Life of St Teresa of Jesus by Teresa of Avila (paper ebook reader .TXT) 📖
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that I could not shed a tear, even if I read the Passion through.
This was a grief to me.
2. I remained in the monastery a year and a half, and was very
much the better for it. I began to say many vocal prayers, and
to ask all the nuns to pray for me, that God would place me in
that state wherein I was to serve Him; but, for all this, I
wished not to be a nun, and that God would not be pleased I
should be one, though at the same time I was afraid of marriage.
At the end of my stay there, I had a greater inclination to be a
nun, yet not in that house, on account of certain devotional
practices which I understood prevailed there, and which I thought
overstrained. Some of the younger ones encouraged me in this my
wish; and if all had been of one mind, I might have profited by
it. I had also a great friend [2] in another monastery; and this
made me resolve, if I was to be a nun, not to be one in any other
house than where she was. I looked more to the pleasure of sense
and vanity than to the good of my soul. These good thoughts of
being a nun came to me from time to time. They left me very
soon; and I could not persuade myself to become one.
3. At this time, though I was not careless about my own good, our
Lord was much more careful to dispose me for that state of life
which was best for me. He sent me a serious illness, so that I
was obliged to return to my father’s house.
4. When I became well again, they took me to see my sister [3] in
her house in the country village where she dwelt. Her love for me
was so great, that, if she had had her will, I should never have
left her. Her husband also had a great affection for me—at
least, he showed me all kindness. This too I owe rather to our
Lord, for I have received kindness everywhere; and all my service
in return is, that I am what I am.
5. On the road lived a brother of my father [4]—a prudent and
most excellent man, then a widower. Him too our Lord was
preparing for Himself. In his old age, he left all his
possessions and became a religious. He so finished his course,
that I believe him to have the vision of God. He would have me
stay with him some days. His practice was to read good books in
Spanish; and his ordinary conversation was about God and the
vanity of the world. These books he made me read to him; and,
though I did not much like them, I appeared as if I did; for in
giving pleasure to others I have been most particular, though it
might be painful to myself—so much so, that what in others might
have been a virtue was in me a great fault, because I was often
extremely indiscreet. O my God, in how many ways did His Majesty
prepare me for the state wherein it was His will I should serve
Him!—how, against my own will, He constrained me to do violence
to myself! May He be blessed for ever! Amen.
6. Though I remained here but a few days, yet, through the
impression made on my heart by the words of God both heard and
read, and by the good conversation of my uncle, I came to
understand the truth I had heard in my childhood, that all things
are as nothing, the world vanity, and passing rapidly away.
I also began to be afraid that, if I were then to die, I should
go down to hell. Though I could not bend my will to be a nun, I
saw that the religious state was the best and the safest.
And thus, by little and little, I resolved to force myself
into it.
7. The struggle lasted three months. I used to press this reason
against myself: The trials and sufferings of living as a nun
cannot be greater than those of purgatory, and I have well
deserved to be in hell. It is not much to spend the rest of my
life as if I were in purgatory, and then go straight to
Heaven—which was what I desired. I was more influenced by
servile fear, I think, than by love, to enter religion.
8. The devil put before me that I could not endure the trials of
the religious life, because of my delicate nurture. I defended
myself against him by alleging the trials which Christ endured,
and that it was not much for me to suffer something for His sake;
besides, He would help me to bear it. I must have thought so,
but I do not remember this consideration. I endured many
temptations during these days. I was subject to fainting-fits,
attended with fever,—for my health was always weak. I had
become by this time fond of good books, and that gave me life.
I read the Epistles of St. Jerome, which filled me with so much
courage, that I resolved to tell my father of my purpose,—which
was almost like taking the habit; for I was so jealous of my
word, that I would never, for any consideration, recede from a
promise when once my word had been given.
9. My father’s love for me was so great, that I could never
obtain his consent; nor could the prayers of others, whom I
persuaded to speak to him, be of any avail. The utmost I could
get from him was that I might do as I pleased after his death.
I now began to be afraid of myself, and of my own weakness—for I
might go back. So, considering that such waiting was not safe
for me, I obtained my end in another way, as I shall now relate.
