Life of St Teresa of Jesus by Teresa of Avila (e ink epub reader TXT) 📕

perfection, telling them that this way is singular and full of

danger, that many who went by it have fallen into delusions, and

that the safest way is that which is plain and common, travelled

by all.

“4. Words of this kind, clearly, sadden the hearts of those who

would observe the counsels of perfection in continual prayer, so

far as it is possible for them, and in much fasting, watching,

and disciplines; and, on the other hand, the lax and the wicked

take courage and lose the fear of God, because they consider the

way on which they are travelling as the safer: and this is their

delusion,—they call that a plain and safe road which is the

absence of the knowledge and consideration of the dangers and

precipices amidst which we are all of us journeying in this

world. Nevertheless, there is no other security than that which

lies in our knowing our daily enemies, and in humbly imploring

the compassion of God, if we would not be their prisoners.

Besides, there are souls whom God, in a way, constrains to enter

on the way of perfection, and who, if they relaxed in their

fervour, could not keep a middle course, but would immediately

fall into the other extreme of sins, and for souls of this kind

it is of the utmost necessity that they should watch and pray

without ceasing; and, in short, there is nobody whom lukewarmness

does not injure. Let every man examine his own conscience, and

he will find this to be the truth.

“5. I firmly believe that if God for a time bears with the

lukewarm, it is owing to the prayers of the fervent, who are

continually crying, ‘et ne nos inducas in tentationem.’ I have

said this, not for the purpose of honouring those whom we see

walking in the way of contemplation; for it is another extreme

into which the world falls, and a covert persecution of goodness,

to pronounce those holy forthwith who have the appearance of it.

For that would be to furnish them with motives for vain-glory,

and would do little honour to goodness; on the contrary, it would

expose it to great risks, because, when they fall who have been

objects of praise, the honour of goodness suffers more than if

those people had not been so esteemed. And so I look upon this

exaggeration of their holiness who are still living in the world

to be a temptation of Satan. That we should have a good opinion

of the servants of God is most just, but let us consider them

always as people in danger, however good they may be, and that

their goodness is not so evident that we can be sure of it

even now.

“6. Considering myself that what I have said is true, I have

always proceeded cautiously in the examination of this account of

the prayer and life of this nun, and no one has been more

incredulous than myself as to her visions and revelations,—not

so, however as to her goodness and her good desires, for herein I

have had great experience of her truthfulness, her obedience,

mortification, patience, and charity towards her persecutors, and

of her other virtues, which any one who will converse with her

will discern; and this is what may be regarded as a more certain

proof of her real love of God than these visions and revelations.

I do not, however, undervalue her visions, revelations, and

ecstasies; on the contrary, I suspect them to be the work of God,

as they have been in others who were Saints. But in this case it

is always safer to be afraid and wary; for if she is confident

about them, Satan will take occasion to interfere, and that which

was once, perhaps, the work of God, may be changed into something

else, and that will be the devil’s.

“7. I am of opinion that this book is not to be shown to every

one, but only to men of learning, experience, and Christian

discretion. It perfectly answers the purpose for which it was

written, namely, that the nun should give an account of the state

of her soul to those who had the charge of it, in order that she

might not fall into delusions. Of one thing I am very sure, so

far as it is possible for a man to be,—she is not a deceiver;

she deserves, therefore, for her sincerity, that all should be

favourable to her in her good purposes and good works.

For within the last thirteen years she has, I believe, founded a

dozen monasteries of Barefooted Carmelite nuns, the austerity and

perfection of which are exceeded by none other; of which they who

have been visitors of them, as the Dominican Provincial, master

in theology, [24] Fra Pedro Fernandez, the master Fra Hernando

del Castillo, and many others, speak highly. This is what I

think, at present, concerning the censure of this book,

submitting my judgment herein to that of Holy Church our mother,

and her ministers.

“Given in the College of St. Gregory, Valladolid, on the sixth

day of July, 1575.

“Fra Domingo Bañes.”

The book remained in the keeping of the Inquisition, and the

Saint never saw it again. But she heard of it from the

Archbishop of Toledo, Cardinal Quiroga, President of the Supreme

Court of the Inquisition, when she applied to him for license to

found a monastery in Madrid. Jerome of the Mother of God was

with her; and heard the Cardinal’s reply. His Eminence said he

was glad to see her; that a book of hers had been in the Holy

Office for some years, and had been rigorously examined; that he

had read it himself, and regarded it as containing sound and

wholesome doctrine. He would grant the license, and do whatever

he could for the Saint. When she heard this, she wished to

present a petition to the Inquisition for the restitution of her

book; but Gratian thought it better to apply to the Duke of Alba

for the copy which he had, and which the Inquisitors had allowed

him to retain and read. The Duke gave his book to Fra Jerome,

who had copies of it made for the use of the monasteries both of

men and women. [25]

Anne of Jesus, in 1586, founding a monastery of her Order in

Madrid,—the Saint had died in 1582,—made inquiries about the

book, and applied to the Inquisition for it, for she was resolved

to publish the writings of her spiritual mother. The Inquisitors

made no difficulty, and consented to the publication. In this

she was seconded by the Empress Maria, daughter of Charles V.,

and widow of Maximilian II., who had obtained one of the copies

which Fra Jerome of the Mother of God had ordered to be made.

