The Life Of St. Teresa Of Jesus, Of The Order Of Our Lady Of Carmel
of Avila Teresa
57 chapters
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57 chapters
The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus, of the Order of Our Lady of Carmel.
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....
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Introduction to the Present Edition.
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 fa
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St. Teresa's Arguments of the Chapters.
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 expl
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Preface by David Lewis.
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
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Annals of the Saint's Life.
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. St. Teresa is born in Avila, March 28th. [ 1 ] She desires martyrdom, and leaves her father's house with one of her brothers. Death of her mother. Writes romances of chivalry, and is misled by a thoughtless cousin. Her sister Maria's marriage, and her removal from home to the Augustinian monastery, where she r
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Prologue.
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 ho
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Chapter I.
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 br
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Chapter II.
Chapter II.
Early Impressions. Dangerous Books and Companions. The Saint Is Placed in a Monastery. 1 . What I shall now speak of was, I believe, the beginning of great harm to me. I often think how wrong it is of parents not to be very careful that their children should always, and in every way, see only that which is good; for though my mother was, as I have just said, so good herself, nevertheless I, when I came to the use of reason, did not derive so much good from her as I ought to have done--almost non
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Chapter III.
Chapter III.
The Blessing of Being with Good People. How Certain Illusions Were Removed. 1 . I began gradually to like the good and holy conversation of this nun. How well she used to speak of God! for she was a person of great discretion and sanctity. I listened to her with delight. I think there never was a time when I was not glad to listen to her. She began by telling me how she came to be a nun through the mere reading of the words of the Gospel "Many are called, and few are chosen." [ 1 ] She would spe
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Chapter IV.
Chapter IV.
Our Lord Helps Her to Become a Nun. Her Many Infirmities. 1 . In those days, when I was thus resolved, I had persuaded one of my brothers, [ 1 ] by speaking to him of the vanity of the world, to become a friar; and we agreed together to set out one day very early in the morning for the monastery where that friend of mine lived for whom I had so great an affection: [ 2 ] though I would have gone to any other monastery, if I thought I should serve God better in it, or to any one my father liked, s
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Chapter V.
Chapter V.
Illness and Patience of the Saint. The Story of a Priest Whom She Rescued from a Life of Sin. 1 . I forgot to say how, in the year of my novitiate, I suffered much uneasiness about things in themselves of no importance; but I was found fault with very often when I was blameless. I bore it painfully and with imperfection; however, I went through it all, because of the joy I had in being a nun. When they saw me seeking to be alone, and even weeping over my sins at times, they thought I was discont
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Chapter VI.
Chapter VI.
The Great Debt She Owed to Our Lord for His Mercy to Her. She Takes St.  Joseph for Her Patron. 1 . After those four days, during which I was insensible, so great was my distress, that our Lord alone knoweth the intolerable sufferings I endured. My tongue was bitten to pieces; there was a choking in my throat because I had taken nothing, and because of my weakness, so that I could not swallow even a drop of water; all my bones seemed to be out of joint, and the disorder of my head was extreme. I
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Chapter VII.
Chapter VII.
Lukewarmness. The Loss of Grace. Inconvenience of Laxity in Religious Houses. 1 . So, then, going on from pastime to pastime, from vanity to vanity, from one occasion of sin to another, I began to expose myself exceedingly to the very greatest dangers: my soul was so distracted by many vanities, that I was ashamed to draw near unto God in an act of such special friendship as that of prayer. [ 1 ] As my sins multiplied, I began to lose the pleasure and comfort I had in virtuous things: and that l
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Chapter VIII.
Chapter 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. 1 . It is not without reason that I have dwelt so long on this portion of my life. I see clearly that it will give no one pleasure to see anything so base; and certainly I wish those who may read this to have me in abhorrence, as a soul so obstinate and so ungrateful to Him Who did so much for me. I could wish, too, I had permission
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Chapter IX.
Chapter IX.
The Means Whereby Our Lord Quickened Her Soul, Gave Her Light in Her Darkness, and Made Her Strong in Goodness. 1 . My soul was now grown weary; and the miserable habits it had contracted would not suffer it to rest, though it was desirous of doing so. It came to pass one day, when I went into the oratory, that I saw a picture which they had put by there, and which had been procured for a certain feast observed in the house. It was a representation of Christ most grievously wounded; and so devot
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Chapter X.
