Visions of the Sacred Humanity, and of the Glorified Bodies.
Imaginary Visions. Great Fruits Thereof When They Come from God.
1. I now resume our subject. I spent some days, not many, with
that vision [1] continually before me. It did me so much good,
that I never ceased to pray. Even when I did cease, I contrived
that it should be in such a way as that I should not displease
Him whom I saw so clearly present, an eye-witness of my acts.
And though I was occasionally afraid, because so much was said to
me about delusions, that fear lasted not long, because our Lord
reassured me.
2. It pleased our Lord, one day that I was in prayer, to show me
His Hands, and His Hands only. The beauty of them was so great,
that no language can describe it. This put me in great fear; for
everything that is strange, in the beginning of any new grace
from God, makes me very much afraid. A few days later, I saw His
divine Face, and I was utterly entranced. I could not understand
why our Lord showed Himself in this way, seeing that, afterwards,
He granted me the grace of seeing His whole Person. Later on, I
understood that His Majesty was dealing with me according to the
weakness of my nature. May He be blessed for ever! A glory so
great was more than one so base and wicked could bear; and our
merciful Lord, knowing this, ordered it in this way.
3. You will think, my father, that it required no great courage
to look upon Hands and Face so beautiful. But so beautiful are
glorified bodies, that the glory which surrounds them renders
those who see that which is so supernatural and beautiful beside
themselves. It was so with me: I was in such great fear,
trouble, and perplexity at the sight. Afterwards there ensued a
sense of safety and certainty, together with other results, so
that all fear passed immediately away. [2]
4. On one of the feasts of St. Paul, [3] when I was at Mass,
there stood before me the most Sacred Humanity, [4] as painters
represent Him after the resurrection, in great beauty and
majesty, as I particularly described it to you, my father, when
you had insisted on it. It was painful enough to have to write
about it, for I could not describe it without doing great
violence to myself. But I described it as well as I could, and
there is no reason why I should now recur to it. One thing,
however, I have to say: if in heaven itself there were nothing
else to delight our eyes but the great beauty of glorified
bodies, that would be an excessive bliss, particularly the vision
of the Humanity of Jesus Christ our Lord. If here below, where
His Majesty shows Himself to us according to the measure which
our wretchedness can bear, it is so great, what must it be there,
where the fruition of it is complete!
5. This vision, though imaginary, I never saw with my bodily
eyes, nor, indeed, any other, but only with the eyes of the soul.
Those who understand these things better than I do, say that the
intellectual vision is more perfect than this; and this, the
imaginary vision, much more perfect than those visions which are
seen by the bodily eyes. The latter kind of visions, they say,
is the lowest; and it is by these that the devil can most delude
us. [5] I did not know it then; for I wished, when this grace
had been granted me, that it had been so in such a way that I
could see it with my bodily eyes, in order that my confessor
might not say to me that I indulged in fancies.
6. After the vision was over, it happened that I too
imagined--the thought came at once--I had fancied these things;
so I was distressed, because I had spoken of them to my
confessor, thinking that I might have been deceiving him.
There was another lamentation: I went to my confessor, and told
him of my doubts. He would ask me whether I told him the truth so
far as I knew it; or, if not, had I intended to deceive him?
I would reply, that I told the truth; for, to the best of my
belief, I did not lie, nor did I mean anything of the kind;
neither would I tell a lie for the whole world. [6] This he knew
well enough; and, accordingly, he contrived to quiet me; and I
felt so much the going to him with these doubts, that I cannot
tell how Satan could have put it into my head that I invented
those things for the purpose of tormenting myself.
7. But our Lord made such haste to bestow this grace upon me, and
to declare the reality of it, that all doubts of the vision being
a fancy on my part were quickly taken away, and ever since I see
most clearly how silly I was. For if I were to spend many years
in devising how to picture to myself anything so beautiful, I
should never be able, nor even know how, to do it for it is
beyond the reach of any possible imagination here below: the
whiteness and brilliancy alone are inconceivable. It is not a
brilliancy which dazzles, but a delicate whiteness and a
brilliancy infused, furnishing the most excessive delight to the
eyes, never wearied thereby, nor by the visible brightness which
enables us to see a beauty so divine. It is a light so different
from any light here below, that the very brightness of the sun we
see, in comparison with the brightness and light before our eyes,
seems to be something so obscure, that no one would ever wish to
open his eyes again.
