Quote of the day, 3 May: St. Teresa of Avila

On the eve of the feast of St. Sebastian, the first year in which I was prioress at the Incarnation, at the beginning of the Salve Regina, I saw the Mother of God descend with a great multitude of angels and sit in the prioress’s choir stall where there was a statue of our Lady.

In my opinion, I didn’t then see the statue but our Lady herself. It seemed to me she looked something like she does in the painting the countess gave me, although the power to discern this was quickly taken away, for my faculties were soon held in great suspension. It seemed to me there were angels above the canopies of the stalls in the back and above the front stalls; although they were not in corporeal form, for this was an intellectual vision.

She remained for the whole of the Salve, and she told me: “You were indeed right in placing me here; I shall be present in the praises they give my Son, and I shall offer these praises to Him.”

After this, I remained in the kind of prayer I now have, that of keeping my soul present with the Blessed Trinity. And it seemed to me that the Person of the Father drew me to Himself and spoke very pleasant words. Among them, while showing me what He wanted, He told me: “I gave you My Son, and the Holy Spirit, and this Blessed Virgin. What can you give Me?”

Saint Teresa of Avila

Spiritual Testimonies, 21
Avila, Monastery of the Incarnation, 19 January 1572

Note: Saint Teresa refers to a painting given to her by the Countess of Osorno, Doña María de Velasco of Valladolid, which is still preserved at St. Joseph’s in Ávila. Upon taking office as prioress of the Monastery of the Incarnation on October 14, 1571, she placed a statue of Our Lady of Clemency in the prioress’s stall, entrusting it symbolically with the keys of the monastery.

Avila, Monastery of the Incarnation, “Upper choir where Santa Teresa prayed” is an engraving from the book “The Third Centenary of Saint Teresa of Jesus” (Vicente de la Fuente, 1882). This was a pilgrim’s manual to assist those visiting the homeland, tomb, and towns where the Saint made foundations or where she is particularly remembered. Printed in Madrid, Imp. de A. Pérez Dubrull. Photo: J. L. Pajares Archive. Source: avila.es / Flickr. All rights reserved.

Teresa of Avila, St 1985, The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, Kavanaugh, K & Rodriguez, O (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.

#SalveRegina #StTeresaOfAvila #statue #VirginMary #vision

Quote of the day, 24 April: St. Teresa of Avila

St Teresa proposes a profound harmony with the great biblical figures and eager listening to the word of God. She feels above all closely in tune with the Bride in the Song of Songs and with the Apostle Paul, as well as with Christ in the Passion and with Jesus in the Eucharist. The Saint then stresses how essential prayer is.

Praying, she says, “means being on terms of friendship with God frequently conversing in secret with him who, we know, loves us” (Life 8, 5). St Teresa’s idea coincides with Thomas Aquinas’ definition of theological charity as “amicitia quaedam hominis ad Deum”, a type of human friendship with God, who offered humanity his friendship first; it is from God that the initiative comes (cf. Summa Theologiae II-II, 23, 1).

Prayer is life and develops gradually, in pace with the growth of Christian life: it begins with vocal prayer, passes through interiorization by means of meditation and recollection, until it attains the union of love with Christ and with the Holy Trinity. Obviously, in the development of prayer, climbing to the highest steps does not mean abandoning the previous type of prayer. Rather, it is a gradual deepening of the relationship with God that envelops the whole of life.

Rather than a pedagogy, Teresa’s is a true “mystagogy” of prayer: she teaches those who read her works how to pray by praying with them. Indeed, she often interrupts her account or exposition with a prayerful outburst.

Pope Benedict XVI

General Audience, 2 February 2011 (excerpt)

Pope Benedict XVI 2011, General Audience, 2 February 2011, Holy See, viewed 22 April 2026, https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/audiences/2011/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20110202.html.

Featured image: Statue of Saint Teresa by Fernando Cruz Solís (20th c.), at the Monastery of the Incarnation, Ávila. Photo: Raquel / Adobe Stock.