Chapter 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. 1 . I used to have at times, as I have said, [ 1 ] though it used to pass quickly away--certain commencements of that which I am going now to describe. When I formed those pictures within myself of throwing myself at the f
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Chapter XI.
Chapter 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. 1 . I speak now of those who begin to be the servants of love; that seems to me to be nothing else but to resolve to follow Him in the way of prayer, who has loved us so much. It is a dignity so great, that I have a strange joy in thinking of it; for servile fear vanishes at once, if we are, as we ought to b
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Chapter XII.
Chapter XII.
What We Can Ourselves Do. The Evil of Desiring to Attain to Supernatural States Before Our Lord Calls Us. 1 . My aim in the foregoing chapter--though I digressed to many other matters, because they seemed to me very necessary--was to explain how much we may attain to of ourselves; and how, in these beginnings of devotion, we are able in some degree to help ourselves: because thinking of, and pondering on, the sufferings of our Lord for our sakes moves us to compassion, and the sorrow and tears w
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Chapter XIII.
Chapter XIII.
Of Certain Temptations of Satan. Instructions Relating Thereto. 1 . I have thought it right to speak of certain temptations I have observed to which beginners are liable--some of them I have had myself--and to give some advice about certain things which to me seem necessary. In the beginning, then, we should strive to be cheerful and unconstrained; for there are people who think it is all over with devotion if they relax themselves ever so little. It is right to be afraid of self; so that, havin
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Chapter XIV.
Chapter XIV.
The Second State of Prayer. Its Supernatural Character. 1 . Having spoken of the toilsome efforts and of the strength required for watering the garden when we have to draw the water out of the well, let us now speak of the second manner of drawing the water, which the Lord of the vineyard has ordained; of the machine of wheel and buckets whereby the gardener may draw more water with less labour, and be able to take some rest without being continually at work. This, then, is what I am now going t
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Chapter XV.
Chapter XV.
Instructions for Those Who Have Attained to the Prayer of Quiet. Many Advance So Far, But Few Go Farther. 1 . Let us now go back to the subject. This quiet and recollection of the soul makes itself in great measure felt in the satisfaction and peace, attended with very great joy and repose of the faculties, and most sweet delight, wherein the soul is established. [ 1 ] It thinks, because it has not gone beyond it, that there is nothing further to wish for, but that its abode might be there, and
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Chapter XVI.
Chapter 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. 1 . Let us now speak of the third water wherewith this garden is watered,--water running from a river or from a brook,--whereby the garden is watered with very much less trouble, although there is some in directing the water. [ 1 ] In this state our Lord will help the gardener, and in such a way as to be, as it were, the Gardener Himself, doing all the work. It is a sleep o
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Chapter XVII.
Chapter XVII.
The Third State of Prayer. The Effects Thereof. The Hindrance Caused by the Imagination and the Memory. 1 . Enough has been said of this manner of prayer, and of what the soul has to do, or rather, to speak more correctly, of what God is doing within it; for it is He who now takes upon Himself the gardener's work, and who will have the soul take its ease; except that the will is consenting to the graces, the fruition of which it has, and that it must resign itself to all that the True Wisdom wou
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Chapter XVIII.
Chapter 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. 1 . May our Lord teach me words whereby I may in some measure describe the fourth water. [ 1 ] I have great need of His help--even more than I had while speaking of the last; for in that the soul still feels that it is not dead altogether. We may thus speak, seeing that to the world it is really dead. But, as I have said, [ 2 ] it retains the
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Chapter XIX.
Chapter 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. 1 . There remains in the soul, when the prayer of union is over, an exceedingly great tenderness; so much so, that it would undo itself--not from pain, but through tears of joy it finds itself bathed therein, without being aware of it, and it knows not how or when it wept them. But to behold the violence o
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Chapter XX.
Chapter XX.
The Difference Between Union and Rapture. What Rapture Is. The Blessing It Is to the Soul. The Effects of It. 1 . I wish I could explain, with the help of God, wherein union differs from rapture, or from transport, or from flight of the spirit, as they speak, or from a trance, which are all one. [ 1 ] I mean, that all these are only different names for that one and the same thing, which is also called ecstasy. [ 2 ] It is more excellent than union, the fruits of it are much greater, and its othe
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Chapter XXI.
Chapter XXI.
