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LibraryAncient voices

Ancient voice: St. Teresa of Ávila

The Interior Castle (Las Moradas) · “Let nothing disturb thee”

The rooms of St. Teresa of Ávila’s interior castle (The Interior Castle, 1577): the soul as a castle of many rooms, with God at the center.

From the book’s glossary: Mansions

In the book

The four doors it opens

Door I

Of the Thirst That Wakes the Heavens

Enter through Door I
«Considerar nuestra alma como un castillo todo de diamante o muy claro cristal, adonde hay muchos aposentos, así como en el cielo hay muchas moradas».
St. Teresa of Ávila, The Interior Castle, First Mansions, ch. 1
Door II

Of the Light That Learns Thy Name

Enter through Door II
«A cuanto yo puedo entender, la puerta para entrar en este castillo es la oración y consideración».
St. Teresa of Ávila, The Interior Castle, First Mansions, ch. 1
Door III

Of the Threshold of Return

Enter through Door III
«No está la cosa en pensar mucho, sino en amar mucho».
St. Teresa of Ávila, The Interior Castle, Fourth Mansions, ch. 1
Door IV

Of the Voice That Leads Unto Silence

Enter through Door IV
«Nada te turbe,nada te espante,todo se pasa,Dios no se muda;la pacienciatodo lo alcanza;quien a Dios tienenada le falta:sólo Dios basta».
St. Teresa of Ávila, Poems, «Nada te turbe»
Sources

Editions cited

Teresa de Jesús, Saint (Teresa of Ávila). Las Moradas. 3rd ed. Argentina: Espasa-Calpe, 1943. Digital edition: Alicante, Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, 2000. Passages used: Moradas primeras, ch. 1, pp. 13 and 16; Moradas cuartas, ch. 1, p. 49. Source for Doors I–III. Page numbers are those of the printed edition, as reproduced in the digital edition.

Teresa de Jesús, Saint. «Nada te turbe». Text reproduced on the Santa Teresa de Jesús portal of the Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, n.d. Accessed 25 September 2026. Source for Door IV.

The quotations from Teresa of Ávila and John of the Cross are given in the original Spanish, with modernized spelling and punctuation. Brackets mark omissions.

From the “Literary and philosophical references” of the book.