or
The Manifestations of her spiritual state
which St. Teresa submitted to her Confessors.
"The Relations" was included
in the following book: Title: The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus,
of The Order of Our Lady of Carmel
Creator(s): Teresa, of Avila, Saint (1515-1582)
Written by: Herself.
Translated from the Spanish by
David Lewis.
Third Edition Enlarged.
With additional Notes and an Introduction by
Rev. Fr. Benedict Zimmerman, O.C.D. |
The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus
Re-imprimatur. + Franciscus
Archiepiscopus Westmonast.
Die 27 Sept., 1904.
|
The following Introductory statements
are excerpts from:
"The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus,
of The Order of Our Lady of Carmel"
in which "The Relations" were included.
"at the end of this volume;
a copy of (The Relations l)
together with a continuation (Relation II.) "
See full text of "The Life"
and its Introduction at:
|
The aim of this blog page is to present those excerpts
which relate to "The Relations" portion of this book.
Introduction to the Present Edition.
by Rev. Fr. Benedict Zimmerman,
Order of Discalced Carmelites
"St. Teresa wrote quite a number of different accounts of her life.
"St. Teresa wrote quite a number of different accounts of her life.
The first,
addressed to Father Juan de Padranos, S.J. and
dated 1557,
is now lost.
The second,
written for St. Peter of Alcantara,
is Relation I.
at the end of this volume;
a copy of it,
together with a continuation (Relation II.)
was sent to Father Pedro Ibanez in 1562.
It is somewhat difficult to admit that in the very same year
she wrote another, more extensive, account to the same priest,
which is generally called the 'first' Life."
[ - Introduction to the present edition ]
[ - Introduction to the present edition ]
"At the end of the Life
such as we have it now,
St. Teresa wrote:
'This book was finished in June, 1562,' and
Father Banez wrote underneath:
'This date refers to the first account
which the Holy Mother Teresa of Jesus
wrote of her life;
Afterwards she
made this copy and
inserted in it many things
which had taken place subsequent to this date,
such as the foundation of the monastery
of St. Joseph in Avila.
Elsewhere Father Banez says:
'Of one of her books,
namely, the one in which she recorded
her life and
the manner of prayer whereby God had led her,
I can say that she composed it
to the end
that her confessors might
know her the better and
instruct her, and also
that it might encourage and animate those
who learn from it
the great mercy God had shown her,
a great sinner
as she humbly acknowledged herself to be.
...She afterwards completed and recast this book.'
These...passages of Banez have led the biographers of the Saint
to think that she wrote her Life twice,
first in 1561 and the following year,
completing it in the house
of Dona Luisa de la Cerda at Toledo,
in the month of June; and
secondly between 1563 and 1565
at St. Joseph's Convent of Avila.
...Whether the previous paper was
a mere 'Relation',
or really
a first attempt at a 'Life',
there can be no dispute about its purpose:
St. Teresa speaks of it in the following terms:
'I had recourse to my Dominican father (Ibanez);
I told him all about
my visions,
my way of prayer,
the great graces our Lord had given me,
as clearly as I could, and
begged him to consider the matter well, and
tell me if there was anything therein
at variance with the Holy Writings, and
give me his opinion on the whole matter.'
The account thus rendered
had the object of enabling Father Ibanez
to give her light upon the state of her soul.
But while she was drawing it up,
a great change came over her.
During St. Teresa's sojourn at Toledo
she became
from a pupil
(to) an experienced master
in Mystical knowledge.
...the period of her schooling is at an end, and
she is now the great teacher of Mystical theology.
Her humility does not allow her to speak
with the same degree of openness
upon her achievements
as she did when making known her failings,
yet she cannot conceal the Gift of Wisdom
she had received and the use she made of it.
With her wonderful power of analysis,
she has given us
not only a clear insight into her interior progress,
but also a sketch of the development
of her understanding of supernatural things.
'for it is one grace
that our Lord gives grace; and
it is another grace
to understand
what grace and
what gift it is; and
it is another and further grace
to have the power to
describe and
explain it to others.
Though it does not seem
that more than the first of these
--the giving of grace--
is necessary,
it is a great advantage and a great grace
to understand it. (The Life: Ch.17 #7)'
great graces were bestowed upon her,
but at first she
neither understood them herself
nor was she able to describe them.
But shortly before the foundation of St. Joseph's convent
she received the last of the three graces mentioned above,
the Gift of Wisdom,
and the scene at Toledo is the first manifestation of it.
[ - Introduction to the present edition ]
whereas the volume before us ('The Life')
is the first-fruit of her spiritual Mastership.
The new light that had come to her
induced her confessors
to demand a detailed work
embodying everything
she had learned from her heavenly Teacher."
( An accompanying footnote refers to The Life: Ch. 18 #11)
[ - Introduction to the Present Edition]
|
"The earlier writings were but confidential communications
to her confessors…
'I have written a few days ago a certain Relation of my Life.
'I have written a few days ago a certain Relation of my Life.
But since it might happen
that my confessor may not permit you
(the Sisters of St. Joseph's) to read it,
I will put here
some things concerning prayer
some things concerning prayer
which are conformable to what I have said there,
as well as some other things
which appear to me to be necessary.' "
[ - Introduction to the Present Edition]
[ - Introduction to the Present Edition]
"St. Teresa wrote her "Life" slowly.
It was begun in spring, 1563, and
completed in May or June, 1565.
Mr. Lewis, whose translation is the fifth,
was born on the 12th of November, 1814, and
died on January the 23rd, 1895.
The first edition was printed in 1870,
the second in 1888.
It is regrettable that the latter edition,
of which the present is a reprint,
omitted the marginal notes
which would have been so helpful to the reader".
[ - Introduction to the Present Edition]
________________________________
"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".
[ - Preface]
|
"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,
the name which the Saint herself had given them.
( Relations II #18 )
( Relations II #18 )
Some of them
- are usually printed among the Saint's letters, and
- 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
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.
- 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,
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".
[ - Preface ]
[ - Preface ]
| The above were excerpts from The Introduction and Preface of "The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus,
of The Order of Our Lady of Carmel"
|
