Produced by Elizabeth T. Knuth
The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus
Transcriber's Note: Corrections suggested in the Corrigenda,
p. [viii] of the original text, have been made. Section number
added for L 3.9, since both the translator's preface and the
index refer to it. Footnotes gathered at the ends of chapters.
Typographical errors in two Scriptural quotations have been
corrected: In L 21 note 10, I have changed "Quæ præparavit Deus
iis qui" to "Quæ præparavit Deus his qui;" and in L 29 note 12,
I have changed "As the longing of the heart" to "As the longing
of the hart."
The Life
of
St. Teresa of Jesus
Re-imprimatur.
+ Franciscus
Archiepiscopus Westmonast.
Die 27 Sept., 1904.
The Life
of
St. Teresa of Jesus,
of the Order of Our Lady of Carmel.
Written by Herself.
Translated from the Spanish by
David Lewis.
Third Edition Enlarged.
With additional Notes and an Introduction by
Rev. Fr. Benedict Zimmerman, O.C.D.
London: Thomas Baker.
New York: Benziger Bros.
MCMIV.
Contents.
Chap.
Introduction to the Third Edition, by Rev. B. Zimmerman
St. Teresa's Arguments of the Chapters
Preface by David Lewis
Annals of the Saint's Life
Prologue
I. Childhood and early Impressions--The Blessing of pious
Parents--Desire of Martyrdom--Death of the Saint's Mother
II. Early Impressions--Dangerous Books and Companions--The Saint
is placed in a Monastery
III. The Blessing of being with good people--How certain
Illusions were removed
IV. Our Lord helps her to become a Nun--Her many Infirmities
V. Illness and Patience of the Saint--The Story of a Priest whom
she rescued from a Life of Sin
VI. The great Debt she owed to our Lord for His Mercy to her--She
takes St. Joseph for her Patron
VII. Lukewarmness--The Loss of Grace--Inconvenience of Laxity in
Religious Houses
VIII. The Saint ceases not to pray--Prayer the way to recover
what is lost--All exhorted to pray--The great Advantage of
Prayer, even to those who may have ceased from it
IX. The means whereby our Lord quickened her Soul, gave her Light
in her Darkness, and made her strong in Goodness
X. The Graces she received in Prayer--What we can do
ourselves--The great Importance of understanding what our Lord is
doing for us--She desires her Confessors to keep her Writings
secret, because of the special Graces of our Lord to her, which
they had commanded her to describe
XI. Why men do not attain quickly to the perfect Love of God--Of
Four Degrees of Prayer--Of the First Degree--The Doctrine
profitable for Beginners, and for those who have no
sensible Sweetness
XII. What we can ourselves do--The Evil of desiring to attain to
supernatural States before our Lord calls us
XIII. Of certain Temptations of Satan--Instructions
relating thereto
XIV. The Second State of Prayer--Its supernatural Character
XV. Instructions for those who have attained to the Prayer of
Quiet--Many advance so far, but few go farther
XVI. The Third State of Prayer--Deep Matters--What the Soul can
do that has reached it--Effects of the great Graces of our Lord
XVII. The Third State of Prayer--The Effects thereof--The
Hindrance caused by the Imagination and the Memory
XVIII. The Fourth State of Prayer--The great Dignity of the Soul
raised to it by our Lord--Attainable on Earth, not by our Merit,
but by the Goodness of our Lord
XIX. The Effects of this Fourth State of Prayer--Earnest
Exhortations to those who have attained to it not to go back nor
to cease from Prayer, even if they fall--The great Calamity of
going back
XX. The Difference between Union and Rapture--What Rapture
is--The Blessing it is to the Soul--The Effects of it
XXI. Conclusion of the Subject--Pain of the Awakening--Light
against Delusions
XXII. The Security of Contemplatives lies in their not ascending
to high Things if our Lord does not raise them--The Sacred
Humanity must be the Road to the highest Contemplation--A
Delusion in which the Saint was once entangled
XXIII. The Saint resumes the History of her Life--Aiming at
Perfection--Means whereby it may be gained--Instructions
for Confessors
XXIV. Progress under Obedience--Her Inability to resist the
Graces of God--God multiplies His Graces
XXV. Divine Locutions--Delusions on that Subject
XXVI. How the Fears of the Saint vanished--How she was assured
that her Prayer was the Work of the Holy Spirit
XXVII. The Saint prays to be directed in a different
way--Intellectual Visions
XXVIII. Visions of the Sacred Humanity and of the glorified
Bodies--Imaginary Visions--Great Fruits thereof when they come
from God
XXIX. Of Visions--The Graces our Lord bestowed on the Saint--The
Answers our Lord gave her for those who tried her
XXX. St. Peter of Alcantara comforts the Saint--Great Temptations
and Interior Trials
XXXI. Of certain outward Temptations and Appearances of Satan--Of
the Sufferings thereby occasioned--Counsels for those who go on
unto Perfection
XXXII. Our Lord shows St. Teresa the Place which she had by her
Sins deserved in Hell--The Torments there--How the Monastery of
St. Joseph was founded
XXXIII. The Foundation of the Monastery hindered--Our Lord
consoles the Saint
XXXIV. The Saint leaves her Monastery of the Incarnation for a
time, at the command of her superior--Consoles an afflicted Widow
XXXV. The Foundation of the House of St. Joseph--Observance of
holy Poverty therein--How the Saint left Toledo
XXXVI. The Foundation of the Monastery of St. Joseph--Persecution
and Temptations--Great interior Trial of the Saint, and
her Deliverance
XXXVII. The Effects of the divine Graces in the Soul--The
inestimable Greatness of one Degree of Glory
XXXVIII. Certain heavenly Secrets, Visions, and Revelations--The
Effects of them in her Soul
XXXIX. Other Graces bestowed on the Saint--The Promises of our
Lord to her--Divine Locutions and Visions
XL. Visions, Revelations, and Locutions
The Relations.
Relation.
I. Sent to St. Peter of Alcantara in 1560 from the Monastery of
the Incarnation, Avila
II. To one of her Confessors, from the House of Dona Luisa de la
Cerda, in 1562
III. Of various Graces granted to the Saint from the year 1568 to
1571, inclusive
IV. Of the Graces the Saint received in Salamanca at the end of
Lent, 1571
V. Observations on certain Points of Spirituality
VI. The Vow of Obedience to Father Gratian which the Saint made
in 1575
VII. Made for Rodrigo Alvarez, S.J., in the year 1575, according
to Don Vicente de la Fuente; but in 1576, according to the
Bollandists and F. Bouix
VIII. Addressed to F. Rodrigo Alvarez
IX. Of certain spiritual Graces she received in Toledo and Avila
in the years 1576 and 1577
X. Of a Revelation to the Saint at Avila, 1579, and of Directions
concerning the Government of the Order
XI. Written from Palencia in May, 1581, and addressed to Don
Alonzo Velasquez, Bishop of Osma, who had been when Canon of
Toledo, one of the Saint's Confessors
Introduction to the Present Edition.
When the publisher entrusted me with the task of editing this
volume, one sheet was already printed and a considerable portion
of the book was in type. Under his agreement with the owners of
the copyright, he was bound to reproduce the text and notes,
etc., originally prepared by Mr. David Lewis without any change,
so that my duty was confined to reading the proofs and verifying
the quotations. This translation of the Life of St. Teresa is so
excellent, that it could hardly be improved. While faithfully
adhering to her wording, the translator has been successful in
rendering the lofty teaching in simple and clear language, an
achievement all the more remarkable as in addition to the
difficulty arising from the transcendental nature of the subject
matter, the involved style, and the total absence of punctuation
tend to perplex the reader. Now and then there might be some
difference of opinion as to how St. Teresa's phrases should be
construed, but it is not too much to say that on the whole
Mr. Lewis has been more successful than any other translator,
whether English or foreign. Only in one case have I found it
necessary to make some slight alteration in the text, and I trust
the owners of the copyright will forgive me for doing so. In
Chapter XXV., § 4, St. Teresa, speaking of the difference between
the Divine and the imaginary locutions, says that a person
commending a matter to God with great earnestness, may think that
he hears whether his prayer will be granted or not: y es muy
posible, "and this is quite possible," but he who has ever heard
a Divine locution will see at once that this assurance is
something quite different. Mr. Lewis, following the old Spanish
editions, translated "And it is most impossible," whereas both
the autograph and the context demand the wording I have ventured
to substitute.
When Mr. Lewis undertook the translation of St. Teresa's works,
he had before him Don Vicente de la Fuente's edition (Madrid,
1861-1862), supposed to be a faithful transcript of the original.
In 1873 the Sociedad Foto-Tipografica-Catolica of Madrid
published a photographic reproduction of the Saint's autograph in
412 pages in folio, which establishes the true text once for all.
Don Vicente prepared a transcript of this, in which he wisely
adopted the modern way of spelling but otherwise preserved the
original text, or at least pretended to do so, for a minute
comparison between autograph and transcript reveals the startling
fact that nearly a thousand inaccuracies have been allowed to
creep in. Most of these variants are immaterial, but there are
some which ought not to have been overlooked. Thus, in Chapter
XVIII. § 20, St. Teresa's words are: Un gran letrado de la orden
del glorioso santo Domingo, while Don Vicente retains the old
reading De la orden del glorioso patriarca santo Domingo.
Mr. Lewis possessed a copy of this photographic reproduction, but
utilised it only in one instance in his second edition. [1]
The publication of the autograph has settled a point of some
importance. The Bollandists (n. 1520), discussing the question
whether the headings of the chapters (appended to this
Introduction) are by St. Teresa or a later addition, come to the
conclusion (against the authors of the Reforma de los Descalços)
that they are clearly an interpolation (clarissime patet) on
account of the praise of the doctrine contained in these
arguments. Notwithstanding their high authority the Bollandists
are in this respect perfectly wrong, the arguments are entirely
in St. Teresa's own hand and are exclusively her own work.
The Book of Foundations and the Way of Perfection contain similar
arguments in the Saint's handwriting. Nor need any surprise be
felt at the alleged praise of her doctrine for by saying: this
chapter is most noteworthy (Chap. XIV.), or: this is good
doctrine (Chap. XXI.), etc., she takes no credit for herself
because she never grows tired of repeating that she only delivers
the message she has received from our Lord. [2] The Bollandists,
not having seen the original, may be excused, but P. Bouix (whom
Mr. Lewis follows in this matter) had no right to suppress these
arguments. It is to be hoped that future editions of the works
of S. Teresa will not again deprive the reader of this remarkable
feature of her writings. What she herself thought of her books
is best told by Yepes in a letter to Father Luis de Leon, the
first editor of her works: "She was pleased when her writings
were being praised and her Order and the convents were held in
esteem. Speaking one day of the Way of Perfection, she rejoiced
to hear it praised, and said to me with great content: Some grave
men tell me that it is like Holy Scripture. For being revealed
doctrine it seemed to her that praising her book was like
praising God." [3]
A notable feature in Mr. Lewis's translation is his division of
the chapters into short paragraphs. But it appears that he
rearranged the division during the process of printing, with the
result that a large number of references were wrong. No labour
has been spared in the correction of these, and I trust that the
present edition will be the more useful for it. In quoting the
Way of Perfection and the Interior Castle (which he calls Inner
Fortress!) Mr. Lewis refers to similar paragraphs which, however,
are to be found in no English edition. A new translation of
these two works is greatly needed, and, in the case of the Way of
Perfection, the manuscript of the Escurial should be consulted as
well as that of Valladolid. Where the writings of S. John of the
Cross are quoted by volume and page, the edition referred to is
the one of 1864, another of Mr. Lewis's masterpieces.
