The Foundation of the Monastery of St. Joseph.
Persecution and Temptations. Great Interior Trial of the Saint,
and Her Deliverance.
1. Having now left that city, [1] I travelled in great joy,
resolved to suffer most willingly whatever our Lord might be
pleased to lay upon me. On the night of my arrival here, [2]
came also from Rome the commission and the Brief for the erection
of the monastery. [3] I was astonished myself, and so were those
who knew how our Lord hastened my coming, when they saw how
necessary it was, and in what a moment our Lord had brought me
back. [4] I found here the Bishop and the holy friar, [5] Peter
of Alcantara, and that nobleman, [6] the great servant of God, in
whose house the holy man was staying; for he was a man who was in
the habit of receiving the servants of God in his house.
These two prevailed on the Bishop to accept the monastery, which
was no small thing, because it was founded in poverty; but he was
so great a lover of those whom he saw determined to serve our
Lord, that he was immediately drawn to give them His protection.
It was the approbation of the holy old man, [7] and the great
trouble he took to make now this one, now that one, help us, that
did the whole work. If I had not come at the moment, as I have
just said, I do not see how it could have been done; for the holy
man was here but a short time,--I think not quite eight
days,--during which he was also ill; and almost immediately
afterwards our Lord took him to Himself. [8] It seems as if His
Majesty reserved him till this affair was ended, because now for
some time--I think for more than two years--he had been very ill.
2. Everything was done in the utmost secrecy; and if it had not
been so, I do not see how anything could have been done at all;
for the people of the city were against us, as it appeared
afterwards. Our Lord ordained that one of my brothers-in-law [9]
should be ill, and his wife away, and himself in such straits
that my superiors gave me leave to remain with him.
Nothing, therefore, was found out, though some persons had their
suspicions;--still, they did not believe. It was very wonderful,
for his illness lasted only no longer than was necessary for our
affair; and when it was necessary he should recover his health,
that I might be disengaged, and he leave the house empty, our
Lord restored him; and he was astonished at it himself. [10]
3. I had much trouble in persuading this person and that to allow
the foundation; I had to nurse the sick man, and obtain from the
workmen the hasty preparation of the house, so that it might have
the form of a monastery; but much remained still to be done.
My friend was not here, [11] for we thought it best she should be
away, in order the better to hide our purpose. I saw that
everything depended on haste, for many, reasons, one of which was
that I was afraid I might be ordered back to my monastery at any
moment. I was troubled by so many things, that I suspected my
cross had been sent me, though it seemed but a light one in
comparison with that which I understood our Lord meant me
to carry.
4. When everything was settled, our Lord was pleased that some of
us should take the habit on St. Bartholomew's Day. The most Holy
Sacrament began to dwell in the house at the same time. [12]
With full sanction and authority, then, our monastery of our most
glorious father St. Joseph was founded in the year 1562. [13]
I was there myself to give the habit, with two nuns [14] of the
house to which we belonged, who happened then to be absent from
it. As the house which thus became a monastery was that of my
brother-in-law--I said before [15] that he had bought it, for the
purpose of concealing our plan--I was there myself with the
permission of my superiors; and I did nothing without the advice
of learned men, in order that I might not break, in a single
point, my vow of obedience. As these persons considered what I
was doing to be most advantageous for the whole Order, on many
accounts, they told me--though I was acting secretly, and taking
care my superiors should know nothing--that I might go on.
If they had told me that there was the slightest imperfection in
the whole matter, I would have given up the founding of a
thousand monasteries,--how much more, then, this one! I am
certain of this; for though I longed to withdraw from everything
more and more, and to follow my rule and vocation in the greatest
perfection and seclusion, yet I wished to do so only
conditionally: for if I should have learnt that it would be for
the greater honour of our Lord to abandon it, I would have done
so, as I did before on one occasion, [16] in all peace
and contentment.
5. I felt as if I were in bliss, when I saw the most Holy
Sacrament reserved, with four poor orphans, [17]--for they were
received without a dowry,--and great servants of God, established
in the house. It was our aim from the beginning to receive only
those who, by their example, might be the foundation on which we
could build up what we had in view--great perfection and
prayer--and effect a work which I believed to be for the service
of our Lord, and to the honour of the habit of His glorious
Mother. This was my anxiety. It was also a great consolation to
me that I had done that which our Lord had so often commanded me
to do, and that there was one church more in this city dedicated
to my glorious father St. Joseph. Not that I thought I had done
anything myself, for I have never thought so, and do not think so
even now; I always looked upon it as the work of our Lord.
