Let us have a general view of the Temple in Jerusalem:
The Holy Place and the Holy of Holies are clearly visible in the structure, forming the highest elements of the Temple.
Below is a floor plan showing the Holy of Holies, the Holy Place, and the Outer Courtyard.
The Temple, as described in the Old Testament, may be read as an anthropological representation of the human being. Its structure, far from being merely religious architecture, symbolises the interior dimensions of soul and spirit. The “Holy Place” and the “Most Holy Place” do not form two separate buildings: they constitute a single edifice (see pictures above and below), of the same height, whose vertical continuity signifies that soul and spirit are profoundly united – it shows also that what the upper part of the rational soul does is deeply united with the spirit.
As it is written of the earthly sanctuary, “they serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things” (Hebrews 8:5). The veil which separates the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies does not touch the ceiling (not clear on the picture below), indicating an anthropological distinction between the soul and the spirit but not completely isolating the spirit. The light, the sound, and the fragrance of incense pass through this veil, signalling the proximity of the divine presence.
The Veil Between the Holy and the Holy of the Holies
“There I Will Meet With You”
“They shall make an ark of acacia wood; its length shall be two and a half cubits, its width a cubit and a half, and its height a cubit and a half. You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out, and you shall make a moulding of gold around it. You shall cast four rings of gold for it and attach them to its four corners; two rings on one side, and two rings on the other side. You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. You shall insert the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark; the poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be removed. You shall put into the ark the testimony that I will give you. You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold; its length shall be two and a half cubits, and its width a cubit and a half. You shall make two cherubim of gold; you shall make them of hammered work at the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub at one end and one cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim at the ends of the mercy seat. The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, covering the mercy seat with their wings, facing one another; the faces of the cherubim shall be directed toward the mercy seat. You shall place the mercy seat on the ark, and you shall put in the ark the testimony that I will give you.
There I will meet with you; from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will give you all my commands for the children of Israel.” (Exodus 25:10‑22)
Entering the Holy Place is to enter what St. Elisabeth of the Trinity describes as the “Fortress of Holy Recollection”: “The Trinity, that is our dwelling, our ‘home’, the paternal house from which we must never depart” (St. Elisabeth of the Trinity). This corresponds to the upper part of the rational soul, engaged in prayer, meditation and inner offering, aware of the unity with the spirit, already united with God in the Most Holy Place. The superior rational soul and the spirit form only one structure: they are in solidarity, they make one. Prayer for the soul is to move toward the upper part of the rational soul, near the veil, directed to the Ark in the Holy of the Holies. Praying is to recollect oneself in the holy, in this place right behind the double veil, where the candelabra is, the 12 breads and the table of incense are. they all direct us toward the mystery behind the veil: the Ark, the Presence of God, the Eternal bleeding of the Lam (see Revelation). This reality is in us and we need to draw closer to it and be always oriented towards the spirit and its communion with God.
Inside the Holy Place, three principal elements orient and structure this prayer. The seven‑branched lamp‑stand symbolises the seven spirits of the Holy Spirit, kindled in the rational soul: four flames for the intelligence (Wisdom, Intelligence, Knowledge, Counsel) and three for the will (Piety, Fortitude, Filial Fear of God), standing for the light and heat of the Holy Spirit, which enflame the soul and moves it in prayer. The altar of incense symbolises this praise and adoration, the prayer which rises towards God who is present beyond the veil, like a fragrance, directing the soul to the eternal Lamb; as Revelation declares, “And I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth” (Revelation 5:6). The table of show‑bread represents the offering of oneself and daily fidelity, and being priests in Christ, the offering influences all the souls of the people of God, the twelve tribes, drawing them to God and allowing them to benefit from this Priestly prayer (baptismal priesthood).
The Most Holy Place, behind the double veil, represents the spirit pure and immaculate, already united with God. It is symbolised by the Ark of the Covenant, for “They shall make an ark of acacia wood… You shall overlay it with pure gold inside and outside… and you shall put into the ark the testimony I shall give you” (Exodus 25:10‑16). The Ark is Mary within us: she contains Jesus, the Word and the Spirit, manifesting that the fullness of the divine presence is already in us. The priest, i.e. the faithful, standing before the veil, knows that this presence is there: the spirit and Mary interiorly sustain the prayer, offering communion and salvation. The spirit is transformed and renewed in Jesus and in the Holy Spirit. The spirit irradiates directly, immediately (without mediation), because it is Jesus in him who sends the Holy Spirit, his Prayer of Atonement, through his Blood, poured constantly.
