392Ps. cxliv. 3: ‘Magnitudinis ejus non est finis.’ 393See the Saint’s description of a soul in the state of sin, Rel, iii. 13. (towards the end). 394Supra, M. i, ch. ii. 1. 395Acts ix. 8: ‘Surrexit autem Saulus de terra, apertisque oculis nihil videbat.’ There is, however, nothing to imply that he was dumb as well as blind. 396Acts ix. 18: ‘Et confestim ceciderunt ab oculis ejus tamquam squamæ, et visum recepit.’ Way of Perf.. ch. xxviii. 11. 397 Rel. iii. 6; v. 6-8; viii. 20, 21; ix. 12, 17, 19.
Deposition by Fr. Giles Gonzalez, S.J., Provincial of Old Castile, afterwards Assistant—General in Rome: ‘While the holy Mother lived at the convent of the Incarnation of Avila [as prioress], I often spoke with her, and once I remember she asked me: “What am I to do, Father? Whenever I recollect myself I realize that already in this life the Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity may be seen, and that They accompany me and assist me in the management of my affairs.”’ (Fuente, Obras, vol. vi. p. 280.)
’Doña Maria Enriquez, Duchess of Alva, said that St.
Teresa made known to her many revelations she had received from our Lord, and that she (the duchess) held in her possession three paintings of the Blessed Trinity made according to the description of the holy Mother, who, while they were being done, effaced with her own hand those portions which the painter failed to design conformably to the vision she had had.’ (Fuente, l.c. p. 297.) 398St. John xiv. 23: ‘Si quis diligit me, sermonem meum servabit, et Pater meus diliget eum, et ad eum veniemus, et mansionem apud eum faciemus.’ 399One of the Saint’s favourite comparisons.
See Life, ch. xxvii. 7. Castle, M. vi. ch. viii. 3. Rel. vii. 26. 400’Though the soul be always in the high estate of marriage since God has placed it there, nevertheless, actual union in all its powers is not continuous, though the substantial union is. In this substantial union the powers of the soul are most frequently in union, and drink of His cellar, the understanding by knowledge, the will by love, etc. We are not therefore to suppose that the soul, when saying it went out, has ceased from its substantial or essential union with God, but only from the union of its faculties, which is not, and cannot be, permanent in this life.’
(St. John of the Cross, Spiritual Canticle, stanza xxvi. 9. On the words: ‘In the inner cellar of my Beloved have I drunk, and when I went forth’). 401St. Luke x. 40. Excl. v. 2, 3. Way of Perf. ch. xv. 4; xxxi. 4. Rel. viii. 6. Concept. ch. vii. 4. 402Life, ch. xviii. 4. The distinction between soul and spirit, to be found in the Epistle to the Hebrews, iv. 12, according to Cornelius a Lapide (ad loc.) consists in this, that the term soul comprises the faculties, senses, and passions, whereas the term spirit denotes the substance of the soul independently of its powers.
In the inferior degrees of the Mystical life God operates through the faculties, while in the Mystical marriage He acts directly on the substance of the soul. St. Teresa is not quite consistent in the use of these terms, which is not surprising, as she owns that she does not quite understand this subtle distinction. 403Rel. iii. 20; ix. 8 and 25. 404Life, ch. xxxix. 29. 405Castle, M. v. ch. iv. 1. 406St. John xx. 19. 407Rel. xi. 1. sqq. 4081 Cor. vi. 17: ‘Qui adhæret Domino unus spiritus est.’ 409Philip. i. 21: ‘Mihi vivere Christus est, et mori lucrum.’ 410Such exclamations, in considerable number, form the Book of Exclamations published by Fray Luis de Leon.
De Fuente thinks it was written in 1569, but as St. Teresa’s spiritual betrothal took place on November 18, 1572, it seems, at least in parts, of a later date. The spiritual nuptials must be placed between the aforementioned year and May 1575, but it is not possible to ascertain the exact date. (For the Exclamations, see Minor Works). 411St. John xx. 19. 412St. Luke vii. 50. 413Supra, M. vi. ch. iii. 6. Life, ch. xxv. 5. 414St. John xvii. 2 I: ‘Ut omnes unum sint, sicut tu Pater in me, et ego in te, ut et ipsi in nobis unum sint.’ 415St.
John xvii. 20: ‘Non pro eis autem rogo tantum, sed et pro eis, qui credituri sunt per verbum eorum in me.’ 416St. John xvii. 2 3: ‘Ego in eis.’ 417 This idea is expressed in St. Teresa’s poem: Alma, buscarte has en Mi’ (Poem 10, Minor Works). Such is the power of love, O soul,To paint thee in my heartNo craftsman with such artWhate’er his skill might be, could thereThine image thus impart!’Twas love that gave thee life—Then, fair one, if thou beLost to thyself, thou’lt seeThy portrait in my bosom stamped—Soul, seek thyself in Me. 418 In a letter dated May 1581, addressed to Don Alonso Velasquez, then bishop of Osma, St.
Teresa writes as follows:
’She [herself] has received such an assurance of coming one day to the fruition of God that she almost imagines she has already come into possession of Him, without, however, the joy that will accompany it. She is in the same position as one who by legal contract has received a splendid property which will become his, and whose fruit he will enjoy at a given date. Until then he only holds the title-deeds, without being able to take possession of the property.
Nevertheless my soul would not like to come immediately into the possession of God, for it does not believe that it has deserved such a grace. It only desires to continue in His service, even at the cost of terrible sufferings. It would not mind thus serving Him to the end of the world, after having received such a pledge.’ St. John of the Cross, in treating of this subject (Spir. Cant. stanza xxii. 3) says: ‘I believe that no soul ever attains to this state without being confirmed in grace in it.’