The chapters in Ribera's Life of St. Teresa refer to the edition
in the Acts of the Saint by the Bollandists. These and all other
quotations have been carefully verified, with the exception of
those taken from the works on Mystical theology by Antonius a
Spiritu Sancto and Franciscus a S. Thoma, which I was unable to
consult. I should have wished to replace the quotations from
antiquated editions of the Letters of our Saint by references to
the new French edition by P. Grégoire de S. Joseph (Paris,
Poussielgue, 1900), which may be considered as the
standard edition.
In note 2 to Chap. XI. Mr. Lewis draws attention to a passage in
a sermon by S. Bernard containing an allusion to different ways
of watering a garden similar to St. Teresa's well-known
comparison. Mr. Lewis's quotation is incorrect, and I am not
certain what sermon he may have had in view. Something to the
point may be found in sermon 22 on the Canticle (Migne,
P. L. Vol. CLXXXIII, p. 879), and in the first sermon on the
Nativity of our Lord (ibid., p. 115), and also in a sermon on the
Canticle by one of St. Bernard's disciples (Vol. CLXXXIV.,
p. 195). I am indebted to the Very Rev. Prior Vincent McNabb,
O.P., for the verification of a quotation from St. Vincent Ferrer
(Chap. XX. § 31).
Since the publication of Mr. Lewis's translation the uncertainty
about the date of St. Teresa's profession has been cleared up.
Yepes, the Bollandists, P. Bouix, Don Vicente de la Fuente,
Mr. Lewis, and numerous other writers assume that she entered the
convent of the Incarnation [4] on November 2nd, 1533, and made
her profession on November 3rd, 1534. The remaining dates of
events previous to her conversion are based upon this, as will be
seen from the chronology printed by Mr. Lewis at the end of his
Preface and frequently referred to in the footnotes. It rests,
however, on inadequate evidence, namely on a single passage in
the Life [5] where the Saint says that she was not yet twenty
years old when she made her first supernatural experience in
prayer. She was twenty in March, 1535, and as this event took
place after her profession, the latter was supposed by Yepes and
his followers to have taken place in the previous November.
Even if we had no further evidence, the fact that St. Teresa is
not always reliable in her calculation should have warned us not
to rely too much upon a somewhat casual statement. In the first
chapter, § 7, she positively asserts that she was rather less
than twelve years old at the death of her mother, whereas we know
that she was at least thirteen years and eight months old. As to
the profession we have overwhelming evidence that it took place
on the 3rd of November, 1536, and her entrance in the convent a
year and a day earlier. To begin with, we have the positive
statement of her most intimate friends, Julian d'Avila, Father
Ribera, S.J., and Father Jerome Gratian. Likewise doña Maria
Pinel, nun of the Incarnation, says in her deposition: "She
(Teresa of Jesus) took the habit on 2 November, 1535." [6]
This is corroborated by various passages in the Saint's writings.
Thus, in Relation VII., written in 1575, she says, speaking of
herself: "This nun took the habit forty years ago." Again in a
passage of the Life written about the end of 1564 or the
beginning of the following year, [7] she mentions that she has
been a nun for over twenty-eight years, which points to her
profession in 1536. But there are two documents which place the
date of profession beyond dispute, namely the act of renunciation
of her right to the paternal inheritance and the deed of dowry
drawn up before a public notary. Both bear the date 31 October,
1536. The authors of the Reforma de los Descalços thought that
they must have been drawn up before St. Teresa took the habit,
and therefore placed this event in 1536 and the profession in
1537, but neither of these documents is necessarily connected
with the clothing, yet both must have been completed before
profession. The Constitutions of Blessed John Soreth, drawn up
in 1462, which were observed at the convent of the Incarnation,
contain the following rule with regard to the reception and
training of novices: [8] Consulimus quod recipiendus ante
susceptionem habitus expediat se de omnibus quae habet in saeculo
nisi ex causa rationabili per priorem generalem vel provincialem
fuerit aliter ordinatum. There was, indeed, good reason in the
case of St. Teresa to postpone these legal matters. Her father
was much opposed to her becoming a nun, but considering his piety
it might have been expected that before the end of the year of
probation he would grant his consent (which in the event he did
the very day she took the habit), and make arrangements for the
dowry. One little detail concerning her haste in entering the
convent has been preserved by the Reforma and the
Bollandists, [9] though neither seem to have understood its
meaning. On leaving the convent of the Incarnation for
St. Joseph's in 1563, St. Teresa handed the prioress of the
former convent a receipt for her bedding, habit and discipline.
This almost ludicrous scrupulosity was in conformity with a
decision of the general chapter of 1342 which said: Ingrediens
ordinem ad sui ipsius instantiam habeat lectisternia pro se ipso,
sin autem recipiens solvat lectum illum. As St. Teresa entered
the convent without the knowledge of her father she did not bring
this insignificant trousseau with her; accordingly the prioress
became responsible for it and obtained a receipt when St. Teresa
went to the new convent. The dowry granted by Alphonso Sanchez
de Cepeda to his daughter consisted of twenty-five measures,
partly wheat, partly barley, or, in lieu thereof, two hundred
ducats per annum. Few among the numerous nuns of the Incarnation
could have brought a better or even an equal dowry.
The date of St. Teresa's profession being thus fixed on the 3rd
of November, 1536, some other dates of the chronology must be
revised. Her visit to Castellanos de la Canada must have taken
place in the early part of 1537. But already before this time
the Saint had an experience which should have proved a warning to
her, and the neglect of which she never ceased to deplore, namely
the vision of our Lord; [10] her own words are that this event
took place "at the very beginning of her acquaintance with the
person" who exercised so dangerous an influence upon her.
Mr. Lewis assigns to it the date 1542, which is impossible seeing
that instead of twenty-six it was only twenty-two years before
she wrote that passage of her life. Moreover, it would have
fallen into the midst of her lukewarmness (according to
Mr. Lewis's chronology) instead of the very beginning. P. Bouix
rightly assigns it to the year 1537, but as he is two years in
advance of our chronology it does not agree with the surrounding
circumstances as described by him. Bearing in mind the hint
St. Teresa gives [11] as to her disposition immediately after her
profession, we need not be surprised if the first roots of her
lukewarmness show themselves so soon.
From Castellanos she proceeded to Hortigosa on a visit to her
uncle. While there she became acquainted with the book called
Tercer Abecedario. Don Vicente remarks that the earliest edition
known to him was printed in 1537, which tells strongly against
the chronology of the Bollandists, P. Bouix, and others.
Again, speaking of her cure at Bezadas she gives a valuable hint
by saying that she remained blind to certain dangers for more
than seventeen years until the Jesuit fathers finally undeceived
her. As these came to Avila in 1555 the seventeen years lead us
back to 1538, which precisely coincides with her sojourn at
Bezadas. She remained there until Pascua florida of the
following year. P. Bouix and others understand by this term Palm
Sunday, but Don Vicente shows good reason that Easter Sunday is
meant, which in 1539 was April the 6th. She then returned to
Avila, more dead than alive, and remained seriously ill for
nearly three years, until she was cured through the miraculous
intervention of St. Joseph about the beginning of 1542.
Now began the period of lukewarmness which was temporally
interrupted by the illness and death of her father, in 1544 or
1545, and came to an end about 1555. Don Vicente, followed by
Mr. Lewis, draws attention to what he believes to be a "proof of
great laxity of the convent," that St. Teresa should have been
urged by one of her confessors to communicate as often as once a
fortnight. It should be understood that frequent communion such
as we now see it practised was wholly unknown in her time.
The Constitutions of the Order specified twelve days on which all
those that were not priests should communicate, adding:
Verumtamen fratres professi prout Deus eis devotionem contulerit
diebus dominicis et festis duplicibus (i.e., on feasts of our
Lady, the Apostles, etc.), communicare poterunt si qui velint.
Thus, communicating about once a month St. Teresa acted as
ordinary good Religious were wont to do, and by approaching the
sacrament more frequently she placed herself among the more
fervent nuns. [12]
St. Teresa wrote quite a number of different accounts of her
life. The first, addressed to Father Juan de Padranos, S.J. [13]
and dated 1557, is now lost. The second, written for St. Peter
of Alcantara, is Relation I. at the end of this volume; a copy of
it, together with a continuation (Relation II.) was sent to
Father Pedro Ibañez in 1562. It is somewhat difficult to admit
that in the very same year she wrote another, more extensive,
account to the same priest, which is generally called the "first"
Life. At the end of the Life such as we have it now, St. Teresa
wrote: "This book was finished in June, 1562," and Father Bañez
wrote underneath: "This date refers to the first account which
the Holy Mother Teresa of Jesus wrote of her life; it was not
then divided into chapters. Afterwards she made this copy and
inserted in it many things which had taken place subsequent to
this date, such as the foundation of the monastery of St. Joseph
of Avila." Elsewhere Father Bañez says: [14] "Of one of her
books, namely, the one in which she recorded her life and the
manner of prayer whereby God had led her, I can say that she
composed it to the end that her confessors might know her the
better and instruct her, and also that it might encourage and
animate those who learn from it the great mercy God had shown
her, a great sinner as she humbly acknowledged herself to be.
This book was already written when I made her acquaintance, her
previous confessors having given her permission to that effect.
Among these was a licentiate of the Dominican Order, the Reverend
Father Pedro Ibañez, reader of Divinity at Avila. She afterwards
completed and recast this book." These two passages of Bañez
have led the biographers of the Saint to think that she wrote her
Life twice, first in 1561 and the following year, completing it
in the house of Doña Luisa de la Cerda at Toledo, in the month of
June; and secondly between 1563 and 1565 at St. Joseph's Convent
of Avila. They have been at pains to point out a number of
places which could not have been in the "first" Life, but must
have been added in the second; [15] and they took it for granted
that the letter with which the book as we now have it concludes,
was addressed to Father Ibañez in 1562, when the Saint sent him
the "first" Life. It bears neither address nor date, but from
its contents I am bound to conclude that it was written in 1565,
that it refers to the "second" Life, and that whomsoever it was
addressed to, it cannot have been to Father Ibañez, who was
already dead at the time. [16] Saint Teresa asks the writer to
send a copy of the book to Father Juan de Avila. Now we know
from her letters that as late as 1568 this request had not been
complied with, and that St. Teresa had to write twice to Doña
Luisa for this purpose; [17] but if she had already given these
instructions in 1562, it is altogether incomprehensible that she
did not see to it earlier, especially when the "first" Life was
returned to her for the purpose of copying and completing it.
The second reason which prevents me from considering this letter
as connected with the "first" Life will be examined when I come
to speak of the different ends the Saint had in view when writing
her Life. It is more difficult to say to whom the letter was
really addressed. The Reforma suggests Father Garcia de Toledo,
Dominican, who bade the Saint write the history of the foundation
of St. Joseph's at Avila [18] and who was her confessor at that
convent. It moreover believes that he it is to whom Chapter
XXXIV. §§ 8-20 refers, and this opinion appears to me plausible.
As to the latter point, Yepes thinks the Dominican at Toledo was
Father Vicente Barron, the Bollandists offer no opinion, and
Mr. Lewis, in his first edition gives first the one and then the
other. If, as I think, Father Garcia was meant, the passage in
Chapter XVI. § 10, beginning "O, my son," would concern him also,
as well as several passages where Vuestra Merced--you, my
Father--is addressed. For although the book came finally into
the hands of Father Bañez, it was first delivered into those of
the addressee of the letter.
