Life of St Teresa of Jesus, Teresa of Avila [top ten books to read TXT] 📗

whom I had

taken counsel on the others, with Fra Dominic [i.e., Bañes], the

Master Medina, and certain members of the Society. I will be

satisfied with the answer which you, my Lord, may give me,

because of the great trust I have in your Lordship. Consider it

carefully, for the love of God! Neither do I cease to learn that

certain souls of people connected with me when they died are in

heaven: of others I learn nothing. Oh, in what solitude I find

myself when I consider that the comparison of which I spoke to

you, concerning the return from Egypt, does not apply to the

child at my mother’s breast. [4]

8. I am at peace within; and my likings and dislikings have so

little power to take from me the Presence of the Three Persons,

of which, while it continues, it is so impossible to doubt, that

I seem clearly to know by experience what is recorded by

St. John, that God will make His dwelling in the soul: [5] and

not only by grace, but because He will have the soul feel that

presence, and it brings with it so many blessings, particularly

this, that there is no need to run after reflections to learn

that God is there. This is almost always the state I am in,

except when my great infirmities oppress me. Sometimes, God will

have me suffer without any inward comfort; but my will never

swerves—not even in its first movements—from the will of God.

This resignation to His will is so efficacious, that I desire

neither life nor death, except for some moments, when I long to

see God; and then the Presence of the Three Persons becomes so

distinct as to relieve the pain of the absence, and I wish to

live—if such be His good pleasure—to serve Him still longer.

And if I might help, by my prayers, to make but one soul love Him

more, and praise Him, and that only for a short time, I think

that of more importance than to dwell in glory.

The unworthy servant and daughter of your Lordship,

Teresa de Jesús.

1. This Relation is usually printed among the letters of the

Saint, and Don Vicente did not change the practice, assigning as

his reason the Saint’s reference in § 4 to certain transactions

in which she was engaged. The letter is the 333rd (336th in the

second edition), and the 4th of vol. ii., ed. Doblado, and is

probably the latest account of the state of her soul, for she

died on October 4 in the following year.

2. See Inner Fortress, vii. ch. ii.

3. This relates to the taking of the hermitage of our Lady de la

Calle, in Palencia (De la Fuente). See Foundations, ch. xxix.

4. “La soledad que me hace pensar no se puede dar aquel sentido à

el que mama los pechos de mi madre, la ida de Egito!”

This passage, Don Vicente observes, was omitted in all editions

prior to his; he does not know what it means; and the translator

can give no corresponding English words. [Transcriber’s note:

The Spanish quoted here was printed in the body of the text,

479; English rendition supplied from Corrigenda, p. [viii].]

5. St. John xiv. 23: “Mansionem apud eum faciemus.”

Index.

Abecedario, Tercer, iv. 8.

Agony in raptures, xx. 15.

Ahumada, de, Antonio, iv. 1.

Ahumada, de, Doña Beatriz, mother of St. Teresa, death of, i. 7;

seen in heaven by the Saint, xxxviii. 1.

Ahumada, de, Juana, sister of the Saint, xxxiii. 13.

Alcala, monastery founded in, xxxvi. 29, note.

Alcantara. See St. Peter of Alcantara.

Almsgiving of the Saint, i. 6, Rel. ii. 3.

Alvarez, F. Baltasar, xxiv. 6, xxv. 18; mortifies the Saint,

xxvi. 4; humility of, xxviii. 20; promise of, to protect the

Saint, xxviii. 21; always consoled the Saint, xxix. 5; hesitates

about the new foundation, xxxii. 16; commands the Saint to

abandon it, xxxiii. 4; orders her to proceed, xxxiii. 13.

Alvarez, F. Rodrigo, Rel. viii.

Amendment of life, the work of prayer, viii. 6-12.

Amusements, vii. 1, Rel. i. 14.

Angels and evil spirits, vision of, xxxi. 11.

Angel, the Saint’s vision of the, xxix. 16-18.

Answers to the Saint’s prayers, xxxix. 1-7.

Antony, St., of Padua, xxii. 10.

Aranda, de, Don Gonzalo, xxxvi. 18.

Aridity, how it comes on in the second state of prayer, xv. 15.

Art, the, of serving God, xii. 2.

Ascent of the Mount, xxiii. 13.

Assumption, the, vision of, xxxix. 37.

Attachments, evil effects of worldly, xi. 5; xxiii. 5.

Augustin, St., Confessions of, ix. 8; effect of reading them on

the Saint, ix. 9; saying of, xiii. 4.