8. It is like most pellucid water running in a bed of crystal,
reflecting the rays of the sun, compared with most muddy water on
a cloudy day, flowing on the surface of the earth. Not that
there is anything like the sun present here, nor is the light
like that of the sun: this light seems to be natural; and, in
comparison with it, every other light is something artificial.
It is a light which knows no night; but rather, as it is always
light, nothing ever disturbs it. In short, it is such that no
man, however gifted he may be, can ever, in the whole course of
his life, arrive at any imagination of what it is. God puts it
before us so instantaneously, that we could not open our eyes in
time to see it, if it were necessary for us to open them at all.
But whether our eyes be open or shut, it makes no difference
whatever; for when our Lord wills, we must see it, whether we
will or not. No distraction can shut it out, no power can resist
it, nor can we attain to it by any diligence or efforts of our
own. I know this by experience well, as I shall show you.
9. That which I wish now to speak of is the manner in which our
Lord manifests Himself in these visions. I do not mean that I am
going to explain how it is that a light so strong can enter the
interior sense, or so distinct an image the understanding, so as
to seem to be really there; for this must be work for learned
men. Our Lord has not been pleased to let me understand how it
is. I am so ignorant myself, and so dull of understanding, that,
although people have very much wished to explain it to me, I have
never been able to understand how it can be.
10. This is the truth: 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 to 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; though, as I have said, [7] I had
converse for many years with men of great learning. But I did
ask them if this or that were a sin or not: as for everything
else, the thought that God did it all was enough for me. I saw
there was no reason to be afraid, but great reason to praise Him.
On the other hand, difficulties increase my devotion; and the
greater the difficulty the greater the increase.
11. I will therefore relate what my experience has shown me; but
how our Lord brought it about, you, my father, will explain
better than I can, and make clear all that is obscure, and beyond
my skill to explain. Now and then it seemed to me that what I
saw was an image; but most frequently it was not so. I thought
it was Christ Himself, judging by the brightness in which He was
pleased to show Himself. Sometimes the vision was so indistinct,
that I thought it was an image; but still not like a picture,
however well painted--and I have seen many good pictures.
It would be absurd to suppose that the one bears any resemblance
whatever to the other, for they differ as a living person differs
from his portrait, which, however well drawn, cannot be lifelike,
for it is plain that it is a dead thing. But let this pass,
though to the purpose, and literally true.
12. I do not say this by way of comparison, for comparisons are
never exact, but because it is the truth itself, as there is the
same difference here that there is between a living subject and
the portrait thereof, neither more nor less: for if what I saw
was an image, it was a living image,--not a dead man, but the
living Christ: and He makes me see that He is God and man,--not
as He was in the sepulchre, but as He was when He had gone forth
from it, risen from the dead. He comes at times in majesty so
great, that no one can have any doubt that it is our Lord
Himself, especially after Communion: we know that He is then
present, for faith says so. He shows Himself so clearly to be
the Lord of that little dwelling-place, that the soul seems to be
dissolved and lost in Christ. O my Jesus, who can describe the
majesty wherein Thou showest Thyself! How utterly Thou art the
Lord of the whole world, and of heaven, and of a thousand other
and innumerable worlds and heavens, the creation of which is
possible to Thee! The soul understands by that majesty wherein
Thou showest Thyself that it is nothing for Thee to be Lord of
all this.
13. Here it is plain, O my Jesus, how slight is the power of all
the devils in comparison with Thine, and how he who is pleasing
unto Thee is able to tread all hell under his feet. Here we see
why the devils trembled when Thou didst go down to Limbus, and
why they might have longed for a thousand hells still lower, that
they might escape from Thy terrible Majesty. I see that it is
Thy will the soul should feel the greatness of Thy Majesty, and
the power of Thy most Sacred Humanity, united with Thy Divinity.