Fra Nicholas Doria, then Provincial, asked Fra Luis de Leon, the

Augustinian, to edit the book, who consented. He was allowed to

compare the copy furnished him with the original in the keeping

of the Inquisition; but his edition has not been considered

accurate, notwithstanding the facilities given him, and his great

reverence for the Saint. It was published in Salamanca,

A.D. 1588.

With the Life of the Saint, Fra Luis de Leon received certain

papers in the handwriting of the Saint, which he published as an

additional chapter. Whether he printed all he received, or

merely made extracts, may be doubtful, but anyhow that chapter is

singularly incomplete. Don Vicente de la Fuente, from whose

edition (Madrid, 1861, 1862) this translation has been made,

omitted the additional chapter of Fra Luis de Leon, contrary to

the practice of his predecessors. But he has done more, for he

has traced the paragraphs of that chapter to their sources, and

has given us now a collection of papers which form almost another

Life of the Saint, to which he has given their old name of

Relations, [26] the name which the Saint herself had given

them. [27] Some of them are usually printed among the Saint’s

letters, and portions of some of the others are found in the

Lives of the Saint written by Ribera and Yepes, and in the

Chronicle of the Order; the rest was published for the first time

by Don Vicente: the arrangement of the whole is due to him.

The Relations are ten in the Spanish edition, and eleven in the

translation. The last, the eleventh, has hitherto been left

among the letters, and Don Vicente, seemingly not without some

hesitation, so left it; but as it is of the like nature with the

Relations, it has now been added to them.

The original text, in the handwriting of the Saint, is preserved

in the Escurial, not in the library, but among the relics of the

Church. Don Vicente examined it at his leisure, and afterwards

found in the National Library in Madrid an authentic and exact

transcript of it, made by order of Ferdinand VI. His edition is,

therefore, far better than any of its predecessors; but it is

possible that even now there may still remain some verbal errors

for future editors to correct. The most conscientious diligence

is not a safeguard against mistakes. F. Bouix says that in

ch. xxxiv. § 12, the reading of the original differs from that of

the printed editions; yet Don Vicente takes no notice of it, and

retains the common reading. It is impossible to believe that

F. Bouix has stated as a fact that which is not. Again, in

ch. xxxix. § 29, the printed editions have after the words, “Thou

art Mine, and I am thine,” “I am in the habit . . . . sincerity;”

but Don Vicente omits them. This may have been an oversight, for

in general he points out in his notes all the discrepancies

between the printed editions and the original text.

A new translation of the Life of St. Teresa seems called for now,

because the original text has been collated since the previous

translations were made, and also because those translations are

exceedingly scarce. The first is believed to be this—it is a

small quarto:

“The Lyf of the Mother Teresa of Jesus, Foundresse of the

Monasteries of the Discalced or Bare-footed Carmelite Nunnes and

Fryers of the First Rule.

“Written by herself at the commaundement of her ghostly father,

and now translated into English out of Spanish. By W.M., of the

Society of Jesus.

“Imprinted in Antwerp by Henry Jaye. Anno MDCXI.”

Some thirty years afterwards, Sir Tobias Matthew, S.J.,

dissatisfied, as he says, with the former translation, published

another, with the following title; the volume is a small octavo

in form:

“The Flaming Hart, or the Life of the glorious St. Teresa,

Foundresse of the Reformation of the Order of the All-Immaculate

Virgin Mother, our B. Lady of Mount Carmel.

“This History of her Life was written by the Saint in Spanish,

and is newly translated into English in the year of our Lord

God 1642.

‘Aut mori aut pati:

Either to dye or else to suffer.’—Chap. xl.

“Antwerpe, printed by Joannes Meursius. Anno MDCXLII.”

The next translation was made by Abraham Woodhead, and published

in 1671, without the name of the translator, or of the printer,

or of the place of publication. It is in quarto, and bears the

following title:

“The Life of the Holy Mother St. Teresa, Foundress of the

Reformation of the Discalced Carmelites according to the

Primitive Rule. Printed in the year MDCLXXI.”

It is not said that the translation was made from the Spanish,

and there are grounds for thinking it to have been made from the