Quote of the day, 14 October: St. Teresa

I have already written you a long letter about a matter that for many reasons I could not escape doing, since God’s inspirations are the source. Because these things are hard to speak of in a letter, I mention only the fact that saintly and learned persons think I am obliged not to be cowardly but do all I can for this project—a monastery of nuns. There will be no more than fifteen nuns in it, who will practice very strict enclosure, never going out or allowing themselves to be seen without veils covering their faces. Their life will be one of prayer and mortification as I have written more at length in a letter to you. I will write another for Antonio Morán to bring when he leaves.

That lady, Doña Guiomar, who is also writing to you, is a help to me. She is the wife of Francisco Dávila, of Salobralejo, if you recall. Her husband died nine years ago. He had an annual income of 1,000,000 maravedis. She, for her part, has an entailed estate in addition to what she has from her husband. Although she was left a widow at the age of twenty-five, she has not married again but has devoted herself very much to the Lord. She is deeply spiritual. For more than four years we have been devoted friends, closer than if we were sisters. She still helps me very much, for she contributes a good portion of her income.

At present, she is without funds, so it is up to me to buy and prepare the house. With God’s favor, I have received two dowries beforehand and have bought the house, although secretly. But I did not have the means to pay for the work that still needed to be done. So by trusting in God alone (for God wants it to be done and will provide), I entered into an agreement with the workers. It seemed a foolish thing to do.

But then His Majesty comes along and moves you to provide for it. And what amazes me is that the forty pesos you added was just what I needed. I believe that St. Joseph—after whom the house will be named—wanted us to have the money, and I know that he will repay you. In sum, although the house is small and poor, the property has a field and some beautiful views. And that’s sufficient.

They have gone to Rome for the papal bulls, for although the house belongs to my own religious order, we are rendering our obedience to the bishop. I hope the foundation will give the Lord much glory, if he allows it to come about. I believe without a doubt that it will, for the souls that are planning to enter will give an excellent example of humility, as well as penance and prayer. They are choice souls.

Will you all pray to God for this project, for by the time Antonio Morán departs, everything will be completed, with God’s favor.

Saint Teresa of Avila

Letter 2 to her brother Lorenzo de Cepeda in Quito (Ecuador)
23 December 1561

Note: Antonio Morán was Lorenzo’s messenger. Doña Guiomar de Ulloa was the widow of Francisco Dávila, a large property owner, who left her a small fortune, which she used mostly for charitable works. Teresa placed her first foundation under obedience to the Bishop of Avila on account of the difficulties the Carmelite provincial had about accepting it. The project—the founding of Saint Joseph’s monastery in Avila—suffered a delay so that the foundation did not take place until 24 August 1562.

Teresa of Avila, St. 1985, The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, translated from the Spanish by Kavanaugh, K; Rodriguez, O, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Scene from the 1984 TV series drama, Teresa de Jesús, produced by RTVE (Spain) starring Concha Velasco as St. Teresa. Image credit: RTVE (Screenshot).

#DonLorenzoDeCepeda #donation #founder #StJosephMonastery #StTeresaOfAvila

[W]hile I was in prayer one day, I suddenly found that, without knowing how, I had seemingly been put in hell. I understood that the Lord wanted me to see the place the devils had prepared there for me and which I merited because of my sins.

This experience took place within the shortest space of time, but even were I to live for many years I think it would be impossible for me to forget it….

I don’t know how to give a sufficiently powerful description of that interior fire and that despair, coming in addition to such extreme torments and pains. I didn’t see who inflicted them on me, but, as it seemed to me, I felt myself burning and crumbling; and I repeat the worst was that interior fire and despair.

Being in such an unwholesome place, so unable to hope for any consolation, I found it impossible either to sit down or to lie down, nor was there any room, even though they put me in this kind of hole made in the wall. Those walls, which were terrifying to see, closed in on themselves and suffocated everything. There was no light, but all was enveloped in the blackest darkness.

Saint Teresa of Avila

The Book of Her Life, nos. 1–3

St. Teresa’s journey toward reform began with a terrifying vision of hell, which she vividly recounts in The Book of Her Life. This vision left an indelible mark on her soul, instilling in her a deep fear of damnation and a fervent desire to live a life of greater perfection. It became a powerful motivator for her to establish a reformed Carmelite community.

Initially, she struggled with embracing the poverty and strict observance that her reform would demand. However, with the guidance of St. Peter of Alcantara, she realized that these were the very pillars on which her reform should be built.

Teresa was deeply troubled by the Protestant Reformation’s spread in France, and she longed to do something to remedy the spiritual harm it was causing. She resolved to follow the evangelical counsels as perfectly as possible and to create a community of women who would do the same, dedicating their lives to prayer and sacrifice for the Church.

In The Way of Perfection, chapter 1, St. Teresa expresses her sorrow for lost souls destined for hell and the motivation behind her reform:

I cried to the Lord and begged Him that I might remedy so much evil. It seemed to me that I would have given a thousand lives to save one soul out of the many that were being lost there… As a result, I resolved to do the little that was in my power; that is, to follow the evangelical counsels as perfectly as I could and strive that these few persons who live here do the same.