My part in it was so full of imperfections, that I look upon
myself rather as a person in fault than as one to whom any thanks
are due. But it was a great joy to me when I saw His Majesty
make use of me, who am so worthless, as His instrument in so
grand a work. I was therefore in great joy,--so much so, that I
was, as it were, beside myself, lost in prayer.
6. When all was done--it might have been about three or four
hours afterwards--Satan returned to the spiritual fight against
me, as I shall now relate. He suggested to me that perhaps I had
been wrong in what I had done; perhaps I had failed in my
obedience, in having brought it about without the commandment of
the Provincial. I did certainly think that the Provincial would
be displeased because I had placed the monastery under the
jurisdiction of the Bishop [18] without telling him of it
beforehand; though, as he would not acknowledge the monastery
himself, and as I had not changed mine, it seemed to me that
perhaps he would not care much about the matter. Satan also
suggested whether the nuns would be contented to live in so
strict a house, whether they could always find food, whether I
had not done a silly thing, and what had I to do with it, when I
was already in a monastery? All our Lord had said to me, all the
opinions I had heard, and all the prayers which had been almost
uninterrupted for more than two years, were completely blotted
out of my memory, just as if they had never been. The only thing
I remembered was my own opinion; and every virtue, with faith
itself, was then suspended within me, so that I was without
strength to practise any one of them, or to defend myself against
so many blows.
7. The devil also would have me ask myself how I could think of
shutting myself up in so strict a house, when I was subject to so
many infirmities; how could I bear so penitential a life, and
leave a house large and pleasant, where I had been always so
happy, and where I had so many friends?--perhaps I might not like
those of the new monastery; I had taken on myself a heavy
obligation, and might possibly end in despair. He also suggested
that perhaps it was he himself who had contrived it, in order to
rob me of my peace and rest, so that, being unable to pray, I
might be disquieted, and so lose my soul. Thoughts of this kind
he put before me; and they were so many, that I could think of
nothing else; and with them came such distress, obscurity, and
darkness of soul as I can never describe. When I found myself in
this state, I went and placed myself before the most Holy
Sacrament, though I could not pray to Him; so great was my
anguish, that I was like one in the agony of death. I could not
make the matter known to any one, because no confessor had as yet
been appointed.
8. O my God, how wretched is this life! No joy is lasting;
everything is liable to change. Only a moment ago, I do not
think I would have exchanged my joy with any man upon earth; and
the very grounds of that joy so tormented me now, that I knew not
what to do with myself. Oh, if we did but consider carefully the
events of our life, every one of us would learn from experience
how little we ought to make either of its pleasures or of its
pains! Certainly this was, I believe, one of the most
distressing moments I ever passed in all my life; my spirit
seemed to forecast the great sufferings in store for me, though
they never were so heavy as this was, if it had continued.
But our Lord would not let His poor servant suffer, for in all my
troubles He never failed to succour me; so it was now. He gave
me a little light, so that I might see it was the work of the
devil, and might understand the truth,--namely, that it was
nothing else but an attempt on his part to frighten me with his
lies. So I began to call to mind my great resolutions to serve
our Lord, and my desire to suffer for His sake; and I thought
that if I carried them out, I must not seek to be at rest; that
if I had my trials, they would be meritorious; and that if I had
troubles, and endured them in order to please God, it would serve
me for purgatory. What was I, then, afraid of? If I longed for
tribulations, I had them now; and my gain lay in the greatest
opposition. Why, then, did I fail in courage to serve One to
whom I owed so much?
9. After making these and other reflections, and doing great
violence to myself, I promised before the most Holy Sacrament to
do all in my power to obtain permission to enter this house, and,
if I could do it with a good conscience, to make a vow of
enclosure. When I had done this, the devil fled in a moment, and
left me calm and peaceful, and I have continued so ever since;
and the enclosure, penances, and other rules of this house are to
me, in their observance, so singularly sweet and light, the joy I
have is so exceedingly great, that I am now and then thinking
what on earth I could have chosen which should be more
delightful. I know not whether this may not be the cause of my
being in better health than I was ever before, or whether it be
that our Lord, because it is needful and reasonable that I should
do as all the others do, gives me this comfort of keeping the
whole rule, though with some difficulty. However, all who know
my infirmities, are astonished at my strength. Blessed be He who
giveth it all, and in whose strength I am strong!