Whether the previous paper was a mere "Relation," or really a
first attempt at a "Life," [19] there can be no dispute about its
purpose: St. Teresa speaks of it in the following terms: "I had
recourse to my Dominican father (Ibañez); I told him all about my
visions, my way of prayer, the great graces our Lord had given
me, as clearly as I could, and begged him to consider the matter
well, and tell me if there was anything therein at variance with
the Holy Writings, and give me his opinion on the whole
matter." [20] The account thus rendered had the object of
enabling Father Ibañez to give her light upon the state of her
soul. But while she was drawing it up, a great change came over
her. During St. Teresa's sojourn at Toledo she became from a
pupil an experienced master in Mystical knowledge. "When I was
there a religious" (probably Father Garcia de Toledo) "with whom
I had conversed occasionally some years ago, happened to arrive.
When I was at Mass in a monastery of his Order, I felt a longing
to know the state of his soul." [21] Three times the Saint rose
from her seat, three times she sat down again, but at last she
went to see him in a confessional, not to ask for any light for
herself, but to give him what light she could, for she wished to
induce him to surrender himself more perfectly to God, and this
she accomplished by telling him how she had fared since their
last meeting. No one who reads this remarkable chapter can help
being struck by the change that has come over Teresa: the period
of her schooling is at an end, and she is now the great teacher
of Mystical theology. Her humility does not allow her to speak
with the same degree of openness upon her achievements as she did
when making known her failings, yet she cannot conceal the Gift
of Wisdom she had received and the use she made of it.
St. Teresa's development, if extraordinary considering the degree
of spirituality she reached, was nevertheless gradual and
regular. With her wonderful power of analysis, she has given us
not only a clear insight into her interior progress, but also a
sketch of the development of her understanding of supernatural
things. "It is now (i.e., about the end of 1563) some five or
six years, I believe, since our Lord raised me to this state of
prayer, in its fulness, and that more than once,--and I never
understood it, and never could explain it; and so I was resolved,
when I should come thus far in my story, to say very little or
nothing at all." [22] In the following chapter she adds: "You,
my father, will be delighted greatly to find an account of the
matter in writing, and to understand it; for it is one grace that
our Lord gives grace; and it is another grace to understand what
grace and what gift it is; and it is another and further grace to
have the power to describe and explain it to others. Though it
does not seem that more than the first of these--the giving of
grace--is necessary, it is a great advantage and a great grace to
understand it." [23] These words contain the clue to much that
otherwise would be obscure in the life of our Saint: great graces
were bestowed upon her, but at first she neither understood them
herself nor was she able to describe them. Hence the inability
of her confessors and spiritual advisers to guide her.
Her natural gifts, great though they were, did not help her much.
"Though you, my father, may think that I have a quick
understanding, it is not so; for I have found out in many ways
that my understanding can take in only, as they say, what is
given it to eat. Sometimes my confessor used to be amazed at my
ignorance: and he never explained to me--nor, indeed, did I
desire to understand--how God did this, nor how it could be.
Nor did I ever ask." [24] At first she was simply bewildered by
the favours shown her, afterwards she could not help knowing,
despite the fears of over anxious friends, that they did come
from God, and that so far from imperilling her soul made a
different woman of her, but even then she was not able to explain
to others what she experienced in herself. But shortly before
the foundation of St. Joseph's convent she received the last of
the three graces mentioned above, the Gift of Wisdom, and the
scene at Toledo is the first manifestation of it.
This explains the difference of the "Life" such as we know it
from the first version or the "Relations" preceding it.
Whatever this writing was, it still belonged to the period of her
spiritual education, whereas the volume before us is the
first-fruit of her spiritual Mastership. The new light that had
come to her induced her confessors [25] to demand a detailed work
embodying everything she had learned from her heavenly
Teacher. [26] The treatise on Mystical theology contained in
Chapters X. to XXI., the investigation of Divine locutions,
Visions and Revelations in the concluding portion of the work
could have had no place in any previous writing. While her
experiences before she obtained the Gift of Wisdom influenced but
three persons (one of them being her father), a great many
profited by her increased knowledge. [27] The earlier writings
were but confidential communications to her confessors, and if
they became known to larger circles this was due to indiscretion.
But her "Life" was written from the beginning with a view to
publication. Allusions to this object may be found in various
places [28] as well as in the letter appended to the book, [29]
but the decisive utterances must be sought for elsewhere, namely
in the "Way of Perfection." This work was written immediately
after the "Life," while the Saint was as yet at the convent of
St. Joseph's. It was re-written later on and is now only known
in its final shape, but the first version, the original of which
is preserved at the Escurial and has been reproduced
photographically, leaves no doubt as to the intentions of
St. Teresa in writing her "Life." "I have written a few days ago
a certain Relation of my Life. But since it might happen that my
confessor may not permit you (the Sisters of St. Joseph's) to
read it, I will put here some things concerning prayer which are
conformable to what I have said there, as well as some other
things which appear to me to be necessary." [30] Again: "As all
this is better explained in the book which I say I have written,
there is no need for me to speak of it with so much detail.
I have said there all I know. Those of you who have been led by
God to this degree of contemplation (and I say that some have
been led so far), should procure the book because it is important
for you, after I am dead." [31] At the end she writes: "Since
the Lord has taught you the way and has inspired me as to what I
should put in the book which I say has been written, how they
should behave who have arrived at this fountain of living water
and what the soul feels there, and how God satiates her and makes
her lose the thirst for things of this world and causes her to
grow in things pertaining to the service of God; that book,
therefore, will be of great help for those who have arrived at
this state, and will give them much light. Procure it.
For Father Domingo Bañez, presentado of the Order of St. Dominic
who, as I say, is my confessor, and to whom I shall give this,
has it: if he judges that you should see this, and gives it to
you, he will also give you the other." [32] While the first and
second of these quotations may be found, somewhat weakened, in
the final version of the "Way of Perfection," the last one is
entirely omitted. Nor need this surprise us, for Father Bañez
had his own ideas about the advisability of the publication of
the "Life." In his deposition, already referred to, he says: "It
was not convenient that this book should become public during her
lifetime, but rather that it should be kept at the Holy Office
(the Inquisition) until we knew the end of this person; it was
therefore quite against my will that some copies were taken while
it was in the hands of the bishop Don Alvaro Mendoza, who, being
a powerful prelate and having received it from the said Teresa of
Jesus, allowed it to be copied and showed it to his sister, doña
Maria de Mendoza; thus certain persons taking an interest in
spiritual matters and knowing already some portions of this
treatise (evidently the contents of the divulged Relations) made
further copies, one of which became the property of the Duchess
of Alba, doña Maria Enriquez, and is now, I think, in the hands
of her daughter-in-law, doña Maria de Toledo. All this was
against my wish, and I was much annoyed with the said Teresa of
Jesus, though I knew well it was not her fault but the fault of
those to whom she had confided the book, and I told her she ought
to burn the original because it would never do that the writings
of women should become public property; to which she answered she
was quite aware of it and would certainly burn it if I told her
to do so; but knowing her great humility and obedience I did not
dare to have it destroyed but handed it to the Holy Office for
safe-keeping, whence it has been withdrawn since her death and
published in print." [33] From this it will be seen that Bañez,
who had given a most favourable opinion when the "Life" was
denounced to the Inquisition (1574), resulting in the approbation
by Cardinal de Quiroga to the great joy of St. Teresa, [34]
returned it to the Holy Office for safety's sake. It was
withdrawn by the Ven. Mother Anne of Jesus when the Order had
decided upon the publication of the works of the Saint, but too
late to be utilised then. Father Luis de Leon, the editor, had
to content himself with the copy already alluded to.
St. Teresa wrote her "Life" slowly. It was begun in spring,
1563, [35] and completed in May or June, 1565. She complains
that she can only work at it by stealth on account of her duties
at the distaff; [36] but the book is written with so much order
and method, the manuscript is so free from mistakes, corrections
and erasures, that we may conclude that while spinning she worked
it out in her mind, so that the apparent delay proved most
advantageous. In this respect the "Life" is superior to the
first version of the "Way of Perfection." This latter work was
printed during her lifetime, though it appeared only after her
death. In 1586 the Definitory of the province of Discalced
Carmelites decided upon the publication of the complete works of
the Saint, but for obvious reasons deemed not only the members of
her own Order but also Dominicans and Jesuits ineligible for the
post of editor. Such of the manuscripts as could be found were
therefore confided to the Augustinian Father, Luis de Leon,
professor at Salamanca, who prepared the edition but did not live
to carry it through the press. The fact that he did not know the
autograph of the "Life" accounts for the numerous inaccuracies to
be found in nearly all editions, but the publication of the
original should ensure a great improvement for the future.
St. Teresa's canonisation took place before the stringent laws of
Urban VIII. came into force. Consequently, the writings of the
Saint were not then enquired into, the Holy See contenting itself
with the approbations granted by the Spanish Inquisition, and by
the congregation of the Rota in Rome. A certain number of
passages selected from various works having been denounced by
some Roman theologians as being contrary to the teaching of
St. Thomas Aquinas and other authorities, Diego Alvarez, a
Dominican, and John Rada, a Franciscan, were commissioned to
examine the matter and report on it. The twelve censures with
the answers of the two theologians and the final judgment of the
Rota seem to have remained unknown to the Bollandists. [37]
The "heavenly doctrine" of St. Teresa is alluded to not only in
the Bull of canonisation but even in the Collect of the Mass of
the Saint.
Concerning the English translations of the "Life" noticed by
Mr. Lewis it should be mentioned that the one ascribed to Abraham
Woodhead is only partly his work. Father Bede of St. Simon Stock
(Walter Joseph Travers), a Discalced Carmelite, labouring on the
English Mission from 1660 till 1692, was anxious to complete the
translation of St. Teresa's works into English. He had not
proceeded very far when he learnt that "others were engaged in
the same task. On enquiry he found that a new translation was
contemplated by two graduates of the University of Cambridge,
converts to the Faith, most learned and pious men, who were
leading a solitary life, spending their time and talents in the
composition of controversial and devotional works for the good of
their neighbour and the glory of God." One of these two men was
Woodhead, who, however, was an Oxford man, but the name of the
other, who must have been a Cambridge man, is not known.
They undertook the translation while Father Bede provided the
funds and bore the risks of what was then a dangerous work.
As there existed already two English translations of the "Life,"
the first volume to appear (1669) contained the Book of
Foundations, to which was prefixed the history of the foundation
of St. Joseph's from the "Life." When, therefore, the new
translation of the latter appeared, in 1671, this portion of the
book was omitted. [38] The translation was made direct from the
Spanish but "uniformly with the Italian edition."
Mr. Lewis, whose translation is the fifth, was born on the 12th
of November, 1814, and died on January the 23rd, 1895. The first
edition was printed in 1870, the second in 1888. It is
regrettable that the latter edition, of which the present is a
reprint, omitted the marginal notes which would have been so
helpful to the reader.
St. Teresa's life and character having always been a favourite
study of men and women of various schools of thought, it may be
useful to notice here a few recent English and foreign works on
the subject:--
The Life of Saint Teresa, by the author of "Devotions before and
after Holy Communion" (i.e., Miss Maria Trench), London, 1875.