At the centre of all, the interior Jesus is the Great High Priest and the eternal Lamb, constantly immolated and active, radiating salvation, for to Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be “blessing and honour and glory and might for ever and ever” (Revelation 5:13).
The action of the Hight Priest the day of the Atonement
Again, the activity of the soul in the Holy Place — its recollection and prayer — is directed to this eternal Lamb. The incense burnt honours and praises the Lamb, the light and heat of the Holy Spirit enflame and carry the whole being, and the twelve loaves symbolically present the people of God. Thus, soul, spirit, Mary, and the interior Lamb form a single, harmonious movement, where human prayer becomes participation in the redemptive work and the continual presence of God.
In summary, to enter the Holy Place is to inhabit the fortress of recollection, to engage one’s rational soul in active prayer, in awareness of the spirit united to God and of Mary interiorly who contains Jesus and the Spirit, and to participate in the continual and radiant action of the eternal Lamb. The Temple, its structure, its objects, and its symbolism become then a living map of human interiority and of prayer: one building, one structure, one prayer that unites soul and spirit in divine communion.
“Dwell in Me as I Dwell in You” (John 15)
Jesus: I am the true Temple. I dwell within you since your baptism. Enter into yourself; go to the Holy, the Upper Room of your rational soul. Use your free will, sustained by the general help of my grace, and remain there recollected, turned toward me—just before the veil that separates you from me. I am in Mary; I dwell in her in my fullness. She is the Ark of the Covenant. It is not she who lives, but I who live in her. I am the Lamb, the Eternal Lamb, immolated, ever shedding His blood. Dwell in me. Enter into the Holy and stay with me. Be drawn by my Love, by the Fire of my Holy Spirit, radiating the goodness of the Spirit—the forgiveness, the atonement flowing from my bleeding Heart.
“The Impregnable Fortress of Holy Recollection”
“You are dead, and your life is hidden in God with Jesus Christ.” Here is Saint Paul giving us a light to illuminate the path of the abyss. “You are dead”! What does this mean, if not that the soul which aspires to live in contact with God “in the impregnable fortress of holy recollection” must be “separated, stripped, and removed from all things” (as regards the spirit). This soul “finds in itself a simple slope of love that rises towards God, whatever the creatures may do; it is invincible to the things that pass, for it passes above them aiming at God.” (St. Elisabeth of the Trinity, “Heaven in faith”, Third Day, Second Prayer)
“‘The kingdom of God is within you.’” Just now God was inviting us to “abide in Him,” to live by the soul in His inheritance of glory, and now He reveals that we do not need to go outside ourselves to find it: “The kingdom of God is within”… Saint John of the Cross says that “it is in the substance of the soul, where neither the devil nor the world can reach,” that God gives Himself to it; then “all its movements become divine, and although they are of God, they are equally of the soul, because Our Lord produces them in it and with it.”
The same saint also says that “God is the centre of the soul. When the soul, according to all ‘its’ strength, knows God perfectly, loves Him, and enjoys Him entirely, it will have reached the deepest centre it can attain in Him.” Before reaching this, the soul is already “in God who is its centre,” “but it is not in its deepest centre, for it can go further. As it is love that unites the soul to God, the more intense this love is, the more it enters deeply into God and concentrates in Him”; when it “possesses even a single degree of love, it is already in His centre”; but when this love reaches perfection, the soul will have penetrated His “deepest centre. There it will be transformed to the point of becoming very like God.” To this soul dwelling within, the words of Father Lacordaire to Saint Mary Magdalene may be addressed: “Ask the Master no longer from anyone on earth, nor from anyone in Heaven, for He is your soul, and your soul is Him.” (ibid. Second Day, First Prayer)
““‘Hurry down, for I must stay today in your house.’” The Master repeatedly speaks to our soul this word He once addressed to Zacchaeus: “Hurry down.” But what is this descent He demands of us, if not a deeper entry into our inner abyss? This act is not “an external separation from external things,” but a “solitude of the spirit,” a withdrawal from all that is not God.” (ibid. Second Day, Second Prayer)
The Inner Sanctuary of Prayer
I would like to explore, in relation to the Baptismal Priesthood, the meaning of the Holy in the Jerusalem Temple in its relationship to the Holy of Holies. We agree that the very presence of God dwells in the Holy of Holies, hovering above the mercy seat on the Ark of the Covenant, as described in Exodus 25.22: “There I will meet with you… from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony.” Inside the Ark lie the Tablets of the Law and Aaron’s Rod that blossomed (Hebrews 9.4). The Ark itself is sacred: it cannot be touched (2 Samuel 6.6–7), it is overlaid entirely with gold, and it possesses precise, God-given dimensions.
