Grade 9: Prayer of Transforming Union

According to Prof. Jordan Aumann, "The last grade of prayer is the transforming union, identified by many mystics as the spiritual marriage. It constitutes the seventh mansions of The Interior Castle of St. Teresa and is the highest degree of perfection that one can attain in this life. It is, therefore, a prelude to the beatific life of glory… In this grade of prayer there is a total transformation of the soul into the Beloved. The soul has entered into its very center, so to speak, which is the throne room of the interior castle where the Trinity dwells through grace. There God and the soul give themselves to each other in the consummation of divine love, so far as is possible in the present life. There is no more ecstasy, for the soul has now been strengthened to receive the full power of love, but in the brightness of an intellectual vision the soul experiences the Trinity with vivid awareness" (Spiritual Theology, pp.350-351)

In the words of St. Teresa, "First of all the spirit becomes enkindled and is illumined, as it were, by a cloud of the greatest brightness. It sees these three Persons, individually, and yet, by a wonderful kind of knowledge which is given it, the soul realizes that most certainly and truly all these three Persons are one substance and one power and one knowledge and one God alone; so that what we hold by faith the soul may be said here to grasp by sight, although nothing is seen by the eyes, either of the body or of the soul, for it is no imaginary vision. Here all three Persons communicate Themselves to the soul and speak to the soul and explain to it those words which the Gospel attributes to the Lord -- namely, that He and the Father and the Holy Spirit will come to dwell with the soul which loves Him and keeps His commandments." [Interior Castle, translated and edited by E. Allison Peers (New York: Doubleday, 1989) pp.209-210]

Fr. Aumann continues, "We can distinguish three elements in this loftiest degree of the prayer of union: transformation in God, mutual surrender, and the permanent union of love… Concomitant with the permanent union of love is the soul's confirmation in grace. St. John of the Cross maintains that the transformation union never falters and the soul is confirmed in grace, but St. Teresa warns that as long as we are in this world we must walk with caution, lest we offend God. However, the apparent contradiction is readily resolved when we say that confirmation in grace does not mean intrinsic impeccability, for the Church teaches that it is an impossibility in this life. Nor is it a question of avoiding all venial sins in this life, for that would require a special privilege of grace as was bestowed on the Virgin Mary. Consequently, confirmation in grace must be understood as the special grace and assistance from God to avoid all mortal sins and thus have moral certificate of salvation." (Spiritual Theology, p.352)

Concerning the awesome effects of Transforming Union, St. Teresa said: "First, there is a self-forgetfulness which is so complete that it really seems as though the soul no longer existed, because it is such that she has neither knowledge nor remembrance that there is either heaven or life or honour for her, so entirely is she employed in seeking the honour of God … The second effect produced is a great desire to suffer, but this is not of such a kind as to disturb the soul, as it did previously. So extreme is her longing for the will of God to be done in her that whatever His Majesty does she considers to be for the best… [The third effect:] When these souls are persecuted, they have a great interior joy, and much more peace... They bear no enmity to those who ill-treat them, or desire to do so. Indeed they conceive a special love for them … [The fourth effect:] They have now an equally strong desire to serve Him, and to sing His praise, and to help some soul if they can. Their conception of glory is of being able in some way to help the Crucified, especially when they see how often people offend Him … [The fifth effect:] These souls have a marked detachment from everything and a desire to be always either alone or busy with something that is to some soul's advantage. They have no aridities or interior trails but a remembrance of Our Lord and a tender love for Him … [The sixth effect:] The soul has no more raptures accompanied, that is to say, by the suspension of the senses, save very occasionally, and even then it has not the same transports and flights of the spirit … [The seventh effect:] Here to this wounded hart are given waters in abundance… Oh, Jesus! If only one knew how many things there are in Scripture which describe this peace of the soul! … I assure you, sisters, that they have no lack of crosses, but these do not unsettle them or deprive them of their peace. The few storms pass quickly, like waves of the sea, and fair weather returns, and then the Presence of the Lord which they have within them makes them forget everything." (The Interior Castle, ibid., pp.219-225)

Finally, Fr. Aumann sums up this ideal of Christian perfection as follows: "Such is the bittersweet path the leads to the heights of contemplative prayer and the transforming union. It is the sublime ideal of Christian perfection, and it is offered to all souls in grace. When Jesus pronounced the precept: 'You must be made perfect as your heavenly father is perfect' (Matt. 5:48), he was speaking to all souls without exception. The Christian life, if it is developed according to the supernatural powers that are inherent in it, will lead to the transforming union of charity, which is in turn the prelude to the beatific vision." (Spiritual Theology, p.354)

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