The Life of Saint Teresa of the Order of Our Lady of Mount
Carmel. Edited with a preface by the Archbishop of Westminster
(Cardinal Manning), London, 1865. (By Miss Elizabeth Lockhart,
afterwards first abbess of the Franciscan convent, Notting Hill.)
Frequently reprinted.
The Life and Letters of St. Teresa, by Henry James Coleridge,
S.J. Quarterly Series. 3 vols (1881, 1887, 1888).
And, from another point of view:
The Life of St. Teresa, by Gabriela Cunninghame-Graham, 2 vols,
London, 1894.
Histoire de Sainte Thérèse d'après les Bollandistes. 2 vols,
Nantes, 1882. Frequently reprinted. The author is
Mlle. Adelaide Lecornu (born 5 July, 1852, died at the Carmelite
convent at Caen, 14 December, 1901. Her name in religion was
Adelaide-Jéronyme-Zoe-Marie du Sacré-Coeur).
An excellent character sketch of the Saint has appeared in the
"Les Saints" series (Paris, Lecoffre, 1901):
Sainte Thérèse, par Henri Joly.
Although the attempt at explaining the extraordinary phenomena in
the life of St. Teresa by animal Magnetism and similar obscure
theories had already been exploded by the Bollandists, it has
lately been revived by Professor Don Arturo Perales Gutierrez of
Granada, and Professor Don Fernando Segundo Brieva Salvatierra of
Madrid, who considered her a subject of hysterical derangements.
The discussion carried on for some time, not only in Spain but
also in France, Germany, and other countries, has been ably
summed up and disposed of by P. Grégoire de S. Joseph: La
prétendue Hystérie de Sainte Thérèse. Lyons.
The Bibliographie Thérèsienne, by Henry de Curzon (Paris, 1902)
is, unfortunately, too incomplete, not to say slovenly, to be of
much use.
Finally, it is necessary to say a word about the spelling of the
name Teresa. In Spanish and Italian it should be written without
an h as these languages do not admit the use of Th; in English,
likewise, where this combination of letters represents a special
sound, the name should be spelt with T only. But the present
fashion of thus writing it in Latin, German, French, and other
languages, which generally maintain the etymological spelling, is
intolerable: The name is Greek, and was placed on the calendar in
honour of a noble Spanish lady, St. Therasia, who became the wife
of a Saint, Paulinus of Nola, and a Saint herself. See Sainte
Thérèse, Lettres au R. P. Bouix, by the Abbé Postel, Paris, 1864.
The derivation of the name from the Hebrew Thersa can no longer
be defended (Father Jerome-Gratian, in Fuente, Obras, Vol. VI.,
p. 369 sqq.).
Benedict Zimmerman,
Prior O.C.D.
St. Luke's Priory,
Wincanton, Somerset.
16th July, 1904.
1. Chap. xxxiv., note 5.
2. Chap. xviii. § 11.
3. Fuente, Obras (1881), vol. vi. p. 133.
4. See the licence granted by Leo X. to the prioress and convent
of the Incarnation to build another house for the use of the said
convent, and to migrate thither (Vatican Archives, Dataria, Leo
X., anno i., vol. viii., fol. 82). Also a licence to sell or
exchange certain property belonging to it (ibid., anno iv.,
vol. vii., f. 274; and a charge to the Bishop of Avila concerning
a recourse of the said convent (ibid., anno vii., vol. iv.,
f. 24).
5. Chap. iv § 9.
6. Lettres de Ste. Thérèse, edit. P. Grégoire de S. Joseph,
vol. iii, p. 419, note 2.
7. Chap. xxxvi. § 10. The date of this part of the Life can be
easily ascertained from the two following chapters. In xxxvii. §
18, St. Teresa says that she is not yet fifty years old,
consequently the chapter must have been written before the end of
March, 1565; and in the next chapter, xxxviii. § 15, she speaks
of the death of Father Pedro Ibañez, which appears to have taken
place on 2nd February. This, at least, is the date under which
his name appears in the Année Dominicaine, and the Very
Rev. Prior Vincent McNabb tells me that there is every reason to
think that it is the date of his death.
8. When about A.D. 1452 certain communities of Beguines demanded
affiliation to the Carmelite Order, they were given the
Constitutions of the friars without any alterations.
These Constitutions were revised in 1462, but neither there nor
in the Acts of the General Chapters, so far as these are
preserved, is there the slightest reference to convents of nuns.
The colophon of the printed edition (Venice, 1499) shows that
they held good for friars and nuns: Expliciunt sacrae
constitutiones novae fratrum et sororum beatae Mariae de Monte
Carmelo. They contain the customary laws forbidding the friars
under pain of excommunication, to leave the precincts of their
convents without due licence, but do not enjoin strict enclosure,
which would have been incompatible with their manner of life and
their various duties. St. Teresa nowhere insinuates that the
Constitutions, such as they were, were not kept at the
Incarnation; her remarks in chap. vii. are aimed at the
Constitutions themselves, which were never made for nuns, and
therefore did not provide for the needs of their convents.
9. Reforma lib. i., cap. 47. Bollandists. no. 366.
10. Chap. vii. § 11.
11. Chap. v. § 2.
12. Constitutions of 1462. Part i., cap. x.
13. Chap. xxiii. § 17.
14. Deposition for the process of canonisation, written in 1591.
Fuente, Obras, vol. vi., p. 174.
15. See the notes to chapters vii. § 11; xvi. § 10; xx. § 6;
xxiv. § 4; xxvii. § 17. At the end of chapter xxxi. we are told
on the authority of Don Vicente that the "first" Life must have
ended at this point.
16. Bollandists, no. 1518.
17. Lettres, edit. Grégoire. I., pp. 13 (18 May, 1568); 21
(27 May); 35 (2 November).
18. Reforma, vol. i., lib. v., cap. xxxv., no. 9. Bollandists,
no. 1518.
19. If the latter, it must have been very much shorter than the
second edition, and can scarcely have contained more than the
first nine chapters (perhaps verbatim) and an account of the
visions, locutions, etc., contained in chapters xxiii.-xxxi.,
without comment.
20. Chap. xxxiii. § 7.
21. Chap. xxxiv. § 8.
22. Chap. xvi. § 2.
23. Chap. xvii. § 7.
24. Chap. xxviii. § 10.
25. In the Prologue to the Book of Foundations, Father Garcia de
Toledo, her confessor at St. Joseph's Convent, is said to be
responsible for the order to rewrite the "Life"; but in the
Preface to the "Life" St. Teresa speaks of her "confessors" in
the plural. Fathers Ibañez and Bañez may be included in the
number. See also ch. xxx. § 27.
26. Chap. xviii. § 11.
27. Chap. xiii. § 22. In chap. xvi. § 12, the Saint says: "I
wish we five who now love one another in our Lord, had made some
such arrangement, etc." Fuente is of opinion that these five
were, besides the Saint, Father Julian de Avila, Don Francisco de
Salcedo, St. John of the Cross, and Don Lorenzo de Cepeda,
St. Teresa's brother: but this is impossible at the date of this
part of the "Life." It is more probable that she meant Francisco
de Salcedo, Gaspar Daza, Julian de Avila, and Father Ibañez, the
latter being still alive in the beginning of 1564, when this
chapter was written. It is more difficult to say who the three
confessors were whom St. Teresa desired to see the "Life"
(ch. xl. § 32). If, as I think, the book was first handed to
Father Garcia de Toledo, the others may have been Francisco de
Salcedo, Baltasar Alvarez, and Gaspar de Salazar.
28. Chap. x. §§ 11 and 12.
29. This is the second reason why the letter could not have been
addressed to Father Ibañez in 1562.
30. Edited by Don Francisco Herrero Bayona, 1883 p. 4.
31. Ibid., chap. xli. (see Dalton's translation, chap. xxv.).
32. Ibid., chap. lxxiii. See the difference in Dalton's
translation, chap. xlii.
33. Fuente, Obras, vol. vi., p. 275.
34. See the following Preface, p. xxxvii. Lettres, ed. Grégoire,
ii., p. 65. P. Bertholde-Ignace, Vie de la Mère Anne de Jésus,
i., p. 472.
35. In the Prologue to the Book of Foundations, St. Teresa says
that Father Garcia de Toledo ordered her to rewrite the book the
same year in which St. Joseph's Convent was founded, i.e. 1562,
but seeing that she only spent a few hours there and that the
principal difficulties only arose after her return to the
Incarnation, it appears more probable that Father Garcia's
command was not made until the spring of the following year, when
she went to live at St. Joseph's.
36. Chap. x. § 11.
37. See Historia Generalis Fratrum Discalceatorum Ordinis
B. Virginis Mariae de Monte Carmelo Congregationis Eliae.
Romae, 1668, vol. i., pp. 340-358 ad ann. 1604.
38. See Carmel in England, by Rev. Father B. Zimmerman,
p. 240 sqq.
St. Teresa's Arguments of the Chapters.
J.H.S.
J.H.S. Chapter I. [1]--In which she tells how God [2] began to
dispose this soul from childhood for virtue, and how she was
helped by having virtuous parents.
Chapter II.--How she lost these virtues and how important it is
to deal from childhood with virtuous persons.
Chapter III.--In which she sets forth how good company was the
means of her resuming good intentions, and in what manner God
began to give her some light on the deception to which she
was subjected.
Chapter IV.--She explains how, with the assistance of God, she
compelled herself to take the (Religious) habit, and how His
Majesty began to send her many infirmities.
Chapter V.--She continues to speak of the great infirmities she
suffered and the patience God gave her to bear them, and how He
turned evil into good, as is seen from something that happened
at the place where she went for a cure.
Chapter VI.--Of the great debt she owes God for giving her
conformity of her will (with His) in her trials, and how she
turned towards the glorious St. Joseph as her helper and
advocate, and how much she profited thereby.
Chapter VII.--Of the way whereby she lost the graces God had
granted her, and the wretched life she began to lead; she also
speaks of the danger arising from the want of a strict enclosure
in convents of nuns.
Chapter VIII.--Of the great advantage she derived from not
entirely abandoning prayer so as not to lose her soul; and what
an excellent remedy this is in order to win back what one has
lost. She exhorts everybody to practise prayer, and shows what a
gain it is, even if one should have given it up for a time, to
make use of so great a good.
Chapter IX.--By what means God began to rouse her soul and give
light in the midst of darkness, and to strengthen her virtues so
that she should not offend Him.
Chapter X.--She begins to explain the graces God gave her in
prayer, and how much we can do for ourselves, and of the
importance of understanding God's mercies towards us.
She requests those to whom this is to be sent to keep the
remainder (of this book) secret, since they have commanded her to
go into so many details about the graces God has shown her.
Chapter XI.--In which she sets forth how it is that we do not
love God perfectly in a short time. She begins to expound by
means of a comparison four degrees of prayer, of the first of
which she treats here; this is most profitable for beginners and
for those who find no taste in prayer.
Chapter XII.--Continuation of the first state. She declares how
far, with the grace of God, we can proceed by ourselves, and
speaks of the danger of seeking supernatural and extraordinary
experiences before God lifts up the soul.
Chapter XIII.--She continues to treat of the first degree, and
gives advice with respect to certain temptations sometimes sent
by Satan. This is most profitable.
Chapter XIV.--She begins to explain the second degree of prayer
in which God already gives the soul special consolations, which
she shows here to be supernatural. This is most noteworthy.
