Teresa of Avila, answered from the texts and cited to the page.
It is the second water. In the first, the gardener draws from the well with his own labour; here the Lord of the vineyard gives a wheel and buckets, so that the water is nearer and the work much less. The soul begins to be recollected, and it is touching on the supernatural, for it never could reach this by any efforts of its own.1 What happens is a gathering of the faculties within the soul, so that it may enjoy a greater sweetness.
They are not lost, neither are they asleep; it is the will alone that is occupied, and without knowing how, it has become a captive and gives a simple consent to be God's prisoner.2 O my Jesus, how pressing is Thy love, that it binds ours so straitly that it cannot love anything else at that moment! The other two faculties, memory and understanding, are like doves that will not be satisfied with the food the master of the dovecot gives them for nothing; they go out seeking elsewhere and come back with hardly anything.
They come and go, and sometimes they trouble the will very much. Then it should pay them no heed and simply abide in its fruition, for if it tried to gather them in by force, it would lose its way together with them.3 In the Way of Perfection I say it plainly to my daughters: if the imagination wanders after the greatest nonsense in the world, laugh at it, treat it as a lunatic, and keep your own peace.
The will is mistress here and calls the thoughts back without your troubling yourselves. Grasp at too much and you will catch nothing, says the proverb, and it fits this case.4 This prayer is not the prayer of union. In union the soul does not even swallow the nourishment, for God places it within without the soul's knowing; in the prayer of quiet He seems to wish the soul to work a little, though so gently that it is hardly conscious of labour.5
It is a little spark of the true love of God, which our Lord begins to kindle in the soul, and He wishes the soul to understand what this love is by the joy it brings. If it comes from the Spirit of God, and not from Satan or from ourselves, it produces great results. It cannot be acquired. Our nature is so greedy of sweetness that we try every way, but however we strive to blow up the fire, we only seem to throw water on it.
The spark given of God, however slight, makes a great crackling, and if we do not quench it by our faults, it is the beginning of the great fire.6 It is a pledge that He has chosen the soul for great things, if it will prepare to receive them. That is why I say: do not give up prayer, and do not hide the talent.7 Sometimes this peace lasts a day or two, and the will remains held fast in God while the other powers are free to attend to His service.
They are more apt than ever for it, but dull and even foolish in worldly affairs. The contemplative and the active life are then combined, for the will, wrapped in contemplation, works without knowing how, and the two other powers share Martha's labour, so that Martha and Mary toil together.8 Do not try to keep the joy by holding your breath, for that is absurd; we could not gain it for ourselves and we cannot hold it by our own force.9
Herein the soul begins to be recollected; it is now touching on the supernatural--for it never could by any efforts of its own attain to this.The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus
the will alone is occupied in such a way that, without knowing how it has become a captive, it gives a simple consent to become the prisoner of GodThe Life of St. Teresa of Jesus
it should never heed them at all, simply abiding in its fruition and quiet. For if it tried to make them recollected, it would miss its way together with themThe Life of St. Teresa of Jesus
if the mind, or to speak more clearly, the imagination, wanders about after the greatest nonsense in the world, laugh at it, treat it as a lunatic and maintain your own peace.The Way of Perfection
The prayer of quiet differs from that of union, in which the spirit is entirely united to God.The Way of Perfection
The prayer of quiet, then, is a little spark of the true love of Himself, which our Lord begins to enkindle in the soulThe Life of St. Teresa of Jesus
This little spark is a sign or pledge which God gives to a soul, in token of His having chosen it for great things, if it will prepare to receive them.The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus
thus Martha and Mary toil together.The Way of Perfection
they are tempted to imagine they can retain it, and even try to do so by holding their breath. This is absurdThe Way of Perfection