Life of St Teresa of Jesus by Teresa of Avila (paper ebook reader .TXT) 📖
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perfection, telling them that this way is singular and full of
danger, that many who went by it have fallen into delusions, and
that the safest way is that which is plain and common, travelled
by all.
“4. Words of this kind, clearly, sadden the hearts of those who
would observe the counsels of perfection in continual prayer, so
far as it is possible for them, and in much fasting, watching,
and disciplines; and, on the other hand, the lax and the wicked
take courage and lose the fear of God, because they consider the
way on which they are travelling as the safer: and this is their
delusion,—they call that a plain and safe road which is the
absence of the knowledge and consideration of the dangers and
precipices amidst which we are all of us journeying in this
world. Nevertheless, there is no other security than that which
lies in our knowing our daily enemies, and in humbly imploring
the compassion of God, if we would not be their prisoners.
Besides, there are souls whom God, in a way, constrains to enter
on the way of perfection, and who, if they relaxed in their
fervour, could not keep a middle course, but would immediately
fall into the other extreme of sins, and for souls of this kind
it is of the utmost necessity that they should watch and pray
without ceasing; and, in short, there is nobody whom lukewarmness
does not injure. Let every man examine his own conscience, and
he will find this to be the truth.
“5. I firmly believe that if God for a time bears with the
lukewarm, it is owing to the prayers of the fervent, who are
continually crying, ‘et ne nos inducas in tentationem.’ I have
said this, not for the purpose of honouring those whom we see
walking in the way of contemplation; for it is another extreme
into which the world falls, and a covert persecution of goodness,
to pronounce those holy forthwith who have the appearance of it.
For that would be to furnish them with motives for vain-glory,
and would do little honour to goodness; on the contrary, it would
expose it to great risks, because, when they fall who have been
objects of praise, the honour of goodness suffers more than if
those people had not been so esteemed. And so I look upon this
exaggeration of their holiness who are still living in the world
to be a temptation of Satan. That we should have a good opinion
of the servants of God is most just, but let us consider them
always as people in danger, however good they may be, and that
their goodness is not so evident that we can be sure of it
even now.
“6. Considering myself that what I have said is true, I have
always proceeded cautiously in the examination of this account of
the prayer and life of this nun, and no one has been more
incredulous than myself as to her visions and revelations,—not
so, however as to her goodness and her good desires, for herein I
have had great experience of her truthfulness, her obedience,
mortification, patience, and charity towards her persecutors, and
of her other virtues, which any one who will converse with her
will discern; and this is what may be regarded as a more certain
proof of her real love of God than these visions and revelations.
I do not, however, undervalue her visions, revelations, and
ecstasies; on the contrary, I suspect them to be the work of God,
as they have been in others who were Saints. But in this case it
is always safer to be afraid and wary; for if she is confident
about them, Satan will take occasion to interfere, and that which
was once, perhaps, the work of God, may be changed into something
else, and that will be the devil’s.
“7. I am of opinion that this book is not to be shown to every
one, but only to men of learning, experience, and Christian
discretion. It perfectly answers the purpose for which it was
written, namely, that the nun should give an account of the state
of her soul to those who had the charge of it, in order that she
might not fall into delusions. Of one thing I am very sure, so
far as it is possible for a man to be,—she is not a deceiver;
she deserves, therefore, for her sincerity, that all should be
favourable to her in her good purposes and good works.
For within the last thirteen years she has, I believe, founded a
dozen monasteries of Barefooted Carmelite nuns, the austerity and
perfection of which are exceeded by none other; of which they who
have been visitors of them, as the Dominican Provincial, master
in theology, [24] Fra Pedro Fernandez, the master Fra Hernando
del Castillo, and many others, speak highly. This is what I
think, at present, concerning the censure of this book,
submitting my judgment herein to that of Holy Church our mother,
and her ministers.
“Given in the College of St. Gregory, Valladolid, on the sixth
day of July, 1575.
“Fra Domingo Bañes.”
The book remained in the keeping of the Inquisition, and the
Saint never saw it again. But she heard of it from the
Archbishop of Toledo, Cardinal Quiroga, President of the Supreme
Court of the Inquisition, when she applied to him for license to
found a monastery in Madrid. Jerome of the Mother of God was
with her; and heard the Cardinal’s reply. His Eminence said he
was glad to see her; that a book of hers had been in the Holy
Office for some years, and had been rigorously examined; that he
had read it himself, and regarded it as containing sound and
wholesome doctrine. He would grant the license, and do whatever
he could for the Saint. When she heard this, she wished to
present a petition to the Inquisition for the restitution of her
book; but Gratian thought it better to apply to the Duke of Alba
for the copy which he had, and which the Inquisitors had allowed
him to retain and read. The Duke gave his book to Fra Jerome,
who had copies of it made for the use of the monasteries both of
men and women. [25]
Anne of Jesus, in 1586, founding a monastery of her Order in
Madrid,—the Saint had died in 1582,—made inquiries about the
book, and applied to the Inquisition for it, for she was resolved
to publish the writings of her spiritual mother. The Inquisitors
made no difficulty, and consented to the publication. In this
she was seconded by the Empress Maria, daughter of Charles V.,
and widow of Maximilian II., who had obtained one of the copies
which Fra Jerome of the Mother of God had ordered to be made.