10. Such a contest left me greatly fatigued, and laughing at
Satan; for I saw clearly it was he. As I have never known what
it is to be discontented because I am a nun--no, not for an
instant--during more than twenty-eight years of religion, I
believe that our Lord suffered me to be thus tempted, that I
might understand how great a mercy He had shown me herein, and
from what torment He had delivered me, and that if I saw any one
in like trouble I might not be alarmed at it, but have pity on
her, and be able to console her.
11. Then, when this was over, I wished to rest myself a little
after our dinner; for during the whole of that night I had
scarcely rested at all, and for some nights previously I had had
much trouble and anxiety, while every day was full of toil; for
the news of what we had done had reached my monastery, and was
spread through the city. There arose a great outcry, for the
reasons I mentioned before, [19] and there was some apparent
ground for it. The prioress [20] sent for me to come to her
immediately. When I received the order, I went at once, leaving
the nuns in great distress. I saw clearly enough that there were
troubles before me; but as the work was really done, I did not
care much for that. I prayed and implored our Lord to help me,
and my father St. Joseph to bring me back to his house.
I offered up to him all I was to suffer, rejoicing greatly that I
had the opportunity of suffering for his honour and of doing him
service. I went persuaded that I should be put in prison at once
but this would have been a great comfort, because I should have
nobody to speak to, and might have some rest and solitude, of
which I was in great need; for so much intercourse with people
had worn me out.
12. When I came and told the prioress what I had done, she was
softened a little. They all sent for the Provincial, and the
matter was reserved for him. When he came, I was summoned to
judgment, rejoicing greatly at seeing that I had something to
suffer for our Lord. I did not think I had offended against His
Majesty, or against my Order, in anything I had done; on the
contrary, I was striving with all my might to exalt my Order, for
which I would willingly have died,--for my whole desire was that
its rule might be observed in all perfection. I thought of
Christ receiving sentence, and I saw how this of mine would be
less than nothing. I confessed my fault, as if I had been very
much to blame; and so I seemed to every one who did not know all
the reasons. After the Provincial had rebuked me sharply--though
not with the severity which my fault deserved, nor according to
the representations made to him--I would not defend myself, for I
was determined to bear it all; on the contrary, I prayed him to
forgive and punish, and be no longer angry with me.
13. I saw well enough that they condemned me on some charges of
which I was innocent, for they said I had founded the monastery
that I might be thought much of, and to make myself a name, and
for other reasons of that kind. But on other points I understood
clearly that they were speaking the truth, as when they said that
I was more wicked than the other nuns. They asked, how could I,
who had not kept the rule in that house, think of keeping it in
another of stricter observance? They said I was giving scandal
in the city, and setting up novelties. All this neither troubled
nor distressed me in the least, though I did seem to feel it,
lest I should appear to make light of what they were saying.
14. At last the Provincial commanded me to explain my conduct
before the nuns, and I had to do it. As I was perfectly calm,
and our Lord helped me, I explained everything in such a way that
neither the Provincial nor those who were present found any
reason to condemn me. Afterwards I spoke more plainly to the
Provincial alone; he was very much satisfied, and promised, if
the new monastery prospered, and the city became quiet, to give
me leave to live in it. Now the outcry in the city was very
great, as I am going to tell. Two or three days after this, the
governor, certain members of the council of the city and of the
Chapter, came together, and resolved that the new monastery
should not be allowed to exist, that it was a visible wrong to
the state, that the most Holy Sacrament should be removed, and
that they would not suffer us to go on with our work.
15. They assembled all the Orders--that is, two learned men from
each--to give their opinion. Some were silent, others condemned;
in the end, they resolved that the monastery should be broken up.
