Fray Deigo de Yepes on the Light of God in the Saint

Among the depositions of the processes for St. Teresa's canonization, Fray Deigo de Yepes, confessor and member of her traveling party, gives an account of how she received the idea of this approach to prayer growth from God Himself.

She [St. Teresa of Avila] was asked to write a treatise on prayer as she knew it from her own experience. On the eve of Holy Trinity when she was wondering what theme to take for her treatise, God gave it to her by showing her a very beautiful globe of crystal like a castle with seven concentric dwellings. The seventh which was in the centre [sic] was the King of Glory in great splendour [sic] who lit up and adorned all the dwellings as far as the outer ring. The nearer the centre the greater the light. This light did not shine beyond the outer ring.

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Source: Deigo de Yepes, Depositions, p. 70, in Thomas Dubay, Fire Within (San Francisco, CA: Ignatius Press, 1989), 79.

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This quotation from Fr. Diego suggests that the mystical experience that occurs interiorly cannot be shared outside of the individual; its existence is known only by its effects in the behavior of the mystic. Hence the light experienced within shines out by way of charity towards one's neighbor.