Chapter XV.--Continuing the same subject, she gives certain
advice how one should behave in the prayer of quiet. She shows
that many souls advance so far, but that few go beyond.
The matters treated of in this chapter are very necessary
and profitable.
Chapter XVI.--On the third degree of prayer; she declares things
of an elevated nature; what the soul that has come so far can do,
and the effect of such great graces of God. This is calculated
to greatly animate the spirit to the praise of God, and contains
advice for those who have reached this point.
Chapter XVII.--Continues to declare matters concerning the third
degree of prayer and completes the explanation of its effects.
She also treats of the impediment caused by the imagination and
the memory.
Chapter XVIII.--She treats of the fourth degree of prayer, and
begins to explain [3] in what high dignity God holds a soul that
has attained this state; this should animate those who are given
to prayer, to make an effort to reach so high a state since it
can be obtained in this world, though not by merit but only
through the goodness of God. [4]
Chapter XIX.--She continues the same subject, and begins to
explain the effects on the soul of this degree of prayer.
She earnestly exhorts not to turn back nor to give up prayer even
if, after having received this favour, one should fall.
She shows the damage that would result (from the neglect of this
advice). This is most noteworthy and consoling for the weak and
for sinners.
Chapter XX.--She speaks of the difference between Union and
Trance, and explains what a Trance is; she also says something
about the good a soul derives from being, through God's goodness,
led so far. She speaks of the effects of Union. [5]
Chapter XXI.--She continues and concludes this last degree of
prayer, and says what a soul having reached it feels when obliged
to turn back and live in the world, and speaks of the light God
gives concerning the deceits (of the world). This is
good doctrine.
Chapter XXII.--In which she shows that the safest way for
contemplatives is not to lift up the spirit to high things but to
wait for God to lift it up. How the Sacred Humanity of Christ is
the medium for the most exalted contemplation. She mentions an
error under which she laboured for some time. This chapter is
most profitable.
Chapter XXIII.--She returns to the history of her life, how she
began to practise greater perfection. This is profitable for
those who have to direct souls practising prayer that they may
know how to deal with beginners, and she speaks of the profit she
derived from such knowledge.
Chapter XXIV.--She continues the same subject and tells how her
soul improved since she began to practise obedience, and how
little she was able to resist God's graces, and how His Majesty
continued to give them more and more abundantly.
Chapter XXV.--Of the manner in which Locutions of God are
perceived by the soul without being actually heard; and of some
deceits that might take place in this matter, and how one is to
know which is which. This is most profitable for those who are
in this degree of prayer, because it is very well explained, and
contains excellent doctrine.
Chapter XXVI.--She continues the same subject; explains and tells
things that have happened to her which caused her to lose fear
and convinced her that the spirit which spoke to her was a
good one.
Chapter XXVII.--Of another way in which God teaches a soul, and,
without speaking, makes His Will known in an admirable manner.
She goes on to explain a vision, though not an imaginary one, and
a great grace with which God favoured her. This chapter
is noteworthy.
Chapter XXVIII.--She treats of the great favours God showed her,
and how He appeared to her for the first time; she explains what
an imaginary vision is, and speaks of the powerful effects it
leaves and the signs whether it is from God. This chapter is
most profitable and noteworthy.
Chapter XXIX.--She continues and tells of some great mercies God
showed her, and what His Majesty said to her in order to assure
her (of the truth of these visions), and taught her how to
answer contradictors.
Chapter XXX.--She continues the history of her life, and how God
sent her a remedy for all her anxieties by calling the holy Friar
Fray Pedro de Alcantara of the Order of the glorious St. Francis
to the place where she lived. She mentions some great
temptations and interior trials through which she sometimes had
to pass.
Chapter XXXI.--She speaks of some exterior temptations and
apparitions of Satan, and how he ill-treated her. She mentions,
moreover, some very good things by way of advice to persons who
are walking on the way of perfection.
Chapter XXXII.--She narrates how it pleased God to put her in
spirit in that place of Hell she had deserved by her sins.
She tells a little [6] of what she saw there compared with what
there was besides. She begins to speak of the manner and way
of founding the convent of St. Joseph where she now lives.
Chapter XXXIII.--She continues the subject of the foundation of
the glorious St. Joseph. How she was commanded to have nothing
(further) to do with it, how she abandoned it, also the troubles
it brought her and how God consoled her in all this.
Chapter XXXIV.--She shows how at that time it happened that she
absented herself from this place and how her Superior commanded
her to go away at the request of a very noble lady who was in
great affliction. She begins to tell what happened to her there,
and the great grace God bestowed upon her in determining through
her instrumentality a person of distinction to serve Him truly;
and how that person found favour and help in her (Teresa).
This is noteworthy.
Chapter XXXV.--Continuation of the foundation of this house of
our glorious Father St. Joseph; in what manner our Lord ordained
that holy poverty should be observed there; the reason why she
left the lady with whom she had been staying, and some other
things that happened.
Chapter XXXVI.--She continues the same subject, and shows how the
foundation of this convent of the glorious St. Joseph was finally
accomplished, and the great contradictions and persecutions she
had to endure after the Religious had taken the habit, and the
great trials and temptations through which she passed, and how
God led her forth victorious to His own glory and praise.
Chapter XXXVII.--Of the effects which remained when God granted
her some favour; together with other very good doctrine.
She shows how one ought to strive after and prize every increase
in heavenly glory, and that for no trouble whatever one should
neglect a good that is to be perpetual.
Chapter XXXVIII.--She treats of some great mercies God showed
her, even making known to her heavenly secrets by means of
visions and revelations His Majesty vouchsafed to grant her; she
speaks of the effects they caused and the great improvement
resulting in her soul.
Chapter XXXIX.--She continues the same subject, mentioning great
graces granted her by God; how He promised to hear her requests
on behalf of persons for whom she should pray. Some remarkable
instances in which His Majesty thus favoured her.
Chapter XL.--Continuation of the same subject of great mercies
God has shown her. From some of these very good doctrine may be
gathered, and this, as she declares, was, besides compliance with
obedience, her principal motive (in writing this book), namely to
enumerate such of these mercies as would be instructive to souls.
This chapter brings the history of her Life, written by herself,
to an end. May it be for the glory of God. Amen.
1. St. Teresa wrote no title, either of the whole book or of the
Preface, but only the monogram J.H.S., which is repeated at the
beginning of the first chapter and at the end of the last,
previous to the letter with which the volume concludes.
2. "El Señor" is everywhere translated by "God" in distinction to
"Nuestro Señor," "Our Lord."
3. "In an excellent manner," scored through by the Saint herself.
4. "To be read with great care, as it is explained in a most
delicate way, and contains many noteworthy points," also scored
through by St. Teresa herself.
5. "This is most admirable," scored through by the Saint.
6. "Una cifra," a mere nothing.
Preface by David Lewis.
St. Teresa was born in Avila on Wednesday, March 28, 1515.
Her father was Don Alfonso Sanchez de Cepeda, and her mother Doña
Beatriz Davila y Ahumada. The name she received in her baptism
was common to both families, for her great-grandmother on the
father's side was Teresa Sanchez, and her grandmother on her
mother's side was Teresa de las Cuevas. While she remained in
the world, and even after she had become a nun in the monastery
of the Incarnation, which was under the mitigated rule, she was
known as Doña Teresa Sanchez Cepeda Davila y Ahumada; for in
those days children took the name either of the father or of the
mother, as it pleased them. The two families were noble, but
that of Ahumada was no longer in possession of its former wealth
and power. [1] Doña Beatriz was the second wife of Don Alfonso,
and was related in the fourth degree to the first wife, as
appears from the dispensation granted to make the marriage valid
on the 16th of October, 1509. Of this marriage Teresa was the
third child.
Doña Beatriz died young, and the eldest daughter, Maria de
Cepeda, took charge of her younger sisters--they were two--and
was as a second mother to them till her marriage, which took
place in 1531, when the Saint was in her sixteenth year. But as
she was too young to be left in charge of her father's house, and
as her education was not finished, she was sent to the
Augustinian monastery, the nuns of which received young girls,
and brought them up in the fear of God. [2] The Saint's own
account is that she was too giddy and careless to be trusted at
home, and that it was necessary to put her under the care of
those who would watch over her and correct her ways.
She remained a year and a half with the Augustinian nuns, and all
the while God was calling her to Himself. She was not willing to
listen to His voice; she would ask the nuns to pray for her that
she might have light to see her way; "but for all this," she
writes, "I wished not to be a nun." [3] By degrees her will
yielded, and she had some inclination to become a religious at
the end of the eighteen months of her stay, but that was all.
She became ill; her father removed her, and the struggle within
herself continued,--on the one hand, the voice of God calling
her; on the other, herself labouring to escape from her vocation.
At last, after a struggle which lasted three months, she made up
her mind, and against her inclination, to give up the world.
She asked her father's leave, and was refused. She besieged him
through her friends, but to no purpose. "The utmost I could get
from him," she says, "was that I might do as I pleased after his
death." [4] How long this contest with her father lasted is not
known, but it is probable that it lasted many months, for the
Saint was always most careful of the feelings of others, and
would certainly have endured much rather than displease a father
whom she loved so much, and who also loved her more than his
other children. [5]
But she had to forsake her father, and so she left her father's
house by stealth, taking with her one of her brothers, whom she
had persuaded to give himself to God in religion. The brother
and sister set out early in the morning, the former for the
monastery of the Dominicans, and the latter for the Carmelite
monastery of the Incarnation, in Avila. The nuns received her
into the house, but sent word to her father of his child's
escape. Don Alfonso, however, yielded at once, and consented to
the sacrifice which he was compelled to make.
In the monastery of the Incarnation the Saint was led on, without
her own knowledge, to states of prayer so high, that she became
alarmed about herself. In the purity and simplicity of her soul,
she feared that the supernatural visitations of God might after
all be nothing else but delusions of Satan. [6] She was so
humble, that she could not believe graces so great could be given
to a sinner like herself. The first person she consulted in her
trouble seems to have been a layman, related to her family, Don
Francisco de Salcedo. He was a married man, given to prayer, and
a diligent frequenter of the theological lectures in the
monastery of the Dominicans. Through him she obtained the help
of a holy priest, Gaspar Daza, to whom she made known the state
of her soul. The priest, hindered by his other labours, declined
to be her director, and the Saint admits that she could have made
no progress under his guidance. [7] She now placed herself in
the hands of Don Francis, who encouraged her in every way, and,
for the purpose of helping her onwards in the way of perfection,
told her of the difficulties he himself had met with, and how by
the grace of God he had overcome them.
But when the Saint told him of the great graces which God
bestowed upon her, Don Francis became alarmed; he could not
reconcile them with the life the Saint was living, according to
her own account. He never thought of doubting the Saint's
account, and did not suspect her of exaggerating her
imperfections in the depths of her humility: "he thought the evil
spirit might have something to do" with her, [8] and advised her
to consider carefully her way of prayer.
Don Francis now applied again to Gaspar Daza, and the two friends
consulted together; but, after much prayer on their part and on
that of the Saint, they came to the conclusion that she "was
deluded by an evil spirit," and recommended her to have recourse
to the fathers of the Society of Jesus, lately settled in Avila.