Only one [21]--he was of the Order of St. Dominic, and objected,
not to the monastery itself, but to the foundation of it in
poverty--said that there was no reason why it should be thus
dissolved, that the matter ought to be well considered, that
there was time enough, that it was the affair of the bishop, with
other things of that kind. This was of great service to us, for
they were angry enough to proceed to its destruction at once, and
it was fortunate they did not. In short, the monastery must
exist; our Lord was pleased to have it, and all of them could do
nothing against His will. They gave their reasons, and showed
their zeal for good, and thus, without offending God, made me
suffer together with all those who were in favour of the
monastery; there were not many, but they suffered much
persecution. The inhabitants were so excited, that they talked
of nothing else; every one condemned me, and hurried to the
Provincial and to my monastery.
16. I was no more distressed by what they said of me than if they
had said nothing; but I was afraid the monastery would be
destroyed: that was painful; so also was it to see those persons
who helped me lose their credit and suffer so much annoyance.
But as to what was said of myself I was rather glad, and if I had
had any faith I should not have been troubled at all. But a
slight failing in one virtue is enough to put all the others to
sleep. I was therefore extremely distressed during the two days
on which those assemblies of which I have spoken were held.
In the extremity of my trouble, our Lord said to me: "Knowest
thou not that I am the Almighty? what art thou afraid of?"
He made me feel assured that the monastery would not be broken
up, and I was exceedingly comforted. The informations taken were
sent up to the king's council, and an order came back for a
report on the whole matter.
17. Here was the beginning of a grand lawsuit: the city sent
delegates to the court, and some must be sent also to defend the
monastery: but I had no money, nor did I know what to do.
Our Lord provided for us for the Father Provincial never ordered
me not to meddle in the matter. He is so great a lover of all
that is good, that, though he did not help us, he would not be
against our work. Neither did he authorise me to enter the house
till he saw how it would end. Those servants of God who were in
it were left alone, and did more by their prayers than I did with
all my negotiations, though the affair needed the utmost
attention. Now and then everything seemed to fail; particularly
one day, before the Provincial came, when the prioress ordered me
to meddle no more with it, and to give it up altogether.
I betook myself to God, and said, "O Lord, this house is not
mine; it was founded for Thee; and now that there is no one to
take up the cause, do Thou protect it." I now felt myself in
peace, and as free from anxiety as if the whole world were on my
side in the matter; and at once I looked upon it as safe. [22]
18. A very great servant of God, and a lover of all perfection, a
priest [23] who had helped me always, went to the court on this
business, and took great pains. That holy nobleman [24] of whom
I have often spoken laboured much on our behalf, and helped us in
every way. He had much trouble and persecution to endure, and I
always found a father in him, and do so still. All those who
helped us, our Lord filled with such fervour as made them
consider our affair as their own, as if their own life and
reputation were at stake; and yet it was nothing to them, except
in so far as it regarded the service of our Lord. His Majesty
visibly helped the priest I have spoken of before, [25] who was
also one of those who gave us great help when the Bishop sent him
as his representative to one of the great meetings. There he
stood alone against all; at last he pacified them by means of
certain propositions, which obtained us a little respite.
But that was not enough; for they were ready to spend their
lives, if they could but destroy the monastery. This servant of
God was he who gave the habit and reserved the most Holy
Sacrament, and he was the object of much persecution.
This attack lasted about six months: to relate in detail the
heavy trials we passed through would be too tedious.
19. I wondered at what Satan did against a few poor women, and
also how all people thought that merely twelve women, with a
prioress, could be so hurtful to the city,--for they were not to
be more,--I say this to those who opposed us,--and living such
austere lives; for if any harm or error came of it, it would all
fall upon them. Harm to the city there could not be in any way;
and yet the people thought there was so much in it, that they
opposed us with a good conscience. At last they resolved they
would tolerate us if we were endowed, and in consideration of
that would suffer us to remain. I was so distressed at the
trouble of all those who were on our side--more than at my
own--that I thought it would not be amiss, till the people were
pacified, to accept an endowment, but afterwards to resign it.
At other times, too, wicked and imperfect as I am, I thought that
perhaps our Lord wished it to be so, seeing that, without
accepting it, we could not succeed; and so I consented to
the compromise.
20. The night before the settlement was to be made, I was in
prayer,--the discussion of the terms of it had already
begun,--when our Lord said to me that I must do nothing of the
kind; for if we began with an endowment, they would never allow
us to resign it. He said some other things also. The same
night, the holy friar, Peter of Alcantara, appeared to me.
