The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus, of the Order of Our Lady of CarmelTeresa, of Avila, Saint
Religion
The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus, of the Order of Our Lady of Carmel
Teresa, of Avila, Saint
Avila (Spain) -- Biography; Christian saints -- Spain -- Avila -- Biography; Teresa, of Avila, Saint, 1515-1582
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 we walk, as I said before, [1] in the truth, in the
sight of His Majesty, with a pure conscience. And for this end,
as I said in the same place, I would have myself all fears, that
I may not for one instant offend Him who in that instant is able
to destroy us. If His Majesty is pleased with us, whoever
resists us--be he who he may--will be utterly disappointed.
2. It may be so, you will say; but, then, where is that soul so
just as to please Him in everything?--and that is the reason why
we are afraid. Certainly it is not my soul, which is most
wretched, unprofitable, and full of misery. God is not like man
in His ways; He knows our weakness. But the soul perceives, by
the help of certain great signs, whether it loves God of a truth;
for the love of those souls who have come to this state is not
hidden as it was at first, but is full of high impulses, and of
longings for the vision of God, as I shall show hereafter--or
rather, as I have shown already. [2] Everything wearies,
everything distresses, everything torments the soul, unless it be
suffered with God, or for God. There is no rest which is not a
weariness, because the soul knows itself to be away from its true
rest; and so love is made most manifest, and, as I have just
said, impossible to hide.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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