The Saint, now in great fear, but still hoping and trusting that
God would not suffer her to be deceived, made preparations for a
general confession; and committed to writing the whole story of
her life, and made known the state of her soul to F. Juan de
Padranos, one of the fathers of the Society. F. Juan understood
it all, and comforted her by telling her that her way of prayer
was sound and the work of God. Under his direction she made
great progress, and for the further satisfaction of her
confessor, and of Don Francis, who seems to have still retained
some of his doubts, she told everything to St. Francis de Borja,
who on one point changed the method of direction observed by
F. Juan. That father recommended her to resist the supernatural
visitations of the spirit as much as she could, but she was not
able, and the resistance pained her; [9] St. Francis told her she
had done enough, and that it was not right to prolong
that resistance. [10]
The account of her life which she wrote before she applied to the
Jesuits for direction has not been preserved; but it is possible
that it was made more for her own security than for the purpose
of being shown to her confessor.
The next account is Relation I., made for St. Peter of Alcantara,
and was probably seen by many; for that Saint had to defend her,
and maintain that the state of her soul was the work of God,
against those who thought that she was deluded by Satan. Her own
confessor was occasionally alarmed, and had to consult others,
and thus, by degrees, her state became known to many; and there
were some who, were so persuaded of her delusions, that they
wished her to be exorcised as one possessed of an evil
spirit, [11] and at a later time her friends were afraid that she
might be denounced to the Inquisitors. [12]
During the troubles that arose when it became known that the
Saint was about to found the monastery of St. Joseph, and therein
establish the original rule of her Order in its primitive
simplicity and austerity, she went for counsel to the Father Fra
Pedro Ibañez, [13] the Dominican, a most holy and learned priest.
That father not only encouraged her, and commended her work, but
also ordered her to give him in writing the story of her
spiritual life. The Saint readily obeyed, and began it in the
monastery of the Incarnation, and finished it in the house of
Doña Luisa de la Cerda, in Toledo, in the month of June, 1562.
On the 24th of August, the feast of St. Bartholomew, in the same
year, the Reform of the Carmelites began in the new monastery of
St. Joseph in Avila.
What the Saint wrote for Fra Ibañez has not been found. It is,
no doubt, substantially preserved in her Life, as we have it now,
and is supposed to have reached no further than the end of
ch. xxxi. What follows was added by direction of another
Dominican father, confessor of the Saint in the new monastery of
St. Joseph, Fra Garcia of Toledo, who, in 1562, bade her "write
the history of that foundation, and other matters."
But as the Saint carried a heavy burden laid on her by God, a
constant fear of delusion, she had recourse about the same time
to the Inquisitor Soto, who advised her to write a history of her
life, send it to Juan of Avila, the "Apostle of Andalucia," and
abide by his counsel. As the direction of Fra Garcia of Toledo
and the advice of the Inquisitor must have been given, according
to her account, about the same time, the Life, as we have it now,
must have occupied her nearly six years in the writing of it,
which may well be owing to her unceasing care in firmly
establishing the new monastery of St. Joseph. The book at last
was sent to Blessed Juan of Avila by her friend Doña Luisa de la
Cerda, and that great master of the spiritual life wrote the
following censure of it:
"The grace and peace of Jesus Christ be with you always.
"1. When I undertook to read the book sent me, it was not so much
because I thought myself able to judge of it, as because I
thought I might, by the grace of our Lord, learn something from
the teachings it contains: and praised be Christ; for, though I
have not been able to read it with the leisure it requires,
I have been comforted by it, and might have been edified by it,
if the fault had not been mine. And although, indeed, I may have
been comforted by it, without saying more, yet the respect due to
the subject and to the person who has sent it will not allow me,
I think, to let it go back without giving my opinion on it, at
least in general.
"2. The book is not fit to be in the hands of everybody, for it
is necessary to correct the language in some places, and explain
it in others; and there are some things in it useful for your
spiritual life and not so for others who might adopt them, for
the special ways by which God leads some souls are not meant for
others. These points, or the greater number of them, I have
marked for the purpose of arranging them when I shall be able to
do so, and I shall not fail to send them to you; for if you were
aware of my infirmities and necessary occupations, I believe they
would make you pity me rather than blame me for the omission.
"3. The doctrine of prayer is for the most part sound, and you
may rely on it, and observe it; and the raptures I find to
possess the tests of those which are true. What you say of God's
way of teaching the soul, without respect to the imagination and
without interior locutions, is safe, and I find nothing to object
to it. St. Augustine speaks well of it.
"4. Interior locutions in these days have been a delusion of
many, and exterior locutions are the least safe. It is easy
enough to see when they proceed from ourselves, but to
distinguish between those of a good and those of an evil spirit
is more difficult. There are many rules given for finding out
whether they come from our Lord or not, and one of them is, that
they should be sent us in a time of need, or for some good end,
as for the comforting a man under temptation or in doubt, or as a
warning of coming danger. As a good man will not speak
unadvisedly, neither will God; so, considering this, and that the
locutions are agreeable to the holy writings and the teaching of
the Church, my opinion is that the locutions mentioned in the
book came from God.
"5. Imaginary or bodily visions are those which are most
doubtful, and should in no wise be desired, and if they come
undesired still they should be shunned as much as possible, yet
not by treating them with contempt, unless it be certain that
they come from an evil spirit; indeed, I was filled with horror,
and greatly distressed, when I read of the gestures of contempt
that were made. [14] People ought to entreat our Lord not to
lead them by the way of visions, but to reserve for them in
Heaven the blessed vision of Himself and the saints, and to guide
them here along the beaten path as He guides His faithful
servants, and they must take other good measures for avoiding
these visions.
"6. But if the visions continue after all this is done, and if
the soul derives good from them, and if they do not lead to
vanity, but deeper humility, and if the locutions be at one with
the teaching the Church, and if they continue for any time, and
that with inward satisfaction--better felt than described--there
is no reason for avoiding them. But no one ought to rely on his
own judgment herein; he should make everything known to him who
can give him light. That is the universal remedy to be had
recourse to in such matters, together with hope in God, Who will
not let a soul that wishes to be safe lie under a delusion, if it
be humble enough to yield obedience to the opinion of others.
"7. Nor should any one cause alarm by condemning them forthwith,
because he sees that the person to whom they are granted is not
perfect, for it is nothing new that our Lord in His goodness
makes wicked people just, yea, even grievous sinners; by giving
them to taste most deeply of His sweetness. I have seen it so
myself. Who will set bounds to the goodness of our
Lord?--especially when these graces are given, not for merit, nor
because one is stronger; on the contrary, they are given to one
because he is weaker; and as they do not make one more holy, they
are not always given to the most holy.
"8. They are unreasonable who disbelieve these things merely
because they are most high things, and because it seems to them
incredible that infinite Majesty humbles Himself to these loving
relations with one of His creatures. It is written, God is love,
and if He is love, then infinite love and infinite goodness, and
we must not be surprised if such a love and such a goodness
breaks out into such excesses of love as disturb those who know
nothing of it. And though many know of it by faith, still, as to
that special experience of the loving, and more than loving,
converse of God with whom He will, if not had, how deep it
reaches can never be known; and so I have seen many persons
scandalized at hearing of what God in His love does for His
creatures. As they are themselves very far away from it, they
cannot think that God will do for others what He is not doing for
them. As this is an effect of love, and that a love which causes
wonder, reason requires we should look upon it as a sign of its
being from God, seeing that He is wonderful in His works, and
most especially in those of his compassion; but they take
occasion from this to be distrustful, which should have been a
ground of confidence, when other circumstances combine as
evidences of these visitations being good.
"9. It seems from the book, I think, that you have resisted, and
even longer than was right. I think, too, that these locutions
have done your soul good, and in particular that they have made
you see your own wretchedness and your faults more clearly, and
amend them. They have lasted long, and always with spiritual
profit. They move you to love God, and to despise yourself, and
to do penance. I see no reasons for condemning them, I incline
rather to regard them as good, provided you are careful not to
rely altogether on them, especially if they are unusual, or bid
you do something out of the way, or are not very plain. In all
these and the like cases you must withhold your belief in them,
and at once seek for direction.
"10. Also it should be considered that, even if they do come from
God, Satan may mix with them suggestions of his own; you should
therefore be always suspicious of them. Also, when they are
known to be from God, men must not rest much on them, seeing that
holiness does not lie in them, but in a humble love of God and
our neighbour; everything else, however good, must be feared, and
our efforts directed to the gaining of humility, goodness, and
the love of our Lord. It is seemly, also, not to worship what is
seen in these visions, but only Jesus Christ, either as in Heaven
or in the Sacrament, or, if it be a vision of the Saints, then to
lift up the heart to the Holy One in Heaven, and not to that
which is presented to the imagination: let it suffice that the
imagination may be made use of for the purpose of raising me up
to that which it makes me see.
"11. I say, too, that the things mentioned in this book befall
other persons even in this our day, and that there is great
certainty that they come from God, Whose arm is not shortened
that He cannot do now what He did in times past, and that in weak
vessels, for His own glory.
"12. Go on your road, but always suspecting robbers, and asking
for the right way; give thanks to our Lord, Who has given you His
love, the knowledge of yourself, and a love of penance and the
cross, making no account of these other things. However, do not
despise them either, for there are signs that most of them come
from our Lord, and those that do not come from Him will not hurt
you if you ask for direction.
"13. I cannot believe that I have written this in my own
strength, for I have none, but it is the effect of your prayers.
I beg of you, for the love of Jesus Christ our Lord, to burden
yourself with a prayer for me; He knows that I am asking this in
great need, and I think that is enough to make you grant my
request. I ask your permission to stop now, for I am bound to
write another letter. May Jesus be glorified in all and
by all! Amen.
"Your servant, for Christ's sake.
"Juan de Avila
"Montilla, 12th Sept., 1568."
Her confessors, having seen the book, "commanded her to make
copies of it," [15] one of which has been traced into the
possession of the Duke and Duchess of Alva.
The Princess of Eboli, in 1569, obtained a copy from the Saint
herself, after much importunity; but it was more out of vanity or
curiosity, it is to be feared, than from any real desire to learn
the story of the Saint's spiritual life, that the Princess
desired the boon. She and her husband promised to keep it from
the knowledge of others, but the promise given was not kept.
The Saint heard within a few days later that the book was in the
hands of the servants of the Princess, who was angry with the
Saint because she had refused to admit, at the request of the
Princess, an Augustinian nun into the Order of Carmel in the new
foundation of Pastrana. The contents of the book were bruited
abroad, and the visions and revelations of the Saint were said to
be of a like nature with those of Magdalene of the Cross, a
deluded and deluding nun. The gossip in the house of the
Princess was carried to Madrid, and the result was that the
Inquisition began to make a search for the book. [16] It is not
quite clear, however, that it was seized at this time.
The Princess became a widow in July, 1573, and insisted on
becoming a Carmelite nun in the house she and her husband, Ruy
Gomez, had founded in Pastrana. When the news of her resolve
reached the monastery, the mother-prioress, Isabel of St.
Dominic, exclaimed, "The Princess a nun! I look on the house as
ruined." The Princess came, and insisted on her right as
foundress; she had compelled a friar to give her the habit before
her husband was buried, and when she came to Pastrana she began
her religious life by the most complete disobedience and
disregard of common propriety. Don Vicente's description of her
is almost literally correct, though intended only for a general
summary of her most childish conduct:
"On the death of the Prince of Eboli, the Princess would become a
nun in her monastery of Pastrana. The first day she had a fit of
violent fervour; on the next she relaxed the rule; on the third
she broke it, and conversed with secular people within the
cloisters. She was also so humble that she required the nuns to
speak to her on their knees, and insisted upon their receiving
into the house as religious whomsoever she pleased.