He was then dead. [26] But he had written to me before his
death--for he knew the great opposition and persecution we had to
bear--that he was glad the foundation was so much spoken against;
it was a sign that our Lord would be exceedingly honoured in the
monastery, seeing that Satan was so earnest against it; and that
I was by no means to consent to an endowment. He urged this upon
me twice or thrice in that letter, and said that if I persisted
in this everything would succeed according to my wish.
21. At this time I had already seen him twice since his death,
and the great glory he was in, and so I was not afraid,--on the
contrary, I was very glad; for he always appeared as a glorified
body in great happiness, and the vision made me very happy too.
I remember that he told me, the first time I saw him, among other
things, when speaking of the greatness of his joy, that the
penance he had done was a blessed thing for him, in that it had
obtained so great a reward. But, as I think I have spoken of
this before, [27] I will now say no more than that he showed
himself severe on this occasion: he merely said that I was on no
account to accept an endowment, and asked why it was I did not
take his advice. He then disappeared. I remained in
astonishment, and the next day told the nobleman--for I went to
him in all my trouble, as to one who did more than others for us
in the matter,--what had taken place, and charged him not to
consent to the endowment, but to let the lawsuit go on. He was
more firm on this point than I was, and was therefore greatly
pleased; he told me afterwards how much he disliked
the compromise.
22. After this, another personage--a great servant of God, and
with good intentions--came forward, who, now that the matter was
in good train, advised us to put it in the hands of learned men.
This brought on trouble enough; for some of those who helped me
agreed to do so; and this plot of Satan was one of the most
difficult of all to unravel. Our Lord was my helper throughout.
Writing thus briefly, it is impossible for me to explain what
took place during the two years that passed between the beginning
and the completion of the monastery: the last six months and the
first six months were the most painful.
23. When at last the city was somewhat calm, the licentiate
father, the Dominican friar [28] who helped us, exerted himself
most skilfully on our behalf. Though not here at the time, our
Lord brought him here at a most convenient moment for our
service, and it seems that His Majesty brought him for that
purpose only. He told me afterwards that he had no reasons for
coming, and that he heard of our affair as if by chance.
He remained here as long as we wanted him, and on going away he
prevailed, by some means, on the Father Provincial to permit me
to enter this house, and to take with me some of the
nuns [29]--such a permission seemed impossible in so short a time
for the performance of the Divine Office--and the training of
those who were in this house: the day of our coming was a most
joyful day for me. [30]
24. While praying in the church, before I went into the house,
and being as it were in a trance, I saw Christ; who, as it seemed
to me, received me with great affection, placed a crown on my
head, and thanked me for what I had done for His Mother.
On another occasion, when all of us remained in the choir in
prayer after Compline, I saw our Lady in exceeding glory, in a
white mantle, with which she seemed to cover us all.
I understood by that the high degree of glory to which our Lord
would raise the religious of this house.
25. When we had begun to sing the Office, the people began to
have a great devotion to the monastery; more nuns were received,
and our Lord began to stir up those who had been our greatest
persecutors to become great benefactors, and give alms to us.
In this way they came to approve of what they had condemned; and
so, by degrees, they withdrew from the lawsuit, and would say
that they now felt it to be a work of God, since His Majesty had
been pleased to carry it on in the face of so much opposition.
And now there is not one who thinks that it would have been right
not to have founded the monastery: so they make a point of
furnishing us with alms; for without any asking on our part,
without begging of any one, our Lord moves them to, succour us;
and so we always have what is necessary for us, and I trust in
our Lord it will always be so. [31] As the sisters are few in
number, if they do their duty as our Lord at present by His grace
enables them to do, I am confident that they will always have it,
and that they need not be a burden nor troublesome to anybody;
for our Lord will care for them, as He has hitherto done.
26. It is the greatest consolation to me to find myself among
those who are so detached. Their occupation is to learn how they
may advance in the service of God. Solitude is their delight;
and the thought of being visited by any one, even of their
nearest kindred, is a trial, unless it helps them to kindle more
and more their love of the Bridegroom. Accordingly, none come to
this house who do not aim at this; otherwise they neither give
nor receive any pleasure from their visits. Their conversation
is of God only; and so he whose conversation is different does
not understand them, and they do not understand him.