Here, too, we see what the day of judgment will be, when we shall
behold the King in His Majesty, and in the rigour of His justice
against the wicked. Here we learn true humility, imprinted in
the soul by the sight of its own wretchedness, of which now it
cannot be ignorant. Here, also, is confusion of face, and true
repentance for sins; for though the soul sees that our Lord shows
how He loves it, yet it knows not where to go, and so is
utterly dissolved.
14. My meaning is, that so exceedingly great is the power of this
vision, when our Lord shows the soul much of His grandeur and
majesty, that it is impossible, in my opinion, for any soul to
endure it, if our Lord did not succour it in a most supernatural
way, by throwing it into a trance or ecstasy, whereby the vision
of the divine presence is lost in the fruition thereof. It is
true that afterwards the vision is forgotten; but there remains
so deep an impression of the majesty and beauty of God, that it
is impossible to forget it, except when our Lord is pleased that
the soul should suffer from aridity and desolation, of which I
shall speak hereafter; [8] for then it seems to forget God
Himself. The soul is itself no longer, it is always inebriated;
it seems as if a living love of God, of the highest kind, made a
new beginning within it; for though the former vision, which I
said represented God without any likeness of Him, [9] is of a
higher kind, yet because of our weakness, in order that the
remembrance of the vision may last, and that our thoughts may be
well occupied, it is a great matter that a presence so divine
should remain and abide in our imagination. These two kinds of
visions come almost always together, and they do so come; for we
behold the excellency and beauty and glory of the most Holy
Humanity with the eyes of the soul. And in the other way I have
spoken of,--that of intellectual vision,--we learn how He is God,
is mighty, can do all things, commands all things, governs all
things, and fills all things with His love.
15. This vision is to be esteemed very highly; nor is there, in
my opinion, any risk in it, because the fruits of it show that
the devil has no power here. I think he tried three or four
times to represent our Lord to me, in this way, by a false image
of Him. He takes the appearance of flesh, but he cannot
counterfeit the glory which it has when the vision is from God.
Satan makes his representations in order to undo the true vision
which the soul has had: but the soul resists instinctively; is
troubled, disgusted, and restless; it loses that devotion and joy
it previously had, and cannot pray at all. In the beginning, it
so happened to me three or four times. These satanic visions are
very different things; and even he who shall have attained to the
prayer of quiet only will, I believe, detect them by those
results of them which I described when I was speaking of
locutions. [10] They are most easily recognised; and if a soul
consents not to its own delusion, I do not think that Satan will
be able to deceive it, provided it walks in humility and
singleness of heart. He who shall have had the true vision,
coming from God, detects the false visions at once; for, though
they begin with a certain sweetness and joy, the soul rejects
them of itself; and the joy which Satan ministers must be, I
think, very different--it shows no traces of pure and holy love:
Satan very quickly betrays himself.
16. Thus, then, as I believe, Satan can do no harm to anyone who
has had experience of these things; for it is the most impossible
of all impossible things that all this may be the work of the
imagination. There is no ground whatever for the supposition;
for the very beauty and whiteness of one of our Lord's Hands [11]
are beyond our imagination altogether. How is it that we see
present before us, in a moment, what we do not remember, what we
have never thought of, and, moreover, what, in a long space of
time, the imagination could not compass, because, as I have just
said, [12] it far transcends anything we can comprehend in this
life? This, then, is not possible. Whether we have any power in
the matter or not will appear by what I am now going to say.
17. If the vision were the work of a man's own
understanding,--setting aside that such a vision would not
accomplish the great results of the true one, nor, indeed, any at
all,--it would be as the act of one who tries to go to sleep, and
yet continues awake, because sleep has not come. He longs for
it, because of some necessity or weakness in his head: and so he
lulls himself to sleep, and makes efforts to procure it, and now
and then thinks he has succeeded; but, if the sleep be not real,
it will not support him, nor supply strength to his head: on the
contrary, his head will very often be the worse for it. So will
it be here, in a measure; the soul will be dissipated, neither
sustained nor strengthened; on the contrary, it will be wearied
and disgusted. But, in the true vision, the riches which abide
in the soul cannot be described; even the body receives health
and comfort.