#ChristianLife #friendship #PopeBenedictXVI #prayer #StTeresaOfAvila

Quote of the day, 19 April: St. Teresa of Avila

We always find that those who walked closest to Christ Our Lord were those who had to bear the greatest trials.

Consider the trials suffered by His glorious Mother and by the glorious Apostles. How do you suppose Saint Paul could endure such terrible trials? We can see in his life the effects of genuine visions and of contemplation coming from Our Lord and not from human imagination or from the deceit of the devil. Do you imagine that he shut himself up with his visions so as to enjoy those Divine favours and pursue no other occupation? You know very well that, so far as we can learn, he took not a day’s rest, nor can he have rested by night, since it was then that he had to earn his living [cf. 1 Thess 2:9].

I am very fond of the story of how, when Saint Peter was fleeing from prison, Our Lord appeared to him and told him to go back to Rome and be crucified. We never recite the Office on his festival, in which this story is found, without my deriving a special consolation from it. How did Saint Peter feel after receiving this favour from the Lord? And what did he do? He went straight to his death; and the Lord showed him no small mercy in providing someone to kill him.

Saint Teresa of Avila

The Interior Castle, VII.4

Note: In the old Carmelite Breviary, which St. Teresa would have used, the Antiphon of the Magnificat at First Vespers on June 29 runs: “The Blessed Apostle Peter saw Christ coming to meet him. Adoring Him, he said: ‘Lord, whither goest Thou?’ ‘I am going to Rome to be crucified afresh.'” The story has it that St. Peter returned to Rome and was crucified.

John of the Cross, St; de Santa Teresa, S; Peers, E 1934–1935, The complete works of Saint John of the Cross, doctor of the Church, translated from the Spanish by Peers, E, Burns Oates & Washbourne, London.

Featured image: The Domine Quo Vadis window in Saint Alban’s Cathedral, Hertfordshire. Image credit: Father James Bradley / Flickr (Some rights reserved).

#BlessedVirginMary #StPaul #StPeter #StTeresaOfAvila #trials

Quote of the day, 5 April: St. Teresa of Avila

They say that for a woman to be a good wife toward her husband she must be sad when he is sad, and joyful when he is joyful, even though she may not be so. (See what subjection you have been freed from, Sisters!)

The Lord, without deception, truly acts in such a way with us. He is the one who submits, and He wants you to be the lady with authority to rule; He submits to your will.

If you are joyful, look at Him as risen. Just imagining how He rose from the tomb will bring you joy. The brilliance! The beauty! The majesty! How victorious! How joyful! Indeed, like one coming forth from a battle where he has gained a great kingdom!

And all of that, plus Himself, He desires for you. Well, is it such a big thing that from time to time you turn your eyes to look upon one who gives you so much?

Saint Teresa of Avila

The Way of Perfection, ch. 26, no. 4

Teresa of Avila, St 1985, The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, Kavanaugh, K & Rodriguez, O (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Christ’s Appearance to Mary Magdalene after the Resurrection, Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov (Russian, 1806-1858). Oil on canvas, 1835. Image credit: Russian State Museum (Public domain).

#Easter #joy #mentalPrayer #resurrection #StTeresaOfAvila

Quote of the day, 1 April: St. Teresa of Avila

Another very good proof of love is that you strive in household duties to relieve others of work, and also rejoice and praise the Lord very much for any increase you see in their virtues.

All these things, not to mention the great good they contain in themselves, help very much to further peace and conformity between the Sisters, as we now, by God’s goodness, see through experience. May it please His Majesty that this love always continue. The contrary would be a terrible thing, and very difficult to endure: that is, few in number and disunited. God forbid.

If by chance some little word should escape, try to remedy the matter immediately and pray intensely. And if things of this sort against charity continue, such as little factions, or ambition, or concern about some little point of honor (for I think my blood freezes when I write about this and think that at some time it could happen, because I see it is the main evil in monasteries); when these things begin to take place consider yourselves lost.

Think and believe that you have thrown your Spouse out of the house and have made it necessary for Him to go in search of another dwelling, since you threw Him out of His own house.

Cry out to His Majesty. Seek a remedy; for if you don’t find one after such frequent confession and Communion, there is reason to fear a Judas among you.