27. We keep the rule of our Lady of Carmel, not the rule of the
Mitigation, but as it was settled by Fr. Hugo, Cardinal of Santa
Sabina, and given in the year 1248, in the fifth year of the
pontificate of Innocent IV., Pope. All the trouble we had to go
through, as it seems to me, will have been endured to
good purpose.
28. And now, though the rule be somewhat severe,--for we never
eat flesh except in cases of necessity, fast eight months in the
year, and practise some other austerities besides, according to
the primitive rule, [32]--yet the sisters think it light on many
points, and so they have other observances, which we have thought
necessary for the more perfect keeping of it. And I trust in our
Lord that what we have begun will prosper more and more,
according to the promise of His Majesty.
29. The other house, which the holy woman of whom I spoke
before [33] laboured to establish, has been also blessed of our
Lord, and is founded in Alcala: it did not escape serious
opposition, nor fail to endure many trials. I know that all
duties of religion are observed in it, according to our primitive
rule. Our Lord grant that all may be to the praise and glory of
Himself and of the glorious Virgin Mary, whose habit we
wear. Amen.
30. I think you must be wearied, my father, by the tedious
history of this monastery; and yet it is most concise, if you
compare it with our labours, and the wonders which our Lord has
wrought here. There are many who can bear witness to this on
oath. I therefore beg of your reverence, for the love of God,
should you think fit to destroy the rest of this my writing, to
preserve that part of it which relates to this monastery, and
give it, when I am dead, to the sisters who may then be living in
it. It will encourage them greatly, who shall come here both to
serve God and to labour, that what has been thus begun may not
fall to decay, but ever grow and thrive, when they see how much
our Lord has done through one so mean and vile as I. As our Lord
has been so particularly gracious to us in the foundation of this
house it seems to me that she will do very wrong, and that she
will be heavily chastised of God, who shall be the first to relax
the perfect observance of the rule, which our Lord has here begun
and countenanced, so that it may be kept with so much sweetness:
it is most evident that the observance of it is easy, and that it
can be kept with ease, by the arrangement made for those who long
to be alone with their Bridegroom Christ, in order to live for
ever in Him.
31. This is to be the perpetual aim of those who are here, to be
alone with Him alone. They are not to be more in number than
thirteen: I know this number to be the best, for I have had many
opinions about it; and I have seen in my own experience, that to
preserve our spirit, living on alms, without asking of anyone, a
larger number would be inexpedient. May they always believe one
who with much labour, and by the prayers of many people,
accomplished that which must be for the best! That this is most
expedient for us will be seen from the joy and cheerfulness, and
the few troubles, we have all had in the years we have lived in
this house, as well as from the better health than usual of us
all. If any one thinks the rule hard, let her lay the fault on
her want of the true spirit, and not on the rule of the house,
seeing that delicate persons, and those not saints,--because they
have the true spirit,--can bear it all with so much sweetness.
Let others go to another monastery, where they may save their
souls in the way of their own spirit.
1. Toledo.
2. Avila. In the beginning of June, 1562.
3. See ch. xxxiv. § 2. The Brief was dated Feb. 7, 1562, the
third year of Pius IV. (De la Fuente).
4. The Brief was addressed to Doña Aldonza de Guzman, and to Doña
Guiomar de Ulloa, her daughter.
5. Don Alvaro de Mendoza (De la Fuente).
6. Don Francisco de Salcedo.
7. St. Peter of Alcantara. "Truly this is the house of
St. Joseph," were the Saint's words when he saw the rising
monastery; "for I see it is the little hospice of Bethlehem" (De
la Fuente).
8. In less than three months, perhaps; for St. Peter died in the
sixty-third year of his age, Oct. 18, 1562, and in less than
eight weeks after the foundation of the monastery of St. Joseph.
9. Don Juan de Ovalle.
10. When he saw that the Saint had made all her arrangements, he
knew the meaning of his illness, and said to her, "It is not
necessary I should be ill any longer" (Ribera, i. c. 8).
11. Doña Guiomar de Ulloa was now in her native place,
Ciudad Toro.
12. The Mass was said by Gaspar Daza. See infra, § 18; Reforma,
i. c. xlvi. § 3.
13. The bell which the Saint had provided for the convent weighed
less than three pounds, and remained in the monastery for a
hundred years, till it was sent, by order of the General, to the
monastery of Pastrana, where the general chapters were held.