In prayer, what we seek is to stand in the presence of God who dwells in the Holy of Holies. But how is this possible? In the Holy, where the priest ministers daily, he prays before the Lord. This is the teaching we are pursuing: that, like the priest, we too “officiate” through our baptismal priesthood, drawing near to God who dwells deep within us by virtue of our Baptism. Being thus brought close to God, as though standing behind the veil—the veil that separates soul and spirit—we are called to pray. The architecture of the Temple, and the disposition of the Holy and the Holy of Holies, provides us with a visible image of the inner life of prayer. What this architectural arrangement signifies, and how we may appropriate it, is what we seek to understand.
Within the Holy stand at least three essential elements: the menorah, the Table of the Bread of the Presence, and the altar of incense. These three elements reveal who we are and what we are called to do in the Prayer of the Heart.
The continual light of the menorah shows our need for the Holy Spirit, and our need to be wholly offered to Him so that He may kindle the candelabrum of our being. Prayer cannot take place without this divine illumination, for “the spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord” (Proverbs 20.27).
The Table of the Bread of the Presence manifests the mystical dimension of our baptismal priesthood. It indicates that prayer is never solitary. The charity poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5.5), and our efforts to love our brothers and sisters, cause us to “carry” many spiritual children. These are represented in the twelve loaves set before the Lord, symbolising the twelve tribes—the fullness of the People of God whom we bear in love as we stand before Him.
The altar of incense signifies the prayer we offer to the Lord, in and with the Holy Spirit. It is the fire of the Spirit, born from the charity growing in our hearts, that causes this incense to rise. This prayer becomes true incense because we offer our whole being; because we stand open to our brothers and sisters; because we are wholly receptive to the action of the Holy Spirit in soul and spirit. “Let my prayer be set forth in thy sight as incense” (Psalm 141.2).
This is the way in which we draw near to God; this is the way in which we pray. The three elements of the Holy are not merely external liturgical furnishings: they reveal the structure of our own being and the shape of our prayerful approach to the living God.
Let us also remember that the double veil between the soul and the spirit is still only a veil, arising from the difference in their nature. Scripture itself speaks of this distinction: “the word of God is living and active… piercing to the division of soul and spirit” (Hebrews 4.12). Yet this veil does not constitute a barrier to God. Through the Redemption accomplished on the Cross, Christ has opened for us the way into the sanctuary. At the moment of His death “the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom” (Matthew 27.51), revealing that access to God is no longer restricted. As Hebrews teaches, “brethren, […] we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way which he opened for us through the veil, that is, through his flesh.” (Hebrews 10.19–20). The inner veil of our being remains as a distinction of nature, but it no longer prevents our approach to God, who has opened the way for ever.
Now, how do I pray? I know that, through my Baptism, God dwells within me—more intimately even than in the Jerusalem Temple—yet I must still turn to Him in prayer and draw closer to Him. The candelabrum is within me; the Holy Spirit has been given to me (see the Act of oblation of St Thérèse). I am a priest by virtue of the Baptismal Priesthood, which means that invisible spiritual children are entrusted to me because of the divine charity poured into my heart (Romans 5.5). I must therefore draw near to God, who is invisibly yet truly present at the centre of my being (God the centre of my being, see here), and pray to Him: “Draw me, and we will run” (cf. Song of Songs 1.4 and see here).
Read Also
– Baptismal Priesthood in the Prayer of the Heart
– St. Elisabeth of the Trinity Page