Saint Teresa of Avila

The Way of Perfection, ch. 7, nos. 9–10

Teresa of Avila, St 1985, The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, Kavanaugh, K & Rodriguez, O (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured Image: This image of the Last Supper (ca. 1480) comes from the Unterlinden Museum in Colmar, France. Image credit: Jean Louis Mazieres / Flickr (Some rights reserved).

#community #Judas #love #monasticLife #StTeresaOfAvila

Quote of the day, 31 March: St. Teresa of Avila

O God of my soul, how we hasten to offend You and how You hasten even more to pardon us!

What reason is there, Lord, for such deranged boldness? Could it be that we have already understood Your great mercy and have forgotten that Your justice is just?

The sorrows of death surround me [Ps 18:4].

Oh, oh, oh, what a serious thing sin is, for it was enough to kill God with so many sorrows! And how surrounded You are by them, my God! Where can You go that they do not torment You? Everywhere mortals wound You.

O Christians, it’s time to defend your King and to accompany Him in such great solitude. Few are the vassals remaining with Him, and great the multitude accompanying Lucifer. And what’s worse is that these latter appear as His friends in public and sell Him in secret. He finds almost no one in whom to trust. O true Friend, how badly they pay You back who betray You! […]

O you who are accustomed to delights, satisfactions, and consolations, and to always doing your own will, take pity on yourselves! Recall that you will have to be subject forever and ever, without end, to the infernal furies.

Behold, behold that the Judge who will condemn you now asks you; and that your lives are not safe for one moment. Why don’t you want to live forever? Oh, hardness of human hearts! May Your boundless compassion, my God, soften these hearts.

Saint Teresa of Avila

Soliloquies, 10

Teresa of Avila, St 1985, The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, Kavanaugh, K & Rodriguez, O (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: A Holy Week procession in Avila, Spain. Image credit: Miguel Ángel Ordoñez / Flickr (Some rights reserved)

#ChristTheKing #eternalJudge #love #mercy #StTeresaOfAvila

Quote of the day, 23 March: Teresa of the Trinity, OCD

Let us not desire delights, daughters; we are well-off here; the bad inn lasts for only a night. Let us praise God; let us force ourselves to do penance in this life.

Saint Teresa of Avila
The Way of Perfection, 40.9

The autumn leaves are pilgrims
Scurrying after the winds that toss them
Through the sky, and I, a pilgrim
Caught by the Spirit’s breath, would fly
Heavenwards in glorious flight—
Knowing this life is only a night
Spent in a bad inn.

Let Teresa’s words give impetus to my poor clay,
Freeing me from earth’s bonds,
And setting me heavenward in flight,
A leaf, swirling in the mighty Wind of God,
Raised beyond itself,
Torn from earth’s limiting vision,
To celestial heights, seeing, at last,
The vast horizons of the Church
That keep Carmel’s vision wide.

O Holy Mother, open my small mind and heart
To the great tide of needs—
The venturing for God’s honor
In these times.
Magnificent shores of the spirit have been reached
And overflow.
Let me become filled with God’s joy,
Awake to every grace that pour Christ-life,
Christ-mercy on our universe.

Sister Teresa of the Trinity, O.C.D.

For the Feast of Our Holy Mother Teresa

Note: Sr. Teresa of the Trinity, O.C.D. (Teresa Hewitt) was a professed Discalced Carmelite nun of the Carmel of St. Joseph in Terre Haute, Indiana, who served as prioress for many years.

Saint Teresa of Avila
John Singer Sargent, American (1856–1925)
Watercolor over graphite on off-white wove paper, c. 1903
Harvard Art Museums (Public domain)

Catholic Church 1993, Proper of the Liturgy of the Hours of the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel and the Order of Discalced Carmelites (Rev. and augm.), Institutum Carmelitanum, Rome.

#adventure #compassion #poetry #StTeresaOfAvila #TeresaOfTheTrinityOCD

Quote of the day, 19 March: Saint Teresa

Once, when in need, for I didn’t know what to do or how to pay some workmen, St. Joseph, my true father and lord, appeared to me and revealed to me that I would not be lacking, that I should hire them. And so I did, without so much as a penny, and the Lord, in ways that amazed those who heard about it, provided for me.