1. St. Matt. xx. 16: “Multi enim sunt vocati, pauci vero electi.”
2. Juana Suarez, in the Monastery of the incarnation, Avila
(Reforma, lib. i. ch. vii. § 7).
3. Maria de Cepeda, married to Don Martin Guzman y Barrientos.
They lived in Castellanos de la Cañada, where they had
considerable property; but in the later years of their lives they
were in straitened circumstances (De la Fuente). See below,
ch. xxxiv. § 24.
4. Don Pedro Sanchez de Cepeda. He lived in Hortigosa, four
leagues from Avila (De la Fuente).
Chapter IV.
Our Lord Helps Her to Become a Nun. Her Many Infirmities.
1. In those days, when I was thus resolved, I had persuaded one
of my brothers, [1] by speaking to him of the vanity of the
world, to become a friar; and we agreed together to set out one
day very early in the morning for the monastery where that friend
of mine lived for whom I had so great an affection: [2] though I
would have gone to any other monastery, if I thought I should
serve God better in it, or to any one my father liked, so strong
was my resolution now to become a nun—for I thought more of the
salvation of my soul now, and made no account whatever of mine
own ease. I remember perfectly well, and it is quite true, that
the pain I felt when I left my father’s house was so great, that
I do not believe the pain of dying will be greater—for it seemed
to me as if every bone in my body were wrenched asunder; [3] for,
as I had no love of God to destroy my love of father and of
kindred, this latter love came upon me with a violence so great
that, if our Lord had not been my keeper, my own resolution to go
on would have failed me. But He gave me courage to fight against
myself, so that I executed my purpose. [4]
2. When I took the habit, [5] our Lord at once made me understand
how He helps those who do violence to themselves in order to
serve Him. No one observed this violence in me; they saw nothing
but the greatest good will. At that moment, because I was
entering on that state, I was filled with a joy so great, that it
has never failed me to this day; and God converted the aridity of
my soul into the greatest tenderness. Everything in religion was
a delight unto me; and it is true that now and then I used to
sweep the house during those hours of the day which I had
formerly spent on my amusements and my dress; and, calling to
mind that I was delivered from such follies, I was filled with a
new joy that surprised me, nor could I understand whence it came.
3. Whenever I remember this, there is nothing in the world,
however hard it may be, that, if it were proposed to me, I would
not undertake without any hesitation whatever; for I know now, by
experience in many things, that if from the first I resolutely
persevere in my purpose, even in this life His Majesty rewards it
in a way which he only understands who has tried it. When the
act is done for God only, it is His will before we begin it that
the soul, in order to the increase of its merits, should be
afraid; and the greater the fear, if we do but succeed, the
greater the reward, and the sweetness thence afterwards
resulting. I know this by experience, as I have just said, in
many serious affairs; and so, if I were a person who had to
advise anybody, I would never counsel any one, to whom good
inspirations from time to time may come, to resist them through
fear of the difficulty of carrying them into effect; for if a
person lives detached for the love of God only, that is no reason
for being afraid of failure, for He is omnipotent. May He be
blessed for ever! Amen.
4. O supreme Good, and my Rest, those graces ought to have been
enough which Thou hadst given me hitherto, seeing that Thy
compassion and greatness had drawn me through so many windings to
a state so secure, to a house where there are so many servants of
God, from whom I might learn how I may advance in Thy service.
I know not how to go on, when I call to mind the circumstances of
my profession, the great resolution and joy with which I made it,
and my betrothal unto Thee. I cannot speak of it without tears;
and my tears ought to be tears of blood, my heart ought to break,
and that would not be much to suffer because of the many offences
against Thee which I have committed since that day. It seems to
me now that I had good reasons for not wishing for this dignity,
seeing that I have made so sad a use of it. But Thou, O my Lord,
hast been willing to bear with me for almost twenty years of my
evil using of Thy graces, till I might become better. It seems
to me, O my God, that I did nothing but promise never to keep any
of the promises then made to Thee. Yet such was not my
intention: but I see that what I have done since is of such a
nature, that I know not what my intention was. So
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