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
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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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