Conclusion of the Subject. Pain of the Awakening. Light Against Delusions. 1 . To bring this matter to an end, I say that it is not necessary for the soul to give its consent here; it is already given: the soul knows that it has given up its will into His hands, [ 1 ] and that it cannot deceive Him, because He knoweth all things. It is not here as it is in the world, where all life is full of deceit and double-dealing. When you think you have gained one man's good will, because of the outward sh
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Chapter XXII.
Chapter 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. 1 . There is one thing I should like to say--I think it important: and if you, my father, approve, it will serve for a lesson that possibly may be necessary; for in some books on prayer the writers say that the soul, though it cannot in its own strength attain to this state,-
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Chapter XXIII.
Chapter XXIII.
The Saint Resumes the History of Her Life. Aiming at Perfection. Means Whereby It May Be Gained. Instructions for Confessors. 1 . I shall now return to that point in my life where I broke off, [ 1 ] having made, I believe, a longer digression than I need have made, in order that what is still to come may be more clearly understood. Henceforth, it is another and a new book,--I mean, another and a new life. Hitherto, my life was my own; my life, since I began to explain these methods of prayer, is
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Chapter XXIV.
Chapter XXIV.
Progress Under Obedience. Her Inability to Resist the Graces of God. God Multiplies His Graces. 1 . After this my confession, my soul was so docile that, as it seems to me, there was nothing in the world I was not prepared to undertake. I began at once to make a change in many things, though my confessor never pressed me--on the contrary, he seemed to make light of it all. I was the more influenced by this, because he led me on by the way of the love of God; he left me free, and did not press me
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Chapter XXV.
Chapter XXV.
Divine Locutions. Discussions on That Subject. 1 . It will be as well, I think, to explain these locutions of God, and to describe what the soul feels when it receives them, in order that you, my father, may understand the matter; for ever since that time of which I am speaking, when our Lord granted me that grace, it has been an ordinary occurrence until now, as will appear by what I have yet to say. [ 1 ] 2 . The words are very distinctly formed; but by the bodily ear they are not heard. They
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Chapter XXVI.
Chapter XXVI.
How the Fears of the Saint Vanished. How She Was Assured That Her Prayer Was the Work of the Holy Spirit. 1 . I look upon the courage which our Lord has implanted in me against evil spirits as one of the greatest mercies which He has bestowed upon me; for a cowardly soul, afraid of anything but sin against God, is a very unseemly thing, when we have on our side the King omnipotent, our Lord most high, who can do all things, and subjects all things to Himself. There is nothing to be afraid of if
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Chapter XXVII.
Chapter XXVII.
The Saint Prays to Be Directed by a Different Way. Intellectual Visions. 1 . I now resume the story of my life. I was in great pain and distress; and many prayers, as I said, [ 1 ] were made on my behalf, that our Lord would lead me by another and a safer way; for this, they told me, was so suspicious. The truth is, that though I was praying to God for this, and wished I had a desire for another way, yet, when I saw the progress I was making, I was unable really to desire a change,--though I alw
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Chapter XXVIII.
Chapter XXVIII.
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 wa
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Chapter XXIX.
Chapter XXIX.
Of Visions. The Graces Our Lord Bestowed on the Saint. The Answers Our Lord Gave Her for Those Who Tried Her. 1 . I have wandered far from the subject; for I undertook to give reasons why the vision was no work of the imagination. For how can we, by any efforts of ours, picture to ourselves the Humanity of Christ, and imagine His great beauty? No little time is necessary, if our conception is in any way to resemble it. Certainly, the imagination may be able to picture it, and a person may for a
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Chapter XXX.
Chapter XXX.
St. Peter of Alcantara Comforts the Saint. Great Temptations and Interior Trials. 1 . When I saw that I was able to do little or nothing towards avoiding these great impetuosities, I began also to be afraid of them, because I could not understand how this pain and joy could subsist together. I knew it was possible enough for bodily pain and spiritual joy to dwell together; but the coexistence of a spiritual pain so excessive as this, and of joy so deep, troubled my understanding. Still, I tried
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Chapter XXXI.
Chapter XXXI.
Of Certain Outward Temptations and Appearances of Satan. Of the Sufferings Thereby Occasioned. Counsels for Those Who Go on Unto Perfection. 1 . Now that I have described certain temptations and troubles, interior and secret, of which Satan was the cause, I will speak of others which he wrought almost in public, and in which his presence could not be ignored. [ 1 ] 2 . I was once in an oratory, when Satan, in an abominable shape, appeared on my left hand. I looked at his mouth in particular, bec
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Chapter XXXII.
