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