Hereupon complaints were made to St. Teresa, who remonstrated
with the Princess, and showed her how much she was in the wrong,
whereupon she replied that the monastery was hers; but the Saint
proved to her that the nuns were not, and had them removed
to Segovia." [17]
The nuns were withdrawn from Pastrana in April, 1574, and then
the anger of the Princess prevailed; she sent the Life of the
Saint, which she had still in her possession, to the Inquisition,
and denounced it as a book containing visions, revelations, and
dangerous doctrines, which the Inquisitors should look into and
examine: The book was forthwith given to theologians for
examination, and two Dominican friars, of whom Bañes was one,
were delegated censors of it by the Inquisition. [18]
Fra Bañes did not know the Saint when he undertook her defence in
Avila against the authorities of the city, eager to destroy the
monastery of St. Joseph; [19] but from that time forth he was one
of her most faithful friends, strict and even severe, as became a
wise director who had a great Saint for his penitent.
He testifies in the process of her beatification that he was firm
and sharp with her; while she herself was the more desirous of
his counsel, the more he humbled her, and the less he appeared to
esteem her. [20] When he found that copies of her life were in
the hands of secular people,--he had probably also heard of the
misconduct of the Princess of Eboli,--he showed his displeasure
to the Saint, and told her he would burn the book, it being
unseemly that the writings of women should be made public.
The Saint left it in his hands, but Fra Bañes, struck with her
humility, had not the courage to burn it; he sent it to the Holy
Office in Madrid. [21] Thus the book was in a sense denounced
twice,--once by an enemy, the second time by a friend, to save
it. Both the Saint and her confessor, Fra Bañes, state that the
copy given up by the latter was sent to the Inquisition in
Madrid, and Fra Bañes says so twice in his deposition.
The Inquisitor Soto returned the copy to Fra Bañes, desiring him
to read it, and give his opinion thereon. Fra Bañes did so, and
wrote his "censure" of the book on the blank leaves at the end.
That censure still remains, and is one of the most important,
because given during the lifetime of the Saint, and while many
persons were crying out against her. Bañes wished it had been
published when the Saint's Life was given to the world by Fra
Luis de Leon; but notwithstanding its value, and its being
preserved in the book which is in the handwriting of the Saint,
no one before Don Vicente made it known. It was easy enough to
praise the writings of St. Teresa, and to admit her sanctity,
after her death. Fra Bañes had no external help in the applause
of the many, and he had to judge the book as a theologian, and
the Saint as one of his ordinary penitents. When he wrote, he
wrote like a man whose whole life was spent, as he tells us
himself, "in lecturing and disputing." [22]
That censure is as follows:
"1. This book, wherein Teresa of Jesus, Carmelite nun, and
foundress of the Barefooted Carmelites, gives a plain account of
the state of her soul, in order to be taught and directed by her
confessors, has been examined by me, and with much attention, and
I have not found anywhere in it anything which, in my opinion, is
erroneous in doctrine. On the contrary, there are many things in
it highly edifying and instructive for those who give themselves
to prayer. The great experience of this religious, her
discretion also and her humility, which made her always seek for
light and learning in her confessors, enabled her to speak with
an accuracy on the subject of prayer that the most learned men,
through their want of experience, have not always attained to.
One thing only there is about the book that may reasonably cause
any hesitation till it shall be very carefully examined;
it contains many visions and revelations, matters always to be
afraid of, especially in women, who are very ready to believe of
them that they come from God, and to look on them as proofs of
sanctity, though sanctity does not lie in them. On the contrary,
they should be regarded as dangerous trials for those who are
aiming at perfection, because Satan is wont to transform himself
into an angel of light, [23] and to deceive souls which are
curious and of scant humility, as we have seen in our day:
nevertheless, we must not therefore lay down a general rule that
all revelations and visions come from the devil. If it were so,
St. Paul could not have said that Satan transforms himself into
an angel of light, if the angel of light did not sometimes
enlighten us.
"2. Saints, both men and women, have had revelations, not only in
ancient, but also in modern times; such were St. Dominic,
St. Francis, St. Vincent Ferrer, St. Catherine of Siena,
St. Gertrude, and many others that might be named; and as the
Church of God is, and is to be, always holy to the end, not only
because her profession is holiness, but because there are in her
just persons and perfect in holiness, it is unreasonable to
despise visions and revelations, and condemn them in one sweep,
seeing they are ordinarily accompanied with much goodness and a
Christian life. On the contrary, we should follow the saying of
the Apostle in 1 Thess. v. 19-22: 'Spiritum nolite extinguere.
Prophetias nolite spernere. Omnia [autem] probate: quod bonum
est tenete. Ab omni specie mala abstinete vos.' He who will
read St. Thomas on that passage will see how carefully they are
to be examined who, in the Church of God, manifest any particular
gift that may be profitable or hurtful to our neighbour, and how
watchful the examiners ought to be lest the fire of the Spirit of
God should be quenched in the good, and others cowed in the
practices of the perfect Christian life.
"3. Judging by the revelations made to her, this woman, even
though she may be deceived in something, is at least not herself
a deceiver, because she tells all the good and the bad so simply,
and with so great a wish to be correct, that no doubt can be made
as to her good intention; and the greater the reason for trying
spirits of this kind, because there are persons in our day who
are deceivers with the appearance of piety, the more necessary it
is to defend those who, with the appearance, have also the
reality, of piety. For it is a strange thing to see how lax and
worldly people delight in seeing those discredited who have an
appearance of goodness. God complained of old, by the Prophet
Ezekiel, ch. xiii., of those false prophets who made the just to
mourn and who flattered sinners, saying: 'Maerere fecisti cor
justi mendaciter, quem Ego non contristavi: et comfortastis manus
impii.' In a certain sense this may be said of those who
frighten souls who are going on by the way of prayer and
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
Italian. Ch. xxxii. is broken off at the end of § 10; and
ch. xxxiii., therefore, is ch. xxxvii. That which is there
omitted has been thrown into the Book of the Foundations, which,
in the translation of Mr. Woodhead, begins with § 11 of
ch. xxxii. of the Life, as it also does in the Italian
translation. It is due, however, to Mr. Woodhead to say that he
has printed five of the Relations separately, not as letters, but
as what they really are, and with that designation.
The last translation is that of the Very Reverend John Dalton,
Canon of Northampton, which is now, though twice published,
almost as scarce as its predecessors. The title is:
"The Life of St. Teresa, written by herself, and translated
from the Spanish by the Rev. John Dalton. London, MDCCCLI."
Septuagesima, 1870.
1. Fr. Anton. a St. Joseph, in his note on letter 16, but letter
41, vol. iv. ed. Doblado.
2. Reforma de los Descalços. lib. i. ch. vii. § 3.
3. Ch. iii. § 2.
4. Ch. iii. § 9.
5. Ch. i. § 3.
6. Ch. xxiii. § 2.
7. Ch. xxiii. § 8.
8. Id. § 12.
9. Ch. xxiv. § 1.
10. Id. § 4.
11. Ch. xxix. § 4.
12. Ch. xxxiii. § 6.
13. The Saint held him in great reverence, and in one of her
letters--lett. 355, but lett. 100, vol. ii. ed. Doblado--calls
him a founder of her Order, because of the great services he had
rendered her, and told her nuns of Seville that they need not be
veiled in his presence, though they must be so in the presence of
everybody else, and even the friars of the Reform.
14. See Life, ch. xxix. § 6.
15. Rel. vii. § 9.
16. Reforma de los Descalços, lib. ii. c. xxviii. § 6.
17. Introduccion al libro de la Vida, vol. i. p. 3.
18. Jerome Gratian, Lucidario, c. iv.
19. Life, ch. xxxvi. § 15.
20. The Saint says of herself, Rel. vii. § 18, that "she took the
greatest pains not to submit the state of her soul to any one who
she thought would believe that these things came from God, for
she was instantly afraid that the devil would deceive them both."
21. Rel. vii. § 16.
22. "Como hombre criado toda mi vida en leer y disputar" (De la
Fuente, ii. p. 376).
23. 2 Cor. xi. 14: "Ipse enim Satanas transfigurat se in
angelum lucis."
24. The other theologian appointed by the Inquisition, with Fra
Bañes, to examine the "Life."
25. This took place in the year 1580, according to the Chronicler
of the Order (Reforma de los Descalços, lib. v. c. xxxv. § 4);
and the Bollandists (n. 1536) accept his statement. Fra Jerome
says he was Provincial of his Order at the time; and as he was
elected only on the 4th of March, 1581, according to the
Chronicler and the Bollandists, it is more likely that the
audience granted to them by the Cardinal took place in 1581.
26. Reforma de los Descalços, lib. v. c. xxxiv. § 4: "Relaciones
de su espiritu."
27. Rel. ii. § 18.
Annals of the Saint's Life.
By Don Vicente de la Fuente.
These are substantially the same with those drawn up by the
Bollandists, but they are fuller and more minute, and furnish a
more detailed history of the Saint.
1515. St. Teresa is born in Avila, March 28th. [1]
1522. She desires martyrdom, and leaves her father's house with
one of her brothers.
1527. [2] Death of her mother.
1529. Writes romances of chivalry, and is misled by a
thoughtless cousin.
1531. Her sister Maria's marriage, and her removal from home to
the Augustinian monastery, where she remains till the autumn of
next year.
1533. [3] Nov. 2, enters the monastery of the Incarnation.
1534. Nov. 3, makes her profession.
1535. Goes to Castellanos de la Cañada, to her sister's house,
where she remains till the spring of 1536, when she goes
to Bezadas.
1537. Returns to Avila on Palm Sunday. In July seriously ill,
and in a trance for four days, when in her father's house.
Paralysed for more than two years.
1539. Is cured of her paralysis by St. Joseph.
1541. Begins to grow lukewarm, and gives up mental prayer.
1542. Our Lord appears to her in the parlour of the monastery,
"stern and grave " [ch. vii. § 11, see note there].
1555. Ceases to converse with secular people, moved thereto by
the sight of a picture of our Lord on the cross [ch. ix. § 1].
The Jesuits come to Avila and the Saint confesses to F. Juan
de Padranos.
1556. Beginning of the supernatural visitations.
1557. St. Francis de Borja comes to Avila, and approves of the
spirit of the Saint.
1558. First rapture of the Saint [ch. xxiv. § 7]. The vision of
Hell [ch. xxxii. § 1]. Father Alvarez ordained priest.
1559. She takes F. Alvarez for her confessor. The transpiercing
of her heart [ch. xxix. § 17]. Vision of our Lord risen from the
dead [ch. xxvii. § 3, ch. xxviii. § 2].
1560. The vow of greater perfection. St. Peter of Alcantara
approves of her spirit, and St. Luis Beltran encourages her to
proceed with her plan of founding a new monastery.
1561. F. Gaspar de Salazar, S.J., comes to Avila; her sister
Doña Juana comes to Avila from Alba de Tormes to help the Saint
in the new foundation [ch. xxxiii. § 13]. Restores her nephew to
Life [ch. xxxv. § 14, note]. Fra Ibañez bids her write her Life.
Receives a sum of money from her brother in Peru, which enables
her to go on with the building of the new house.
1562. Goes to Toledo, to the house of Doña Luisa de la Cerda,
and finishes the account of her Life. Makes the acquaintance of
Fra Bañes, afterwards her principal director, and Fra Garcia of
Toledo, both Dominicans. Receives a visit from Maria of Jesus.