Avila, birthplace of St. Teresa, troubled by the new foundation:

xxxvi. 14.

Avila, Bl., Juan of, Rel. vii. 9.

Báñes, Fr. Dom., xxxvi. 15; transmits the Saint’s writings to the

Inquisition, Rel. vii. 16.

Barrientos. See Martin.

Barron, Fra Vicente, confessor of the Saint’s father, vii. 26;

hears the confession of the Saint, vii. 27, xix. 19.

Beauty of our Lord, xxviii. 2, xxix. 2, xxxvii. 5;

unimaginable, xxviii. 7.

Beginners, must toil, xi. 13; and persevere, xi. 15-17; not to be

afraid of the cross, xi. 25; must be content, xii. 2; certain

temptations of, vii. 16, xiii. 9; must begin humbly, xv. 19.

Bernard, St., xxii. 10.

Betrothal spiritual, of the Saint, Rel. ix. 8, 25.

Bird, the soul likened to a, xviii. 13, xix. 22.

Bishopric, a, the Saint consulted about the acceptance of,

xl. 21.

Blessed, the, joys of, x. 3.

Blindness healed through the prayer of the Saint, xxxix. 1.

Body, the, shares the joy of the soul in certain states of

prayer, xvii. 14, xviii. 15; state of, in raptures, xx. 2, 4, 23;

our Lord seen by the Saint always in His glorified, xxix. 4.

Book, a living, xxvi. 6.

Books insufficient without a director, xxii. 3.

Borja, de, St. Francis. See Francis.

Brief, the, sanctioning the observances of St. Joseph’s,

xxxiv. 2, xxxvi. 1, xxxix. 20.

Brizeño, Doña Maria, ii. 12; influences the Saint, iii. 1.

Bulls, the Sabbatine, xxxviii. 40.

Cardona, de, Doña Catalina, Rel. iii. 12.

Carmel, the Order of, vision concerning, Rel. iii. 14; advice to,

Rel. x.

Caterpillar of self-respect, xxxi. 24.

Catherine, St., of Siena, xxii. 10.

Censoriousness of the world, xxxi. 19.

Cepeda, de, Alfonso Sanchez, father of the Saint, fond of

spiritual books, i. 1; gives his daughter Maria in marriage,

ii. 4, note, 8; places the Saint at school in a monastery, ii. 8;

would not consent to her becoming a nun, iii. 9; takes her to

Bezadas to be cured, v. 5, 6; brings her to his house in Avila,

v. 15; hinders her from making her confession in an illness,

v. 17; persuaded by the Saint to practise mental prayer, vii. 16;

makes progress therein, vii. 20; holy death of, vii. 22-25; seen

in heaven by the Saint, xxxviii. 1.

Cepeda, de, Don Lorenzo, finds money for the new monastery of

St. Joseph, xxxiii. 13.

Cepeda, de, Maria, sister of the Saint, ii. 4; sudden death of,

xxxiv. 24; seen in heaven by the Saint, xxxiv. 25.

Cerda, de la, Doña Luisa, xxxiv. 1; attracted by the Saint,

xxxiv. 4; visited by St. Peter of Alcantara, xxxv. 6; tries to

amuse the Saint by showing her diamonds, xxxviii. 5; the Saint’s

watchfulness over herself in the house of, xxxix. 11.

Cheerfulness, importance of, xii. 1.

Cherubim, xxix. 16.

Choice of a director, xiii. 28, 29.

Church, the, ceremonies of, xxxi. 4; the Saint’s reverence for,

xxxiii. 6.

Clare, St., encourages the Saint, xxxiii. 15.

Comforts, worldly, the Saint’s fear of, xxxiv. 4.

Communion, effects of the Saint’s, xvi. 3-10, xviii. 10-18,

xxx. 16, xxxviii. 24, Rel. iv. 5, Rel. ix. 13; the Saint’s

longing for, xxxix. 31; graces of, Rel. ix. 20.

Complaint, loving, of the Saint, xxxvii. 13.

Confession, frequent, of the Saint, v. 17; matter of, Rel. v. 11.

Confessors, the Saint’s difficulty in finding, iv. 8, 13; harm

done by ill-instructed, v. 6, 20, vi. 6; one of them misleads the

Saint, viii. 15; unskilful, xx. 28; wrong counsel of, xxvi. 5; of

the Saint harsh with her, xxx. 15; obedience of the Saint to her,

xxiii. 19, xxxiii. 4, 5, Rel, i. 9; the Saint rebuked for her

affection to her, xxxvii. 6; names of the Saint’s, Rel. vii. 5,

11, 12, 13.