Chapter 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. 1 . Some considerable time after our Lord had bestowed upon me the graces I have been describing, and others also of a higher nature, I was one day in prayer when I found myself in a moment, without knowing how, plunged apparently into hell. I understood that it was our Lord's will I should see the place which the devils kept in readiness for me, and w
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Chapter XXXIII.
Chapter XXXIII.
The Foundation of the Monastery Hindered. Our Lord Consoles the Saint. 1 . When the matter was in this state--so near its conclusion, that on the very next day the papers were to be signed--then it was that the Father Provincial changed his mind. I believe that the change was divinely ordered--so it appeared afterwards; for while so many prayers were made, our Lord was perfecting His work and arranging its execution in another way. When the Provincial refused us, my confessor bade me forthwith t
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Chapter XXXIV.
Chapter XXXIV.
The Saint Leaves Her Monastery of the Incarnation for a Time, at the Command of Her Superior. Consoles an Afflicted Widow. 1 . Now, though I was very careful that no one should know what we were doing, all this work could not be carried on so secretly as not to come to the knowledge of divers persons; some believed, in it, others did not, I was in great fear lest the Provincial should be spoken to about it when he came, and find himself compelled to order me to give it up; and if he did so, it w
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Chapter XXXV.
Chapter XXXV.
The Foundation of the House of St.  Joseph. The Observation of Holy Poverty Therein. How the Saint Left Toledo. 1 . When I was staying with this lady, [ 1 ] already spoken of, in whose house I remained more than six months, our Lord ordained that a holy woman [ 2 ] of our Order should hear of me, who was more than seventy leagues away from the place. She happened to travel this way, and went some leagues out of her road that she might see me. Our Lord had moved her in the same year, and in the s
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Chapter XXXVI.
Chapter XXXVI.
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
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Chapter XXXVII.
Chapter XXXVII.
The Effects of the Divine Graces in the Soul. The Inestimable Greatness of One Degree of Glory. 1 . It is painful to me to recount more of the graces which our Lord gave me than these already spoken of; and they are so many, that nobody can believe they were ever given to one so wicked: but in obedience to our Lord, who has commanded me to do it, [ 1 ] and you, my fathers, I will speak of some of them to His glory. May it please His Majesty it may be to the profit of some soul! For if our Lord h
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Chapter XXXVIII.
Chapter XXXVIII.
Certain Heavenly Secrets, Visions, and Revelations. The Effects of Them in Her Soul. 1 . One night I was so unwell that I thought I might be excused making my prayer; so I took my rosary, that I might employ myself in vocal prayer, trying not to be recollected in my understanding, though outwardly I was recollected, being in my oratory. These little precautions are of no use when our Lord will have it otherwise. I remained there but a few moments thus, when I was rapt in spirit with such violenc
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Chapter XXXIX.
Chapter XXXIX.
Other Graces Bestowed on the Saint. The Promises of Our Lord to Her. Divine Locutions and Visions. 1 . I was once importuning our Lord exceedingly to restore the sight of a person who had claims upon me, and who was almost wholly blind. I was very sorry for him, and afraid our Lord would not hear me because of my sins. He appeared to me as at other times, and began to show the wound in His left hand; with the other He drew out the great nail that was in it, and it seemed to me that, in drawing t
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Chapter XL.
Chapter XL.
Visions, Revelations, and Locutions. 1 . One day, in prayer, the sweetness of which was so great that, knowing how unworthy I was of so great a blessing, I began to think how much I had deserved to be in that place which I had seen prepared for me in hell,--for, as I said before, [ 1 ] I never forget the way I saw myself there,--as I was thinking of this, my soul began to be more and more on fire, and I was carried away in spirit in a way I cannot describe. It seemed to me as if I had been absor
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Relation 1.
Relation 1.
Sent to St . Peter of Alcantara in 1560 from the Monastery of the Incarnation, Avila. [ 1 ] 1 . The method of prayer I observe at present is this: when I am in prayer, it is very rarely that I can use the understanding, because the soul becomes at once recollected, remains in repose, or falls into a trance, so that I cannot in any way have the use of the faculties and the senses,--so much so, that the hearing alone is left; but then it does not help me to understand anything. 2 . It often happen
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Relation II.
Relation II.
