Carmelite QuotesQuote of the day, 4 June: St. Teresa of Avila
THE INTERIOR CASTLE
Teresa of Jesus, a nun of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, wrote this treatise for her Sisters and daughters, the Discalced Carmelites nuns.
JHS
Not many things that I have been ordered to do under obedience have been as difficult for me as is this present task of writing about prayer. First, it doesn’t seem the Lord is giving me either the spirit or the desire to undertake the work. Second, I have been experiencing now for three months such great noise and weakness in my head that I’ve found it a hardship even to write concerning necessary business matters. But knowing that the strength given by obedience usually lessens the difficulty of things that seem impossible, I resolved to carry out the task very willingly, even though my human nature seems greatly distressed. For the Lord hasn’t given me so much virtue that my nature in the midst of its struggle with continual sickness and duties of so many kinds doesn’t feel strong aversion toward such a task. May He, in whose mercy I trust and who has helped me in other more difficult things so as to favor me, do this work for me.
Indeed, I don’t think I have much more to say than what I’ve said in other things they have ordered me to write [An allusion to her Life and The Way of Perfection]; rather, I fear that the things I write about will be nearly all alike. I’m literally just like the parrots that are taught to speak; they know no more than what they hear or are shown, and they often repeat it. If the Lord wants me to say something new, His Majesty will provide. Or, He will be pleased to make me remember what I have said at other times, for I would be happy even with this. My memory is so poor that I would be glad if I could repeat, in case they’ve been lost, some of the things which I was told were well said [This is a veiled reference to her Life. The autograph of this work was requested by the Inquisition in 1576 and kept in its archives until 1588]. If the Lord doesn’t make me remember, I will gain just by tiring myself and getting a worse headache for the sake of obedience — even if no one draws any benefit from what I say.
And so I’m beginning to comply today, the feast of the most Blessed Trinity, in the year 1577, in this Carmelite monastery of St. Joseph in Toledo where I am at present [It was 2 June 1577]. In all that I say I submit to the opinion of the ones who ordered me to write, for they are persons of great learning [These were Fr. Jerónimo Gracián and her confessor Dr. Alonso Velázquez, future Bishop of Osma and later Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela]. If I should say something that isn’t in conformity with what the holy Roman Catholic Church holds, it will be through ignorance and not through malice. This can be held as certain, and also that through the goodness of God, I always am, and will be, and have been subject to her. May He be always blessed and glorified, amen.
The one who ordered me to write told me that the nuns in these monasteries of our Lady of Mt. Carmel need someone to answer their questions about prayer and that he thought they would better understand the language used between women, and that because of the love they bore me they would pay more attention to what I would tell them. I thus understood that it was important for me to manage to say something. So, I shall be speaking to them while I write; it’s nonsense to think that what I say could matter to other persons. Our Lord will be granting me favor enough if some of these nuns benefit by praising Him a little more. His Majesty well knows that I don’t aim after anything else. And it should be very clear that if I manage to say something well the Sisters will understand that this does not come from me since there would be no foundation for it unless the Lord gave it to me; otherwise they would have as little intelligence as I little ability for such things.
Saint Teresa of Avila
The Interior Castle, Prologue
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: Neuschwanstein Castle in southern Bavaria is captured in this stunning image by photographer Massimiliano Morosinotto. Image credit: Massimiliano Morosinotto / Unsplash (Stock photo)
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Dame Scott G
Carmelite Quotes