It is very important for any soul that practices prayer…not to hold itself back and stay in one corner. Let it walk through those dwelling places which are up above, down below, and to the sides, since God has given it such great dignity. Don’t force it to stay a long time in one room alone. Oh, but if it is in the room of self-knowledge!
Teresa of Avila, The Interior Castle
Teresa of Avila at sixty-one. Juan de la Miseria, 1576. Carmel of Seville. © Gianni Dagli Orti/Art Archive at Art Resource, New York.