18. I urged this argument, among others, when they told me that
my visions came from the evil one, and that I imagined them
myself,--and it was very often,--and made use of certain
illustrations, as well as I could, and as our Lord suggested to
me. But all was to little purpose; for as there were most holy
persons in the place,--in comparison with whom I was a mass of
perdition,--whom God did not lead by this way, they were at once
filled with fear; they thought it all came through my sins.
And so my state was talked about, and came to the knowledge of
many; though I had spoken of it to no one, except my confessor,
or to those to whom he commanded [13] me to speak of it.
19. I said to them once, If they who thus speak of my state were
to tell me that a person with whom I had just conversed, and whom
I knew well, was not that person, but that I was deluding myself,
and that they knew it, I should certainly trust them rather than
my own eyes. But if that person left with me certain
jewels,--and if, possessing none previously, I held the jewels in
my hand as pledges of a great love,--and if I were now rich,
instead of poor as before,--I should not be able to believe this
that they said, though I might wish it. These jewels I could now
show them, for all who knew me saw clearly that my soul was
changed,--and so my confessor said; for the difference was very
great in every way--not a pretence, but such as all might most
clearly observe. As I was formerly so wicked, I said, I could
not believe that Satan, if he wished to deceive me and take me
down to hell, would have recourse to means so adverse to his
purpose as this, of rooting out my faults, implanting virtues and
spiritual strength; for I saw clearly that I had become at once
another person through the instrumentality of these visions.
20. My confessor, who was, as I said before, [14] one of the
fathers of the Society of Jesus, and a really holy man, answered
them in the same way,--so I learnt afterwards. He was a most
discreet man, and of great humility; but this great humility of
his brought me into serious trouble: for, though he was a man
much given to prayer, and learned, he never trusted his own
judgment, because our Lord was not leading him by this way.
He had, therefore, much to suffer on my account, in many ways.
I knew they used to say to him that he must be on his guard
against me, lest Satan should delude him through a belief in
anything I might say to him. They gave instances of others who
were deluded. [15] All this distressed me. I began to be afraid
I should find no one to hear my confession, [16] and that all
would avoid me. I did nothing but weep.
21. It was a providence of God that he was willing to stand by me
and hear my confession. But he was so great a servant of God,
that he would have exposed himself to anything for His sake.
So he told me that if I did not offend God, nor swerve from the
instructions he gave me, there was no fear I should be deserted
by him. He encouraged me always, and quieted me. He bade me
never to conceal anything from him; and I never did. [17]
He used to say that, so long as I did this, the devil, if it were
the devil, could not hurt me; on the contrary, out of that evil
which Satan wished to do me, our Lord would bring forth good.
He laboured with all his might to make me perfect. As I was very
much afraid myself, I obeyed him in everything, though
imperfectly. He had much to suffer on my account during three
years of trouble and more, because he heard my confession all
that time; for in the great persecutions that fell upon me, and
the many harsh judgments of me which our Lord permitted,--many of
which I did not deserve,--everything was carried to him, and he
was found fault with because of me,--he being all the while
utterly blameless.
22. If he had not been so holy a man, and if our Lord had not
been with him, it would have, been impossible for him to bear so
much; for he had to answer those who regarded me as one going to
destruction; and they would not believe what he said to them.
On the other hand, he had to quiet me, and relieve me of my
fears; when my fears increased, he had again to reassure me; for,
after every vision which was strange to me, our Lord permitted me
to remain in great fear. All this was the result of my being
then, and of having been, a sinner. He used to console me out of
his great compassion; and, if he had trusted to his own
convictions, I should not have had so much to suffer; for God
revealed the whole truth to him. I believe that he received this
light from the Blessed Sacrament.