To One of Her Confessors, from the House of Doña Luisa de la Cerda, in 1562. [ 1 ] Jesus. I think it is more than a year since this was written; God has all this time protected me with His hand, so that I have not become worse; on the contrary, I see a great change for the better in all I have to say: may He be praised for it all! 1 . The visions and revelations have not ceased, but they are of a much higher kind. Our Lord has taught me a way of prayer, wherein I find myself far more advanced, m
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Relation III.
Relation III.
Of Various Graces Granted to the Saint from the Year 1568 to 1571 Inclusive. 1 . When I was in the monastery of Toledo, and some people were advising me not to allow any but noble persons to be buried there, [ 1 ] our Lord said to me: "Thou wilt be very inconsistent, My daughter, if thou regardest the laws of the world. Look at Me, poor and despised of men: are the great people of the world likely to be great in My eyes? or is it descent or virtue that is to make you esteemed?" 2 . After Communi
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Relation IV.
Relation IV.
Of the Graces the Saint Received in Salamanca at the End of Lent, 1571. 1 . I found myself the whole of yesterday in great desolation, and, except at Communion, did not feel that it was the day of the Resurrection. Last night, being with the community, I heard one [ 1 ] of them singing how hard it is to be living away from God. As I was then suffering, the effect of that singing on me was such that a numbness began in my hands, and no efforts of mine could hinder it; but as I go out of myself in
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Relation V.
Relation V.
Observations on Certain Points of Spirituality. 1 . "What is it that distresses thee, little sinner? Am I not thy God? Dost thou not see how ill I am treated here? If thou lovest Me, why art thou not sorry for Me? Daughter, light is very different from darkness. I am faithful; no one will be lost without knowing it. He must be deceiving himself who relies on spiritual sweetnesses; the true safety lies in the witness of a good conscience. [ 1 ] But let no one think that of himself he can abide in
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Relation VI.
Relation VI.
The Vow of Obedience to Father Gratian Which the Saint Made in 1575. 1 . In the year 1575, in the month of April, when I was founding the monastery of Veas, Fra Jerome of the Mother of God Gratian happened to come thither. [ 1 ] I began to go to confession to him from time to time, though not looking upon him as filling the place of the other confessors I had, so as to be wholly directed by him. One day, when I was taking food, but without any interior recollection whatever, my soul began to be
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Relation VII.
Relation 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. 1 . This nun took the habit forty years ago, and from the first began to reflect on the mysteries of the Passion of Christ our Lord, and on her own sins, for some time every day, without thinking at all of anything supernatural, but only of created things, or of such subjects as suggested to her how soon the end of all things must come, discerning in c
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Relation VIII.
Relation VIII.
Addressed to F. Rodrigo Alvarez. 1 . These interior things of the spirit are so difficult to describe, and, still more, in such a way as to be understood,--the more so as they pass quickly away,--that, if obedience did not help me, it would be a chance if I succeeded, especially in such difficult things. I implore you, my father, to take for granted that it is not in my mind to think this to be correct, for it may well be that I do not understand the matter; but what I can assure you of is this,
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Relation IX.
Relation IX.
Of Certain Spiritual Graces She Received in Toledo and Avila in the Years 1576 and 1577. 1 . I had begun to go to confession to a certain person [ 1 ] in the city wherein I am at present staying, when he, though he had much good will towards me, and always has had since he took upon himself the charge of my soul, ceased to come here; and one night, when I was in prayer, and thinking how he failed me, I understood that God kept him from coming because it was expedient for me to treat of the affai
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Relation X.
Relation X.
Of a Revelation to the Saint at Avila, 1579, and of Certain Directions Concerning the Government of the Order. In St. Joseph of Avila, on Pentecost eve, in the hermitage of Nazareth, thinking of one of the greatest graces our Lord had given me on that day some twenty years before, [ 1 ] more or less, my spirit was vehemently stirred and grew hot within me, [ 2 ] and I fell into a trance. In that profound recollection I heard our Lord say what I am now going to tell: I was to say to the Barefoote
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Relation XI.
Relation 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. [ 1 ] Jesus. 1 . Oh, that I could clearly explain to your Lordship the peace and quiet my soul has found! for it has so great a certainty of the fruition of God, that it seems to be as if already in possession, [ 2 ] though the joy is withheld. I am as one to whom another has granted by deed a large revenue, into the enjoyment and use of whi
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