: "Religion is just a vehicle to God, if you take every faith as a piece of a pie, cut up a pie into pieces, every faith touches at the center, every piece of the pie touches at the center and that is where God is. A religion is just a vehicle and to get it right is not the point, to find God is"
When she teaches Catholics and other Christians to follow her technique with these presumptions then any experience obtained will only be interpreted to support those presumptions rather than to question them. While there can and will be some benefit to her method, and in some cases perhaps significant, it nevertheless contains material heresy that people may not be able to properly discern. Even if a Catholic does not completely abandon their reason in this matter, the influence works against Catholic Teaching and the recommendations concerning meditation and contemplation.
"Therefore, one has to interpret correctly the teaching of those masters who recommend "emptying" the spirit of all sensible representations and of every concept, while remaining lovingly attentive to God. In this way, the person praying creates an empty space which can then be filled by the richness of God. However, the emptiness which God requires is that of the renunciation of personal selfishness…”
In the following paragraph the document becomes more explicit on this point:
“As St. Ignatius says in the Spiritual Exercises, we should try to capture "the infinite perfume and the infinite sweetness of the divinity" (n. 124), going forward from that finite revealed truth from which we have begun. While he raises us up, God is free to "empty" us of all that holds us back in this world, to draw us completely into the Trinitarian life of his eternal love. However, this gift can only be granted "in Christ through the Holy Spirit," and not through our own efforts, withdrawing ourselves from his revelation.""
Likewise, the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, in their document Jesus Christ, The Bearer of the Water of Life: A Christian Reflection on the "New Age” states:
“All meditation techniques need to be purged of presumption and pretentiousness. Christian prayer is not an exercise in self-contemplation, stillness and self-emptying, but a dialogue of love, one which “implies an attitude of conversion, a flight from 'self' to the 'You' of God”.”
The Church makes certain that whatever is to be meant by contemplation in this manner will never involve the emptying of our minds of divine revelation. Frannie’s error consists in her rejection of the uniqueness of the Christian Revelation as the fullness of Truth as subsisting in the Catholic Church. Rather she contends that the mind can’t know anything about God. In this radical, extreme apophaticism, there is nothing that can be affirmed about God, except perhaps what she is told by this spirit. She proposes whatever the mind thinks it knows must be emptied because it will only hinder our hopeful encounter with the voice of God. Her religious indifferent perspective leads her to think of religion of any kind as a mere vehicle to God, rejecting the unique Incarnation of God in the person of Jesus Christ, and His establishment of the Church as the pillar and foundation of the Truth. Contrary to this Frannie states: "Religion is just a vehicle to God, if you take every faith as a piece of a pie, cut up a pie into pieces, every faith touches at the center, every piece of the pie touches at the center and that is where God is. A religion is just a vehicle and to get it right is not the point, to find God is"
When she teaches Catholics and other Christians to follow her technique with these presumptions then any experience obtained will only be interpreted to support those presumptions rather than to question them. While there can and will be some benefit to her method, and in some cases perhaps significant, it nevertheless contains material heresy that people may not be able to properly discern. Even if a Catholic does not completely abandon their reason in this matter, the influence works against Catholic Teaching and the recommendations concerning meditation and contemplation.
The Words of St. Tesesa Avila
Since Frannie Rose often mentions St. Teresa as if the Doctor of the Church supports her approach to the spiritual life I have included some more lengthy quotes to show that not only did St. Teresa speak against the suspension of the intellect but states that it is actually a hindrance.