Saint Teresa of Avila

The Book of Her Life: Chapter 33, no. 12

Teresa of Avila, St 1985, The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, Kavanaugh, K & Rodriguez, O (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Saint Joseph holds a bouquet of Easter lilies, lilium longiflorum. Image credit: arley_design / Adobe Stock (Asset ID#: 1260853483).

#apparition #Providence #StJoseph #StTeresaOfAvila #TeresianReform

Quote of the day, 11 March: Blessed Marie-Eugène

“What happens is that my intellect is suddenly seized by things sometimes so trivial that at other times I would laugh about them. The devil makes the soul upset in every way he wants and shackles it there without its being master of itself or able to think of anything else than the absurdities he represents to it…”
(St. Teresa of Avila, The Book of Her Life, 30:11).

It is natural enough that the devil should use his great power and take advantage of the relative weakness of beginners in prayer, to stop them in their journey towards God by causing in them, as far as he is able, as much dryness and distraction as he can. That he thus intervenes—often successfully—in the prayer of beginners seems certain; and, although using on them much more benign procedures than on Saint Teresa, these are probably much more effective.

Blessed Marie-Eugène of the Child Jesus

Chapter VI, Distractions and dryness

Note: Blessed Marie-Eugène of the Child Jesus made his first religious profession on 11 March 1923.

Marie-Eugène de l’Enfant-Jésus & Doran V 1990, I Want to See God, Christian Classics, Allen, Texas.

Featured image: Father Marie-Eugène of the Child Jesus. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites (by permission)

#BlessedMarieEugeneOfTheChildJesus #distractions #prayer #religiousProfession #StTeresaOfAvila

Quote of the day, 8 March: St. Teresa of Avila

Well, here is what happens sometimes to a soul that experiences these anxious longings, tears, sighs, and great impulses… While this soul is going about in this manner, burning up within itself, a blow is felt from elsewhere (the soul doesn’t understand from where or how). The blow comes often through a sudden thought or word about death’s delay. Or the soul will feel pierced by a fiery arrow.

I saw a person in this condition [Teresa refers to herself]; truly, she thought she was dying, and this was not so surprising because certainly there is great danger of death. And thus, even though the experience lasts a short while, it leaves the body very disjointed, and during that time, the heartbeat is as slow as it would be if a person were about to render his soul to God. This is no exaggeration, for the natural heat fails, and the fire so burns the soul that with a little more intensity God would have fulfilled the soul’s desires.

You will tell me that this feeling is an imperfection and ask why the soul doesn’t conform to the will of God since it is so surrendered to Him. Until now, it could do this, and has spent its life doing so. As for now, the reasoning faculty is in such a condition that the soul is not the master of it, nor can the soul think of anything else than of why it is grieving, of how it is absent from its Good, and of why it should want to live. It feels a strange solitude because no creature in all the earth provides it company, nor do I believe would any heavenly creature, not being the One whom it loves; rather, everything torments it.

But the soul sees that it is like a person hanging, who cannot support himself on any earthly thing, nor can it ascend to heaven. On fire with this thirst, it cannot get to the water, and the thirst is not one that is endurable, but already at such a point that nothing will take it away. Nor does the soul desire that the thirst be taken away save by that water of which our Lord spoke to the Samaritan woman.

Saint Teresa of Avila

The Interior Castle, VI.11.2, 4–5

Teresa of Avila, St 1985, The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, Kavanaugh, K & Rodriguez, O (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: This detail of a photographic artwork created by Elías Rodríguez Picón comes to us thanks to the Discalced Carmelite nuns of Alba de Tormes. The artist’s sister is the model for this scene, which is intended to show the beginning moment of the Transverberation. You can see and read more about his photographic technique in this article from La Hornacina (in Spanish). Image credit: Discalced Carmelites (By permission).

#impulse #longing #SamaritanWoman #StTeresaOfAvila #transverberation