Consecration, power of the words of, xxxviii. 30.

Consolations, xi. 21; not to be sought for, xxii. 15.

Contemplation, xxii. 1; why granted to imperfect souls,

xxii. 22, 23.

Contempt, Satan shuns, xxxi. 10; the Saint directed to treat her

visions with, xxix. 6.

Contradiction of good people, xxviii. 24, xxx. 6.

Conversation, worldly, vii. 10; danger of, ii. 5, vii. 10;

delight of our Lord in spiritual, xxxiv. 20.

Conversion of a wicked priest, v. 12; of a sinner, xxxix. 5.

Courage of the Saint, viii. 10; necessity of, x. 8; effects of,

xiii. 3; necessary in the way of perfection, xxxi. 19.

Covetousness, xxxiii. 14.

Cowardice, spiritual, xiii. 6.

Creator, the, traces of, in things visible, ix. 6.

Crosses, xi. 8; desired by souls in the prayer of imperfect

union, xvi. 9.

Cross, the, way of, xi. 8, xv. 17, 21; necessity of carrying,

xxvii. 14.

Daza, Gaspar, xxiii. 6; thought the Saint was deluded by an evil

spirit, xxiii. 16; approved of the new foundation, xxxii. 21.

Delusion, a, into which the Saint fell, xxii. 3; the Saint always

prayed to be delivered from, xxix. 6.

Delusions incidental to locutions, xxv. 3, 11.

Desires, good, xiii. 8, xxi. 9, Rel. xi. 5.

Desolation, spiritual, of the Saint, xxx. 10.

Detachment, blessing of, xi. 2, xxxiv. 20; necessity of, for

prayer, xi. 16, xv. 17; of the perfect, xv. 18; an effect of

raptures, xviii. 8, xx. 10; takes away the fear of death,

xxxviii. 7; the Saint’s, from kindred, xxxi. 22, Rel. ii. 5,

Rel. ix. 11; from directors, Rel. iv. 3.

Detraction, avoided by the Saint, vi. 4, vii. 3; insensibility

to, Rel. ii. 4.

Detractors, the Saint prays for her, xix. 11.

Devotion, sweetness in, never asked for by the Saint, ix. 10; but

once, ix. 11; those who seek it censured, xi. 21; the Saint’s,

increased by difficulties, xxviii. 10.

Die, either to, or suffer, xl. 27.

Direction, unskilful, viii. 15, 16; importance of, xiii. 4;

methods of wrong, xiii. 25; not to be the same for all,

xxxix. 16.

Directors ought to be experienced, xiii. 21; and prudent,

xiii. 24; and learned, xiii. 26; choice of, xiii. 28; charity of,

xiii. 29; should be secret, xxiii. 14; and humble, xxxiv. 15;

should be trusted, xxxix. 35; necessary, xl. 12; the Saint

preferred those who distrusted her, Rel. vii. 18.

Discouragements, xi. 15; must be resisted, xix. 6; certain causes

of, xxxi. 21.

Discretion, xi. 23, xiii. 2; excessive, xiii. 8.

Distraction of the understanding in the prayer of quiet, xv. 10,

xxx. 19; in monasteries not caused by poverty, xxxv. 3.

Distrust of self, viii. 18, ix. 3; necessity of, xix. 20.

“Domine, da mihi aquam,” xxx. 24.

Dominicans, the, help St. Teresa, v. 8, Rel. vii. 11-14.

Dominion, true, xl. 21.

Dove, vision of a, xxxviii. 13, 14.

Ecija, vow of the Saint in the hermitage of, Rel. vi. 3.

Ecstasy, xx. 1; how wrought, xx. 2; fear during, xx. 9; first, of

the Saint, xxiv. 7.

Egypt, flesh-pots of, xv. 5.

Elevation of the spirit not to be attempted in union, xviii. 8.

Eliseus. See Jerome, Fra, of the Mother of God.

Enclosure, observance of, how important, vii. 5.

Endowments not accepted by the Saint for her monasteries,

xxxv. 4, 5; offered for St. Joseph, xxxvi. 19; and forbidden by a

Brief, xxxix. 20.

Envy, a holy, xxxix. 19.

Exorcisms, the Saint threatened with, Boll. 211, xxix. 4.