跋

由公元 MCMXXI 斯坦布魯克本篤會翻譯和印刷的靈心城堡或居所到此結束

儘管，正如我告訴過你的，我不願意開始這項工作，但現在它已經完成了，我很高興能寫下它，我認為我的努力得到了充分的利用，儘管我承認它只花了我很少的錢。我的姊妹們，考慮到你們嚴格的圍牆，你們的娛樂活動很少，以及你們的一些修道院需要多少便利，我認為在這座靈心城堡裡享受生活可能會讓你們感到安慰，你們可以在任何時間進入，隨意走動，而無需徵求上級的許可。確實，你無法憑藉自己的力量進入所有的居所，無論它在你看來多麼偉大，除非城堡的主人親自接納你。因此，我建議你，如果你遇到任何障礙，不要使用暴力，因為這會讓他非常不高興，他永遠不會讓你進入這些障礙。他非常喜歡謙卑：⁴⁵⁶如果你認為自己不配進入第三宮，他會盡快賜給你們進入第五重居所的恩惠。 然後，如果你在那裡很好地侍奉他，並且經常修理它，他就會把你吸引到他自己居住的居所里，從那裡你永遠不需要離開，除非被女修道院院長叫走，這位至高無上的主人希望你遵守女修道院長的命令，就像這些命令是他自己的一樣。如果按照她的命令，你經常缺席他的臨在室，那麼每當你回來時，他都會為你開門。一旦你學會如何享受這座城堡，無論你的考驗有多麼痛苦，你總會找到休息，希望回到你的主身邊，這是沒有人可以阻止的。雖然我只提到了七座居所，但每一座都包含更多的房間，上面、下面和周圍，有美麗的花園、噴泉和迷宮，此外還有其他令人愉快的東西，你會希望消耗自己來讚美偉大的天主，他按照自己的形象和样式創造了靈魂。如果你在這篇論文的計劃中發現任何可以幫助你更好地了解他的內容，請確保它是陛下為了鼓勵你而發送的，並且無論你發現其中的任何錯誤，都是我自己的。 為了回報我強烈渴望幫助你們事奉他，我的天主和我的主，我懇求您，每當您閱讀本文時，以我的名義熱切地讚美國王陛下，並懇求他繁榮他的教會，為路德派帶來光明，赦免我的罪孽，並將我從煉獄中解救出來。如果這些文章有任何錯誤，那是因為我的無知；我在所有事情上都服從神聖天主教羅馬教會的教義，我現在是該教會的一員，正如我抗議並承諾我將在生與死中一樣。願我們的主天主永遠被讚美和祝福！阿門，阿門。

1577 年，在聖安德烈守夜之際，我在亞維拉聖約瑟夫修道院完成了這本書，為了天主的榮耀，他永生並統治，直到永永遠遠！阿門。

HERE ENDS THE INTERIOR CASTLE
OR THE MANSIONS
TRANSLATED AND PRINTED BY THE
BENEDICTINES OF STANBROOK
A.D. MCMXXI

ALTHOUGH, as I told you, I felt reluctant to begin this work, yet now it is finished I am very glad to have written it, and I think my trouble has been well spent, though I confess it has cost me but little. Considering your strict enclosure, the little recreation you have, my sisters, and how many conveniences are wanting in some of your convents, I think it may console you to enjoy yourselves in this interior castle which you can enter, and walk about at will, at any hour you please, without asking leave of your superiors. It is true you cannot enter all the mansions by your own power, however great it may appear to you, unless the Lord of the castle Himself admits you. Therefore I advise you to use no violence if you meet with any obstacle, for that would displease Him so much that He would never give you admission to them. He dearly loves humility:⁴⁵⁶ if you think yourselves unworthy to enter the third mansion, He will grant you all the sooner the favour of entering the fifth. Then, if you serve Him well there and often repair to it, He will draw you into the mansion where He dwells Himself, whence you need never depart unless called away by the Prioress, whose commands this sovereign Master wishes you to obey as if they were His own. If by her orders, you are often absent from His presence chamber, whenever you return He will hold the door open for you. When once you have learnt how to enjoy this castle, you will always find rest, however painful your trials may be, in the hope of returning to your Lord, which no one can prevent. Although I have only mentioned seven mansions, yet each one contains many more rooms, above, below, and around it, with fair gardens, fountains, and labyrinths, besides other things so delightful that you will wish to consume yourself in praising in return the great God Who has created the soul to His own image and likeness. If you find anything in the plan of this treatise which helps you to know Him better, be certain that it is sent by His Majesty to encourage you, and that whatever you find amiss in it is my own. In return for my strong desire to aid you in serving Him, my God and my Lord, I implore you, whenever you read this, to praise His Majesty fervently in my name and to beg Him to prosper His Church, to give light to the Lutherans, to pardon my sins and to free me from purgatory, where perhaps I shall be, by the mercy of God, when you see this book (if it is given to you after having been examined by theologians). If these writings contain any error, it is through my ignorance; I submit in all things to the teachings of the holy Catholic Roman Church, of which I am now a member, as I protest and promise I will be both in life and death. May our Lord God be for ever praised and blessed! Amen, Amen.

I finished writing this book in the convent of St. Joseph of Avila, 1577, on the Vigil of St. Andrew, for the glory of God, Who liveth and reigneth for ever and ever! Amen.