23. Those servants of God who were not satisfied had many
conversations with me. [18] As I spoke to them carelessly, so
they misunderstood my meaning in many things. I had a great
regard for one of them; for my soul owed him more than I can
tell. He was a most holy man, and I felt it most acutely when I
saw that he did not understand me. He had a great desire for my
improvement, and hoped our Lord would enlighten me. So, then,
because I spoke, as I was saying, without careful consideration,
they looked upon me as deficient in humility; and when they
detected any of my faults--they might have detected many--they
condemned me at once. They used to put certain questions to me,
which I answered simply and carelessly. Then they concluded
forthwith that I wished to teach them, and that I considered
myself to be a learned woman. All this was carried to my
confessor,--for certainly they desired my amendment--and so he
would reprimand me. This lasted some time, and I was distressed
on many sides; but, with the graces which our Lord gave me, I
bore it all.
24. I relate this in order that people may see what a great trial
it is not to find any one who knows this way of the spirit by
experience. If our Lord had not dealt so favourably with me, I
know not what would have become of me. There were some things
that were enough to take away my reason; and now and then I was
reduced to such straits that I could do nothing but lift up my
eyes to our Lord. [19] The contradiction of good people, which a
wretched woman, weak, wicked, and timid as I am, must bear with,
seems to be nothing when thus described; but I, who in the course
of my life passed through very great trials, found this one of
the heaviest. [20]
25. May our Lord grant that I may have pleased His Majesty a
little herein; for I am sure that they pleased Him who condemned
and rebuked me, and that it was all for my great good.
1. Ch. xxvii. § 3.
2. Philipp. a SS. Trinitate, Theolog. Mystic. par. 2, tr. 3,
disc. iv., art. 8: "Quamvis in principio visiones a dæmone fictæ
aliquam habeant pacem ac dulcedinem, in fine tamen confusionum et
amaritudinem in anima relinquunt; cujus contrarium est in divinis
visionibus, quæ sæpe turbant in principio, sed semper in fine
pacem animæ relinquunt." St. John of the Cross, Spiritual
Canticle, st. 14, p. 84: "In the spiritual passage from the sleep
of natural ignorance to the wakefulness of the supernatural
understanding, which is the beginning of trance or ecstasy, the
spiritual vision then revealed makes the soul fear and tremble."
3. See ch. xxix. § 4.
4. "The holy Mother, Teresa of Jesus, had these imaginary visions
for many years, seeing our Lord continually present before her in
great beauty, risen from the dead, with His wounds and the crown
of thorns. She had a picture made of Him, which she gave to me,
and which I gave to Don Fernando de Toledo, Duke of Alva" (Jerome
Gratian, Union del Alma, cap. 5. Madrid, 1616).
5. Anton. a Sp. Sancto, Direct. Mystic. tr. iii. disp. 5, § I,
n. 315: "Visio corporea est infima, visio imaginaria est media,
visio intellectualis est suprema." N. 322: "Apparitio visibilis,
cum sit omnium infima, est magis exposita illusioni diaboli, nisi
forte huic visioni corporali visio intellectualis adjungatur, ut
in apparitione S. Gabrielis archangeli facta Beatæ Virgini."
6. See ch. xxx. § 18.
7. Ch. xxv. § 18.
8. Ch. xxx. §§ 9, 10. See St. John of the Cross, Obscure Night,
bk. ii. ch. 7.
9. Ch. xxvii. § 3.
10. Ch. xxv. § 8.
11. See § 2.
12. § 7, supra.
13. See ch. xxiii. § 14.
14. Ch. xxiv. § 5.
15. There were in Spain, and elsewhere, many women who were
hypocrites, or deluded. Among others was the prioress of Lisbon,
afterwards notorious, who deceived Luis of Granada (De
la Fuente).
16. Inner Fortress, vi. 1, § 4.
17. Ch. xxvi. § 5; Inner Fortress, vi. 9, § 7.
18. See ch. xxv. § 18.
19. 2 Paralip. xx. 12: "Sed cum ignoremus quid agere debeamus,
hoc solum habemus residui, ut oculos nostros dirigamus ad Te."
20. See ch. xxx. § 6.