There the friars assembled at the sound of the bell, which rang
for the first Mass of the Carmelite Reform (Reforma,
i. c. xlvi. § 1).
14. They were Doña Ines and Doña Ana de Tapia, cousins of the
Saint. There were present also Don Gonzalo de Aranda, Don
Francisco Salcedo, Julian of Avila, priest; Doña Juana de
Ahumada, the Saint's sister; with her husband, Juan de Ovalle.
The Saint herself retained her own habit, making no change,
because she had not the permission of her superiors (Reforma,
i. c. xlvi. § 2).
15. Ch. xxxiii. § 13.
16. Ch. xxxiii. § 3.
17. The first of these was Antonia de Henao, a penitent of
St. Peter of Alcantara, and who wished to enter a religious house
far away from Avila, her home. St. Peter kept her for
St. Teresa. She was called from this day forth Antonia of the
Holy Ghost. The second was Maria de la Paz, brought up by Doña
Guiomar de Ulloa. Her name was Maria of the Cross. The third
was Ursola de los Santos. She retained her family name as Ursola
of the Saints. It was Gaspar Daza who brought her to the Saint.
The fourth was Maria de Avila, sister of Julian the priest, and
she was called Mary of St. Joseph. It was at this house, too,
that the Saint herself exchanged her ordinary designation of Doña
Teresa de Ahumada for Teresa of Jesus (Reforma, i. c. xlvi. § 2).
18. See Foundations, ch. ii. § 1, and ch. xxxi, § 1.
19. Ch. xxxiii. §§ 1, 2.
20. Of the Incarnation.
21. F. Domingo Bañes, the great commentator on St. Thomas.
On the margin of the MS., Bañes has with his own hand written:
"This was at the end of August, 1562. I was present, and gave
this opinion. I am writing this in May" (the day of the month is
not legible) "1575, and the mother has now founded nine
monasteries en gran religion" (De la Fuente). At this time Bañes
did not know, and had never seen, the Saint; he undertook her
defence simply because he saw that her intentions were good, and
the means she made use of for founding the monastery lawful,
seeing that she had received the commandment to do so from the
Pope. Bañes testifies thus in the depositions made in Salamanca
in 1591 in the Saint's process. See vol. ii. p. 376 of Don
Vicente's edition.
22. See Ch. xxxix. § 25.
23. Gonzalo de Aranda (De la Fuente).
24. Don Francisco de Salcedo (ibid.).
25. Ch. xxiii. § 6; Gaspar Daza (ibid.).
26. He died Oct. 18, 1562.
27. Ch. xxvii. § 21.
28. "El Padre Presentado, Dominico. Presentado en algunas
Religiones es cierto titulo de grado que es respeto del Maestro
como Licenciado" (Cobarruvias, in voce Presente). The father was
Fra Pedro Ibañez. See ch. xxxviii. § 15.
29. From the monastery of the Incarnation. These were Ana of
St. John, Ana of All the Angels, Maria Isabel, and Isabel of
St. Paul. St. Teresa was a simple nun, living under obedience to
the prioress of St. Joseph, Ana of St. John, and intended so to
remain. But the nuns applied to the Bishop of Avila and to the
Provincial of the Order, who, listening to the complaints of the
sisters, compelled the Saint to be their prioress. See Reforma,
i. c. xlix. § 4.
30. Mid-Lent of 1563.
31. See Way of Perfection, ch. ii.
32. "Jejunium singulis diebus, exceptis Dominicis, observetis a
Festo Exaltationis Sanctæ Crucis usque ad diem Dominicæ
Resurrectionis, nisi infirmitas vel debilitas corporis, aut alia
justa causa, jejunium solvi suadeat; quia necessitas non habet
legem. Ab esu carnium abstineatis, nisi pro infirmitatis aut
debilitatis remedio sint sumantur." That is the tenth section of
the rule.
33. See ch. xxxv. § 1. Maria of Jesus had founded her house in
Alcala de Henares; but the austerities practised in it, and the
absence of the religious mitigations which long experience had
introduced, were too much for the fervent nuns there assembled.
Maria of Jesus begged Doña Leonor de Mascareñas to persuade
St. Teresa to come to Alcala. The Saint went to the monastery,
and was received there with joy, and even entreated to take the
house under her own government (Reforma, ii. c. x. §§ 3, 4).