Has a revelation that her sister, Doña Maria, will die suddenly
[ch. xxxiv. § 24]. Returns to Avila and takes possession of the
new monastery, August 24. Troubles in Avila. The Saint ordered
back to the monastery of the Incarnation. Is commanded by Fra
Garcia of Toledo to write the history of the foundation of
St. Joseph.
1. In the same year St. Philip was born in Florence. St. Teresa
died in 1582, and St. Philip in 1595; but they were canonised on
the same day, with St. Isidore, St. Ignatius, and St. Francis
Xavier. The three latter were joined together in the three final
consistories held before the solemn proclamation of their
sanctity, and St. Teresa and St. Philip were joined together in
the same way in the final consistories held specially, as usual,
for them.
2. This must be an error. See ch. i. § 7, note 7.
3. There is a difficulty about this. The Bollandists maintain
that she went to the monastery of the Incarnation in the year
1533. On the other hand Ribera, her most accurate
biographer--with whom Fra Jerome agrees,--says that she left her
father's house in 1535, when she was more than twenty years of
age; Yepes, that she was not yet twenty; and the Second Relation
of the Rota, that she was in her twentieth year. The Bull of
Canonisation and the Office in the Breviary also say that she was
in her twentieth year, that is, A.D. 1534. The Chronicler of the
Order differs from all and assigns the year 1536 as the year in
which she entered the monastery.
The Life
of the
Holy Mother Teresa of Jesus.
Written by Herself.
Prologue.
As I have been commanded and left at liberty to describe at
length my way of prayer, and the workings of the grace of our
Lord within me, I could wish that I had been allowed at the same
time to speak distinctly and in detail of my grievous sins and
wicked life. But it has not been so willed; on the contrary, I
am laid herein under great restraint; and therefore, for the love
of our Lord, I beg of every one who shall read this story of my
life [1] to keep in mind how wicked it has been; and how, among
the Saints who were converted to God, I have never found one in
whom I can have any comfort. For I see that they, after our Lord
had called them, never fell into sin again; I not only became
worse, but, as it seems to me, deliberately withstood the graces
of His Majesty, because I saw that I was thereby bound to serve
Him more earnestly, knowing, at the same time, that of myself I
could not pay the least portion of my debt.
May He be blessed for ever Who waited for me so long! I implore
Him with my whole heart to send me His grace, so that in all
clearness and truth I may give this account of myself which my
confessors command me to give; and even our Lord Himself, I know
it, has also willed it should be given for some time past, but I
had not the courage to attempt it. And I pray it may be to His
praise and glory, and a help to my confessors; who, knowing me
better, may succour my weakness, so that I may render to our Lord
some portion of the service I owe Him. May all creatures praise
Him for ever! Amen.
1. The Saint, in a letter written November 19, 1581, to Don Pedro
de Castro, then canon of Avila, speaking of this book, calls it
the book "Of the compassions of God"--Y ansi intitule ese libro
De las Misericordias de Dios. That letter is the 358th in the
edition of Don Vicente de la Fuente, and the 8th of the fourth
volume of the Doblado edition of Madrid. "Vitam igitur suam
internam et supernaturalem magis pandit quam narrat actiones
suas mere humanas" (Bollandists, n. 2).
Chapter I.
Childhood and Early Impressions. The Blessing of Pious Parents.
Desire of Martyrdom. Death of the Saint's Mother.
1. I had a father and mother, who were devout and feared God.
Our Lord also helped me with His grace. All this would have been
enough to make me good, if I had not been so wicked. My father
was very much given to the reading of good books; and so he had
them in Spanish, that his children might read them. These books,
with my mother's carefulness to make us say our prayers, and to
bring us up devout to our Lady and to certain Saints, began to
make me think seriously when I was, I believe, six or seven years
old. It helped me, too, that I never saw my father and mother
respect anything but goodness. They were very good themselves.
My father was a man of great charity towards the poor, and
compassion for the sick, and also for servants; so much so, that
he never could be persuaded to keep slaves, for he pitied them so
much: and a slave belonging to one of his brothers being once in
his house, was treated by him with as much tenderness as his own
children. He used to say that he could not endure the pain of
seeing that she was not free. He was a man of great
truthfulness; nobody ever heard him swear or speak ill of any
one; his life was most pure.
2. My mother also was a woman of great goodness, and her life was
spent in great infirmities. She was singularly pure in all her
ways. Though possessing great beauty, yet was it never known
that she gave reason to suspect that she made any account
whatever of it; for, though she was only three-and-thirty years
of age when she died, her apparel was already that of a woman
advanced in years. She was very calm, and had great sense.
The sufferings she went through during her life were grievous,
her death most Christian. [1]
3. We were three sisters and nine brothers. [2] All, by the
mercy of God, resembled their parents in goodness except myself,
though I was the most cherished of my father. And, before I
began to offend God, I think he had some reason,--for I am filled
with sorrow whenever I think of the good desires with which our
Lord inspired me, and what a wretched use I made of them.
Besides, my brothers never in any way hindered me in the service
of God.
4. One of my brothers was nearly of my own age; [3] and he it was
whom I most loved, though I was very fond of them all, and they
of me. He and I used to read Lives of Saints together. When I
read of martyrdom undergone by the Saints for the love of God, it
struck me that the vision of God was very cheaply purchased; and
I had a great desire to die a martyr's death,--not out of any
love of Him of which I was conscious, but that I might most
quickly attain to the fruition of those great joys of which I
read that they were reserved in Heaven; and I used to discuss
with my brother how we could become martyrs. We settled to go
together to the country of the Moors, [4] begging our way for the
love of God, that we might be there beheaded; [5] and our Lord, I
believe, had given us courage enough, even at so tender an age,
if we could have found the means to proceed; but our greatest
difficulty seemed to be our father and mother.
5. It astonished us greatly to find it said in what we were
reading that pain and bliss were everlasting. We happened very
often to talk about this; and we had a pleasure in repeating
frequently, "For ever, ever, ever." Through the constant
uttering of these words, our Lord was pleased that I should
receive an abiding impression of the way of truth when I was yet
a child.
6. As soon as I saw it was impossible to go to any place where
people would put me to death for the sake of God, my brother and
I set about becoming hermits; and in an orchard belonging to the
house we contrived, as well as we could, to build hermitages, by
piling up small stones one on the other, which fell down
immediately; and so it came to pass that we found no means of
accomplishing our wish. Even now, I have a feeling of devotion
when I consider how God gave me in my early youth what I lost by
my own fault. I gave alms as I could--and I could but little.
I contrived to be alone, for the sake of saying my
prayers [6]--and they were many--especially the Rosary, to which
my mother had a great devotion, and had made us also in this like
herself. I used to delight exceedingly, when playing with other
children, in the building of monasteries, as if we were nuns; and
I think I wished to be a nun, though not so much as I did to be a
martyr or a hermit.
7. I remember that, when my mother died, [7] I was about twelve
years old--a little less. When I began to understand my loss, I
went in my affliction to an image of our Lady, [8] and with many
tears implored her to be my mother. I did this in my simplicity,
and I believe that it was of service to me; for I have by
experience found the royal Virgin help me whenever I recommended
myself to her; and at last she has brought me back to herself.
It distresses me now, when I think of, and reflect on, that which
kept me from being earnest in the good desires with which
I began.
8. O my Lord, since Thou art determined to save me--may it be the
pleasure of Thy Majesty to effect it!--and to bestow upon me so
many graces, why has it not been Thy pleasure also--not for my
advantage, but for Thy greater honour--that this habitation,
wherein Thou hast continually to dwell, should not have
contracted so much defilement? It distresses me even to say
this, O my Lord, because I know the fault is all my own, seeing
that Thou hast left nothing undone to make me, even from my
youth, wholly Thine. When I would complain of my parents, I
cannot do it; for I saw nothing in them but all good, and
carefulness for my welfare. Then, growing up, I began to
discover the natural gifts which our Lord had given me--they were
said to be many; and, when I should have given Him thanks for
them, I made use of every one of them, as I shall now explain, to
offend Him.
1. See ch. xxxvii. § 1; where the Saint says that she saw them in
a vision both in Heaven.
2. Alfonso Sanchez de Cepeda, father of the Saint, married first
Catalina del Peso y Henao, and had three children--one daughter,
Maria de Cepeda, and two sons. After the death of Catalina, he
married Beatriz Davila y Ahumada, by whom he had nine
children--seven boys and two girls. The third of these, and the
eldest of the daughters, was the Saint, Doña Teresa Sanchez
Cepeda Davila y Ahumada. In the Monastery of the Incarnation,
where she was a professed nun for twenty-eight years, she was
known as Doña Teresa; but in the year 1563, when she left her
monastery for the new foundation of St. Joseph, of the Reform of
the Carmelites, she took for the first time the name of Teresa of
Jesus (De la Fuente). The Saint was born March 28, 1515, and
baptized on the 4th of April, in the church of St. John; on which
day Mass was said for the first time in the Monastery of the
Incarnation, where the Saint made her profession. Her godfather
was Vela Nuñez, and her godmother Doña Maria del Aguila.
The Bollandists and Father Bouix say that she was baptized on the
very day of her birth. But the testimony of Doña Maria de Pinel,
a nun in the Monastery of the Incarnation, is clear: and Don
Vicente de La Fuente, quoting it, vol. i. p. 549, says that this
delay of baptism was nothing singular in those days, provided
there was no danger of death.
3. Rodrigo de Cepeda, four years older than the Saint, entered
the army, and, serving in South America, was drowned in the river
Plate, Rio de la Plata. St. Teresa always considered him a
martyr, because he died in defence of the Catholic faith (Ribera,
lib. i. ch. iii.). Before he sailed for the Indies, he made his
will, and left all his property to the Saint, his sister (Reforma
de los Descalços, vol. i. lib. i. ch. iii. § 4).
4. The Bollandists incline to believe that St. Teresa may not
have intended to quit Spain, because all the Moors were not at
that time driven out of the country. The Bull of the Saint's
canonization, and the Lections of the Breviary, say that she left
her father's house, ut in Africam trajiceret.
5. The two children set out on their strange journey--one of them
seven, the other eleven, years old--through the Adaja Gate; but
when they had crossed the bridge, they were met by one of their
uncles, who brought them back to their mother, who had already
sent through Avila in quest of them. Rodrigo, like Adam, excused
himself, and laid the blame on the woman (Ribera,
lib. i. ch. iii.). Francisco de Santa Maria, chronicler of the
Order, says that the uncle was Francisco Alvarez de Cepeda
(Reforma de los Descalços, lib. i. ch. v. § 4).
6. She was also marvellously touched by the story of the
Samaritan woman at the well, of whom there was a picture in her
room (Ribera, lib. i. ch. iv.). She speaks of this later on.
(See ch. xxx. § 24.)
7. The last will and testament of Doña Beatriz de Ahumada was
made November 24, 1528 and she may have died soon after.
If there be no mistake in the copy of that instrument, the Saint
must have been more than twelve years old at that time.
Don Vicente, in a note, says, with the Bollandists, that Doña
Beatriz died at the end of the year 1526, or in the beginning of
1527; but it is probable that, when he wrote that note, he had
not read the copy of the will, which he has printed in the first
volume of the Saint's writings, p. 550.
8. Our Lady of Charity, in the church of the hospital where
the poor and pilgrims were received in Avila (Bouix).