"One preparation for listening to Him, as certain books tell us, is that we should contrive, not to use our reasoning powers, but to be intent on discovering what God is doing in the soul; for, if His Majesty has not begun to grant us adsorption, I cannot understand how we can cease thinking in any way which will not bring us more harm than profit, although this has been a matter of continual discussion among spiritual persons. For my own part, I confess my lack of humility, but their arguments have never seemed to me good enough to lead me to accept what they say. One person told me of a certain book by the saintly Fray Peter of Alcantara, which would certainly have convinced me, for I know how much he knew about such things; but we read it together, and found that he says exactly what I say, although not in the same words...God gave us our faculties to work with, and everything will have its due reward; there is no reason, then, for trying to cast a spell over them - they must be allowed to perform their office until God gives them a better one." (Interior Castle, Fourth Mansion, III, pp.87-89, Garden City: NY, Image Books)
"Taking it upon oneself to stop and suspend thought is what I mean should not be done; nor should we cease to work with the intellect, because otherwise we would be left like cold simpletons and be doing neither one thing nor the other. When the Lord suspends the intellect and causes it to stop, He Himself gives it that which holds its attention and makes it marvel; and without reflection it understands more in the space of a creed than we can understand with all our earthly diligence in many years. Trying to keep the soul’s faculties busy and thinking you can make them be quiet is foolish."
"And I say again, even though it may not be understood, this effort to suspend the intellect is not very humble. Although there may be no fault, there is no lack of a penalty; labor will be wasted, and the soul will be left with some little frustration, as in the case of a person who when about to leap forward is pulled back by someone else. For now, seemingly, it has used its energy and finds that it hasn’t achieved what it wanted to achieve with it. And whoever desires to observe will see in the small gain that results this tiny lack of humility I mentioned….It seems to me I have explained this matter, but perhaps I’ve only made it clear to myself. May the Lord by means of experience open the eyes of those who read this." (Teresa of Avila, The Book of Her Life, 12-5, in The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, vol. 1, trans. Keiran Kavanaugh and OtilioRodriguez (Washington D. C.: ICS, 1976), 12-5, 87-88.)
Spiritual Discernment and the True Voice of God
The true voice of God is to be found within Christ, the only and unique incarnation of God, as contained in the teachings of the apostles, as passed on through the tradition of the Church. It is this Christ that is the radiance of his glory, the exact representation of his being, the image of the invisible God, the fullness of deity in bodily form, the definitive Word of God! This is how we properly discern what impressions we may receive from God are authentic, that they are consistent with what God has already told us.
Scripture tells us: "The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons." (1 Timothy 4:1) Therefore we must be able to properly discern what we think is the voice of God in order to avoid deception.
"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." (1 John 4:1) The best way to test a spirit is to compare what is being taught with the teachings of the Church. If one has been deceived and is actively involved in deceiving others then the Catholic faithful must have recourse to the Church.
"We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error." (1 John 4:6) It is important that everything that we follow be consistent with the teachings of the Church.
"Test all things and hold fast to that which is true" (1 Thessalonians 5:21)
St. Frances de Sales tells us that we must test the impressions which we think we are receiving from God.
"...before you consent to inspirations with regard to important or extraordinary things, always consult your advisor so that he my examine the inspiration and see whether it is true or false. When the enemy sees a soul ready to consent to inspirations he often proposes false ones in order to deceive it. He can never accomplish this as long as that soul humbly obeys its director." (St. Frances de Sales. Introduction to the Devout Life, trans. John K. Ryan.Garden City NY, 1972, 111.)
And certainly "...Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light" and so we should expect that his deceptions will be convincing. Likewise, "there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies" and it is the role of the faithful to be able to discern and speak against this influence within the Church.
St. Frances de Sales tells us that we must test the impressions which we think we are receiving from God.
"...before you consent to inspirations with regard to important or extraordinary things, always consult your advisor so that he my examine the inspiration and see whether it is true or false. When the enemy sees a soul ready to consent to inspirations he often proposes false ones in order to deceive it. He can never accomplish this as long as that soul humbly obeys its director." (St. Frances de Sales. Introduction to the Devout Life, trans. John K. Ryan.Garden City NY, 1972, 111.)
And certainly "...Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light" and so we should expect that his deceptions will be convincing. Likewise, "there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies" and it is the role of the faithful to be able to discern and speak against this influence within the Church.
No comments:
Post a Comment