Fra Nicholas Doria, then Provincial, asked Fra Luis de Leon, the
Augustinian, to edit the book, who consented. He was allowed to
compare the copy furnished him with the original in the keeping
of the Inquisition; but his edition has not been considered
accurate, notwithstanding the facilities given him, and his great
reverence for the Saint. It was published in Salamanca,
A.D. 1588.
With the Life of the Saint, Fra Luis de Leon received certain
papers in the handwriting of the Saint, which he published as an
additional chapter. Whether he printed all he received, or
merely made extracts, may be doubtful, but anyhow that chapter is
singularly incomplete. Don Vicente de la Fuente, from whose
edition (Madrid, 1861, 1862) this translation has been made,
omitted the additional chapter of Fra Luis de Leon, contrary to
the practice of his predecessors. But he has done more, for he
has traced the paragraphs of that chapter to their sources, and
has given us now a collection of papers which form almost another
Life of the Saint, to which he has given their old name of
Relations, [26] the name which the Saint herself had given
them. [27] Some of them are usually printed among the Saint’s
letters, and portions of some of the others are found in the
Lives of the Saint written by Ribera and Yepes, and in the
Chronicle of the Order; the rest was published for the first time
by Don Vicente: the arrangement of the whole is due to him.
The Relations are ten in the Spanish edition, and eleven in the
translation. The last, the eleventh, has hitherto been left
among the letters, and Don Vicente, seemingly not without some
hesitation, so left it; but as it is of the like nature with the
Relations, it has now been added to them.
The original text, in the handwriting of the Saint, is preserved
in the Escurial, not in the library, but among the relics of the
Church. Don Vicente examined it at his leisure, and afterwards
found in the National Library in Madrid an authentic and exact
transcript of it, made by order of Ferdinand VI. His edition is,
therefore, far better than any of its predecessors; but it is
possible that even now there may still remain some verbal errors
for future editors to correct. The most conscientious diligence
is not a safeguard against mistakes. F. Bouix says that in
ch. xxxiv. § 12, the reading of the original differs from that of
the printed editions; yet Don Vicente takes no notice of it, and
retains the common reading. It is impossible to believe that
F. Bouix has stated as a fact that which is not. Again, in
ch. xxxix. § 29, the printed editions have after the words, “Thou
art Mine, and I am thine,” “I am in the habit . . . . sincerity;”
but Don Vicente omits them. This may have been an oversight, for
in general he points out in his notes all the discrepancies
between the printed editions and the original text.
A new translation of the Life of St. Teresa seems called for now,
because the original text has been collated since the previous
translations were made, and also because those translations are
exceedingly scarce. The first is believed to be this—it is a
small quarto:
“The Lyf of the Mother Teresa of Jesus, Foundresse of the
Monasteries of the Discalced or Bare-footed Carmelite Nunnes and
Fryers of the First Rule.
“Written by herself at the commaundement of her ghostly father,
and now translated into English out of Spanish. By W.M., of the
Society of Jesus.
“Imprinted in Antwerp by Henry Jaye. Anno MDCXI.”
Some thirty years afterwards, Sir Tobias Matthew, S.J.,
dissatisfied, as he says, with the former translation, published
another, with the following title; the volume is a small octavo
in form:
“The Flaming Hart, or the Life of the glorious St. Teresa,
Foundresse of the Reformation of the Order of the All-Immaculate
Virgin Mother, our B. Lady of Mount Carmel.
“This History of her Life was written by the Saint in Spanish,
and is newly translated into English in the year of our Lord
God 1642.
‘Aut mori aut pati:
Either to dye or else to suffer.’—Chap. xl.
“Antwerpe, printed by Joannes Meursius. Anno MDCXLII.”
The next translation was made by Abraham Woodhead, and published
in 1671, without the name of the translator, or of the printer,
or of the place of publication. It is in quarto, and bears the
following title:
“The Life of the Holy Mother St. Teresa, Foundress of the
Reformation of the Discalced Carmelites according to the
Primitive Rule. Printed in the year MDCLXXI.”
It is not said that the translation was made from the Spanish,
and there are grounds for thinking it to have been made from the
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