See also Ribera, in the Acta Ss. p. 554, circa finem. 419Ps. i. 3: ‘Et erit tamquam lignum quod plantatum est secus decursus aquarum, quod fructum suum dabit in tempore suo.’ 420Gal. ii. 20. 421Castle, M. vii. ch. i. 11 and 15. 422Castle, M. vii. ch. ii. 1. Compare the references there given. 423Don Alvaro de Mendoza, Bishop of Avila, used to say that the best means of obtaining St. Teresa’s friendship was to injure or insult her, Acta Ss. n, 1233.
Rel. vii. 20. 424Rel. viii. 15. 425 Compare with the Saint’s poem on self-oblation: ‘Vuestro soy, para Vos naci’ (Poem i. Minor Works). Long life bestow, or straightway let me die;Let health be mine, or pain and sickness send;Honour or foul dishonour—be my pathBeset by war or peaceful till the end.My strength or weakness be as Thou dost choose,Since naught Thou askest shall I e’er refuse.Say, Lord, what is it Thou dost will for me? 426Castle, M. vi. ch. vi. 6. 427Acts ix. 6: ‘Domine, quid me vis facere?’’ 428The words from ‘know what He asks’ to ‘as I told you’ are not in the original manuscript, but must have been written on a separate slip, as is proved by a marginal note in the handwriting of the Saint: ‘Quando dice aqui: os pide, léase luego este papel.’
This paper is now lost, but the passage it contained is preserved in the early manuscript copies of Toledo, Cordova and Salamanca, as well as in the first printed edition, and, through this, in the old translations; hence both Woodhead and Dalton have it in its proper place. It is, of course, not to be found in the autograph published in 1882, nor in Fuente’s Spanish editions nor in translations based upon these, The Spanish text will be found in Œuvres vi, 297 note. 429Supra §§ i and 2. 430III Reg. vi. 7. 431’That is, so as to lose the senses’ (marginal note in the Saints’ handwriting).
Rel. iii. 5. 432Cant. i. I. 433Ps. xli, 2, 5. 434Gen. viii. 10, 11. 435St. Luke. xviii. 13. 436Rel. ix. 19. 437III. Reg. xi. 438Ps. cxi. 1. ‘Beatus vir qui timet Dominum.’ 439Though thou shouldst have been rapt up to the third heaven with Saint Paul, thou art not thereby secured that thou shalt suffer no adversity. ‘I,’ said Jesus, ‘will shew him how great things he must suffer for My name’s sake’ (Acts. ix. 16).
To suffer, therefore, is what waits for thee, if thou wilt love Jesus and constantly serve Him For our merit and the advancement of our state consist not in having many sweetnesses and consolations, but rather in bearing great afflictions and tribulations’ (Imitation, bk. ii. ch. xii. 12). 440i Thess. ii. 9. 441The Antiphon of the Magnificat at first Vespers of the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, June 29, in the Carmelite Breviary used by St. Teresa is: ‘Beatus Petrus Apostolus vidit sibi Christum occurrere.
Adorans eum ait: “Domine, quo vadis?”—“Venio Romam iterum crucifigi.” ‘The Blessed Apostle Peter saw Christ come to meet him. Adoring Him, he asked “Lord, where art Thou going?”—“I go to Rome to be crucified anew.” The saint at once returned to Rome and was taken by the soldiers and crucified. See Letter of Jan. 17. 1577, note 4. Vol. II. 442“If thou wilt stand upon self and wilt not offer thyself freely to My will, thine offering is not perfect, nor will there be entire union between us.’
(Imitation, bk. iv. ch. viii. 2.) 443Ps. xvii. 26: ‘Cum sancto sanctus eris.’ 444Cant. ii. 4. 445’St. Mary Magdalen gave herself up to penance and contemplation in a deep excavation of the rocks at La Baume, near Marseilles. In this wild spot there was neither bread, water, nor even herbage. Thus she lived for more than thirty-two years without any kind of nourishment but that which was celestial, performing meanwhile most severe penances.’ (St.
Vincent Ferrer.) 446III Reg. xix. 10. 447’There was one sentiment within him to which may almost be given the name of passion: it was his ceaseless burning thirst for the salvation of souls. As his Divine Master had come into the world to save sinners and loved them even unto death, so he, too, gave up all that was most dear to him in his life to win souls to Christ. He was always giving himself: it was the very key-note of his existence. He would have sold himself as a slave, he would have been cut to pieces by the heretics, he would spare himself neither by day nor by night, if by any means he might save some.’
(From the History of St. Dominic, by Augusta Theodosia Drane. London, 1891, p. 256). 448’St. Francis of Assisi, at the very beginning of his Order, when he had only seven followers, said to them: “Consider, my brethren, what is our vocation. It is not only for our own salvation that the mercy of God has called us, but for the salvation of many other souls. It is that we may go forth and exhort all men rather by our example than by our words, to do penance and keep the divine commands.”’
(The Life of St. Francis of Assisi, by a religious of the Order of Poor Clares, London, 1861, p. 32). 449St. Luke x. 39, 40. Life, ch. xvii. 6. Rel. viii. 6. Way of Perf. ch. xxxi. 4. Concep. ch. vii. 4. 450Ibid. x. 42: ‘Maria optimam partem elegit.’ 451Ibid. vii. 37. 452Marginal note in the Saint’s handwriting. 453Life, ch. xxi. 9. 454Way of Perf. ch, i. 1. Found, ch. i, 6, 7. Supra, M. vi ch. vi, 2. 455Way of Perf. ch. vii. 7.
Source: Interior Castle (CCEL)