This resolve led to the foundation of the Monastery of St. Joseph on 24 August 1562 in Avila, Spain. It was a small, poor community dedicated to a life of prayer and strict observance of the Carmelite Rule. Pilgrims to Avila who visit this monastery discover that the interior is plain, but the chapel is filled with beautiful artwork.

St. Teresa’s legacy is a reminder of the power of spiritual commitment and the impact of a life determined to love and serve the Lord. Listen to this episode as we reflect on her legacy of determined determination to “give a thousand lives to save one soul.”

https://youtu.be/KCTAkDLZImY

Teresa of Avila, St. 1985, The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, translated from the Spanish by Kavanaugh, K; Rodriguez, O, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: The vision of hell is an oil on canvas painting by Giuseppe Tortelli in the Church of San Pietro in Oliveto, Brescia; it is one of a series of six lunettes by various 17th-century artists on Teresian themes.

• St. Teresa loses her way; painting by Francesco Paglia
• The vision of the collar; painting by Domenico Caretti.
• St. Teresa in ecstasy; painting by Angelo Trevisano.
• The death of St Teresa; painting by Giovanni Segala.
• Eucharistic miracle of the Infant Jesus; painting by Cavalier Celesti.
• The vision of hell; painting by Giuseppe Tortello

The artworks were restored in the Church of San Pietro in 2014–15 as part of the Teresian centenary year celebrating the saint’s birth; they were exhibited in the diocesan museum in Brescia, Italy prior to installation. You can read the scholarly paper (in Italian) that was prepared for the exhibition on Academia.edu with prefaces by Antonio Maria Sicari, O.C.D., Fabio Silvestri, O.C.D., and the scholarship of art historian Angelo Loda. Image credits: Renata Sedmakova / Adobe Stock (Stock photo)

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/08/23/ep20-teresafounder/

#Avila #DiscalcedCarmelite #foundation #hell #inspiration #Podcast #prayer #reform #StJosephMonastery #StTeresaOfAvila #vision

I was very much disliked throughout my monastery [Monastery of the Incarnation, Avila] because I had wanted to found a more enclosed monastery. They said I was insulting them; that in my own monastery, I could also serve God since there were others in it better than I; that I had no love for the house; that it would be better to procure income for this place than for some other.

Several of them said I should be thrown into the prison cell; others—very few—defended me somewhat. I saw clearly that in many matters my opponents were right, and sometimes I gave them explanations.

Yet since I couldn’t mention the main factor, which was that the Lord had commanded me to do this, I didn’t know how to act; so I remained silent about the other things. God granted me the very great favor that none of all this disturbed me; rather, I gave up the plan with as much ease and contentment as I would have if it hadn’t cost me anything.

One day, while I was greatly troubled with the thought that my confessor didn’t believe me, the Lord told me not to be anxious, that that affliction would soon end. I rejoiced deeply, thinking His words meant I was soon to die; and I became very happy when I thought about it.

Afterward, I saw clearly they referred to the arrival of this rector I mentioned because the occasion for that pain never presented itself again [Gaspar de Salazar, S.J. arrived in April 1562].

The new rector didn’t restrain my confessor but rather told him to console me; that there was no reason for fear, and not to lead me by so confining a path; that he should let the spirit of the Lord work, for at times it seemed with these great spiritual impulses that my soul couldn’t even breathe.

My confessor gave me permission again to dedicate myself entirely to this foundation. I saw clearly the toil it would bring upon me since I was very much alone and had hardly any means.

We agreed to carry on in total secrecy, and so I got one of my sisters [Juana de Ahumada] who lived outside this city [in Alba de Tormes] to buy the house and fix it up, as though it were for herself, with money the Lord provided, in certain ways, for its purchase.

It would take long to recount how the Lord was looking after it, for I took great care not to do anything against obedience. But I knew that if I said anything to my superiors, everything would be lost as happened the previous time, and things would even be worse.

In procuring the money, acquiring the house, signing the contract for it, and fixing it up, I went through so many trials of so many kinds that now I’m amazed I was able to suffer them. In some of them, I was completely alone; although my companion did what she could. But she could do little, and so little that it almost amounted to nothing more than to have everything done in her name and as her gift and all the rest of the trouble was mine.

Sometimes in distress, I said:

“My Lord, how is it You command things that seem impossible? For if I were at least free, even though I am a woman! But bound on so many sides, without money or the means to raise it or to obtain the brief or anything, what can I do, Lord?“

Saint Teresa of Avila

The Book of Her Life, chap. 33, nos. 2, 8, 11

Note: Born in Toledo, and while studying at Alcalá, Gaspar de Salazar (1529-1593) decided to enter the Jesuits, which he did in 1552. Translator and editor Kieran Kavanaugh, OCD notes that Salazar’s chronicler described him as being very devoted to the interior life with God, from whom he received many favors in prayer, and also as very intelligent and competent in business matters. In 1562 he was transferred to Avila to be rector there of the Jesuit college of San Gil. Because of difficulties that arose between the college and the bishop, Don Alvaro de Mendoza, Salazar was removed from that office after only nine months. But in that short time, he came to Teresa’s aid by putting her spiritual director, Baltasar Alvarez, at ease about her, assuring him that he had nothing to fear. And when Teresa spoke to him of her experiences, he consoled her greatly and seemed to her to have a special gift of discerning spirits (cf. Life, 33:8-9).

Teresa of Avila, St. 1985, The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, translated from the Spanish by Kavanaugh, K; Rodriguez, O, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: This is the cell St. Teresa occupied when she returned to the Monastery of the Incarnation in Avila as its prioress (1571-1574). Image credit: Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P. / Flickr (Some rights reserved)

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/05/01/stj-life33/

#Avila #confessor #construction #familyLife #foundation #Jesuits #MonasteryOfTheIncarnation #monasticLife #realEstate #StJosephMonastery #StTeresaOfAvila #trials

I took for my advocate and lord the glorious St. Joseph
and earnestly recommended myself to him.

Saint Teresa of Avila
The Book of Her Life, chap. 6, no. 6

Introduction

Saint Teresa’s devotion to “the glorious St. Joseph” is well known in the Church. She dedicated her first monastery of the Carmelite reform in Avila to the patronage of Saint Joseph, and she entrusted her first novices in Avila to his care.

St. Teresa’s devotion to this great saint and protector of Carmel grew ever stronger during a crisis in her life. As a professed Carmelite nun in the Monastery of the Incarnation in Avila, she became gravely ill. Her condition was so serious that her friends and family believed she was dead. After she awoke from her comatose condition, her recovery was painfully slow.

Saint Edith Stein tells the story:

Teresa suffered for three years without asking for recovery. We do not know why she now changed her mind. She only tells us that she decided to beseech heaven to end her suffering.

With this intention, she asked that a Mass be offered and turned toward the saint in whom she had always had unlimited trust, and who owes to her zeal the increased veneration shown him. 

“I do not know how to think about the Queen of Angels, about all of her pains and cares with the little child Jesus without thanking St. Joseph for the dedication with which he came to the help of both of them” [Life, 6:8]. She ascribed her healing to him. 

Soon he came to my rescue in very obvious ways. This most beloved father and lord of my soul quickly freed me of the weakness and suffering to which my body was consigned. . . . I don’t recall that he ever denied me anything. St. Joseph permitted his power and goodness to me to become evident. Through him, I regained my strength. I stood up, walked, and was free of the paralysis. [cf. Life, 6:6–8]

In this year’s novena to St. Joseph, we will return to the source of all devotion to St. Joseph in the Teresian Carmel: the experience and witness of St. Teresa of Avila.

In the same way that Teresa turned to Joseph in her hour of greatest need and received all that she desired—and more, besides—so we, too, may turn to Joseph and present him our needs.

May these excerpts from sacred scripture and Teresa’s writings inspire us to “go to Joseph” (cf. Gen 41:55) and take him for our advocate, trusting in his powerful intercession for all our deepest needs.

Pray each day with Saints Joseph and Teresa

• Day 1
  The doctors of heaven
• Day 2
  My advocate and lord
• Day 3
  All the solemnity possible
• Day 4
  The desire to persuade
• Day 5
  My petition is always granted
• Day 6
  A great obligation
• Day 7
  St. Joseph appeared to me
• Day 8
  Giving thanks to St. Joseph
• Day 9
  I could rise and walk

Novena Prayer

St. Joseph, Man of peace,
You were a tower of strength and a steady refuge
for the Child Jesus and His Virgin Mother.
We call upon you to be our support in times of difficulty.

(Mention your intentions here)

Teach us to be serene under the Heavenly
Father’s guiding hand during the challenges that we face. 
We entrust to your intercession all of our intentions,
for ourselves, for our loved ones, and for the whole world. 
Please provide for us a home of refuge and peace.

Our Father…

“Strive to pray with attention” (Way of Perfection, 24:6)

Glory be…

“The Trinity is in our souls by presence, power, and essence” (Spiritual Testimonies, 49)

Our novena prayer to St. Joseph comes from the Carmel of St. Joseph, Terre Haute, Indiana USA

All scripture references in this novena are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America as accessed from the Bible Gateway website.

Stein, E. 2014, The Hidden Life: hagiographic essays, meditations, spiritual texts, translated from the German by Stein, W, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Teresa of Avila, St. 1985, The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, translated from the Spanish by Kavanaugh, K; Rodriguez, O, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Don’t become discouraged and give up prayer, says St. John of the Cross. We offer varying novenas to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, as well as novenas to St. Joseph, St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, and St. Edith Stein.

Let us unite in prayer

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/03/09/joenovena24-i/

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